ELEANOR PRITCHARD'S WOVEN NETTLE
Eleanor Pritchard's new nettle pieces caught our eye recently. After a friend have her a ball of hand-spun nettle yarn, Pritchard has been creating hand-woven pieces using nettle.
The yarn is made from the fiber of nettle stems. It is created in much the same that flax is spun into linen yarn - the stems are harvested and retted to remove the flesh, and the remaining fiberous strands are then carded and spun into yarn.
The yarn is made from the fiber of nettle stems. It is created in much the same that flax is spun into linen yarn - the stems are harvested and retted to remove the flesh, and the remaining fiberous strands are then carded and spun into yarn.
The yarn is hand-spun in rural Nepal by local women on drop-spindles. It’s a natural plant fibre, made in a very simple, traditional, pre-industrial method. The hand-spinning results in a yarn with a lovely undulating texture. The thickness, twist and texture varies gently with the natural material and the hands that make it. The undyed palette ranges from pale bleached bone, through silvery greys with the slightest hint of pink, to rich honey and amber colours.
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