[Sca-cooks] flax processing (was Bread labor)

[Susan Fox]

Terry Decker wrote:
> The first laurel in Calontir (I can't remember his name, but Margaret 
> probably does) grew, retted, cleaned, and spun the flax, wove it into linen, 
> then tailored it into garb, making his own scissors and needles in the 
> process.  One of his neighbors turned him into the cops for manufacturing 
> drugs, IIRC, during the rather smelly retting of the flax.  I believe he 
> documented the project.
>
> Bear

Aye, well if he didn't, surely the police did.  <grin>  The problem is, 
unlike wool, which comes off the sheep in more-or-less usable form, flax 
takes weeks to "rett" or ferment in a pool so everything that's not 
usable fiber drops away.  It can't really be done as a one-day project.  
Maybe starting with pre-retted, dried tows.

Selene