Canvas & PETA

The pressure is on. I feel like I have nothing textile-worthy to talk about this week. I knit for a total of 2 hours and spun yarn for about 10 minutes. I think much more about doing than I actually get to do.

For instance, my husband asked me about canvas. What is it exactly, how it’s made, what it’s made from? OMG! Hand spun yarn to make sails for British sailing ships like those described in the Horatio Hornblower series by C. S. Forrester?!? 

I go into a long explanation of hand spun linen and hemp and plain weave structure; all the while imagining how big a sail is and how much sail every ship carried as its own island of life on the huge ocean. A serious amount of yarn and fabric. OMG! The labor involved, the number of hands working. We cannot imagine the amount of handwork people had to perform just to survive daily life.

How long would it take you to spin enough yarn to weave a sail for a ship?

How long would it take to weave enough cloth to make the sail?

How long would it take to spin enough yarn to weave enough velvet fabric for a medieval gown?

Where does the cashew nut come from?

Who first saw rotted flax stalks and said, “Look, there are long thin fibers inside. Hmmm, I wonder if I twist them what will happen?”

Our clothes these days are easily and inexpensively accessible. Grocery stores and department stores carry everything we need on a daily basis. Do we really appreciate the process of getting product from plant or animal sources? I’m not sure, as a society, we do anymore.

I like the connection I feel when I spin. I feel connected to the countless women and men throughout time that labored to spin yarn for their ONE shirt, ONE pair of pants or skirt, ONE towel. What do I have in my closet? I have dozens of towels. All different sizes and colors. I’m seriously wealthy in comparison to my time lost compatriot. Nevertheless, I feel connected. 

Just think, if humans had not figured out how to twist fiber, we would still be wearing skins and furs. How would PETA feel about that?