My Distaff Collection & Lighting Flax on Fire for Distaff Day! 🔥
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- Опубліковано 6 січ 2023
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Let's talk about distaves. What are they and why are they an important tool for spinning? I'll give you a tour of my distaff collection and reveal my latest distaff find. We will also read the infamous "St. Distaff Day" poem and then light some flax on fire to see how it burns. Let's get spinning!
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🎥 Previous Distaff Day Videos 🎥
▶ 2020 - Easy DIY Wrist Distaff for Spinning Yarn - Distaff Day • Easy DIY Wrist Distaff...
▶ 2021 - St. Distaff Day (According to a 17th Century Poem) and How to Spin with a Distaff • St. Distaff Day (Accor...
▶ 2022 - The REAL History Behind Distaff Day! • The REAL History Behin...
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I have my great grandmother's cotton carders. She wrote her married name on it. There is still old cotton on it. I will be creating a shadow box display to honor our heritage of the skill. 🥰
Beautiful idea! What a treasure! 💜
My first guess about lighting the flax afire is a kind of sympathetic magic, where if some small sacrificial amount is burned purposefully, it may ward off accidental fires in the coming year. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Happy Distaff Day! Hugs
I could definitely see that! Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
I like this interpretation
One story I heard growing up was fire the tow was a bonfire party and toe flax was used to start the fire and tossed in to scent the air during the celebration. In a way it reminds me of the may pole celebrations. The party was thrown the night before going back to work. Burning the toe was a way to say thanks for the productive harvest and send blessings for a bountiful new harvest
Assumed “Kata” is a nickname for Katarina. There is a 9 year old child with that name in the 1940 census for New York, living with siblings and their mother and stepfather (last name Radevic) at 12 Magnolia in Lackawanna, Erie County. :-) She might be too young for that distaff, but thought maybe?
It’s so cool to learn from you! My husband is listening in the background, and he’s been asking “What’s a dispatch?” 😂
LOL I hope you set him straight! 😂❤🧶
Inspired. Just searched around the house and found a beautiful natural wood stick nicely finished. No idea where it came from. Perfect.
I just wanted to say thank you! I inherited a spinning wheel built by my grandfather and wanted to learn how to use it. By watching your videos since Thanksgiving I am now an avid spinner. I was able to make some three ply fine weight yarn and knitted my dad some socks for Christmas. He loved that they were made on his dad's handcrafted wheel! I could never have learned how to do this without your help! You have brought so much joy to my life with spinning.
you gotta watch tudor monastary farm if you haven't seen it already. it's available for free from youtube or on amazon prime in the US. at this point, it's a 10-year-old bbc series where a historian and a couple archeologists try living as tudor tenant farmers at a living history museum in england. they actually use a bit of charred linen cloth as a bit of tinder for lighting the fire every morning. there's also a burnley & trowbridge youtube live where the staff were exploring tudor era kirtles and how you can change the accessories to indicate different classes or even countries. scullery maids or other folks who work with the fires were known to have worn black wool aprons to protect their clothing from catching alight.
I use a drawstring bag as a distaff, which doubles as a storage bag for my Turkish spindle.
That pronunciation is pretty good! But those diacritics over the S and C would make them palatalized, so it's more like "Oreshkovich". An Orešković - Tihomir, or "Tim" because he actually grew up in Canada - was prime minister of Croatia for 9 months in 2016. And Kata is a pretty common Balkan diminutive for girls called Katarina, so it's their version of Katy.
Oh, thank you so much for this info! 💜💜💜🧶
Happy Distaff Day, and congrats on the sponsorship! Always here to set textiles on fiber for -science- experimental archaeology 💚
Thank you so much! Experimental archaeology is so much fun! 🔥🧶😄
ok but the A Bit Of Every Project batt is *brilliant*, i may steal this idea 😊
Please do!!! Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
If I ever start spinning instead of just longing to spin, I will too.
