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Cool Waulkings

I got to do some really cool things while I was in Salt Lake City. I had sushi. I had Chateaubriand. And fry sauce. I had huevos rancheros. And I even had a martini or two. But surprisingly, the coolest thing I did had nothing to do with food. Those of you who know me may need a moment or two to absorb that statement. It’s true, though. The coolest thing I did was to participate in a waulking.

You can read all about waulking wool at House of Scotland. And yes, that’s the same site Margene linked to last week. Honestly, it’s the most information I found about waulking on the internets. And I love all those photos.

My photos are perhaps a bit less serious but I think they are remarkably similar in feel to the ones at House of Scotland. Wanna see?

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We laughed and laughed – it was just so much fun and also so cool to participate in such an ancient ritual for finishing woven fabric. Should you ever be invited to a help at a waulking, I strongly suggest that you participate. You might get a little wet and soapy but you’ll have a blast, I promise.

This Post Has 27 Comments

  1. It was my third waulking (all with Anne) and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I was so happy to see her setting up and knew you would all enjoy it, too.

  2. Chateaubriand..I don’t know what it is, but it sounds delicious! Looks like you had such a wonderful time! I like that spinning wheel in the background.

  3. I notice that you have the fabric rolled up in a long tube in many of the pictures… do the inner layers get fulled just by chafing against each other? Anyway, it’s fascinating to see how a little (ha! I bet it was very tiring) rough handling can accomplish the same task as a modern washer/dryer.

  4. so did you guys use stale urine and the melted livers of dogfish? because having smelled dogfish and stale urine i can’t imagine i’d be smiling while working.

  5. Glad you were using soap instead of the urine… ick! Did you all sing? Looks absolutely interesting. I’ll definitely have to check into that on my next summer trip back to Utah (which may be next year for dad’s retirement).

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