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buckets-of-dirt · 4 years

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Ten Niche Interests

Tagged by @chaotic-archaeologist!

1. Knitting

This one appears to not actually be that niche, but whatever. My grandma taught me to knit when I was 9 and since then I’ve almost always had a project going (often the same project for several months). Once you’ve worn wool socks you knit yourself in the winter, its hard to go back.

2. Spinning

A natural extension of #1 what was bound to happen eventually, I bought a cheap drop spindle on etsy last summer and have been practicing ever since. My thread isn’t super even yet, but I’m getting there. The technique itself is actually fairly easy and its a great mindless task to keep my hands busy while I watch tv or listen to podcasts.

3. Sewing

Sensing a theme yet? I was probably still in preschool when my mom taught me to handsew, and I grew up using my dad’s cold war era (seriously, the thing was made in west germany) machine for small projects. Recently I’ve discovered the plethora of historical costuming/tailoring youtube channels and am hoping to develop my skills enough to make myself some history-inspired clothes in the near future!

4. Tablet weaving

I first heard about tablet weaving when I took a course on viking age Scandinavia this winter and of course I had to try it. The set up takes awhile, but once you get going its very easy to produce beautiful designs. Historically, it would’ve mainly been used for cloak edgings and such, but my current project is a silver and blue belt thats about half done

5. Snowboarding

I was by no means a sporty kid growing up, but the one real exception was the snowboarding lessons I took in middle and high school. I was not good at it then, and the lengthly hiatus due to uni probably didn’t help, but I had fun anyway and thats all that matters. This particular interest is also to blame for why I have to wear a scarf over my face practically all winter because I got slight frostbite on my cheeks several times while basically unsupervised on the slopes (wear your balaclavas kids)

6. Welsh mythology

The Mabinogi (or Mabinogion depending on your translator and what stories they choose to include) is a tragically underappreciated collection of surviving myths recorded by monks in medieval Wales. The stories tell us as much about medieval Welsh society as they do about what a pagan Wales might have been like and I find it fascinating. Plus it has the first written mention of King Arthur (who was Welsh, fight me) before the english and the french got ahold of him so thats pretty cool

7. Flint knapping

How could I be a good prehistoric archaeology student if I hadn’t tried flint knapping at least once? Turns out its really fun to smash rocks with other rocks, especially when that leads to creation. I’m still a beginner, and pressure flaking is my nemesis, but understanding the process has definitely helped me comprehend stone tools and better at recognizing flakes when I’m in the field

8. Gardening

I love fresh veggies and I love being in the dirt so naturally I enjoy helping my dad with his garden (though I hate weeding). A few years ago at an archaeology summer camp a Wabanaki activist and retired paleoethnobotanist who is working on a food sovereignty project gave me a handful of bean seeds from heirloom varieties that would’ve been grown in the region where I live before european contact. I’ve been trying to establish a stable crop ever since, and this year I might finally get to taste them!

9. Renaissance drama

Okay so its not that weird to like Shakespeare, but what about his contemporaries? I’m not even talking about Marlowe (though his work is also very good don’t @me). I’m talking city comedies. The show normal people, usually in London, going about their normal renaissance lives. My favourite would have to be Roaring Girl which is about Moll (based on the real outlaw Mary Frith who defied sumptuary laws and gender roles to wear men’s clothing) helping a couple get married despite their fathers’ disapproval

10. The (Pre)history of textiles

Wouldn’t you know it, I love textiles. Historic textiles are obviously very cool and beautiful, but my heart truly lies with the textiles made in the Americas before contact (especially northeastern North America). Is including my research specialty on this list a bit of a cop out? Yes. But I don’t think its possible to get more niche than a material that you have to study by proxy using one or two kinds of ceramic decoration motifs. Catch me in the field crying over a single sherd of cord wrapped stick impressed pottery.

Reid has already tagged pretty much anyone I’d think to tag so if you see this and want to participate just go for it!

#tag meme

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