Meeting 16: Vine to Cloth Year Four

" I looked into evolutionary biology and some of the ways—in the deep time perspective—how systems have changed, 'invasion' is one of these processes and it’s not unnatural"

- Tao Orion

For our 4th annual Vine to Cloth Kudzu camp we spent a day in the living laboratory. After our opening circle we harvested new growth vines that were growing across a path up kudzu mountain. Participants learned to identify vines that would be good for fiber processing - pencil thickness (not too narrow or woody) and without too many advantageous roots already established. We filled up a wheel barrow and then some with our freshly harvested vine. We coiled and de-leaved the vines and fed the leaves to the goats and pigs.

LB demoed rinsing and separating bast from core on pre-retted vines in the creek and campers took turns rinsing and separating vine for the groups creative projects. We also demoed spinning on drop spindles and weaving with kudzu fiber. We hackled and carded some fiber to create softer and thinner pieces of kudzu bast fiber for weaving on handmade and tapestry looms. There was also a table loom for folks to take turns adding kudzu weft to a larger weaving. During lunch Angela Eastman brought our her kudzu baskets and demoed splitting the larger woody runner vines for basketry.

We will picking up our regular Invasive Fiber Study Group meetings on the first Sunday of the month and I will continue weaving our kudzu cloth to add to the shirt created with last year's collaborative weaving.

See you in the weeds,

Nica