Prologue
This nettle project has been an ongoing labor of love for many years, starting even before I joined the SCA. From thinking I was going to grow a bed of nettle at my parents' house to buying a pot from a local nursery, I have at multiple times made an attempt and then failed. I will fully say that with this first real attempt at processing nettle I do not expect to succeed. This is not me being humble, or shy, or what-have-you, this is me fully acknowledging my own limits. I will likely fail. The best part of failing, though, is the opportunity to learn.
This post contains the full A&S report that I have written. I apologize for the length; I did try to make this as interesting as I could. The report is broken up into different parts. The first explains the gathering and processing of the nettle. The second part goes into the creation of three processing tools created for the project. Lastly, I discuss attempting again to process the nettle. I really hope that this project is entertaining at the very least and informative at the best.
Introduction
Near the beginning of Pennsic 2023, a friend
messaged me to let me know he had stinging nettle growing in his garden. The
last time he tried to tell me he had nettle for me, it ended up being a type of
thistle and while pointy and slightly painful, it was not the stinging nettle
that I had been looking for. Thankfully, this time around it was indeed the
correct plant. On October 15th, I drove to his house in Maine and
cut it down, aiming to cut it as far to the bottom as I could. While most of
the leaves were gone on the stem, there were still a few leaves left on the
plant that contained some sting. Ask my face how I know.
What makes
stinging nettle so interesting to me? Urtica dioica, stinging nettle, is a
plant that many would consider a nasty weed. In the United States, it grows in
areas that had been previously disturbed such as alongside farmed fields, near
old houses, or close to chicken coops. The leaves carry a hollow hair that,
when touched, breaks off and “injects a little dose of histamine,
acetylcholine, serotonin and formic acid” (Stinging, n.d.). Add to this the
pervasive way that it grows (aggressively), and nettle gains a bad reputation
that has most people getting rid of it as soon as they can. Think mint, but
with more bite.
Despite this
bad reputation, Urtica dioica has many uses. After gathering the leaves in the
spring (younger leaves are better for this purpose), you can use them as a
substitute for spinach or other greens, or even use them in recipes like nettle
soup. Nettle has a high level of protein when compared to other plants, upwards
of 33%, contain few calories, and a multitude of vitamins such as vitamin A,
vitamin C, iron, etc., that make it a very nutritious plant to consume
(Adhikari et al., 2015). Stinging nettle is used in folk medicine for a myriad
of purposes from acting as a diuretic to managing blood sugar to assisting with
prostate health (WebMD, n.d.). My favorite home remedy use for stinging nettles
is for those with arthritis; fresh leaves placed on the affected area allegedly
help to reduce the severity of arthritis. This has not been proven by medical
studies and I have to wonder if the positive result is more from the nettle
sting being worse than the arthritis than from the sting actually helping,
although any relief should be considered good. Nettle can also be used as a
natural dye for fiber, with the roots giving a yellow color and the leaves
giving a soft green. The final purpose of nettle is for its use in textiles,
which is the purpose of this project.
The book
that got me interested originally in stinging nettle was called Daughter of
the Forest by Juliet Marillier (if you go to read it, look for the trigger
warnings first). This is a retelling of “The Six Swans” by the Brothers Grimm
where instead of aster the main character collects stinging nettle to make
shirts. Some renditions of the “Six Swans” have the main character collecting
nettle, but it depends on the location where you are hearing the tale. Originally,
I read Marillier’s book in high school, but my interest in knitting and fiber
arts led me back the story and to nettle as a potential plant for fiber. At one
point I bought seeds from Baker Creek with the intention of planting a small
parcel on my parent’s property (an idea that never came fully to fruition).
Other areas where nettle makes an appearance include in the “Nine Herbs Charm,”
which is Old English in origin and dates to the ninth or tenth century (Nigon,
n.d.).
I cannot
recall at the time of this writing what else has driven me to become slightly
obsessed with nettle, so much so that I decided to permanently ink my arm with
a stalk of nettle next to my other favorite plant, lavender. At one point, I
attempted to grow nettle in a pot with the intention of keeping it in my house,
but I threw it out when it developed spider mites, fearing that it would infect
my other houseplants. Eventually, I would love to have my own plot of land with
enough space and fewer neighbors to judge me, so that I can grow whatever I
want.
