*Note: I wanted to add more photos to this post, but not only can I not embed Instagram posts, I’m now having issues uploading files to the Media Gallery on WordPress. This is already quite late so I’m posting it as is. I was able to place one picture in this post before I started having problems, so at least there is that.
**Another note 11/2: I can’t get Instagram to work still, but I can upload images to WordPress again, so I added in a picture.
I’m writing this quite late this week. My insomnia has been been keeping me up till at least 4 in the morning and there were at least three days I fell asleep after 6:00am. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have a fixed schedule.
I received a book in the mail last week that I find fascinating called Ancient Textiles: Production, Craft, and Society. It’s one of the titles Professor Krotscheck recommended to me but it isn’t available at the library. I found the table of contents online and I found it interesting enough that I decided to buy it. Reading through it, while I found most of it personally fascinating, the chapters involving Greece are discussing textiles of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, which is a bit earlier than what I’m studying (but time periods that I would like to study more in-depth one day).
The book is still filled with interesting things and it’s a treasure trove of sources with the bibliographies. And while the Minoan civilization was considered ancient to the ancient Greeks, with the Bronze Age ending around 1200 BCE , it’s not a stretch to believe that something of the Minoans survived in the culture of the ancient Greeks. So if the Minoans used alum as a probable mordant in their textiles (and many places in the world do), the ancient Greeks probably did as well . Actually, I found an interesting description of something called “Phrygian stone” that details a process that has alum repeatedly roasted and then quenched in sweet wine. When one wishes to dye with it, they crumble the Phrygian stone into pieces and boil it in water. They submerge wool into the solution and let it cool, then mix in algae and wash in sea water. This process should give the ever-precious color purple . I am honestly quite tempted to try this. I just need a blow torch.
Like I said, I find the book fascinating. It doesn’t tell me much about clothing, though. It also focus more on cloth production on a grander scale, while I’m hoping to find more information on cloth production that takes place in the home. I found some more titles on ancient Greek clothing this week and I think the books are at the library waiting for me as I write this. Once I grab those books and pour over them, I’ll actually write more about the chiton, the garment my project revolves around.
Besides reading, I combed more fleece. I’ve gone through nearly half of the fleece by now, which is not where I had hoped I would be. I started spinning this week and I’ll take turns going between spinning and combing. My arms will thank me, I’m sure.
