According to House of Scotland.org “Fulling, milling, or waulking of home-made cloth for household use was carried out in Gaelic Scotland by pounding the material against a board or trampling it with the feet. The techniques are of great antiquity and were also used elsewhere, but they happened to survive in the Hebrides into the twentieth century. The process of waulking is called luadh (“loo-ugh”) in Gaelic, and the songs of waulking are known as orain luaidh (“or-ine loo-ie”).” (see more about waulking at House Of Scotland )
Apparently there are many songs, but the “beat” remains nearly identical for the best result, a fabric fulled, allowing for the drape needed in a Tartan, so not felted but with a fabric provide warmth by keeping out the wind and provide protection from wet weather.
Below is a clip of the wonderful teacher of weaving and weaving traditions Norman Kennedy leading a Waulking at the John C Campbell Folk School several years ago. I was lucky enough to observe when he led a group at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in the past.
There is NEVER any excuse for creating a atmosphere of hate and intolerance and most assuredly not one that leads to violence.
Nor can we solve today’s problems by turning the other cheek.
It is no secret that I was raised “Terminally Catholic” – Roman and Orthodox with all the twists an turns an ethnically diverse city and neighborhood can provide.
Certainly the “dark” part of the Catholic history be denied, fortunately we were taught that the inquisition, the crusades and the treatment of the “natives” were more about the flaws of man, than the evil of any religion.
It was the LEARNING about not only the differences but also what we had in common that made a huge difference. Maybe I was just lucky, but I remember the Dominican Nuns who made subtle note of the traditions of every child in their classes – we learned about the cultural traditions of the Irish, Scots, Polish, Ukrainian, Italian, Hispanic (Cuban and Puerto Rican mostly) and of course especially about their unique celebrations of our common religion and yes our common neighborhood (we all walked to school and most lived close enough to walk home for lunch)
Our Neighbors included wonderful examples of their faiths including a Baptist Minister and his family on one side and an elder in his church and his wife who taught me to Crochet at the age of five. Mrs E also will forever be remembered as the Cookie Lady by all who grew up in that neighborhood, largely Roman Catholic but with a diversity in ethnicity, blended into good neighbors.
Looking back, it is obvious the willingness to allow other to hold opposing views comes from the grounding in tolerance provided by my parents and my teachers, and more than a little by the diversity of my “block”.
No question we were also taught that others were misguided in their beliefs, we were never taught to think of them as evil or that those who did not agree should be subjected to torture or worse.
Nor, should we be tolerant of any entity which preaches hatred and murder.
We must take and all appropriate action to protect our citizens at home and abroad. There is no excuse not to do so.
Still, Arizona is right – teaching Comparative Religion could well be a first step to restablishing real tolerance – The United States of America is a nation that was made strong by taking our differences and blending them into a whole while respecting the rights of others to have some different beliefs.
We need to find a way back to creating commonality respectful of ethinicity, but at the same time sharing a “new” culture and language if we seek that
Ever since finding the Pony Double Ended Crochet hooks, about two years ago, I have been using experimenting with them for knitting – thinking this might be good for kids (and grown ups) to help in learning knit techniques.
When I started tripping over reference to Portuguese Knitting and its use of crochet hooks, naturally I got curious but then and now, there just never are enough hours in the day to “research”.
Recently Abby wrote about Andean spinning and that reminded me of how often I wished I could ask her Dad, Ed Franquemont about this. He was such a fountain of historical information – usually with good data to back it up.
Well, the last few weeks, it seems I am on something of a tear attempting to find more info about “Portuguese Knitting” which seems to share some technique with the Andean poeples as well.
What I have been able to find “so far”, mostly surmised from YouTube Videos, vagure memories of watching Ed Franquemont showing some “Incan” knitting and pictures in a few books, is that some how yarn is tension either by wearing the skein like a necklace, or using a pin on one’s shoulder. (See the picture of Andrea Wong here
Thus the yarn is between you and the work “most of the time”. And the yarn is manipulated to form the stitches, using your thumb in a seemingly very efficient manner. BTW, if you are a “visual” learner, then you may just find that the YouTubes with the voice over being in Portuguese to be the most helpful/clear.
Although many have suggested Andean & Portuguese are the same, so far only “Portuguese” knitting seems to use crochet hooks and at least one of the more esoteric suppliers of fiber art tools, sells these needles – hook on one end, point on the other in a limited variety of sizes, in sets of four or five per size – suggesting use for in the round type project.
I have been told that
Andrea Wong’s Video is an excellent resource, but unhappily it will not play in any of our machines.
Several have suggested I might find more information in the out of print book, Andean Folk Knitting: Traditions and Techniques from Peru and Bolivia. by Cynthia Gravelle Lecount, ISBN: 0932394078, but so far I have not been able to find an affordable copy and/or library that has it.
I was able to find lots of sources for Marasha Lewandowski’s
Andean Folk Knits: Great Designs…
So Abby, (or anyone else) I’d love to hear from you – Or should I just resign myself, accept I can knit with crochet hooks and will never know the history
It is the VETERAN’s who have honored their country since 1776 with their service.
Today, Veteran’s Day is when we celebrate on this anniversary of the first Armistice day, the end of World War I, whose peace became official on on November 11 at 11am – thus the 11/11/11
They are our grandfathers, our fathers, our brother and uncles, our mothers, our sisters and aunts, and all our family of friends – we have honor this day
May we always
Remember
It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the VETERAN, not the courts
who has given us the right to keep and bear arms
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the VETERAN, who salutes the Flag,
and serves under the flag.
There are many ways we can honor those who served, but may we never leave our Veteran’s standing alone.
Did you know the USPS had noticed that “In recent years, knitting has become quite popular again, both in the United States and internationally.” So has created some Knit Stamps for the 2007 Holiday Season?
YARNandTHREAD folks just gotta love these, they may have been machine knit, but using the High Res images that can be downloaded will allow any Yarn minded Philatelicists to hand knit, tapestry crochet or use duplicate stitch to create make these for your holiday decorations
Not a YARNandTHREAD person? Well think about cute little miniature ornaments for in Counted Thread, a graph is a graph – Peyote Stitch Earrings, thread, yarn, its all just string – some is just lumpier than others….
So many possiblities, so little time…. guess I will just have to go research the applicable fair use to avoid any copy right issues.
Almost enough to make me think about starting to address those Christmas greeting cards early or at least on time this year or quick gifts or…..
House of Scotland.org “Fulling, milling, or waulking of home-made cloth for household use was carried out in Gaelic Scotland by pounding the material against a board or trampling it with the feet. The techniques are of great antiquity and were also used elsewhere, but they happened to survive in the Hebrides into the twentieth century. The process of waulking is called luadh (“loo-ugh”) in Gaelic, and the songs of waulking are known as orain luaidh (“or-ine loo-ie”).” (see more about waulking at House Of Scotland )
Apparently there are many songs, but the “beat” remains nearly identical for the best result, a fabric fulled, allowing for the drape needed in a Tartan, so not felted but with a fabric provide warmth by keeping out the wind and provide protection from wet weather. 