Thanks to
the kindness of my friend, I was able to harvest an amount of nettle that
should be suitable to use in experimenting. My estimate is that I collected
about ten pounds of nettle, with most of the stems being above five feet. It
took me about two hours to cut them because I forgot a good set of trimmers and
ended up using my small knife. Getting this close to the plant made me feel
closer to the project, and the ground, which at the time was quite damp. I do
not expect a great yield of fiber from this bounty, as most internet searches
suggest that nettles will only give about 2% of its weight to fiber use.
Goals
The quick goal:
Create a usable fiber that can be turned
into yarn and then into cloth.
The not quick goal:
My goal with
this project was to create a usable fiber from stinging nettle that I could
eventually turn into yarn and then into cloth. I am an experienced knitter, but
I have not tried my hand at taking a fiber material at the start of its journey
(on a sheep, in a field, etc.) and turned it into a useable product. The
closest I have come is taking wool roving to learn how to spin. Taking a plant
material from its natural state to turn into fiber is something that is outside
of my realm of skill, and my hopes with this project is that I can become skilled.
To be able
to achieve this goal, I also have to create the tools for processing the
nettle. This includes a flax brake, scutching knife, scutching board, and
heckles. As described further in this paper, these tools are not easily come by
in newly made condition and antique ones are usually either outside of my price
range or decorated with the intention of display. I want usable tools that I will
not be afraid to break. As someone who is not a carpenter, the creation of
these tools will be another skill to develop.
Historical Use as a Textile
Nettle was
commonly used for cordage in the Bronze Age for use in ropes and netting; the
process for cordage does not require the same process that using it for
textiles would. One can cut a stalk of nettle, pull off the outer husk, let it
dry for a bit, and then wind this by hand. They would have used nettle to
create cloth, using it alongside flax and hemp, which leaves an issue for those
of us interested in the fiber content of clothing finds; it is very difficult
to tell the difference between flax, hemp, and nettle fibers (Bergfjord et al.,
2012). A study was done on a Bronze Age textile from Lusehøj, Denmark where it was
determined that the textile found in an urn was in fact made from nettle. The
same paper also suggests that even though the nettle was likely a plant foraged
and not cultivated, it was not believed to be a lesser quality plant.
Stinging
nettle continued to be used for cloth up until the 16th century,
give or take, when the cotton industry became more productive (Know, 2020). This
is to be expected; why would anyone want to try to cultivate an aggressive
plant that only drops 2% of its weight in fiber when easier to harvest and more
productive plants exist? Linen at least gives 10% of itself to fiber, does not
bite, and is easier to cultivate than nettle.
 |
| Figure 1 The Field in which the nettle grew (nettle pictured). |
The Collecting and Retting
Process According to Muirgel (aka experimental)
- Cut the nettle
stalk as close to the base as possible. Theoretically, the taller the plant the
longer the fiber, which makes it easier to spin. There is a Facebook group
called “Nettles for Textiles” where people have attempted this process before.
Some have suggested that carding the fiber will break the strands, which will
increase the difficulty to spin, but will also make the result softer. At this
point in time, I have not made the decision as to whether I will card or not.
It may make sense to lend half of my experimental fiber to carding and half to
remain uncarded to see which will work best for my eventual plans.
- While stacking
the stalks into a pile, I ran a gloved hand down the stem to remove the leaves.
At this time of the year, the leaves are not in a prime eating stage, and they
are too old to use for dyeing. Without the leaves, the stalks will travel
easier (strapped down to the top of my Ford Escape) and my chances of being
“bitten” much reduced.
 |
| Figure 2 Harvested nettled with most of the leaves removed. |
- I made the choice
to ret my nettle in my yard. To do this, I chose an area where my dog could not
reach as he likes to urinate on everything outside (everything).
The only clear area I had at this juncture was a three-foot wide five-foot-long
space in my side garden next to the driveway where some of my vegetables had
been.
 |
| Figure 3 Nettle retting in the driveway plot. |
- The nettle was
left to sit in this area of my garden. I would flip it every day or so. There
was some distraction at this point on account of a cat deciding to move her
kittens underneath my garage. The nettle took a backseat while I spent my free
time attempting to catch these wily critters. Thankfully, I did manage to catch
them, and three of the four were brought to a rescue. The third and most
difficult to catch kitten was stolen from me by my mother.
