Since 2014 I have had an experimental flax patch of around 1 square meter. The sole purpose of the patch has been to learn about flax husbandry and preparation. The results have varied in quality. I have said to myself that I will spin my flax when I think the quality is good enough or when I think I deserve to. This year I will stop procrastinating and start spinning. I have a flax plan!
The experimental flax patch
My first year wasn’t really part of the experiment, at least not when I started. I bought some flax seeds to grow as a companion plant for carrots and potatoes. As the season turned I decided to harvest the flax and go through all the processing steps. My tools were less than ideal – a rock for brake and a spatula for scutching. I did get a hackle, though! I used a pillowcase and a rolling pin to ripple the seeds (a method I have used until last season when I build a ripple myself).
Rippling without a ripple 
Processed flax of 2016
Through the years I have sometimes processed my tiny flax harvest at Skansen open air museum. I have also got hold of all the tools – brake, scutching board and scutching knives, a fine hackle and a flax brush, plus the ripple I built.
My flax break is from 1821. 
The seed ripple I made in 2020 
Processed flax from my experimental flax patch 2014–2019.
The resulting bundles of processed flax through the years have been of very varying quality. But I have learned something new every year, just as I intended.
One square meter of flax
Last year, Västra Götaland region in Sweden started the project 1kvmlin, one square meter of flax. Anyone in the region could, to no charge, get a bag of flax seeds enough for one square meter. In a Facebook group the participants could learn from each other. I think there were also flax processing workshops. The project was a success. This year all regions in Sweden participated. I planted my patch this week and I might plant another square meter in our allotment.
The experimental flax patch in July. 
I harvest my flax when the stalks are yellow up to 2/3 of their height.
I love the community feeling of a project like this. Individuals, schools, organizations and others get involved in an activity that once was an industry that thrived and, sadly, died.
A flax plan
Through the years I have saved my processed flax and put it away. I have told myself that I would spin it when the quality was good enough. But how would I know that unless I tried? So many people all over Sweden are trying this, with far less experience than I have. So I’m jumping in now, extending my experimental flax patch to experimental flax spinning. My flax plan this summer is to spin.
Other flax sources
I have spun flax before, just not my own. I bought one kilo of processed flax from Växbo lin, a linen weaving mill situated in an area with a very long flax and linen tradition. The flax they use, though comes from France and Belgium. The Swedish flax industry died in the late 19th century due to import of cotton.
I do have flax that was processed in Sweden, though. My brother’s mother-in-law Birgitta was brought up in the heart of one of the the traditional flax regions in Sweden. Her grandparents grew flax and sent it for processing. She has saved it and recently asked if I wanted it. When she first asked me I didn’t know the story of her flax. I remembered all the unspun flax I had an declined her kind offer. When she told me the story and that it was old flax from her childhood home I immediately changed my mind. This was a true treasure.
In the scutching mill the water drives a wheel with scutching knives. A person puts the flax over a beam and lets the scutching wheel scutch the flax. 
Mill processed flax from somewhere between 1943 and 1953.
The processing mill Birgitta mentioned was active between 1943 and 1953, so The flax from her grandparents’ home must have been processed at this time. Birgitta doesn’t spin herself, but she has woven from the flax from her childhood home. She remembers her grandmother spinning.
Summer plans
So, my plan is to spin flax this summer. As many of you know there is a lot of dust involved when spinning flax and I don’t want to subject myself to that. Therefore I will only spin it outdoors, which leaves summer to spin. Our terrace is the place I flee to in the afternoon when it gets too hot for me in the sun in the front of the house.
If I get the courage I will also spin the tow. I have no experience with this, so my plan is to create my own experience. You’ve got to start somewhere. These are sentences I tell my students and it’s time I listen to the teacher.
Flax videos
In the video Spinning flax on a spindle I show you how I prepare the processed flax for the distaff and how I spin it on an in-hand spindle. For some odd reason this is by far my most watched video. There is also a lovely video where I process my flax at Skansen open air museum.
Flax blog posts
The easiest way to find earlier blog posts about flax is to use the search field and type flax. Below are some of my favourite flax posts.
- Harvest day in the experimental flax patch with some beautiful photos.
- Spinning flax on a spindle with written tips on how to dress the distaff and spin flax on an in-hand spindle.
- The basics of flax processing.
- A basic guide on flax retting and how to see if the retting is finished.
- Flax Day, which I spent with my friend Cecilia at Skansen open air museum
- A request from a follower of a flax timeline. A good checklist with signs to look for during the planting and processing.
- Flax brush, a lovely tool for finishing the flax just before you dress the distaff.
- Distaff pins, made by my grandfather to her mother.
- Flax processing at home, last year’s processing was the first I dod with only my own tools.
A flax brush is traditionally made with hog bristle. The bristles were usually bundled together at the end and tied with waxed linen thread for a handle and painted with a mixture of tar and resin. 
Helena Myhrman, Sollefteå, Ångermanland is brushing her flax with a brush similar to mine. 
Distaff pin made by my grandfather to his mother Berta.
Happy spinning!
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I’m looking forward to seeing your progress on this. This is my summer for cotton!
Ooh, lovely!
Josefin, du är så härlig, jag följer dig gärna. Själv är jag nybörjare i spånad och har bara börjat inlärningskurvan. Men, i år gör jag som du, tar tag i linet som jag odlat inom projektet ”1 kvm lin”. Förra årets skörd håller jag på att bereda, nästa steg är att fästa fibern och börja spinna. Tillsammans ska vi nog komma på hur man gör, och orka ta oss i mål! Jag hänger på dig! Tack för din inspiration och kunskap som du så fint presenterar gör oss andra som vill lära sig. Mvh Jasmine
Hurra för linutmaningar! Jag spinner köpelin just nu och lär mig nya saker för varje drag jag gör – hur jag ska förbereda linet innan jag fäster det på linfästet, hur jag ska fästa det på fästet, hur jag behöver vrida fästet för att få med allt och när det sista linet är för kort. Fast mest har jag nog lärt mig att jag ska ta pauser… När köpelinet är färdigspunnet får jag börja med mitt egenodlade.