You Done Done Your Udones.
In a sort-of continuance of La’s post yesterday:
Specs:
Pattern: Udones: plain old toe-up in garter stitch; 60% heel
Yarn: hand spun romney
Needles: US 4
Notes: felted when finished
My March UFO Resurrection Project is done. Can I get a yee haw? Yes, we were knitting similar socks for different people attending the same event.
I began these socks at Distaff Day 2006. Wait, let’s back up a second. I began knitting them at Distaff Day 2006. If I wanted to be technical-and apparently I do-I’d have to say I really began them at the now defunct Long Beach Renaissance Fair in 2004. That’s when I began drop spinning the yarn in an attempt to do something period-correct at an ancient roman encampment since I couldn’t knit.
For people who end up at our site from researching Roman udones, [ew-dough-nays] Here are some links I found during my research and some thoughts about history and technique [putting aside La's reference in yesterday's post, because I don't have the information she alluded to.] First, though I can’t directly link to the vindolanda tablets online, there is a paragraph where a parent is writing about sending socks and underwear to her soldier at the front, just to answer the question of whether they even had socks. The socks that have been found from the period were either wool cloth cut on the bias and sewn [and I suspect this is actually an example of that, though many will disagree.] Or done with a technique we now call naalbinding. I’ve tried naalbinding and I confess that I’m way, WAY too lazy. I admire you crazies who do it, though. There’s been a lot of argument and back-and-forth regarding the manufacture of period looking socks for roman re-enactors. Please keep in mind that when you are reading some of these threads and links that the term “knitting” is applied arbitrarily. Even the V&A has identified ancient egyptian socks as “knitted” and then goes on to describe the technique as being done with one needle. One needle is naalbinding, not knitting as we know it. In that last link, you will see a close up of naalbinding that looks for all the world like knitting. So the next natural question is: why not knit them? The best advice of someone who actually knows what she’s talking about is that if you aren’t going to do it right, then you can knit garter stitch socks and felt them to obscure the fact that they’re knitted, leaving enough texture to convey the feeling of naalbinding socks.
My husband has a serious and scholarly interest in roman shoes and footwear, so having the proper socks to go with them is important. [yes, that's me playing a board game with him on the home page, so you can skip the picture pleas.] Important enough for me to hand spin the yarn for them and knit them and then felt them, but not important enough for me to actually manufacture them with proper technique, I suppose. At any rate, I had 2/3 of the first sock done and I had to finish spinning the wool so I could knit the 2nd one. The most surprising thing about this resurrection was not the fact that if you don’t make notes about how you constructed a sock and then a year+ later you try to match it, you’re going to have issues. Nor was it that I would never be able to match the previously spun yarn for them. The most surprising thing was that the yarn I spun to finish these was the best, nicest yarn I have ever spun and I was aiming for slubby, shitty yarn like I had done the first time. The newest batch was soft, springy and balanced. I truly don’t know what happened, but I wish I had enough for a sweater for me. I’d also like to state for the record that while La hated her socks, these were very fast for me and not terrible at all. I think it’s because I knit mine at such a large gauge, probably. Even factoring in the spinning, they were reasonably painless. And by the way, Happy Birthday, Jared! I hope your present keeps your feet warm and dry this weekend.
Now that I’ve gotten that little dissertation out of the way, I can get back to this:
Which looks like every kind of seed in the world, and yet there are important things missing. Like soybeans. And dye plants. Anyone got a good source for dye plant seeds? I’ll also accept ideas for cat repellent.