- After some time,
I took the nettle inside to dry. The total time the nettle stalks were in my
yard was roughly three weeks. It is possible that the nettle could have stayed
out there longer because the weather had started to get chilly and may have
slowed the process.
The Process of Processing (Take
One)
The plumber
was in the basement messing up the outgoing pipes where they went through the
cement, so I was also in the basement taking photos and cursing the day I
decided to pursue having a utility sink in the studio. One benefit of this was
remembering that I had nettle drying out. It had been about a week since I had
hung the stalks to dry out and they appeared to be ready to process into fiber.
Or at least, I hoped so. My intention was to pursue processing the nettle in a
similar manner to processing flax, keeping in mind that nettle had some
different properties.
There is a
Facebook group called “Nettles for Textiles” that is a well of information on
the subject, although the ways to process nettle according to the group is
varied and likely dependent on location and personal tastes. Some people
suggest that the nettle should be broken immediately after cutting, while
others suggest breaking after retting. Others suggest retting and drying, and
then processing. It is the latter option that I decided to use, as during the
retting I was incredibly distracted with trying to catch the cats. I cannot
tell you how much time I spent worrying about them.
The first
part of processing involves breaking the plant without breaking it apart to
loosen the outer bark. For flax, one would use a flax break to do this. For
nettle, the process would be similar, although most of the advice given in the
Facebook group seems to say to process in lesser amounts (a few stalks at a
time) and not as a larger collection as you would flax. This makes the process
more intimate, but also more time-consuming. In December of 2023 I attempted to
break the nettle by making a wooden hammer from a 4x4” and the end of a broom
stick. My idea was to break the nettle with a hammer; it did not work. I even
recorded the attempt in three different angles, so I have three different
angles of my failure recorded for posterity.
I concluded after my failure that the issue was with the retting. The
nettle was still strong and not easily broken down. I set the bundle aside to
ret at a later date in the spring.
 |
Figure 4 My first attempt at breaking, with a homemade hammer, which ended in failure. It was not, in fact, fine.
|
Redo of the Retting Process
Panteria was
looming and I had to drive to Maine to drop my dog off at my mother’s house
before the weekend event. I was also going to hang out for a couple of days,
but before I went, I decided to get the nettle started again. My motivation for
projects in the last couple of years have gone through episodes of “yes, let’s
do this” and “ugh, I should be working on this.” Pre-Panteria, I was motivated
again. I broke the nettle down so that it would fit into a large tote, getting
rid of the smaller tips, which is something I should have done when I first
picked it. I tossed the nettle in the tote, filled the tote with water, and
then put a large cement tile on top of the nettle to weigh it down. There was
no way this could go wrong.
I got back
to my house on Thursday and started to load my car for the weekend’s event.
There was a slight smell in the air that I figured was just “odeur de ville de
merde” and did not think anything of it. Happily, I traveled to Vermont and had
an excellent weekend with friends. When I got home, the smell was stronger, but
again, I did not think anything of it. I then went back to Maine to get my dog,
returning to New Hampshire soon after.
When I got
home, my driveway smelled like a retirement home of snails died on a beach
after having an orgy. It was so bad, I would not have been surprised if a
neighbor called the police to do a welfare check on my property (although, I
think I would have been more surprised someone in this town cared about someone
else’s welfare; this is not a happy place). Realizing it was the tote of
nettle, I dumped the water on my driveway. This made things worse. I honestly did
not have much else for options, because it was probably close to 30 gallons of
gross-smelling water, but there may have been something else I could have done
if I hadn’t panicked. I also sprayed the nettle down with the hose before
setting it aside to dry (again) and then spraying my driveway down after
dumping a bunch of dish soap on the pavement. Thankfully, the smell dissipated
fairly quickly. Lesson learned; the smell is why fiber products are usually
retted in running water and not in the driveway in the middle of a city.
