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Motherowl asked me if I would host a study group for making nettle yarn. I know some of the bloggers that I follow have already tried this with varying results, but since I like to get my own hands-on failures I’m going through with this project anyway. So I’d love for everyone to chime in, newcomers as well as those who already have the t-shirt. The more info we can gather in one place, the better!

“Mazzaus” I know we spoke of this 3 years ago, did you try again? I’m going to link to the book review that you did, in case somebody wants to get serious.

I’ll be posting links, videos, translations of old texts (should they provide interesting), and updates, make a reference page with everything + participants and whatnot, so let me know if you’re in. Otherwise I’ll just post my own updates anyway.

I mentioned yesterday that I’d been reading how the stalks should be dried for a year, then retted, which actually confused me because I remembered it in reverse from last time I looked into the subject. And some do indeed process the fibers in the same year as harvest. Such as: https://gatherandgrow.org/2015/08/08/nettle-fiber-experiments/ – https://gatherandgrow.org/2015/09/25/nettle-fiber-experiments-part-ii/.

I’m waiting for some 1917 books and articles from the state library, so the first thing I’ll do is compare harvest dates. The earliest I’ve seen so far is midsummer, and the ones I cut the other day do seem a bit soft. But they’ll provide good comparison.

This is a yarn which I bought last year containing nettle fiber, unknown to me which type, though. I haven’t knit it yet, but it’s wonderfully soft and shiny.

onion