Weaving in Wales

Here is a 'Finished Object' that I finished this morning. It only took me three days total to make it. It was made by 'Soda Straw Weaving.'

On the way back to our cottage after visiting Bodnant Garden near Conwy, Wales, Kara wanted to stop at the woollen mill we had seen signs for along the road. Or maybe this is one she had read about or seen on a DVD before going to the UK? I'm not sure. Either way, we drove until we found the tiny little town in which it is located. I wish we had arrived a couple hours earlier, and I wish we could have spent at least two more hours at Trefriw Woollen Mills.

We drove right past the mill the first time and ended up turning around on one of those one-point-five-lanes-wide country roads. John was driving and about two miles down the road, on a sharp corner, we saw a gate into a sheep pasture. He quickly turned in, we waited for a couple cars to go past and then he did a great 3 point turn around and away back to Trefriw we went.

This time we saw the big blue sign with the big white 'P' on it before we went past it, and turned down the road to the parking area. The 'parking area' turned out to be a wide grassy area along the fence of another sheep pasture. We drove until we found a nice area and parked.

It was a little more than an hour before closing time so the tours were over and the weaving looms had mostly been turned off. However, we started at the beginning and walked our way through the exhibit.

We started in the wool shed where we could see piles of sheep wool that had recently been sheared off a lot of sheep. For me, the smell was a little overpowering. Sheep. Lots of sheep. Stinky sheep. Previously occupying a smallish shed. I walked through that part pretty quick and into the area where they prepare the wool for dyeing. I was very surprised to learn that they soak the wool bats in a huge vat of hydrogen peroxide for something like 18 hours before it finally goes to be spun and dyed. Very interesting indeed!

After leaving that room, we climbed up some steep steel steps on the outside of the main building to the second floor. The second floor, if I remember correctly, was the area where the wool was carded and prepared for spinning. On the third floor, a young man was busy working a huge spinning machine, making a lot of spools of yarn at one time. If you click on the gallery photos, both directions, on the About Us page, you can see a photo of this.

It was fascinating to all of us, except maybe Stirling. The whole process was fairly noisy and he seemed to be a little overwhelmed at times.

After leaving there, we went down another set of stairs to the area where the wool is woven (everything there was shut down) and out to see where the turbine was working in the creek. From there - food! Of course. :):) We went into the little tearoom and ate some traditional Welsh carbohydrates - I'm not sure what we had - scones, bara brith or something else. Kara and John bought one thing and Mel and I bought another. Whatever they both were, they were tasty.

From the tearoom into the shop. This took the longest amount of time. Since there was nothing in there that would fit me, and it was all out of our budget to start with, after looking around awhile I went over to the little building next door.

Now this was the place I wanted to be! On both sides of the long path up to the door a profusion of flowers, herbs and other plants were growing and blooming. Each plant was labeled with both the name and the color dye it produces. Fascinating! Inside a woman sat at a spinning wheel busily spinning yarn. The shop was full of yarn which had been dyed by the plants/flowers outside as well as samples of chemically dyed wool. The woman (I wish I had asked her name!) had woven several items that were hanging on the walls, most of which were for sale. There were all sorts of other weaving and knitting things for sale in there as well. A tiny little shop packed full of some of my favorite things to play around with! I wish I could have spent more time...

One thing that caught my attention was a little thing called a Peg Loom. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to work, but the public was welcome to work on it if we so desired. I looked at it a bit but then left since I was concerned that maybe every one else was waiting for me. Nope. Everyone was still in the shop.

Poor Stirling was bored out of his mind. Fortunately there was a wonderful sheepskin rug he could wallow around on, plus 4 or 5 very soft and furry sheep dogs to play with (stuffed, not real!). I think we probably should have bought one after he spent so much time playing with it... I felt a little guilty.

I wandered over to the knitting corner where you could buy yarn and other goodies. Lo and behold, there was a peg loom for sale! Expensive! Out of my league at $40 for 6 little pegs on a block of wood. But I examined it with care to see how it was made just in case I can get someone to make one for me here in Ukraine. Then, much to my delight, I noticed the books for sale (how could it take me so long to notice books?). Right there on the racks were two booklets that I decided immediately to buy. 'Making the most of your Peg Loom' explains in detail how to do what I looked at in the little building where the woman was weaving.

And yes, they cost 3 Pounds each, which at the current exchange rate, was a whopping $6 for each booklet. It was not fun paying double the amount listed on everything!! (Yes, we exchanged for Pounds - but for every $100 we exchanged, we would only get 50 Pounds in return. OUCH!!!) However, I think in the long run they are both worth the money, and from what I read inside, the selling of both the booklets and the above mentioned looms (and weaving sticks as well) actually bring income in for at least two or three people. So - we contributed to the economy of Wales. By the way, I just love that little red dragon, the symbol of Wales!

Now, back to the first photo of my finished object, the scarf. I read both booklets through a couple times. When we got back to Ukraine, I got on the internet to look up more information and found something that uses the same process as the weaving sticks but uses soda straws instead of wooden sticks. I don't happen to have a set of weaving sticks, but I do happen to have a big package of straws that a team left here a couple years ago! I reread the booklet, reread the internet site, got out the straws, some buttons, the yarn and got busy.

Quick, easy, simple design and very warm as the end product (using acrylic yarn) is nice and thick.

I'm going to do this handicraft again!

Someday I hope we can go back to Wales and visit a woollen mill earlier in the day and watch the whole process in operation. Someday I would like to have my own spinning wheel. Someday ... I will have time to do all the things I want to do!