Once
the nettle dried, it got set aside again because I had to replan how I was
going to break the nettle stalks. After some reason, I realized I should have
used my thumbnail to split the stalks prior to retting and drying. Some
research led me to wonder if I should try to find or build flax processing
equipment. I was determined to process the nettle I had labored over so much,
but other things in my life became more important to focus on. Once again, the
nettle would have to wait, this time until I found a flax break and a scutching
knife.
The Process of Processing (Take
Two)
Once your fiber product is properly retted
and dried, it is time to “dress” it. This involves three steps; breaking (beaten),
scutching (scraped) and heckling (combed) (Hirst, 2019). For breaking, the goal
is to force the bark or casing around the fiber to break apart so that you can
then scutch or scrape it off in the next step. The third step, heckling, combs
the fiber into separate strands. This document will outline the process of
creating the tools I need to process plant material into useable fiber for
making yarn and then cloth.
After I
retted my nettle in May 2024, I attempted again to break my nettle using the
wooden mallet I had made the previous December. After about ten minutes with
very little result, I decided to step back and rethink my process.
Unfortunately, my motivation to continue was non-existent and the bundle of
nettle got put back into the garage where it stayed, in the way, all summer.
After tripping over it in the beginning of September 2024, I finally got
frustrated enough to start the search for the various tools to process my
nettle.
My
search was disappointing. Used flax brakes on eBay have gone for over $300. My
search for new ones led me to discover that Amazon does not, in fact, have
everything (figure 5). Determining that a used or antique flax brake was
outside of my budget, I looked for DIYs to make one on my own. This would
likely be cheaper in terms of money, although more expensive in time.
 |
| Figure 5 I don't believe these things have anything to do with what I'm looking for. |
My
ideal brake would be something that would be more easily stored or taken apart.
The blueprint I decided on was for a smaller brake that would sit on a table
and was able to be clamped down if needed. I call it a blueprint, but it is
more of a parts list with an outline of the steps and can be found on the
“Spindles in the Wild” website. I will not list everything in this writeup
because it can be found on their site, but I will outline some of the lessons I
learned from making my own version of it.
If all the
parts were had, the flax break could be done in one afternoon. If you had some
of the fancier tools like a table saw, you could make one in a couple of hours.
Lacking a table saw, it took me the better part of the afternoon. They did not
list how many lengths of wood you would need; I ended up requiring only four 6’
lengths of 2x3. I decided to follow the directions as they were written without
realizing the mistake the author made in describing which boards needed to be
shaped. It made sense to me that it should be the top rails, but they were specific
in that the base rails needed to have a 45° cut. I realized their mistake and
my mistake after having already cut them. This does not affect the end result,
but if you attempt the pattern only cut the ends on the top rails.
The table
saw would have come in handy when shaping the tops of the base rails and the
bottoms of the top rails. I had to make do with an orbital sander with 80 grit
paper, of which I used three sheets. I am content with the result, although the
rails could be a bit “sharper” or more pointed.
My
flax brake is based on a DIY guide I found online, one of the only ones I was
able to find, and not completely modeled after a medieval version that I am
aware of. The earliest flax brakes were wooden clubs or mallets (König, 2020). Later, they evolved into something like
a long flat hammer on a stick that could be swung (figure 6). Ever wanting a
less physically challenging job, the flax brake evolved even further into a
tool that would take less energy to use. This newer version of the flax brake had
a handle and either sat on its own four legs or a table. When the handle was
lifted, flax was inserted, and the handle brought down upon the flax or plant
material to break it.
 |
Figure 6 Two men working with flax brakes while a woman scutches (Book, n.d.)
|
Time Period and Location
The flax brake (or break, either is fine) is
estimated to have been invented around the 13th century in
northwestern Europe (König, 2020). The tool is mentioned in
writings but the earliest shown one is in a fresco that dates to 1465. The flax
brake I have made is close to the one seen in the “Heures á l’usage de Rome”
that dates to 1555 (Amiens, n.d.), although it is not an exact match.
König suggests that
the flax brake could be Dutch in origin, although earlier finds could suggest
Germany (König, 2020). For ease of writing, we will say northwestern Europe.
The flax brake mine most closely resembles is French in origin.
