Things to look for...

[helwen]

With the recent interest among some local people in Peak Oil prep, becoming more self-reliant, etc., I've been looking at different things like seed catalogs, solar and other alternative energies, etc. Some happily fall into both the self-reliant category and the SCA category, such as growing flax, weaving, pottery, and yes, even feast ware. I have an abiding interest in how things work, including the every day mechanics of having a meal. It's interesting to be coming back to some things I was looking at a few years ago (growing flax) and even more years ago (using less energy/alternative energy).

Today I was considering the possibility of at least handwashing smaller items of clothing. Not prepared for washing sheets, but I already hang dry a number of things, so why not wash those as well? But not wishing to be a slave to the task, I remembered there was a company in PA that sells all sorts of non-powered things, so I went out looking for it. Http://www.lehmans.com

Alas, the best washer will not fit in the budget in the near future, but I'll make a note of it in the list of things I'd like to get. And there's only the two of us, so I think I'll try to do at least some things, to sort of get used to it.

They have all sorts of interesting things in their catalog, Lehman's does. Like long wooden laundry tongs - useful for dyers too! Cast iron, copperware, canners and cookers, old-fashioned steel-cut nails, and the all-important rainbow suspenders (okay, they come in red and navy also).

Comments

[tashabear.livejournal.com]

I like that hand-cranked pressure washer. That'd be so handy at Pennsic!

[baronessmartha.livejournal.com]

try frugal websites and the books "Tightwad Gazette" for ideas on begin self sufficient.

I have a copy of the Tightwad Gazette if you want to read it before you buy it.
I am in CT until the new year though.

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Yes, those are good too. I've heard of the book and fitzw might have a copy -- room to check is currently occupied by Z, so that'll have to wait 'til later. There are a number of frugal web sites out there, which I visit from time to time. Usually about regular householdy things though, not energy stuff. So, perhaps time to re-visit some of them.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

That's one of the reasons I use a laundromat, actually. I get everything done in one relatively short session. I'm seriously considering getting a clothesline for the summer, although that wouldn't work in the winter.

washer/dryer costs/convenience

[helwen.livejournal.com]

The washer/dryer came with the house, so no upfront cost to us there. And our electricity rates will probably not go up with most of the valley's (knock wood), as Holyoke owns a hydroelectric dam and has its own utility company. Nevertheless, the more practice I get at doing things more frugally/environmentally/offgrid/etc., the less it will 'bother' me to do it. Does lead to being more mindful, though. Speaking generically about the U.S., our current lives are predicated on speed and convenience, which on the scale that society demands it, must provided in an inefficient and wasteful manner.

btw, you can dry things on an outdoor line in winter if it's cold enough -- freeze dry :)

[islenskr.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, Lehman's. As I was reading this entry, I was thinking I needed to let you know about them. It's a wonderful shop, though it is a bit commercial-y-er than you might expect in person. I was visiting a friend in Ohio a year or so ago and we drove out to Lehman's (it's in OH, by the way, near Akron). If I had had more money, many, many more things would have come home with me!

Incidentally, if you're ever interested in greenhouses, I found this site (after much research into starting a business...long story):]

http://www.gothicarchgreenhouses.com/woodengreenhouses.html

Did you say you have a loom? Do you ever rent out time/space on it?

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Lucky girl! I don't generally get out to Ohio, so not likely I'll ever be there in person. Unless it's really near where Pennsic is :D

Yes, those are some of the prettiest greenhouses on the market, aren't they? Le sigh. We don't really have a great place to put one here, unfortunately -- unless I read differently in one of the books I just got, anyway. Will probably have to save up for one on the farm.

Rent a loom? Hmm.... how would that work? I know Webs rents looms, got their pamphlet in the mail a week or so ago, so I guess I could check what they charge (and charge less, of course). Did you have a particular timeframe and project in mind? There are three/four harness looms here, altho' I think fitzw's loom will be tied up most of the time. My floor loom does a max of 30" wide and currently has 4 harnesses tied up (could have up to 8). Then there's the table loom, max of 12" wide, same # of harnesses. The "4th" is my toy loom, which I think has a max width of 9", and is a 2-harness. The table loom will at some point this spring become unavailable because of a long-term project, fyi.

[islenskr.livejournal.com]

I checked at Web's for renting looms. They said they didn't do that. Although I'm pretty sure they rent out spinning wheels...Yeah, it is a bit of a stretch to rent space on a loom. I hadn't thought it through. (Now that I read Web's pamphlet, I see you can rent a loom, but only for a course...)
My original thought was to grow some flax this coming Spring/Summer, process it, spin it and then, if possible, weave it into cloth. Then dye it (probably with indigo, but perhaps I'll get decadent and do cochineal), then make something out of it. Of course, I have wild fantasies about weaving several yards (5-10), even though I realize that that would be a LOT of growing and spinning.

However, now I'm thinking it would be really cool to weave handspun wool. Have you done this? I'd really like to pick your brain about all of the above sometime...

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Well, let's just see if the looms are busy by the time you have something you'd like to weave :D

No, I haven't woven handspun anything before. Haven't used a loom in about 20 years, and only started spinning sometime in the last decade. I got the wheel just this past summer, in fact. One thing I've learned so far is that when spinning finely, my spindle spinning is a lot tighter than my wheel spinning -- Una said something about a preference for spindle-spun fibers for warp thread, and I think I can see why now.

Also, I don't know if this true for most of the middle ages and renaissance, but at least for the early Anglo-Saxons, it would seem that the warp and weft were spun oppositely (Z and S, respectively), maybe so that they would lock together after they were woven.

Still learning :)