Preparedness for when

born_blonde

vanoonoo hope you have a great day in Nottingham, the forecast looks good ( and I'm not worried).

mardatha

How do you learn stuff like that Alison - is that an art or textiles course ? That's the kind of thing I always wish I knew about ! very interesting. But you just wonder who once had the time and interest to dump a load of rotting shellfish into her washing mashine and then realised her sheets had turned gorgeous purple..

fuddle

I thank you for all of this.

DD has been learning about the Tudor times and yesterday saw a spinning wheel in action. She's hooked. I would like to learn about natural dyes too.

I still yearn to be as self sufficient as possible. There's houses all around me with solar panels on the roof. I wish we could afford/had stable housing to invest.

GreyQueen

Alison_Funnell wrote: »

And Kermes vermilio Too much time spent studying 1000yr old dye substances! Not quite like a ladybird, it's a lump of residue stuff with the insect in it.

Sorry just got the brain working on insect type dyes. Purple comes from rotting shellfish (not sure which kind)

It's bolinus brandaris (fellow textile nerd). Have Wiki on me:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolinus_brandaris

Purple dye was very rare and difficult to obtain prior to the invention of aniline dyes and thus it had extremely high status. Hence imperial purple for the Roman emperor and purple stripes on the white togas of Roman aristocrats (broad stripe for senators, narrow stripe for knights, if memory serves).

The trouble with being a textile nerd is that you end up jumping up and down with rage at unexpected moments, such as when I was watching an episode of something with my brother (Merlin or Robin Hood) and they had a peasant girl in a peasant hovel in a PURPLE dress. Noooooooooo, that's sooo wrong.

Okay, enough nerdiness for this early hour. I'm limbering up with a view to allotmenteering for a couple of hours. I have the whole day to play with in theory but ME means a maximum of 2 hours energy, with breaks between time, so I have to pick my fights. I'll get there in the end.

It's not actually raining at the moment and the day looks like it might turn out nice but hasn't quite decided yet. Hope everyone has a productive and pleasant day. GQ x

Alison_Funnell

mardatha wrote: »

How do you learn stuff like that Alison - is that an art or textiles course ? That's the kind of thing I always wish I knew about ! very interesting. But you just wonder who once had the time and interest to dump a load of rotting shellfish into her washing mashine and then realised her sheets had turned gorgeous purple..

Years of re-enacting for English Heritage, Battle of Hastings re-enactments that sort of thing. Never done textile course or much art. Did some at college but that was all clay and paint work. I can drop spin, suspend spin and use a spinning wheel (actually have one a gift from my MIL when she wanted to get rid of it!) Have a warp weight loom too (left over viking/saxon stuff) a frame and nail loom OH made for me and some tablets for tablet weaving some where.

Was given a lace making kit about 20 years ago so I have made a little lace - cos that is REALLY important when the SHTF!!:rotfl:

Fuddle - I dream of a house with a real sized garden so I can have a bee hive, chickens, solar panels (our roof faces the wrong direction! Said a company we asked - far to expensive as well for us.)

I really want to learn about real herbalism, not some of the quack stuff that is around on the internet but good solid works well stuff. Also gathering from the wild. I have Richard Mabeys book and some knowledge from childhood etc, just lacking in time and ability (back issues).

Oh the dye - Romans. They had purple clothes. I *think* it might be from a bearded mussel but I could be wrong. I know production was kept to a remote island *need to check that too* because of the vile smell.

Sunshine4

Allison Thats is all very interesting :T

Alison_Funnell

Sunshine4 wrote: »

Allison Thats is all very interesting :T

Thank you, but it is mostly useless! :rotfl:

nuatha

GreyQueen wrote: »

:o All this bra-talk. Am jealous. I wonder how much I could stash in a vest? Assuming I owned such a thing.

Corsets?! Wow, my mind is boggling. Are there pictures anywhere?

Tis the t'interweb, there are pictures everywhere


And even Steampunk style

VJsmum

vanoonoo wrote: »

well, dont tell anyone but I met my husband via the interwebulator! :beer:

I think I am pretty much the same IRL as online - sarcastic, outspoken, opinionated .... yep anyone the knows me would recognise me from my posts too

I'm off to bed too might be heading into notts tomorrow (dont worry born blonde, youre safe, for now!) - night all, even the haters, stay safe x

Hmm birds of a feather - I am sarcastic, outspoken and opinionated too. With a smattering (sometimes more than a smattering) of builders language thrown in - though usually at the OH for comic effect

Sunshine4 wrote: »

Allison Thats is all very interesting :T

This made me LOL. I know you mean it sincerely and it IS fascinating but when my OH goes on about something really boring I just go "mmm interesting" in a vague kind of way :rotfl:

mardatha

I always did find the useless stuff far more interesting than the useful-like cooking.
Maybe that's why I have to come in here and ask Mrs L or Mrs C how to boil an egg!