The Duluth Fiber Guild will hold its annual flax day on October 11! That is the day we’ll assemble alongside the Amnicon River in Wisconsin to brake, scrutch, and hackle flax straw, turning it into gold—golden fiber, that is. We’ll begin at 10 am and work until we’re worn out or all of our flax is processed—probably at least until 3 pm. If you have some retted flax, please bring it and we’ll put it at the head of the queue. We have plenty of other retted flax to be processed, so don’t worry about arriving empty handed—you won’t leave that way! And if you just want to watch, that’s fine too!
Everyone is welcome: flax aficionados, hacklers and hecklers, and those who know nothing about flax except that the seeds are tasty in bread! It’s a great opportunity to learn how something like looks like plain old straw can yield one of the oldest, most useful, and truly beautiful fibers in the world. Flax has been used to make cloth for thousands of years: the mummies from ancient Egypt were wrapped in linen, and it was grown extensively in Europe for almost as long as recorded history!
Flax Day will be held at Louise’s house, 2915 S. Merila Rd., South Range, WI. To get there, take highway 53 south out of Superior, then take the first exit—Wisconsin 13—east, toward Port Wing and Bayfield. When you get to the Davidson Windmill (about 4 miles from highway 53), you’ll drop down to cross the Amnicon River. Immediately after the bridge, turn left onto Merila Road, a dirt road. Follow this for about a third of a mile, then there will be another road to the left—Pukema Road. Turn here and go past a workshop, a big gray house, and, at the end of the road, a large, half log sided garage and a smaller house. Park on the lawn.
The event will be held rain or shine—in case of rain, we can open the port doors of the garage and work inside. Contact phone number is 715-392-1755, however, be aware that there is very limited cell phone coverage at the site. If you like, bring a beverage and lunch—we’ll also have some munchies to keep up the strength and spirits of workers!
We always have a great time at these—there’s nothing like learning and working outside on a beautiful fall day surrounded by friends! Even if you have no desire to spin flax, it’s really exciting to see plain old straw converted into a halo of blond hair!
There will also be a second flax day on the following Saturday, October 18, when the flax for Dr. Krista Twu’s “Book of the North” project will be processed. The majority of this flax will be processed for paper making, so the work will be a little different: we won’t process the flax all the way to the fine line flax that is so wonderful for spinning (or making doll hair!). And ALL of the flax fiber processed will go into the project’s coffers so you won’t be able to take home any samples! But, it will be fun to see a large(r) scale production of flax processing—there will be several “stations” for each step, and we hope lots of people to man them all! You might be recruited to help if you come, but visitors who just want to watch are very welcome. And Krista will be available to give details of the entire project, which not only involves flax fibers but also fibers from milkweed and nettle plants.
Also check out other Workshops in South Range.
|