This is my first distaff day spent in this community! I'm smitten with the history of spinning and just ordered some combed top and a spindle. Thanks for getting me into the world of spinning, I look forward to many more years here :)
Well, the name would be probably rather pronounced „Oreshkovitsh“. And it can be either from Croatia, or from Burgenland in Austria, as there is still an older form of Croation spoken ins a lot of villages as well as Hungarian.
Depending on how old it is, it could be from anywhere of the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy part.
(I am Austrian and a lot of us have Slavic names as due to the nearly 1000 year long empire of Austria that had 12 languages spoken and at least 12 people, we Austrians have all a lot of Slavic, Italian and Spanish ancestors.)
Thank you so much for sharing! Have you seen surviving distaves in your area like this? I wonder if the style of the carving on it could narrow down the region? 😊💖
Happy Distaff Day!
Last Christmas (2021) my mother-in-law got me a bunch of different spinning equipment. One of those things was a bundle of wooden rods with adorable little animal heads on top. I wasn't sure what they were for, I just figured they would be a cute way to store wool and be decor at the same time. But a few weeks ago I was spinning and I thought they'd be perfect distaffs! It was nice to spin while a little puppy face was looking back at me 😂 Happy Distaff Day!
I took the line in the poem to mean that if the maids start spinning, lighting their flax on fire would stop them possibly for a little bit of fun before the real work set in. It's also cold so maybe those lads had something in mind if the lass' couldn't spin that day! Cool to see just how crazy fast flax burns, total opposite of wool which is fairly flame resistant.
When I worked at a living history museum, we used our tow as kindling because it burned long enough to catch the wood.
It's really inspiring to see how much you love and care about the fiber arts 😊💕
Thank you so much 😀
can I just say how much I love your dress?😍😍😍 you're going to inspire me to sew! I do, I just love it, and it looks so great on you, with the belt! 🥰🥰🥰
🥰🥰🥰
I generally have my spindling students make a bracelet distaff, by winding the roving around their wrists. It is crude, but better than nothing.
If it works, it works! Happy Distaff Day!
Though a little late in watching all l thoroughly enjoyed another distaff day. Education and fun. Also thanks for reminding me to collect during the year and create my own traditions. 🙂🧶
Oh love the purple top under your beautiful hand made dress.
Thank you so much!
That batt turned out beautiful! Can't wait to see the yarn.
What a find with that distaff! With the name too! you lucky duck.
Happy Distaff Day!
Your cage distaff is also incredibly beautiful and I love the little water dish it has! Happy distaff day!
Regular brain: distaff is staff with flax on it
Big brain: distaff is bowl of roving
Galaxy brain: distaff is unshorn sheep
😂😂😂🐑
I've seen photos of distaves loaded with enough wool they may as well be a sheep lollipop, so it's not that far off 😂
I recently found your channel and you inspired me to sit down at my wheel and spin for the first time in months. Thanks. Now I am off to make a diy distaff.
That is awesome!
Happy distaf day!
Happy Distaff Day
Same to you! 🧶💜🎉
I remember watching either Tudor Monestary Farm or one of the related BBC historical farm experimental archeology shows doing a spot on Distaff day in the winter/post christmas episode. The whole series of miniseries is a wonderful watch if you haven't found them yet. (and hopefully you're still reading comments a week on. I'm glad the youtube algorithm brought your channel to me right as i'm learning to spin thanks to a christmas-gifted drop spindle. Your videos just feel like a friend trying to explain everything and it works very well for my brain.)
Okay I have a theory about "if the maids a-spinning go, burn the flax and fire the tow," but it's based on very little research so don't quote me!
In a 1902 book called _Every Day In The Year: A Poetical Epitome of the World's History_ , James and Mary Ford say that these lines were about distaff day being kind of the last day for holiday pranks before the serious work year: "The ploughmen would make it their sport to set fire to the flax, in requital for which prank the maids would souse the men from the water pails."
