Woolley Wonders

Sheep to Shawl Weekend at Joseph Schneider Haus

I thought it might be nice if I posted a few pictures from May 4 and 5th since these are the types of things that fill my weekend endeavours when I am not researching, writing or teaching. I love living history interpretation for its sense of seasonality--what is interpreted is what [potentially] could/would have been done at any particular time of the year.

If this sounds confusing, look at it this way: today, in the 21st century we are pampered and spoiled insofar as we can buy just about any fresh produce we want to in the stores--regardless of whether or not it is in season e.g. strawberries, lettuce or tomatoes are now available in the store all year round. They are NOT available out of our northern gardens in the winter as many of our gardens are covered in snow! You get the idea.

This past weekend at the museum, Joseph Schneider Haus, we hosted a spinning and weaving competition with local guild members and as staff, we were busy with other seasonal pursuits: shearing sheep (well we didn't do that but had guest farmers in who did), processing fleece into wool and even baking some cookies! The weather was absolutely spectacular!

Once the sheep arrived, it was time to get the shearing underway:

I am told that the best way to shear a sheep is to put it into a sitting position. This way there is more control for the person shearing and less chance of a mishap for the sheep if it tries to wriggle away from the shears.

Mission accomplished!

Hannah and I surveyed the results. A lovely fleece and full of wonderful lanolin. (Surprisingly, also rather "clean" compared to others that I have seen).

I know what to do with this one! I'm taking it home to process....In the meantime, Kyle and some other staff members and Junior Interpreters will process one of the other fleeces that we have.

Picking and carding the wool.....

Elsewhere, in the wash house, spinning wheels were spinning....

And in the hearth of the wash house, a dye bath was bubbling....Nice work!!

Revealed, lovely spring colours, drying in the sun!

In the historic house, I was baking up some sunshine of my own on the woodstove. Sandheart cookies! Yum!

Above, our historic step stove with bake oven visible on the right at the top (the oval door). Step stoves were considered to be quite the innovation from cooking on the floor of an open hearth.

The Joseph Schneider family who once lived on this farm (see previous post) sheared thirty sheep each year. Since the fleece of one sheep provided enough wool to accomodate the clothing needs for one person (and there were ten people living in the house at that time), twenty fleeces could be sold for a small but lucrative profit.