·
Finished pine 1”x3”x6’ (four total)
·
½” hardwood dowel
·
1 ¼” finishing nails
·
Wood screws, 2”
·
Circular saw, jigsaw, orbital sander, drill
·
A ludicrous amount of 80 grit sandpaper pads
·
Washers, ½” inner diameter, 2” outer diameter
·
½” forstner bit, ¾” forstner bit
·
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
The
plans for a flax brake were found on the “Spindles in the Wild” website, where
Patti O’Brien Beaumont was kind enough to outline her design in a way that
others could follow it. There is a list of the cuts and pieces you would need
to make your own, including the quantity for each. The process for building the
brake involved following her directions. There is one error in the directions,
as mentioned earlier, but if you proceed with this in mind then making the
brake should be easy enough.
 |
Figure 7 Compilation photo of some of the steps
|
The
one area where there was difficulty was in shaping the tops and bottoms of the
rails. In order for the brake to work as intended, there should be an edge to
the rails. The easiest way to make this edge is with a table saw set to an
angle. Unfortunately, I am without table saw, so I ended up making the edge by
sanding it. While this works, it was time consuming. Beaumont also suggests
that you can increase the distance between the rails to help break the fiber by
using more washers, but you would have to keep this in mind and increase the
dowel length. The page specifically used for the brake is mentioned in the
reference section of this paper; I highly recommend checking out her site if
you intend to make your own.
If
I were to do this project again, I would use hardwood and find a table saw. I
would also like to attempt to make one using tools that they would have had in
period.
Scutching Knife
Once the
fiber has gone through the flax brake, it is time to scutch it. The point of
scutching is to take away the rest of the outside bark of the fiber plant by
whacking the knife against the fiber while it rests against a surface. The
knife is usually wooden and not sharp.
Like the flax brake, there is not much call
for newly made scutching knives. At the time of drafting this paper, vintage
ones can be found being sold by shops in Estonia for a reasonable price,
although these are painted objects likely intended for decoration. Antique ones
can also be found on sites like eBay, but for much more than I am willing to
spend on something that will likely be forgotten about in the garage after use.
DIYs for scutching knives are also far and few; the best one I’ve found is a
lovely video on YouTube by Torbjörn Ähman titled “Carving a scutching knife
(Growing 1 m2 of FLAX part 3)” (Ähman, 2022).
Time Period and Location
The Cotswold
Archaeology Virtual Museum has a display for a scutching knife found in
Bishop’s Cleeve, Gloucestershire (Cotswold, 2024). The display suggests that
the knife is of Bronze Age origins, and although there is no proof that the
knife was used for the production of fiber materials, it resembles a scutching
knife enough that the virtual museum has labeled it as such. Other scutching
knives can be found in 16Th century art, such as in the Da Costa
Hours, MS M.399, fol. 12v (MS, 2018). In this image, men are breaking the
flax with hand tools while a woman in the background uses a scutching knife
against a scutching board.
 |
Figure 8 Bronze age "scutching" knife (Cotswold, 2024)
|
Scutching
knives can be found throughout Europe. The French book of hours, “Heures á
l’usage de Rome,” shows a woman using a knife similar enough to the one I made.
Other depictions of scutching knives have them looking more like paddles.
Materials
- White
wood board, roughly 16”x9” and 1” thick
- Jigsaw,
circular saw, and orbital sander
- Another
ludicrous amount of 80 grit sandpaper
- Personal
protective equipment (PPE)
 |
Figure 9 The board with my design drawn out.
|
Process
The video
makes the process look simple. Just get a properly sized chunk of wood, trace
out the design, cut, and then shape. Ähman uses proper carpentry tools that I
do not have in my garage. The resulting scutching knife turned out pretty well
for something that I eyeballed. I ended up using my circular saw for some
sketchy 45° cutting, a jigsaw, an orbital sander, and close to three or four
pads of 80 grit sandpaper.
After
looking at pictures of scutching knives online, I had an idea of the shape I
wanted. Butcher knife, but bigger, less sharp, and more wooden. I drew out my
idea onto a piece of wood I had that was roughly 16” x 9” and ¾” thick (it is
supposed to be 1” thick, but its real thickness is less). The wood was
whitewood or pine; it was something that had been sitting in the garage waiting
to get used. Once I had my idea sketched onto the board, I cut the long
straight end with my circular saw (the top of the knife) and the rounded ends
with my jigsaw. After this, I went back to the circular saw, moved it to a 45°
angle, and cut one side of the blade so that it was angled. Unfortunately, I could
not figure out a safe way to do this to the other side of the blade. This is
where a table saw would have come in handy.
