Blog
About Weld: answering a few questions
After the online workshop, Teresa A. identified Resedas growing on her land. I advised her to collect seeds from these plants and cultivate them intentionally over the next few years. As they grow naturally, they are sure to be very well adapted to the area and will need almost no care, which is exactly what we want! In the meantime, she can collect a few to experiment and understand their dyeing power. As a result of the emails we exchanged, she asked me the following questions, which I'm going to answer here, because they help us understand a little more about this plant and I thought there might be people out there with the same doubts.
Seasonal Postcard: Madder
Our new seasonal postcard pays tribute to the Madder and the lessons it teaches us.
Combing wool in Trás-os-Montes
(...) it's the universality of the combing technique that Ti Paula uses. It's the same one I use (and I didn't learn to comb in Portugal), and it's also the same one that anyone who combs wool in the world uses, in most cases. In Miranda do Douro or on the other side of the world, wool is combed in essentially the same way and something as simple as this makes us understand that despite cultural differences, human beings face the same challenges and end up with the same solutions.
Thinking About Flax, Even When There Will Be No Flax
Even before this madness started, I had already decided that this year I would not grow flax. Spring is intense and this year I wanted more time to finish writing and put out some of the handbooks that I have on stand-by due to lack of time (the one for Flax included). Still, when this time of the year arrives, I can't help looking at the lunar calendar and watching the weather to choose the sowing day.
From Churra Mirandesa Fleece to Sock
These beautiful socks were made by Zaida from a fleece of Churra Mirandesa that she brought back with her from our shearing, back in June.
Once a spinner, forever a spinner
A real “If you build it, they will come” moment.
There was a time when I was the one chasing them, now they're the ones coming here.
We're moving!
Yes, we're moving house! More specifically, we're leaving our space in Matosinhos and setting up store in Porto.
The Indigo from the Woad Plants in Faial
Last November, when the Indigo season was over, I finally had the capacity to focus on the Woad Plants properly and I was finally able to extract indigo from this iconic plant.
Teaching about Portuguese wool in Vimioso
The previous weekend was spent in Vimioso, at PINTA (Vales de Vimioso), leading a 2-in-1 workshop dedicated to Portuguese Wool and Woolworking.
Walk on Wool - The most epic workshop of the year
The day before the start of this Masterclass led by Ana Rita de Albuquerque, I announced it on Instagram as preparation for the most epic workshop of the year here at Saber Fazer, and I wasn't wrong. Three days of training were planned, which ended up being almost five, and they proved to be physically demanding and extremely technical. Fortunately, that's exactly what we like to offer here!
The yellow of our Reseda
Finally, a few skeins dyed with our weld, grown by us, and overdyed with indigo to make the classic Lincoln green.
Saber Fazer at the Fall Festival 2018
Among those of us who will be teaching, the Fall Festival is already known as that annual endurance test, since it practically consists of working continuously for two days teaching thousands of people about wool, spinning, weaving, felting, tapestry, basketry and much more.
The First Year of Growing Weld
Here are some images of the development of the weld plants, which I saw for the first time this year. Most of the plants were harvested in August and have since dried out.
Spinning with a Portuguese spindle
I've been meaning to write this post for a while now. Nothing too complex, just a simple collection of different ladies I have encountered through my learning process and research, spinning with the type of spindle that is more commonly found in Portugal, but unusual in other countries. My idea is just to show you some similarities and differences present in their techniques.
Spring, changes and news
The news that spring has brought us is the start of a partnership with Francisco from BioHabitus, a project that produces and sells certified organic vegetables and herbs in the Porto area, who will be welcoming us to grow not only our Flax, but also our Dye Plants.
Intersections
Here are some images from the Felting with Portuguese Wool workshop that Ana Rita de Albuquerque taught here last Saturday. We had a full house for a workshop that was a first for Saber Fazer, but will be the first of many.
The time we brought Teresa to the North to teach us about silk
The images in this video were taken in 2016, on the day of the workshop we gave in Serralves. In it, Teresa Frade gives a short demonstration of the process of extracting silk from cocoons.
Anatomy of a Burel cape
The subject of the burel cover came up in the weaving workshop, while Fernando was leafing through his sample cover, which contains some examples of traditional typologies, Portuguese and otherwise.