Installed in the heart of the Aragonese Pyrenees, the inhabitants of San Juan de Plan are used to making the most of the resources that their environment offers them. Agriculture and livestock have been sources of food and clothing. Sheep are carefully cared for to feed on their meat and take advantage of their wool. In late spring, the sheep are shorn. This operation relieves the animals of the coming heats and allows the inhabitants of the valley to use wool to combat the rigors of a harsh winter. The work of conditioning wool to use it as a textile raw material is a task assumed by the women of San Juan. “First add the water, you know, because if the cauldron doesn't burn. Well what, do I already miss it? The shorn wool is dirty and caked. It will take several washes and you start by soaking it in a cauldron with hot water. “And this is the store and now you are going to see what it is for. I'm going to light a fire to heat the water and to soak the wool ” “ See. You'll see how it lights up. It costs him a bit, huh? " “It will turn on, now. Do not hurry. You will see what fire it will make once it has gained strength ” You see what fire, this exhaust is hot. Hala, escape " " The water does not have to boil because the wool is soaked but the water does not boil. Very hot. You can put the wool in now. Come on ”I have already taken the water from the cauldron to the bathtub to put the wool in. The first wash has to be done with hot water so that the fleeces release grease and dirt. “Well, because that way it is cleaned and it is very soft. Only with cold water it would have to be in the month of July when the river water warms up. But they washed wool all year round ... They washed in January with the ice in the river, they washed at any time. A wool fleece for mattresses, for pillow lumps, to do everything. Pieces, we even made woolen skirts, woolen shirts, everything. Wool and hemp were essential in these towns. Oh yes, everything worked by hand, uh, okay, now, that whitewash. You will see how white it is when it passes by the river ” The effect of the heat of the water on the wool is almost immediate and in a short time the first wash is ready. "Very little, five minutes, as long as it gets well soaked then later it drains for the basket, for this is the basket, and it goes to the river and it clears up" "The hands, when we finish washing the wool , fine fine hands for what, just as if you had put cream " " Now take out the cauldron. We address it so that it does not rust, as it is hot it dries and does not rust. The trivet as it burns, you take it out of the fire and there and this process is done ” “ You have to collect the wool well. Well, see, now the basket messes and to collect LANADA, terrazzo or a bucket under messes
and already takes the this "" Now put again the palette and the carrycot so you do not tap the ass carrycot of the lanada so that it drains and it is already removed. This is the black one and this, well, the white one. Now it is not very clean, but when I get to the river well ... " " Hala, well now that it is a quarter of an hour. Meanwhile we are going to eat some garlic bread and a piece of bacon, and we will have a drink so that the cold will not get into our hands, otherwise the river water is very cold, uoh. And come on, the wool, because we use it for the pieces and my brother's corduroy pants, who have a lot of manure from the gunwale. ” The water that soaks the white and black wool runs off little by little. Anita uses the wash to soak her dirty clothes. "This cleans just like the best detergent" "This really should be a little more soaked than wool. They are corduroy pants that are still used because they are cowboys and shepherds and they get pigs of everything. See, pants these are the ones who were tailors, are not buying, they are made of ... buy corduroy and made by the tailor "" Well, now you're going direct to the river, natural water, wash the wool and clarify it. It is already clear to escape, already. And clear your pants and au ” The road to the river was a common route for these Pyrenean women. The heavy load of the cauldrons resting on the waist was enlivened by the jokes about the latest events in the valley. The Cinqueta River runs vividly as it passes through San Juan de Plan. Its cold waters, coming from the high mountains, accentuate the physical effort involved in washing wool and clothes. Kneeling on the boulders, the women dump the baskets into the river to soak the wool and, on the stones, beat it with the paddles. “This, even if you put it to soak when I have put the float in, it does not soak and it is the fish that they mark when they shear the sheep. And now it is bad to remove because even if it remains in the wool there is no pig left, it is the fish that does not jump, you see, you have to cut it with scissors. I take it out with my hand but you have to cut it with scissors, you