Re: Resistance is futile!saraidhJune 21 2010, 15:22:05 UTC
Heh. I'm still kind of resisting, because I'm not sure I have space for a whole new fiber hobby's worth of equipment. But we'll see. :-) And I may join the groups in the meantime.
Re: Resistance is futile!oakenkingJune 21 2010, 15:24:04 UTC
That's the wonderful thing about picking up a new fiber hobby... you have most of the tools. Depending on what you're doing already, you may have a swift, a bobbin winder, a crockpot... it's entirely possible to reel good silk with a ball winder, but it's not the easiest or fastest way.
Re: Resistance is futile!saraidhJune 21 2010, 15:42:31 UTC
True enough. I do have a swift, but tend to avoid them as much as possible -among other things, my first attempt at reeling involved losing a whole lot of silk to massive tangles when the swift collapsed itself at a bad moment. I have a hand drill that's currently an adequate substitute for a bobbin winder, but it would probably need to be upgraded. I'm told that lidless crock pots are often cheap at rummage sales. (I have a crock pot, and realize the reeling stuff is all non-toxic, but I'm keeping my twitch about separating the fiber equipment from the kitchen equipment.) So it's possible to at least get into reeling with not a lot of additional stuff, but my experience thus far has been fiddly enough that I'm a bit wary about knowingly using make-do tools. But that's the way it goes - basic looms can produce exactly the same stuff as complex looms, but much, much, much more slowly.
Rearing intrigues me, but that's a whole other set of issues and equipment.
We have a great sericulture person here in Meridies, and I met another at Midrealm A&S a few weeks ago - I think it's growing pretty quickly in the SCA, which is a very cool thing.
I took a class from the Meridian sericulture person a couple of Gulf Wars ago, on making hankies, which was fun. Haven't met the Midrealm one yet, but I haven't actually made it to the Midrealm in... kind of a long time, actually. I should probably fix that eventually.
Wow! This is awesomely interesting. I gotta see if you get to the point of sleeping with them to keep them warm when they visit an event with you, though. I did hear this story about Nikolena's dedication to the health of her livestock, to keep them healthy.
We'll see about actually raising them. At this point, I'm most interested in reeling. Ilya says that he's fine if I get silkworms, but he won't feed them, ever, which means I either need to have a plan to deal with it myself for six week blocks or find a worm-sitter in case of work trips or what have you.
From the sidelines
anonymous
June 21 2010, 16:13:37 UTC
Occasionally I read through these threads, and I would like to verify that yes indeed, I rolled over and found the "babies" in bed with me to stay warm. It is always funny to come back to my tent at war and see a shrubbery of mulberry branches packed into a water bucket as well. Usually every person from our house gets 1 tote to take to war for personal gear... the "babies" got at least 3. We are considering building a portable cottage for when we are on site at wars since when the storms came sweeping trough the big worry was whether the "babies" would get wet (which they did not because of the way they were packed) but they were scarred of the thunder... so they did what they do best...eat.
Re: From the sidelinessaraidhJune 21 2010, 19:12:52 UTC
I would've figured the tub system would keep them pretty dry. Did the rest of camp weather the excitement okay? (So to speak...)
But I suppose it makes sense - don't babies usually need at least three times as much stuff as anybody else? :-)
My husband is the most likely candidate to make stuff if I develop a silk habit, so I may end up sending him your way for notes on what does and doesn't work, if that's okay with you.
It was great meeting you. I'm really glad you could dedicate a whole day at war to reeling, even if the weather conditions weren't perfect.
I picked up a couple of crockpots at a goodwill for about $3 each, because I wasn't excited about adding pupa flavoring to my stews, either.
Seraphima is a Midrealmer from Ohio who is big into sericulture; she's awesome and definitely worth getting to know! If Pennsic becomes a possibility, we're planning to teach together there.
Perhaps there will be an indoor event that isn't too far for either of us, and we can play silk again sometime soon!
I really enjoyed meeting you too! The class did end up eating an amazing portion of the war considering that we didn't arrive until Thursday afternoon and decided to take off after the storm on Saturday, but I'm not complaining.
I'll let you know if I decide to go to Pennsic after all.
I'm trying to persuade Ilya that he wants to go to the metal and glass symposium that I'm told is in your area this fall - if I come along would you be available to play? Or there's Ages of War (combined Silfren Mere/Herald's Hill event). I don't know how indoors it is, though. Regardless, I'm sure we can manage something if we keep an eye open for possibilities.
Comments 12
Reply
Reply
:)
Reply
Rearing intrigues me, but that's a whole other set of issues and equipment.
Reply
We have a great sericulture person here in Meridies, and I met another at Midrealm A&S a few weeks ago - I think it's growing pretty quickly in the SCA, which is a very cool thing.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Richard (maker of stuff for the "babies")
Reply
But I suppose it makes sense - don't babies usually need at least three times as much stuff as anybody else? :-)
My husband is the most likely candidate to make stuff if I develop a silk habit, so I may end up sending him your way for notes on what does and doesn't work, if that's okay with you.
Reply
I picked up a couple of crockpots at a goodwill for about $3 each, because I wasn't excited about adding pupa flavoring to my stews, either.
Seraphima is a Midrealmer from Ohio who is big into sericulture; she's awesome and definitely worth getting to know! If Pennsic becomes a possibility, we're planning to teach together there.
Perhaps there will be an indoor event that isn't too far for either of us, and we can play silk again sometime soon!
-- Nikolena
Reply
I'll let you know if I decide to go to Pennsic after all.
I'm trying to persuade Ilya that he wants to go to the metal and glass symposium that I'm told is in your area this fall - if I come along would you be available to play? Or there's Ages of War (combined Silfren Mere/Herald's Hill event). I don't know how indoors it is, though. Regardless, I'm sure we can manage something if we keep an eye open for possibilities.
Reply
Leave a comment