After
the cuts were done, I loaded up the sander with 80 grit paper and started
sanding down the edge. My goal was to create a knife edge that would be
suitable for scutching. Once I liked one edge, I flipped the knife and sanded
down the other. When that was satisfactory, I continued shaping the handle and
top of the knife. I drilled a ¾” hole in the knob of the handle with the
intention of adding a spliced line to the end so that I can hang it off the
scutching board.
The Steps
- Trace
out the design onto the wood board.
- Using
the circular saw, cut the board along the straight edges. Then take the jigsaw
and cut the bendy parts.
- Adjust
the circular saw so that there is a 45° and carefully cut alongside the edge of
the blade. If you are able, flip the knife and do the same for the other side.
I was not able to safely do this for one side of the knife, so I used sandpaper
for shaping.
- Using
the sander and rough sandpaper, start forming an edge on both sides of the
blade. Sand the handle as well. Take a 220 grit to the handle afterwards to
make it smoother.
Scutching Board
The
scutching board provides a surface to scutch the fiber on. It is typically a
piece of wood that is upright and has a rounded edge at the top, so that you
don’t end up cutting the fiber on the corners. As with the other tools used for
processing plant materials into fiber, there are not a lot of solid guides on
how to make the item.
Thankfully,
there are plenty of photos online of both antique versions, modern versions,
and illuminations depicting scutching boards in period. As with the scutching
knife, I have an idea of what I’d like to do for the scutching board and while
the finished product is not necessarily period, it does pack down for easy
travel.
Time Period and Location
There are
depictions of the scutching knife being used in a fresco from around the 14th
century (König, 2020). The woman using it, however, is scutching against her
leg and not a scutching board. Scutching can be done on a rock, off a log, off
the kitchen table, etc. Scutching boards do show up in art at the end of the 14th
century and beginning of the 15th century.
The scutching
board I imitated the most is from the Da Costa Hours dating to 1515 in
Belgium. The image, which has been mentioned earlier, shows a woman scutching
in the background against a scutching board that is roughly shaped like mine.
 |
| Figure 11 Cropped image of flax production (MS, 2018) |
Materials:
- White wood or
pine board, roughly 12” wide by 3’ long and 1” thick (scrap from a different
project)
- 18” x 2’, nicer
looking plywood ¾” thick (scrap from a previous house project)
- 1x3” of varying
lengths, scrap from brake and other projects
- 1x4”
- 1 ¼” wood screws
- Circular saw,
jigsaw, orbital sander
- Sandpaper of
varying grits
Process
My goal was something I could take
apart for easy transport; I could not find any DIYs in my price range of free.
I looked at a bunch of pictures, both in period and modern, and decided to make
something that could slide into the base. I have a bunch of spare plywood in
the garage from various projects and decided to use the nicer of these pieces
as the base. The upright part of the scutching board ended up being another
leftover piece of white wood or pine from a different project, and it had a
slightly thinner width than the base.
The Steps
- I cut the base to
a length of 24”. This is enough that I can put my foot on the base to hold it,
or let it stand on its own.
- The upright was
already cut in a weird way, so I trimmed off pieces to straighten it out with
the jigsaw. There is a curved part to the top that I tidied up with the
intention of hanging the knife from. There are two levels to the upright, one
best for standing and the other good for sitting. The board was already cut
like this and I decided to work with it.
- Using the
circular saw, I cut a length of 1x3 that is the same length as the bottom of
the upright. I then screwed this piece to the bottom of the upright, making
sure it was centered.
- Cut two pieces
the width of the bottom board. I centered a 1x3 (to represent the upright) and
aligned the pieces I had just cut against either side of the 1x3. I made sure
the center 1x3 could move freely and then screwed down the other 1x3s.
- I cut two pieces
of 1x4 the width of the baseboard. These were screwed down on top of the top
1x3’s so that they met the edge of the upright.
