{"id":11238,"date":"2024-09-14T07:38:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-14T05:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=11238"},"modified":"2024-09-13T18:39:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T16:39:00","slug":"flax-retting-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/flax-retting-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Flax retting success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last weekend offered the perfect weather to process my flax. I had water retted it in a kiddy pool like I did last year and it had dried, got rained on and dried again a few times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throug all my 11 years of growing an experimental flax patch I realize I have underretted it. It became particularly apparent last year, when my beautiful and plentiful harvest resulted in one thin strick of hackled flax. The quality was better than any I had managed before, but the yield was saddening. This year I stretched out of my comfort zone and aimed for a higher degree of retting. It was a nervous endeavour since I knew that overretting ruins the whole harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I planted the seeds in early May, with the seed variety Nathalie. I had quite a bit from an earlier seed harvest, and I topped it up with a bag from a local flax husbandry society. This year I grew my flax in two small beds in my community garden allotment, of a total of around 2 square meters. The plants grew tall and even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even if all the steps of the process from soil management to hackling are vital, retting is the one that can really make or break the whole harvest. Previous years I have dew retted and been anxious that someone would step on the neatly spread plants on the lawn. That may be the reason it has been underretted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n
After harvesting I dry my flax and ripple the seeds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was my second year of water retting. After the harvest I dried the flax in merry little bundles by length. Last year I remember it rained a lot in August, but this year it was sunny and warm and my flax dried in just a few days, which made it possible to ret it earlier when it was warmer outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bundles<\/figure>\n
I build a fake stream to water ret my flax. By placing the bundles in a kiddy pool and changing one bucketful of water every day I simulate a moving body of water. The retting losens the glue so the fibers can be separated from the cellulose core. Once the flax is properly retted (8 days this season) I dry it again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just as last year I water retted it<\/a> by making a fake stream with a kiddy pool and daily bucketfuls of fresh water. I was very brave and waited longer this year, I knew I had some retting degree to spare before it would be ruined. And I was right! On day 8 of retting I decided I was done, the fibers loosened smoother from the stems than they had in previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breaking and scutching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was fascinating to break this flax. The fibers loosened so easily from the core and the pile of core waste underneath my brake was bigger than ever before. As I worked the break handle up and down, my smart watch asked if I wanted to register indoor running. I declined. Through the breaking alone I could see much more of the bare fibers than I could previous years and I knew this was a good sign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Bundles<\/figure>\n
I use the break to break the cellulose core around which the fibers are arranged.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same thing happened in the scutching \u2013 pieces of cellulose core flew wildly in the air as I scutched away. I managed to remove a lot more than I have previous years, and with less effort. The repetitive movements did get me bilisters though, since I forgot to remove my rings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
I scutch the broken flax to remove as much as I can of the bits of cellulose core. The skirt is second hand and eco printed with leaves of grape, Japanese maple, alder, cherry, oak and willow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hackling and brushing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hackling went smoother too, with less effort and more yield than I usually get. I hackled on our balcony on the last day of summer. Meanwhile, I listened to an audiobook and suddenly all the flax had gone through both rough and fine hackle. As I stood there, hackling and swinging the bundle for the next turn, I smelled something anisy. When I turned around I noticed the fennel plants I had been swinging the flax into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
With two hackles (the finest here) I align the fibers and remove the shortest bits. The flax brush is the final touch that brings out the true shine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The finishing touch was the flax brush<\/a>, a traditional tool from \u00c5ngermanland in Sweden, to smooth down the fibers and bring out that extra shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ended up with 106 grams of very high quality flax \u2013 long, fine, smooth and with only a few pieces of cellulose left. The shorter strick is the shorter fibers I got from a second hackling of the waste. I want to spin this outdoors, so I guess it will be a project for next summer, when the new flax grows in the 2025 experimental flax patch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The quality this year was remarkable! Not my biggest yield (that was 2022 with 136 grams, this year 106), but the softest and best retted.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The day after I had hackled my flax, autumn came. The heat had calmed down and rain poured all day. When I went grocery shopping and put on my jacket for the first time in months, I felt something small and smooth in my pocket. It was some flax seeds that must have escaped from the seed bag when I planted them back in May. I smiled and thanked them for their gifts. In my home office window a bowl is filled to the brim with seed capsules, waiting for their turn to grow gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my instagram<\/a> you can see a reel where I process this year’s flax harvest.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy spinning!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find me in several social media:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n