(original subject line: “Wool types and Colors”)
Q: What type of wool is period (worsted, twill, flannel, etc.)?
A#1: The museum of London book, “textiles and
clothing” I am told discusses this topic, but with major references to the 13 and
14th centuries and somewhat scanty
references to the 12th. Still, it may have the odd example of 12thC stuff, and even so, many 13th C trends will hold
true for the 12th Century.
~ Teffania Tukerton / Tiffany Brown
Message #888, March 9, 2003
A#2: From what I have seen in the archaeological
record and through
documents about the textile industry, I think that the heavily fulled woolens that were so popular in the 14th and
15th centuries were not common in the
12th. There is an article entitled “12th Century Twills from Bergen, Norway” by Ellen Schjelberg
that is in Textiles in European
Archaeology by Lise Bender Jorgensen and Christine Rinaldo, Goteborg, 1988 (better known as NESAT VI) that
discusses 671 textile finds from the 2nd
half of the 12th century. 95% of the finds are twills. The yarn of most are “elegant worsteds, rather stiff,
shiny, and more or less warp-faced”
(Schjelberg, p. 209). There are no examples
of firm felting, except for some shaggy pieces the author feels were probably re-used for brushing.
The author thinks that these many of these
textiles were imported, probably from
East Norfolk which in the 13th century had a well-established worsted industry. There are more weaving
and spinning details in the article, but
that’s the gist of it.
~ Margret / Becky Day
Message #890, March 10, 2003
A#3: Speaking as a spinner, I would say
that worsted to semi worsted yarn would be more common in that period. I am not sure if
cards, which tend to produce woolen to
semi worsted yarn, started becoming more common in the 12th or 13th century. I think the later date. It
is, I think, a technology issue; it is
easier to build combs than to draw the fine wires needed to make cards. Either twills or plain weave should be
acceptable. Both styles of weave can be done on
either a warp weighted loom or the
horizontal floor loom. The floor loom was, I understand, more common in the 12th century. I am not sure on
flannels although I believe that would be
appropriate as well. I am not at all aware of the archeological evidence on the fabrics themselves in
the 12th century. I am inferring from a
rough knowledge of when the technologies were introduced and some reports of evidence that I have seen from Viking
era digs in Scandinavia.
~ Aela / Susan Tillery
Message #891, March 10, 2003