Welcome!

The Hackler is the quarterly newsletter of the Northern New England Fibershed Bast Fiber Committee. In our continued efforts to raise awareness and rebuild regional infrastructure around bast fibers, we will share updates on our work and information on bast fiber related events, workshops, and other goings on. We are a small crew with big ideas and we appreciate your interest and support! 

Work on the recently awarded microgrant continues! As part of the bast fiber processing facility research, the Bast Fiber Committee has held regular meetings throughout the fall and we are currently working on creating two surveys - one for consumers and end users and one for growers and potential growers. We expect to be able to distribute these this winter. The goal of the surveys is to collect data to help inform and grow the market for processed bast fibers in Northern New England and to gauge interest and identify the needs of farmers to encourage them to grow bast fibers in our region. In addition, we have had interviews with several experts working with bast fibers and will continue to interview additional people. We have built a contact list of individuals and organizations that have shown interest in working with bast fibers and will be using this list and adding to it as we continue our work. This work is aimed at building a diverse ecosystem of natural fiber production in Northern New England. It will also raise awareness about the importance of natural and local fibers.

News and Goings on

• Watch Laura Sullivan's presentation to the Fibershed Bast Working Group
• Laura also made an appearance in the Vermont Almanac - grab a copy if you have a chance
• Read this article by Modern Farmer covering the current status of the hemp and flax industry in the US
• Interested in growing hemp this year? We've created a list of resources to get you started with the licensing process
• Laura and Andrea will be presenting at the NOFA-VT Winter Conference conference Feb 17th
• There's still time to register for the Design Challenge!

At a recent class held at the Marshfield School of Weaving in Plainfield, Vermont, Bast Fiber Commitee member Andrea Myklebust had an opportunity to weave with her own handspun linen on an 18th-century German loom from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The project uses 4,000+ yards of linen yarn in its warp, and will use a similar amount of yarn in its weft. 

Says Myklebust, “The yarn I’m using in this weaving represents skeins I’ve spun over the last ten years, and includes linen spun by my daughter and by my students over the years. The fiber in the textile spans a big amount of time and distance, too; there’s flax I grew in Wisconsin and Vermont, contemporary flax from Egypt and Ireland, and antique flax that may be a hundred years old.”  

The loom used in the weaving was built with unusual extension arms at the back that permit the warp beam to be periodically lifted out of its brackets and unrolled so that the linen can be sized, a process that smooths and strengthens the yarn. Myklebust used a traditional sizing recipe prepared by Justin Squizerro, made from wheat flour, water, and beef tallow to dress the warp as it was being woven. She completed about half of the 6 yard weaving while at Marshfield, and plans to complete the project on her loom at home.