Well winter is well and truly here.Darkness has set in and I know this because I have had to buy a 'dawn simulator' alarm clock, which wakes me by slowing lighting my room with all the power of an artificial sun. The cold, dark, long, lonely nights (okay not so lonely given the delightful presence of J and the hounds!) have reawakened my desire to deck myself in wool and wile away the hours click click clicking on some knitting needles. And yes Dr Kylie, the first thing I decided to knit was my very first sock!
A lovely Spanish girl and fellow GM crop researcher and activist who is currently visiting my research centre for 3 months, Miss Rosa, kindly offered to be my guide. She is in the process of knitting socks and many other wonderful things herself. In honour of the birth of my first sock, on sunday we decided to celebrate in style and visit an old knitting factory on a fjord in Salhus - about half an hour bus ride out of Bergen.
So glad we did! Very interesting! And surprisingly beautiful! For someone who had never visited a textile factory before, it was completely fascinating! I was intrigued by the cold metal of the machine against the soft supple touch of the wool. I was fascinated by the complexity of the whole process from sheep to sweater. I was amazed by the scale of the operation. I was amazed by the speed of the operation. Humbled in my own little struggle to create a single baby sock. Pondering the difference between mechanical precision and the art of the handicraft.
In this first installment, I send you some pics from the bottom floor. The start of the factory process. ..The 'men's work' floor, where the wool was combed and spun onto massive bobbins.
In it goes...
The combing cogs in natural colour
The machine that places the wool on the arm length bobbins...
Like I said, the boys floor of the factory...
Next time...I will take you to the spinning room - are you excited yet?? xxx
4 comments:
Hi Sis, Did you ask where they got the wool from and what micron they normally use. I would assume that it would be a blend of a coarse and a fine to reduce costs. Cheers Garth
Dude, that's pretty cool! :)
Eagerly awaiting the next next installment!!
And I'm remembering your first baby hat as well... :) Did I ever tell you? That hat is now warming the head of the newest Sivak, Maisy Blue... :)
Hugs til soon, xx Leda.
awesome! i too would be interested in hearing what wool they are using, probably not merino no...and WOOHOO on the sock knitting front. i swear, its addictive! looking forward to seeing first pics, and im very glad you have found some knitterly lerve over there. but the 'dawn simulator'? ...thats a bit of a worry tho. ps applied for a postdoc at UWS today. nervous now :)
I did actually ask about the wool and what I found out was that it was all from local farms, brought in on a ship along the fjord! It was probably the local breed of sheep which is some crazy massive wild beast that can survive outside through winter, vilsau or something like that... Will make next installment on weekend! xxx
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