Sunday, January 7th, is St. Distaff’s Day, also known as Roc Day. It’s the day when spinners pick up their tools and resume work after the holidays. Celebrated the day after the Epiphany, it is considered a new beginning. At the start of the holidays, all work was finished, bobbins, and wheels cleared and put away. Work wasn’t carried over to the new year.
It is also called " Rock Day" in Scotland, rock being another name for distaff. "Rocking Day" was a feasting day when friends and neighbors met together in the early days of the New Year to celebrate the end of the Christmastide Festival. (www.heritagecenter.com/events/rocday.htm)
The idea is intriguing, but it doesn’t work for me. I believe in the continuity of things. We are products of the past, our past. I rely on what I call the collective conscious and depend on the buried deep in my mind repository it represents. To clear off, wipe clean,start anew each year works only as an idea to me, in the same way that a garden is reborn in the spring. New shoots pop up, indeed. But, they are subject to that which remains from the year before, good or bad soil, the mulch, the strength of the root culture or seed from which it emerges. Life, and creativity are built, step by step, stitch by stitch. In business, we clear our books at the end of the year. I am not foolish enough to believe that the closing and reopening of my accounts for the sake of an "official" accounting changes the numbers that remain. The end of year bank statement tells me that I have so much “stash” with which to carry on into the new year. So, I approach Roc day as a symbol. It works for me to consider it a time to take stock in what I have, review, consider, and move on. What a great time to celebrate our craft.
There will be a St. Distaff’s Day Spin In at the Westford Museum in Westford Mass. Are any of you planning on going?
Check out the link. The museum is about 1 mile from 495. Might be a great way to charge up your batteries.
powered by performancing firefox
13 responses to “St. Distaff’s Day Spin In”
Wish I could be there. That would have been fun.
I’ll be with Laurie! Maybe we can spindle spin that day!
I’m curious, why is it also called Roc Day? I thought a roc was a kind of giant bird, and that doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with spinning.
See you there!
Are you going? Yahoo! Love to see you.
For me, the taking stock is the most important part. I only have so many resources – time, money, space – to devote to my knitting. So I want to make sure I put that where it will really mean the most to me.
That’s a very thought-provoking post. Thankyou.
That sounds like fun! Sadly, the time is not great for me tomorrow. Enjoy!
Do you know how to dress a distaff?? Now, that is something I would love to see someone demonstrate….
My Great Wheel has been sitting in quiet observance of the holiday (I wouldn’t want to disturb any old habits it might have 😉
What an awesome post! I love your thoughts on the ‘fresh year’..and then your beautiful ‘indoor’ garden. How refreshing!
Since having Girly I am very aware of how fast time goes and how much the past affects the future. I like to sit and remember all the little things that happened over the year and how much she has grown and learned.
The same goes for my knitting. I like to see how much I have grown and learned through my first year and now I am setting goals for what I would like to accomplish in this year.
I too, like the idea of it but not reality for me either. Guess it’s just the times we live in. I can not wipe a slate clean that has not been filled;) I love many od the old traditions though and celebrating them as we can in our time is what preserves them. As you said too, they also bring us to what we are now. Hope you enjoy the spinning! I’d love to come and see, but I’m a little far away:)
Oh damn, totally missed, even if I could only observe it at home.