"Fiber for the landless."

Are you familiar with "stinging nettles?"  It is a plant that grows wild in many areas of the world, including where I live in Indiana, USA. Here is what they look like in my area.  The name for them tells you what they are like.  They are covered with little prickles that have formic acid in them. If you brush your skin against a stinging nettle, you will feel pain!

The leaves of the nettles are highly nutritious, and of course, if you cook them, all the sting is gone. They also make a lovely, healthy, herbal tea.  I like to go out in mid to late May and (wearing gloves!) gather the top leaves of  some of the plants and bring them home to dehydrate for tea.  Then, in late June, I take some pruning shears, wear gloves and long sleeves and go cut the stalks, bundle them up, and bring them home.  Then I strip off the leaves and since I no longer have chickens, I put the leaves in the compost bin.

2018 was the first year I ever "played" with nettles.  You see, they produce fibers that can be spun into yarn. It has been a small, but enjoyable journey.  I am still learning, certainly.  Here are a few pictures so you can see what I've been up to:

Here is some on the little hand spindle I used.

I have a small "pin loom" and made a tiny weaving.

My skill and method is still very crude, and yet I am happy with the result. Nettle is a "bast" fiber, similar to flax, from which linen is made. Nettle has been used since prehistoric times. I like that working with it connects me to people back through the generations.  Making bread does the same thing for me.  

Some nettle cordage:

A bit of weaving on a cardboard "loom"

My latest tiny project is a very humble and delicate bookmark that I made to give as a gift.  All of this effort, to anyone not familiar with this, does not look like much.  I assure you, though, that many hours of work have gone into gathering, processing and using these fibers. 

Now, in the dead of winter, I am still working with the fibers I was able to gather last summer and looking forward to the new season, not only to grow food in our garden, but to gather more Stinging Nettles.

The journey continues....

Spinning...

Here is the yarn I have made in the last 3 spinning group meetings.  We meet once a month at an Alpaca Farm.  It is always so relaxing and nice.  This yarn is hand carded, hand spun and washed from raw Jacob's fleece.  It is very soft.

A little more weaving...

Once a month, I attend a very special hand-spinning group.  I had purchased some alpaca fiber from the friend who hosts our group and decided I wanted to make a little something for each of the women there.  So....  I spun some nice soft two-ply yarn and wove a little bookmark for each of them.  I happened to have some of my weaving labels left, so sewed one on the back of each.  Just a little remembrance.  I am the oldest person in the group, so maybe this will be something for them to remember me by.

I bought a new top-whorl spindle...

I just recently purchased a pretty new top whorl spindle at The Woolery in Franklin, Kentucky.  Two weeks ago I learned to use one, and just "had" to have a prettier one.  Here it is with some yarn on it and my wrist distaff that one of our daughters made for me years ago.  It is a sunny day, and I've been sitting inside a sunny window having a wonderful, relaxing afternoon. In my opinion, top whorl spindles are much easier to use than the spindles that have the whorl on the bottom. If you would like to learn to use one, I recommend THIS book.