see, and the wool will be very clean ” “ Wool is never washed like clothes, uh, wool is made soft and paddled. You see like this, no, no, this is not done ” As they wash the wool, the women spread the laundry in the sun to gain time for drying. The blows with the wooden trowel are the remedy to extract the dirt from the work clothes. The daily task of washing thus became one of the hard tasks that these women have carried out in their homes. The fact that wool and clothes dry more or less quickly has a direct impact on the weight of the load when returning home. As the river is somewhat removed from the town and the path is uphill, the wash is laid on a stone wall close to the riverbed. These stones are placed so that the clothes do not carry the air. “In other words, in four hours the wool is dry, in this beautiful place that we have prepared. That here, that is why it extends here on the wall, because the sun touches it from the front and thus advances. But in four hours the wool is already dry. And it better be sunny and not airy because if it is airy it will take away the wool and if it is not airy and it is sunny it will be very good ” Four hours ahead to do other work and let the sun and the mountain air dry completely washed it in the river. "Well, we are going to collect the wool because it is dry and tomorrow we will work it" Back in town, with the laundry clean and dry, the women plan when to meet to continue with the processes that the wool must receive before using it. The good morning allows us to go outside to start the processing of this wool and scarmená, the name given to the first thinning. "This is called" scarmená. " As you can see, it is united and you have to separate it, you know? Put the tuff in and the job is "scarmená", you know? Separate it, put it tuff "" If you want to be healthy and warm, you wear a wool shirt in winter and you will see . You won't get a cold, no. You will not catch a cold all winter, do not hurry. And this must be tried to make young people understand that wool has a lot of value, what happens is that as the new world has arrived, they appreciate it less every day " " Well, this year you know what I will do, what you will do, I will choose myself a very good fleece from which we shear and I will make Raquel's stockings as madama for Carnival. Very good, as before with good holes for it to breathe, and good. You'll see what coolest stockings you'll make for her. Well, girl before summer they wore wool shirts, and they said they were going very well. That was that science and they say they were doing very well. Look what they said: that what covered the heat covered the cold. Mom always said: What keeps the cold keeps the heat, she always said it ” Once the wool is tainted, it has gained volume, finesse and is ready to continue with the next step. In order for clean and scarred wool to be spun easily, it must be carded. “Notice that the wool is tuff, because you still have to put more tuff to spin it. And also for the quilts it was also carded. So that it can be spun better, it must be carded, it must be passed through the cards. And this is called "cardá". The cards are wooden pallets, full of iron tips on one side, which comb the wool leaving it soft and fluffy. “Depending on how you carve, the cards also stone the wool, so, as the wool is stoned , the thread does not come out as beautiful and it is not so easily spun, it is more difficult to spin it. You have to wear it soft and never squeeze the cards so that the wool comes out, always soft ” “ Well, I'm going to cast the wool that these women have prepared on the spinning wheel. And then spin it. You see, it kinks ” “ The distaff was used a lot because they cast it and we took it when we shepherds and cowgirls went spinning in the mountains. And in the evenings we would gather around the low fire in the kitchen, in the fireplace, and come spinning, and there were many women " " Now it is not practical, with the comforts of the washing machine wool is not practical, look at how decent how clean. And they also made the hoods, the cotton skirts, the blankets, the blankets and a lot of things ... I have the new hood, they gave it to me, and it will not be used. You see ” Threading the thread on the distaff was basic for spinning during herding work. Already in the homes, in the evenings, the women spun directly from the basket. "Because before, they would put it like that in the basket to do it at home, because you couldn't take this for the mountains, how were you going to take it ... Then they did it like this and they advanced more, and they did it at night in kitchens. But spinning the same, it's the same wool and everything is the same. ” When the wool is clean, scarred, carded and castled, it is time to move on to spinning. “I am spinning the wool that has been prepared with the spindle and the distaff. The distaff was made from a green