Things I did on the weekend: Relaxed, hung out with friends, pottered a little in the garden, did some sewing on test hose, and dabbled in some website troubleshooting (a friend's page is down, and we're trying to resurrect it).

I've also managed to order the threads for the sprang workshop I will give in June, and am now pondering on whether to do the setup of the sprang threads together with the participants first, or whether to do the setup prep here so they can get started straight away, and learn how to set up the frame towards the end of the workshop. I am currently leaning toward setting up here, but I'm not fully sure yet. Also there's only about 68 or so more rows to go on my Lengberg cap sprang piece, so it does look like I can have it finished soon enough to free up the frame for the workshop. Yay! It also looks like the lower piece will not be as nice and smooth as the upper one, and they will both run longer than the original fairly crazy tight one.

Up next: Finish the test hose, finish the sprang piece, test the new threads for the workshop. Also finish the updates of my webpages (the cms running them does need updating once in a while). 

And I have still not found out whether there will be a possibility to send internationally without registering in every country once the new EU regulations go into place. I will also probably not be the only one wondering, and not knowing for sure. If there is no de minimus threshold (as in "you are so small we won't even bother looking at you"), a lot of vendors will probably stop sending things internationally.

Which means that in case you are in the EU, and you were planning to buy something from a small fry outside your own country but inside the EU - maybe do it now, or at least soon, and do not wait until August, when this new regulation will take hold. 

The little cat has been helping me type this afternoon, softly purring on my desk (and my arm). Sadly I now have an appointment, so I have to pull out my arm once this blog post is done, and leave her all without her support cushion. Poor little kitty.

She is very helpful in general with my work. On this photo you can see her encouraging me to take a little break while cutting the first leg for the test piece in actual size, just to make sure I stay hydrated and have ample time to overthink      *------------++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (these are courtesy of the little cat leaving the desk via the keyboard) my pattern-construction decisions.

In other words, I strongly believe that a lot of textile reconstructions contain a certain percentage of cat hair!

There's currently a lecture series going on at the Uni Bamberg about wood, and they are so very nice to also stream it online - which means that I got to listen in yesterday. It was very interesting, and it showed again how blind one can be regarding things that were really well researched in a different discipline - just because there is no awareness of that research. Case in point: Dendrochronology has its origins in the natural sciences. Looking at the wood pieces also means looking at their shape, though, and at the pegs that can be found in some of them. The pegs are what remains of the method to secure several logs together into a raft, which was very well researched in historical books and works - but it took a good long while for the dendro folks to realise that. Because... well, because they were not aware of that work, and had not yet stumbled across it by chance, or by research.

This phenomenon of missing something entirely that has been a research topic in a different discipline is not that rare, and while it might not always happen so obviously on such a high (basically the system) level, I have seen it again and again happen with individual research things (my own personal ones included). It's a weird feeling and an eye-opener when you find out that there's a whole cosmos already existing.

The lecture fell in wonderfully with a video discussion I had right afterwards where I had the pleasure to discuss a fabric reconstruction in the works. As usual, it's not really easy to get the appropriate yarns, and it makes a difference on whether they are twisted hard or soft, and which loom is used, and which reed, and so on. This also is a fascinating universe on its own, and I always feel like while I am not able to step across the threshold, I do know just enough to stand in the open door and look inside this other world, and stand in awe and wonder.

It is such a privilege to work with colleagues who step out of their way to open that door for me, and share their insights and their process. 

There also is a plan to do a little bit of a write-up and a publication after the project, about some of the aspects - the tool influence (which was nicely visible already), but also the process of getting to such a reconstruction. I'm mostly involved with sourcing the information (including images) about the fabric, sometimes also with the wool threads, but then most of the pondering and evaluation goes to the weaver, and I can happily stand by and enjoy the ride.

(Until the thing is finished and in my hands. Then it's time for chocolate, tea, and some more chocolate to gather enough courage for the cutting... but that is a story for another day.)

Since I have nothing really relevant to blog about today, here's an image of decorative cabbages:

...and that's it. Nothing more to see here today.  

The Most Patient Husband of Them All has surprised me with an explanation for the phrase "pop goes the weasel" which, in turn, had surprised him - and it's an unexpected textile reference! (Well, at least possibly.)

If we go and trust Wikipedia, one of the many explanations is that it references the spinner's weasel, also called a clock reel. There are, of course, some insecurities and other interpretations possible, but, well, it could quite well be that it did come from the clock reel, which makes a noise every X rotations (intended to let you know when a skein was complete, or a part-skein, depending).

Also, I really like clock reels. One day, I'd love to work with one of them, just to try it out.

Is it really Monday already? 

But on the other hand, the weekend saw some nice hanging out, some bouldering, making a new batch of cat food so the furry lady can munch on something different, and some painting of miniatures. Which (the minis) will be seeing the gameboard this evening, if all goes according to plan!

The weekend also included some more puzzling over the Alpirsbach thing making, and I did get some helpful hints from Beatrix Nutz. Including the hint that they should not be called "trousers" but "hose" or, even better, "joined hose".

Eh. Terminology. I do like to complain about textile terminology and its many, many pitfalls and dark corners and its general horrible unreliableness, so it's good to see that at least there's reasons for my complaining! (In Middle High German, "hosen" would be the hose, too, but in modern German they are called "Beinling" and the full garment with everything covered and everything sewn together would be "Hose", in the singular, so of course I was assuming that English would handle it the same way and "trousers" are the full thing while "hose" are the Beinling equivalent. There you go.) 

It's definitely spring here now. How I know? We had the first hedgehog visiting our hedgehog restaurant last night.

Since the untimely appearance of a small hedgehog here last year, in spring, at high noon, and said hedgehog coming back here after having been treated against parasites and gaining some weight, we have a hedgehog feeding station. 

A few days ago, we started putting a little bit of food inside over night in case there'd be a taker. And last night, that was the case. If that doesn't make spring...