Since spinning was something you could do inside without much light it was usually a late afternoon/evening activity in winter, so stopping the girls from spinning would also have the effect of putting an early end to the work day, fulfilling the poem's instruction to "partly work and partly play."
That's a good interpretation too. I've also wondered if it was a prank that involved pantomime. There was a spring time barely ritual that involved dousing people with buckets of water and keeping people who were harvesting the barley out of the barn. The Distaff Day poem really echoes that as well. 💜🧶
YT somehow ate my comment so I am reposting it now:
Happy Distaff Day!
I went digging through Ellis Island records and found 3 entries bearing the same name all arrived between 1910 and 1913:
Oreskovic, Kata- 1910
Otacac, Hungary - Ship: Ultonia
Oreskovic, Kata - 1913
Covici, Hungary - Ship: SAXONIA
Oreskovic, Kata - 1913 - N/A
Ive been on binge of your videos today, my mom saw/heard a little bit of this over my shoulder and asked if I was watching "the Julia Child of yarn"
🥰🥰🥰
Happy distaff day!
Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
Happy Distaff Day everyone! Thanks Evie for teaching me about this fun holiday! I now know I can use one of my favorite sticks I found at the beach as a distaff. I’m so excited!
That will be a lovely distaff! Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
Kata's distaff is truly a treasure. Thank you for sharing it with us.♥️
Couldn't agree more! Absolute treasure!
Love your videos i have just started to learn to spin wool fibre and i already crochet. I took my first spin to show my 85 year old grandmother who also use to spin. I really wanted her to get out her wheel to give me a lesson or demo but she said she doesnt have time for spinning anymore. 😢 think she is tired and finds it harder to do. Wish i watched her more when i was a kid but i looked boring when your a child/teenager now im interested in my 40s. ❤
Lovely distaffs! My "distaff" is a yard stick with a ribbon....
It works though! Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
I'm not sure how many people have mentioned this, but I really do appreciate the effort that you put into your videos in terms of explaining to us how the process works. Spinning is something I've yet to try and never really thought I'd try before, but I feel much more confident trying with videos like yours to help guide me. Your passion for spinning is just so infectious!
I also 100% love the extra effort you take to have most/all of your videos (that I've watched, at least) have closed captions! The auto-translator often messes things up, so it's amazing that the extra effort is made for neurodivergent people who have a difficult time focusing/hearing and for people who have hearing difficulties, as well! I absolutely love that and appreciate it.
You look soooooooo beautifulin that dress!❤❤❤ It’s like it was made for you. 😉
Haha! 🧵
Happy Distaff Day ! Happy New Year to you and to all your loved ones ! May you have lots of creative crafting time and may you be wrapped in gratitude and empathy !
Thank you so much. You and yours as well! 🧶❤
that reminds me that I need to get my fluff from last year that I was doing bits and pieces of to blend together to spin
Thank you for the reminder!
I can't wait to see! 💜🧶
Merry Distaffmas! I hang my wristaff from my ceiling and spin from that, and it's probably the best thing I've ever macguyvered xD
I love you so much. "All you really need is a stick."
As for "lighting the tow", it might have been a ritual associated with getting rid of the last useless bits of the old year - especially as fires would be allowed to go out for the solstice (in some cultures), and then a new fire would be lit on the cold hearth to begin the new year. With all of those short bits of fluff, it would make good tinder! I still take cotton balls dipped in petroleum jelly for starting fires while camping.
I'm so happy you found your latest distaff and can bring it back to life. I love the idea of using items that have been used over and over by other hands.
You’ve given me a couple of wonderful ideas today. I love your tradition of saving a bit a fluff from each spin then carding it at year end. Also i have ‘fork’ stick my dad made for my mom way back when wringer washers were in use. Since a distaff is basically a stick, i’m going to use the ‘fork’ as a distaff. Thank you for the knowledge and inspiration!
