Video: Traditional way of processing wool

That's wool and flax (or hemp). Love the little detail of the baba spitting on the flax (or hemp) which explains the one time I spun that material it gave me such a hard time.
It's been a while since I've traveled but the next time I visit Eastern Europe I'm going to find women like these to teach me how to use the vreteno (spindle) and the preslice (distaff) as seen in the video. When I visited my uncle in the house my dad grew up in I saw my grandmother's preslice leaning against the wall in the front room. Gorgeous detail in the woodwork. If you look at the vests the babas in the video are wearing you can see more ornate flourishes.
I have to re-watch this video a few times because it sounds like they're dyeing that wool with a rich batch of walnut hulls. If I could get that strong black I'd try a bunch of new gothic-y yet folk-inspired pieces! There are a few walnut trees on the farm and I'm tempted to get messy next autumn! The knit pieces in this video must be like cardboard if they're beating them in the creek like that. While visiting my great-aunt she once asked if I needed laundry done and proceeded to pound my Girbaud jeans in a similar fashion and I didn't have the heart to tell her my clothes weren't made as well as hers!