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?
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.
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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.
I am SO glad I was dragged into it. It was one of the highlights of my stay too 🙂
That looks like SO much fun!
Hey….I LOVE huevos rancheros:)
Chateaubriand!! Delicious!
Waulking looks like great fun.
Looks like fun!
How fun!
How absolutely cool is that? Thanks for the link, I never knew of such things. It’s nice to see that there is some preservation to old ways.
You really do look like you’re having a great time!
Did you sing songs too? Are they in English or Gaelic?
So will you be having Waulk With Me Wednesdays?
I can imagine how much fun it was to share that with friends and soon to be friends!
That is so cool! I’d never even heard of waulking before!
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.
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.
Such pretty fabric!
Golly, that’s a new one for me!
It does look like fun – thanks for the link!
Looks like fun!
There are Scots in Utah? Who knew?
That was a delightful surprise, to help out with the waulking. So cool.
Looks like you all were having a great time! :o)
Just imagine trying to do something like that by yourself. Together the chore becomes fun.
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.
Wow! Pretty cool! I’d never heard of it, but it sounds like quite a time!
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).
Interesting! Yes, I’m wondering if you all sang, too.
Did you guys all sing? The singing sounds like the best part.
In Cape Breton it’s called a milling frolic; http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Ceilidh/index_play.html My cousin is in one of the videos for the museum as he spoke fluent Gaelic. This village is wonderful if anyone is interested in visiting…they even have a carding mill on site. I try to visit every time I go to Canada. Looks like everyone had fun!
Those pictures turned out great! How fun! Judy and I were singing the Drunk Sailor song all the way home. Ha!