Happy belated Distaff Day! I loved your idea to keep a sample of each fiber you use throughout the year, so when I started spinning last January (after watching your tutorials) I started a collection too :~) I don't have a carder though so maybe I'll wait and let the collection grow until then to spin the collection on another Distaff Day. I use a driftwood stick from Lake Erie as my distaff! The one you found from that decor shop is so beautiful. I frequently see old spindles and wheel parts on those farmhouse / rustic decor shops and even when they're in less-than-usable condition they still seem so magical ~
I would love to see this finished spin!
The burning of toe reminds me of ancient religious votive offerings, especially given how nice it smells and how valued incense was in ancient times, and processed linen didn’t have to travel as far as incense even if it was highly valuable and labor intensive to make.
Happy distaff day! That yarn is going to be beautiful💕
Apron dress!! Yay! That’s one of my goals (but not necessarily fleece to fabric since I don’t weave…yet)
If you hang around here too long you'll start weaving without even meaning to! 😂😂😂
Family name, first name, we use this order in Hungary!!! Kata is a typical Hungarian name, Cathy. Family name can be somewhere around Hungary.chec, slovac, sloven, cratian etc. slav language family.
I always enjoy your videos
I'm so glad! Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
Greetings from the Texas Gulf Coast, USA. Thank you for this wonderful video on St Distaff's Day.
Your the best
🥰🥰🥰
Note that "Necessity is the **Mother** of invention." -- not the father, but the mother. Women invent things to make those tasks of everyday life easier and more efficient. The distaff is a case in point. It keeps the fiber out of the way of tiny fingers as well as keeping it ready for those odd moments during the day that could have been time wasted waiting for something to bake or boil or rocking a baby. A distaff fitted to the spinning wheel would make it possible for a woman to spin while nursing a child, probably one of the only chances she had to sit down. Distaffs make it possible for a spinner to walk and spin while herding animals.
Would you do a video on how to dress a bird cage distaff? I bought a Rick Reeves Country Spinner stand alone distaff and a reproduction distaff for my J. Jacobs flax wheel. They are standing by waiting to be used. - Danielle
I have plans to, but you can also check out my friend Crowing Hen's video. It's a great resource for dressing distaves! ua-cam.com/video/1EpceAEdQZQ/v-deo.html
Thank you for displaying the various pieces.
Maybe they just tossed the flax into the already burning fire? 😂 I wasn't expecting it to go so fast! And it sounds like a misteltoe or Yule log kind of tradition to me, something symbolic for the season.
Great video, thank you!
It seems like poetry, and I think what it means by burn the flax is make sure the maids don't have to work. It's a holiday, so if they insist on working,"burn the flax" so they take the day off? I could be wrong but that's my take.
I wonder if cello players would be good at in-hand spinning with a belted distaff. It's the first thing I thought!
What a fabulous find that distaff was ! I think you’re on the right lines with Croatia as its origin as there are some wonderful videos on UA-cam of Romanian women spinning wool in the 20th century using grasped spindles and distaffs with similar serrations to yours, only their distaffs are larger with paddle like heads.
My cat is a fiber hunting demon--I absolutely need to start using one of these!
I think spare pieces of flax would honestly have made for a good firestarter to get a stove or a fireplace going. It burns easy, quick, and can definetly set other things on fire.
Happy New Year 🥂🍾🙂
Fred Small has a song about a lady on the Australian frontier dying because her dress caught on fire. “Guinevere and the Fire”
Thanks
The wicks used in oil lamps are made of woven linen strips.
Happy Distaff Day!!! This is such a cool holiday! I always love learning about fiber arts history! This also got me wondering.... could belt distaffs be the origin of witch's brooms?!?
That is absolutely a theory that many people have! 🧹🧶
If you use Borax when scouring the flax, it will impart some fireproofing to the fiber. It is something one must experiment with, but I can tell you that boric acid is commonly used in cotton mattresses for fireproofing and to keep bugs out.
I have 2 "diataffs". One is a hand carved nostepinne. The other is a long tapered carved wand I got from a Wizarding fest. That one I use in my antique spinning wheel that was missing it's distaff.