- The upright was a
bit tight going in, so I sanded down the base of the 1x3 and the sides,
allowing for smoother entry.
 |
| Figure 12 The finished scutching board. |
Using It All
With the
flax brake complete, the nettle can be broken. This was my first attempt at
using one, so I experiment with a bundle, a smaller bundle, and only one stalk.
The singular stalk broke completely; it is necessary to have a bundle so that
they cushion each other. On its own, the stalk will break. While this is
technically the point of the flax brake, the intention is not to completely
break the nettle apart. The goal is to just get the inner pitch to loosen from
the outside bark. With some fussing about, I determined that a smaller sized
bundle of about five to ten stalks was best (see figure 13).
Holding
the stalks, put the end furthest from your hand between the brake. Lift up and
with some force, but not a lot, bring the lever down upon the nettle. Lift the
lever, twist the nettle, and then bring the brake down upon it again. Repeat
this, moving the nettle closer to your hand or further away as needed to break
up the pith. Be careful not to come down too hard with the lever and break the
plant completely.
 |
| Figure 13 The flax brake in use! |
This took a good amount of time for
the bundle of nettle that I had. This is possibly because the retting process
was not correct, the rails of the flax brake are not spaced correctly, or I
need more practice. On a warmer day, I will go out to finish the bundle, but as
it was, my neighbors did not seem happy about the noise, and I stopped using
the flax brake once I felt that I got a decent handful for the scutching board.
I
moved over to my scutching board and placed the end of the now broken bundle of
nettle over the edge. With the scutching knife in my right hand, I brought it
down upon the nettle, letting the knife hit against the bark of the nettle and
the board with a downward motion. The goal here was to remove more of the woody
bits that do not make up the fiber. Figure 14 shows the nettle being worked. I
found with this that there that seems like waste, which is possibly due to the
retting or my needing to learn better how to use this equipment.
 |
| Figure 14 Nettle being worked on the scutching board. |
Once
the bark was removed, I took what surprisingly little nettle I had left and sat
on the porch. Typically, at this stage, one would start running the nettle
through a series of heckles. You would start with the coarse heckle and work
your way to a fine heckle. Heckles look like small boards with nails inserted
in with varying distances between the nails to represent coarse, medium, fine,
etc. Some are placed on a long board with a hole allowing for a foot to hold
the base of the board in place. Others can be mounted on tables. König mentions
a heckling comb that was found in good condition in a castle in Germany that
was destroyed in 1382 (König, 2020). They appear in various arts in period,
including an illumination from France (figure 15 below). |
| Figure 15 Woman heckling flax, cropped image (Gaia, n.d.). |
In fact, of all
the tools for fiber production, heckling combs are the easiest to locate newly
made. König mentions that the heckling comb found in that German castle appears
similar to the 19th century one that they have in their possession,
meaning that the technology for heckling flax by hand has not changed. I will
not go into any amount of detail on making a heckling board, because that is
not a project that I have attempted (yet). I am still debating purchasing
versus making my own although purchasing a set would be costly. The Woolery has
combs for sale on their website, but at a greater cost than I am willing to
spend (Combs, n.d.).
 |
| Figure 16 The three results after scutching. |
Figure 16 shows
three piles of what results from using the scutching board. Pile 1 shows the
leftover bits of bark and pieces that I will be unable to use for fiber. The
tow in pile 2 can be utilized for starting fires, although I am tempted to
experiment with carders to see if I can get a usable fiber from it. Pile 3 is
the usable fiber that would go through the heckling board if I had one.
A
YouTube video created by WoodlandsTV and posted in 2017 shows a fellow
processing both flax and nettle. To finish the nettle, instead of running it
through a heckle, he uses the dull side of a knife to scrape the fibers down
(WoodlandsTV, 2017). It is this method that I imitated using a 6” drywall
taping knife because that is what I had on hand. As mentioned in the video,
using the knife creates a lot of waste, although this fiber can be used as tow
to start fires. The result from using a flat edge to scrape the nettle gets me
a small handful of nettle fiber, the near final result from processing nettle I
picked almost a year ago.
 |
| Figure 17 Totes worth it. |
Conclusion
This project has been a lot of work with little payout, but I still feel
like it was worth it. I keep blaming my issues with the nettle not being retted
correctly, but I am not entirely positive that this is correct. I have learned
a lot from the start of harvesting, to retting, to retting again, creating the
tools, and processing the fiber. There is still a long way to go to having a
finished product; this fiber will need to be spun, dyed, and woven into fabric.
