Blog
Portuguese Wool national classification system
One thing that is good to know, is the classification system that is being used in our country. These two tables aren't the easiest thing to find (this book is from 1947), but I was lucky enough to find it in a bookshop right here in Porto, at the moment I started looking for it.
Portuguese Wool - the locks
In the meantime, the processing and analysis of the portuguese wools keep going, down in Viana do Alentejo, in Guida's and Isabel's hands. Here, I'll share some images of the work in progress that I'm following from a distance
Fleeces and more fleeces of portuguese wool
We started by opening all the packages that had been arriving for the last weeks, to analyse and separate all the wools. From the Trás-os-Montes Churras to the Algarve Churra, from the several merinos, the Saloias and Bordaleiras, it was a real pleasure to get to see and touch all these wools for the first time.
Portuguese wool from north to south
These are only a few of the packages that have been arriving to Serralves, from all over the country, filled with raw wool from all our sheep breeds. Since late April that we have been working hard at making the necessary contacts to be able to have all this material gathered, and start what, along with the development of the three textile fiber cycles, I also proposed to do this year for the Saber Fazer em Serralves program: a little book dedicated to analyzing and comparing all the wools produced by our local sheep breeds.
The Bowen Shearing Technique
The first few times I talked with Suzana about the type of shearing done by Martin, she told me he used a specific technique, called the Bowen Technique, and directed me to this video me to introduce the subject.
Why shear?
The only purpose of shearing is not to extract wool as a raw matter, and I would even say that for most breeds kept by man, that is not even the main goal. Here in Portugal, where most sheep aren’t bred specifically for wool, and where most of the wool is no longer so valuable as it used to be, the animals are shorn anyway.
Shearing at Quinta de Serralves - 2015
Last saturday we had fabulous weather, an interested audience showed up, and after the nice shearing done by Martin, the sheep are now much lighter and we have some beautiful fleeces from the Bordaleira-de-Entre-Douro-e-Minho to work with. It was a perfect morning.
Shearing is coming!
We're almost in May and shearing season has been open for a while now, but in Serralves, the first time the Bordaleiras-Entre-Douro-e-Minho sheep will be sheared in the farm will be in the next saturday, the 9th of May, starting at 11h in the morning.
Recent acquisitions
The books I look for are always more technical and practical than historical or ethnographic, which makes them harder to find. But recently I've come across a few that have to do with topics I'm researching.
How many tools can you use to make a groove
If you're an experienced enough spinner, you can spin fiber with anything, even a rock. That's why my pickiness with spindles, weight, shape and material can be completely subjective.
Washing wool with D. Ilídia
At the beginning of January, I went to see Mrs. Ilídia and together we washed a basin of wool, so that she could teach me how to do it properly. Washing wool is one of the seemingly simplest stages of the wool process, but for me it contains some wisdom.
Anatomy of a fulling mill
Anatomy of the Wool Stomping Facility in Bucos, now extinct, from the book "Tecnologia Tradicional - Pisões Portugueses".
Adelaide and the wool
On a visit to D. Ana, when she was there to explain to me how the loom's “risks” worked, I was lucky enough to also meet D. Adelaide, who is her older sister. She brought a few more blankets with her so that I could better understand how it all works.
Making a spindle with Zé Manel
When I started to learn how to spin wool, it became indispensable to get my own distaff and spindle. As I was lucky enough to learn from those who know what they are doing in regards to spinning, I was immediately informed about the characteristics of a good spindle: they’re made of oak, so that they may have the appropriate weight, they are handsculpted from beginning to end and they have a well-defined screw on the tip.
Fulling the wool
Leafing through Tecnologia Tradicional: Pisões Portugueses, I thought it was a funny coincidence that the only photos of a fuller in action were those of Mr. Francisco's father, the fuller at Pisão de Tabuadela, which I've already had the opportunity to visit.
Fátima Gomes, Weaver
Fátima Gomes's rugs have stayed in my memory since I first saw and touched them last August. There's a rustic side to them that respects the natural beauty of the wool and, at the same time, manages to be incredibly sophisticated in its simplicity.
Lúcia, Professional Weaver
In the short visit I paid to D. Lúcia, she showed me her loom, many of the blankets she weaves and even let me borrow the “drafts” she has. Unlike most of the weavers I've met, Lúcia weaves professionally full-time, on commission.
Skeiners and Swifts
There are skeiners and there are swifts. Skeiners turn in a vertical plane and transform de the wool on the spindles into skeins. Swifts turn in a horizontal plane and transform the skeins into ball or spool.
The double shearing
One thing that had been confusing me was the double shearing per year. The fleece, to be sheared and used for wool needs to be at a minimum lenght, so I didn’t understand how they could shear the "meirinha" sheep twice a year.