Using a wand as a distaff is possibly similar to where the idea of a wand came from in the first place. Wands ARE distaves! 💜🧶
@@JillianEve I love textile history!
@JillianEve to build off that many forms of folk Magick in eastern Europe such as Russia Ukraine and other Slavic nations, is fiber arts. Women would embroider protection into shirts and spin fate etc.
come across this recently
Woah I had no idea that flax was so flammable
Same! It truly surprised me how fast it went up!
Thank you for your video today. This is my first distaff day and I was wondering what you make every year with the fiber you spin on distaff day since it is a collection of the fibers you had the previous year.
The poem seems to indicate that if people try to spin on that day, you burn the flax to prevent them from spinning, because you're not supposed to return to your vocation (work) until the next day.
I've been using my watch band as a distaff for a while now. 😂
Happy distaff day! I have just discovered your channel today and have learned about distaff day from you. I love your distaff that can be hand-held or waist-held, where did you get it? I also do reenactment of 15th century life and spin with a spindle so enjoyed watching you spin in the hand. Thank you for this video.
Thank you! You too! The shop I got the convertible distaff from doesn't seem to make them anymore, but reach out and maybe they will do more if they know they are in demand. shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=982709&u=1929793&m=70734&urllink=www%2Eetsy%2Ecom%2Fshop%2FThomasWoodandWool&afftrack=
Hello fellow fiber junkie!!!!! 🤣
Happy Distaff Day! 🎉💜🧶
I'm very excited to see how your Icelandic spin will go! I recently bought an Icelandic buck but also have a few Icelandic fleeces so I'm very excited to see how yours will go
I made a distaff from a Harry Potter wand (Tonks’)
Flax was used for lamp wicks from Biblical times to fairly recent times.
Thank you for this. I just heard of a distaff today and was trying to figure out what they look like. What was the word you used for the tool you were using to spin on the ringed distaff? CC said it was dealgua but I don't know if that is correct.
Hi!! New subscriber here and I’m very new to fiber arts. I’m very eager to learn and was wondering what books you would recommend for learning the terminology and all the technical stuff that goes with everything??
Welcome! Try this for books. ua-cam.com/video/2y13UhZdh98/v-deo.html 😃🧶🐑
I think they meant to light the candles in the evening because the wicks were made of flax tow.
Could you please show how you are using the FINGER DISTAFF. As it is sitting with its bottom ring on the finger it cannot turn around, I do not understand how to do it. If I am unwinding one layer the card sliver is getting in the way of the spindle.
@JillianEve, where do you purchase your flax or do you grow it?
Tow was used as tinder for starting fires.
Are you sure the poem isnt really about courting , getting married and lighting the home harth fire?
My double drive wheel, a Toika Irene, has a distaff that also just stops at the horizontal part. And when I Google the wheel, it also doesn't have the upper upright bit. So it was designed that way. Wonder why did that then?
Oh!!! I looked it up! I think it was meant to have the line flax laid over it. Now I need to see if I can play around with that one. I'm fascinated to know it might have been designed that way!
@@JillianEve Do let me know if you experiment with it, l'm interested, eventhough I use it as a make-shift niddy noddy mostly 😅
I came across a wheel advertised as a 19th century spinning wheel. The distaff is partly made with a corncob. Has anyone ever heard of such of thing, or is it just some random weirdness? I haven’t been able to find any information.
I haven't! Fascinating!
Note to self…flax makes great kindling 😂
BTW, the father of invention is: "There's got to be an easier way to do this."
Burning flax is a metaphor for destroying truth and wisdom. You may not be Christian and I'm not preaching, just noting, but in the book of Proverbs, a woman of wisdom is one who holds a distant in one hand and a spindle in the other. There is wisdom in spinning.
Happy Distaff Day!
Happy Distaff Day!!! 💜🧶🎉
Thanks