Lessons Learned
- I need to have
both more patience and diligence when retting.
- The next time, I
would split the stem while the nettle is fresh prior to retting. It seems like
it would make processing easier.
- More research
needs to be completed for all aspects of this project, and I would like to rely
less on the nettle Facebook group and modern pages for help.
- Long sleeve
shirts will be necessary; within five minutes of using the flax brake on the
nettle my right arm (the one controlling the lever) turned red and itchy.
- Processing nettle
is a laborious task that takes a while; I need to work on my patience with
this, as well.
- Success is a
delight. While the small pile I have created is a pittance in the scheme of
things, I am wildly happy to see a result after so long. This means I am on the
right track.
The Next Steps
- Create,
purchase, or find heckling combs to continue the processing.
- Learn how to
drop-spin or trick someone into spinning the nettle for me.
- Experiment with
dyeing the nettle, possibly alongside flax to experiment with the different
ways the fibers take up the dye.
- Decide if I
want to go the full distance and make a warp-weighted loom on my own or
purchase (if room allows) a loom.
- Find a solid
source of nettle for future processing. Either sown by me or located in the
wild.
References
Adhikari,
B. M., Bajracharya, A., & Shrestha, A. K. (2015, August 7). Comparison
of nutritional properties of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) flour with wheat
and barley flours. Food science & nutrition.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4708629/
Ähman , T. (2022, October 13). Carving
a scutching knife (Growing 1 m2 of FLAX part 3). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0pKovl4Omc
Amiens,
BM, lescalopier 22. Initiale Catalogue de manuscrits enluminés. (n.d.).
https://initiale.irht.cnrs.fr/codex/6053
Bergfjord,
C., Mannering, U., Frei, K. M., Gleba, M., Scharff, A. B., Skals, I.,
Heinemeier, J., Nosch, M.-L., & Holst, B. (2012, September 28). Nettle
as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant. Nature News.
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep00664
Book
of hours, MS M.1175. Fol. 014r. The Morgan Library & Museum. (n.d.). https://ica.themorgan.org/manuscript/page/27/308001
Combs
& hackles. Largest Selection Combs and Hackles | The Woolery. (n.d.).
https://woolery.com/fiber-tools/combs-hackles.html
Cotswold
Archaeology. (2024, August 23). Scutching knife. Cotswold Archaeology
Virtual Museum. https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/museum/scutching-knife/
Gaia
Caecilia from BL Royal 16 G V, F. 56. PICRYL. (n.d.).
https://picryl.com/media/gaia-caecilia-from-bl-royal-16-g-v-f-56-ab0ef4
Hirst,
K. K. (2019, May 20). Ancient ways to beat, Scutch, and heckle flax to
produce linen textile. ThoughtCo.
https://www.thoughtco.com/making-linen-history-neolithic-flax-processing-171347
Know
your fibre - nettle. YAK. (2020, July 24). https://yarnandknitting.com/know-your-fibre-nettle
König,
M. (2020, May 25). Flax fibre extraction techniques in the late Middle Ages.
EXARC Journal.
https://exarc.net/issue-2020-2/at/flax-fibre-extraction-techniques-late-middle-ages
MS
m.399, fol. 12V. The Morgan Library & Museum. (2018, April 7). https://www.themorgan.org/collection/da-costa-hours/24
Nigon
Wyrta Galdor: “The nine herbs charm.” Mimisbrunnr.info: Developments in
Ancient Germanic Studies. (n.d.).
https://www.mimisbrunnr.info/nigon-wyrta-galdor
O’Brien
Beaumont, P. (2021, May 28). Building a flax brake. Spindles In the
Wild. https://spindlesinthewild.com/portfolio/building-a-flax-brake/
Stinging
nettle. Stinging Nettle - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation. (n.d.).
https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/105371.html
WebMD.
(n.d.). Nettle leaf: Health benefits, nutrition, preparation information,
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WoodlandsTV. (2017, June 20). Working with
Flax and Nettles. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0SFRIZqkfE
