Wool: from the sheep to the finished dish or garment
Here you will find a variety of facts and pictures about wool processing, from rafting to clothing!
Shearing and wool washing
On the Icelandic Film Archive's website, Iceland on Film, you can find a silent fragment from the Union's Icelandic film of wool washing and raking.
About the video in question:
Horses and dogs drive sheep properly. The lambs are runes but after they are released back, the lambs are quick to find their mother's excitement. The wool is washed by a stream in the open air from water and put in a pile pot heated underneath with a leash. The wool is washed in the pot with a stick, it is pulled up and laid on a frame and let it drain out of it. Then it is bathed and rinsed in a colander and finally placed on a tunnel bale to dry. Finally, the wool is packed into a bag for transportation and storage.
The video from the site Iceland on film, the break is almost 3 minutes long.
Explanation of words
Keita (n, kvk)
Gland collected earlier and used for washing wool. “The wool used to be washed from a pile that was the urine of people. Then there were coppers/night records under every bed in the farm, from which men threw water off at night. Therefore the urine was collected all year round in a barrel and kept until the wool was washed” (Stefán Aðalsteinsson; Sheep, Land and Nation). (From https://kollsvik.is/ordasjodur-kollsvikinga/168-ordhasjodhur-k)
The baðstofa and leisure work - Visit to the National Museum with museum teachers
The first exhibition of the National Museum of Iceland features a full-size baðstofa and everything that belongs to it. In the video below, the museum teachers introduce the baðstofa and the work with the wool. A contact library for school groups and general visitors is presented and used in demonstrations.
Explanation of words:
Tóvinna (n, kvk)
“It was called idleness to make a rope out of wool and garments from the band... First was the wool. Then she was torn apart between her fingers and leveled from her. It was then stuffed into the old rough cobs. As was paid from the wool in the cobs, the combed wool was pulled from them in a length called a fleece and placed in a crate called a loom. It was called a lie. Before rockers came to the country in the 18th century, the whole horse was spun into a string on spindles. For a long time, the whole band worked together. It was not until the latter part of the 16th century that people learned to knit in this country. The knitters caused a pure revolution in idle work, for they were relieved in manipulations, and anyone could learn to knit. It was often knitted in the dark on winter evenings when light was scarce. Unemployment was a very important part of the nation's work. (From https://kollsvik.is/ordasjodur-kollsvikinga/176-ordhasjodhur-t).
From a bandage to a finished garment or garment - A visit to the National Museum with museum teachers
In the video, the museum teachers present various images that the band takes on, depending on whether it is woven, knitted, curled or sewn out. Several colors obtained by herbal dyeing are shown. Various examples of tools, technology, and finished garment or clothing at the National Museum's basic exhibition shown.
Icelandic wool
Here you can see the educational picture on the website of the Institute of Education which discusses the main properties of Icelandic wool, its treatment, processing and its varied uses in the past and present. The film is 26 minutes long, but you can choose a section to show. The National Association of Sheep Farmers made the film in 1996.
Educational images of the Institute of Education are for download only for primary schools. It is necessary that the IP address of the school be registered with the institution.
Learn to bond with friends
Here is the text and instructions for crimped tapes in the magazine Hugur og hönd 1987.
Ties are useful for many things. Tapes have been used in order to strengthen clothing, for example the edge that often wears first on the skirt or sleeves. Various things are tied tightly with ties. Nowadays, friendships are made to strengthen friendships. By mixing colors, the band will be decorative and fun. This method is called curling and has been known in this country throughout the centuries.
The video shows how to make friends.
Learn to weave a wall decoration
All garments used in clothing and in blankets and more, are woven. In the past, it was woven by hand at a high height site or in a fabric chair that could sit on. Nowadays, clothing is woven in large machines. Simulating what is done in this video, one can get acquainted with what weaving is and acquire in the way a small, beautiful wall decoration.
The Legend of Gilitrutt
After listening, you can talk about the story. Was it really so important that the mistress ignited all this wool? What was the farmer doing in the meantime? Is Gilitrutt a troll? What would have happened if the lady didn't know her name? Does the story end well?
Detailed content
Knitted from fingers forwardis the web exhibition of the National Museum of Iceland in Sarpi. The curator is Inga Lára Baldvinsdóttir and the subject is from the Icelandic Photography Gallery. Prjón has accompanied Icelanders since the first half of the 16th century, when it was introduced to Iceland by foreign traders.