I'm one of the many, many fans of Jane Austen's works. I can't really say what makes her books so fascinating to me (well, apart from Emma, which does exactly what the author intended it to do, that is get on my nerves via the insufferable protagonist). Is it the glimpse into a world of the past, but not so far in the past that there's too much conjecture? The slightly different etiquette and societal rules? Or the fact that, in the end, it's straight-up lovely happy-endy chick lit, and thus just a read that's good for the soul?

In the end, it doesn't really matter. I've read Pride and Prejudice, which is my favourite of her books, more times than I remember to count, and we have several versions of it as a film, and those do get viewed again and again too. 

If you like Jane Austen stuff, maybe this video about some of her surviving letters, showing a glimpse of her personal life, will delight you as well:

It's a little short notice - but: Are you interested in historical textile dyes, dying crafts and colours in general? Then you might be interested in the EuroWeb Bookcorner this afternoon!

Dominique Cardon, one of the foremost experts on historical dying and the history of colour, presents her and Iris Brémauds brand new book, «Les 157 couleurs de Paul Gout/ Paul Gout's 157 colours» (Les Mots qui portent, 2023) today (February 13) at 16:00 CET.

Registration for this new installment of the EuroWeb Book Corner is necessary to attend, but it's free. You can register here: https://bit.ly/3JDqVPx
 

... of course they are not.

I've had the pleasure, a while ago, to work with Icelandic wool (for the Bronze Age garments project), and it is a fascinating material. Just like older sheep breeds here in Europe, Icelandic sheep are double-coated, which means they have coarser outer hair and softer, finer underwool. (The Waldschaf is one of the breeds still rare but surviving hereabouts that also has a double coat of similar style.) The Icelandic sheep, just like the Icelandic horse, was brought to the island when it was settled, and like so many things in that area, not much has changed since then. 

The difference between the fibres of the outer and inner coat is really astounding, with the inner ones being all fine and soft, and the outer ones very long and strong (and rather coarse). For my project, I only used the inner coat fibres, but I did get a sample of the full fleece to play with, and some of the outer coat taken out. (I haven't done much with it yet apart from admiring it, though.)

If you'd like to read a bit more about Icelandic wool, you can find a blogpost from a small fibre mill in Iceland here, and the same writer explains a bit more about her white colours here. The many different shades of "white" in wools are also something that have fascinated me for quite a while. Just like black is not the same in natural colours, depending on how you dye, with what dyestuffs, and on what (colour) basis, there's a range of whites just like there's a range of blacks. Or, indeed, of any other colour. 

How nice that it's Friday again - only downside to it: I had wanted (or even planned) to get a bit more stuff done this week. However, I won't complain too much. At least the new batch of pins has been finished,  and a few other odds and ends have been taken care of. Among them some prep for the workshop weekend next weekend.

Now, though: weekend! (Well, a little more work to do, but then.)

And because things are always better with cat pictures, here's one for you. Poor cat must have felt very dirty!

There've been a few things popping up that I find interesting enough to link them here - even though some of it is in German. You'll cope!

First of all, a video about Germany's last wire weaving workshop. It's very short, and it shows a huge loom right at the start, weaving... wire. 

The second item actually, sort of, potentially also concerns the shop: The Bundeskartellamt (the state's Antitrust Division) has started investigations against Paypal. (English version of that report here. I'm impressed there is one.) Their prices are fairly high for taking payments, and they might be abusing their dominant position. I'm utterly delighted about this, because I have read all their clauses, and they are very, very restrictive in what you are allowed to do as a company using them as payment venue. However... these days, with people from different countries ordering stuff online, and lots of people really appreciating paypal for its convenience and ease of use, it's a rather hard choice to not offer it as a payment option. I get the delight in using paypal as a customer, by the way - it's quick, it's easy, you get the goods right away, and it costs you nothing as a private customer. Well, at least not in a way that you will notice easily, because of course, costs for the payment will be priced in somewhere.

And then a very interesting German-language blog entry from the Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen - about the comic "Legenden aus Hamsterland" - which is a very right-wing comic, using elements from Early Medieval culture for the usual right-wing shitbrainy stuff. 

Finally, in English: An open access article about the possibility of some early calendarial notations in cave paintings... An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar. I'm not completely convinced, but it's certainly an interesting hypothesis!

The obligatory yummy things have all been baked, there's been tea and spiced hot apple juice and Currywurst with fries at the "Historic Christmas Market"; the last invoices for the year have been written and the last packages are getting sent out.

A few last bits and bobs are to do, and then it's time for the winter break here - some relaxing, some seeing friends and family, and some clandestine behind-the-scenes work before the next year starts, and new adventures beckon. It's nice to slow down when everything else outside is slowing down too, all asleep beneath a layer of snow, quietly waiting for the sun to come back in its glory, and for the warmth to return.

And of course, there's the obligatory seasonal picture of the cat with a hat:

I hope you have a nice end of the year, whether you celebrate something or not - with a bit of time to wind down and enjoy a slower pace, and with a bit of time to do things you enjoy and have people around you that you love. 

The blog and shop will be on winter break until January 16 - when I'll be back with more cat pictures, more ramblings, and of course my eternal lists of things to do that are way too long for the time there is...

The tablet weaving workshop is in March in the Fränkische Schweiz-Museum Tüchersfeld, on Friday 3 to Sunday 5. We'll cover tablet weaving from the basics to free pattern weaving with diagonals - and in some cases, participants in this course even proceeded on to the basics of 3:1 broken twill weaving, also without a pattern.  

The workshop can be booked via the museum website; the price includes materials and lunch on Saturday and Sunday.