Mi Contra Fa

Miscellany

Tarp Tent

I found my justification - I was already looking toward a canvas dining fly as my next camp upgrade.  A large tarp that could serve as a fly could also be set up as a tarp tent.

Now I'm focusing down on what weight canvas do I need, and how am I going to treat it for water and fire resistance.  Some people apparently use painter's tarps for tentage - that's only 6-10oz canvas.  Painter's tarps are actually fairly inexpensive for a 9x12 ($15-$25) - I could just get one and try it out, and if it's not good enough, it's not a great loss.

Net (Macrame) Bag

Last year, I wanted a mesh bag for Pennsic - seems like it could be useful for holding produce, or wet soap, or something.  This year, I made one.  I strung a piece of hemp cord about 2' long and tied thin cotton cord in two half-hitches at ~1" intervals, so that there were two 'tails' of cord per knot.  Then, used a series of square knots to make the mesh.  I made it into a bag by fastening the sides together, then gathering the 'bottom' - the hemp cord got tied into a circle to make the opening of the bag.

It's kind of ugly (I tried to use a wooden gauge for consistent mesh, but couldn't figure out how to hold it and tie knots) but it works! I think using the square knots makes this macrame rather than true netting, which (from a very brief look) seems like you're supposed to be able to make it using just one thread carried on a netting 'needle.'  (It winds up like on a weaving shuttle.)  Anyhow - I have my bag.

Spinning

I made a spindle out of a bamboo skewer, a piece of paper, glue, and a glass bead.  The paper was glued on and wrapped around the skewer to pump up the diameter, so the bead would stay in place.  I used it for supported spinning, using a small bowl. There was no hook on the end, so I'd just spin in the same direction as the thread was winding around the spindle.  That created a tendency for the yarn to try and wind itself up towards the top of the spindle, which I tried to counter when I wound the thread on intentionally after drafting.

I wonder if I got the medieval technique?  Immediately after spinning, I did have to use the 'draft and pinch' method Baroness Emma showed me.  But after the really aggressive initial twist petered out, I could just slowly puuuuull the spindle away from the roving, and fibers flowed out and twisted up.  The yarn tended to thin out as I went, so sometimes I had to manually encourage more fibers into the flow.  But it felt like those pictures of the ladies with their arms apart and a slightly bowed thread between them.

I'm signed up for a drop spinning class at Colonial Williamsburg next week, just for fun. :)

World's Easiest Tents

This is an old (1911) magazine article, apparently later incorporated into Boy Scout handbooks.  It's got plans for making various kinds of tents out of one piece of canvas twice as long as it is wide.  My miner's tent (square pyramid) is #6.

Now, I think I am not displeased to have bought my fine Panther Pavilion.  It has features like "door flaps that overlap" and "a floor" and "no gap at the roof for leaks."  But looking at these sketches, if I had to bet money on how those square pyramids in the Utrecht Psalter were made, I'd probably vote for this. It's hella fabric efficient and dead simple.  Also, very simple to pack.

I sort of want to try to "make" one, but whether I buy 60" duck or a pre-made 10' x 20' canvas tarp, the cost would be around $100.  That's a lot for a quick experiment. 

...you know, on my way to Pennsic, there's a weird little overstock shop near Altoona, PA.  Okay, "on my way" is overstating it - it's probably an hour from the PA Turnpike.  But they often have enormous bolts of 60" wide fabric for cheap.  If I wanted to make it as a day shade/family shelter instead of a real weatherproof tent, it could be made out of anything thick enough to block the sun.  (Muslin would not be useful, for example.)   

I could also get a hideous plastic tarp for maybe $20 bucks and try it with that, but... then I'd have a huge hideous plastic tarp. But it would satisfy my curiosity.

And then I thought to myself, "Maybe Tyvek?" and lo, the backpacking community is way ahead of me.  I could get 18' of 9'-wide Tyvek here for $40.  Still kinda pricey for a lark, and I'm unlikely to do better than around $2/yard for material.  Well, the overstock place does have $1/yard stuff.  But it's a time cost of 2 hrs of driving, unless I wait until the next time I visit my family in the area (which is how I even know it exists).  

If I can find someone who could use a huge plastic tarp after I'm done with it, I might go that route. I just hate to buy something like that, do one thing with it, and turn around and throw it out. It's wasteful.