PENELOPE HEMINGWAY
Mudags, aka: muirlags, Crealagh and craidhleag (creels) were egg-shaped baskets with a ‘post hole’, used for holding wool ready to spin. They are known to have been a thing in Scotland – and so, hopefully, Ireland, Wales and England too. You placed your mudag close to the fire, for the wool’s lanolin to melt a […]
So how many miles could a Great Wheel spinner walk in a month? 120 miles? To reprise; in “Spinning Wheels, Spinners and Spinning”, Patricia Baines wrote: …It is said that spinners who worked in the textile industry in Yorkshire and Lancashire walked the equivalent of 30 miles a week spinning wool… [Baines, Batsford 1977 Edition, […]
Then we run our little boat into some quiet nook, and the tent is pitched, and the frugal supper cooked and eaten. Then the big pipes are filled and lighted, and the pleasant chat goes round in musical undertone; while, in the pauses of our talk, the river, playing around the boat, […]
Tomorrow (5th August) and Saturday, we’ll be demonstrating the Great Wheel, at the British Wool Show, Murton, York. If you fancy some ‘Have A Go’ great wheel spinning, come along and try your hand at it. Very few spinners are left who can spin on the Great Wheel – we’re hoping to change that! You […]
This year, I’m Writer/Crafter in Residence at the Yorkshire Museum of Farming. So I’m starting a separate blog – we’ll have old farmhouse recipes from my farming families’ handwritten books (I have a couple of these); fascinating delvings into the archives of the Museum, and the occasional wander round the Museum’s exhibits, reserve collection, the […]
Today I’ll continue putting up some pictures of the patterns from ‘River Ganseys’. And also hopefully give an insight into how a pattern evolves. This design was eventually published as “Parthenope”. I wanted to name the ganseys in the book after actual river vessels. Here’s one I called “Parthenope” (p.175ff). But in an earlier incarnation, […]
That title’s with apologies to Stevie Smith. Today, an interruption in putting up photos of the gansey patterns in ‘River Ganseys’. Thought I’d put everything I have about swaving here, in one post. This is ongoing research and by no means complete so not the last word on the subject- just the first few […]
Crime reports have to be used with caution but often they give valuable context for and insights into, clothing history.
Sadly, due to unforeseen circs, (a race closing off part of the road) the Museum of Farming has cancelled their Harvest event, this coming weekend (10th-11th Oct), so we have decided to re-schedule the workshops for later in the year. Keep your eyes peeled for further info. Hope this hasn’t inconvenienced anyone, as I know […]
When I’m not knitting or genealogy-ing, I like to fix up vintage sewing machines and sew with them. I spent some time, earlier this year, fixing up Victorian/Edwardian hand crank machines; £11 – £15 car-boot bargains; a Singer 28K and a couple of Jones Family C.S machines. Vintage, metal machines have none of the built-in […]
PENELOPE HEMINGWAY 