hazelnut branch and the men went to make them in the mountains and the women also made spinning wheels. You see. This is squeezing, you see, you do what you want with the wool. Not even a machine can do it when wool is good, if it is not good then ... " " I like to spin, I like it. I also like more than teasing and more than carding. This of relaxing spinning, makes moving the body, I think it is doing very well this year, that hurt, did more harm ribs escarmenando and carding to spinning "spinning, women take the wool from the distaff or basket and they print a rotational movement to the spindle, the piece in which the yarn is collected. The thickness and quality of the yarn depend on the skill of the spinner. “Well, nothing, we have made one spindle each one and now we are breaking, that is, separating the thread from the wool and now we are going to put the two spins together and twist and it is ready to work, just as it would be put on a loom. as if it were done with the needles and the palico ” The fusados that the women have spun separately must be put together in a single ball so that they are balanced in their length. "As one fusada was fatter than the other, we have to govern it like this, making a warp in a billet on the spinning wheel, and everything is used ." “This is twisting. As Anita has equaled the fusadas, which were called fusadas, because now you have to twist the thread so that the two fusados are well joined, because you see, now they are not well joined, they are separated and when twisting they are well joined and to work them in the average, you have to twist " " This so that the ball does not escape, because the good thing is to put the finger like this, and that way the ball does not escape from the hand " " Well, sometimes, no matter how much crooked it is not better. The thread that is slightly twisted is better, finer, it is softer, you know? " The twisted yarn is already strong enough to make wool garments. “And now we are going to make a couple of sandals, come on María José, three routes must be taken, you the fuse and one route and I this. Then you are giving me thread. That ” “ You have to pull hard. See that you do not miss the tip that would untwist. Now the sandal comes out, now ” “ Look at you, this is very good, very well done. The only thing is that you have to twist it a bit, give it a maneuver. Pull, pull, María José, we're going to put it up ” The sandals, a twisted thread that is used to tie espadrilles, is the simplest garment that the women of San Juan make with wool. The calorific power of this material gives it a decisive use to face the cold of winter. The wool is used to fill small covers that give warmth to the feet: the quilts. “So let's start by laying the wool, huh. Come on, Maruja ” “ Two of them go together here, because to spin it it is turned around like this, so that when putting it on the spinning wheel it is easier to put on. And yet, here what matters is that it is flat so that it does not bulge and you can fix it on the fly, you know? The more the better planet "" First we made a face like that , up and down, now the next layer is travesera and so is everything matched. In these stripes, as it comes cross-sectional, it covers the stripes. So you see, now we put it transverse " " You see, you see how beautiful it is, it is totally different, first we have done it in one direction and now in another " " Look, now the fabric is lifted, one on each side, so that it is even the fabric and then it is pointed and sewn ” “ Now we have to prop it up. Poke stitches in them from time to time to hold the fabric one side to the other. For example, to hold this fabric with the other and be able to sew it evenly. This is just, as we would say, stringing it together, you know? " "Well, when you sew, the wool does not dance, it does not move from the place it has, you know, that is the meaning, it has nothing else, you know, to hold the wool" "It was tailors work and with a quilt it cost three days of making it, the quilt cost less time, but the bedspread, well, three days and a long time ” “ These things have to be marked so that you don't get twisted later ” “ Because if not, maybe you start here and end there, you know, So you ca n't go wrong doing what you want to do, the drawing that you want to do. ” The quilt is one of the countless pieces that local tailors used to make. Given the great demand, they devoted themselves professionally to this trade, while the women took care of weaving other garments at home. "This is the biggest thing that can be and also healthy, that does not have any plastic. This is chintz and the inside is wool. So, you see. You are already? Well, we have finished, the garment is already finished " " Of all the wool process, of all the work that we have done I am going to start the "peazo", of all this merchandise that we have here " " Four dozen, it is measured with the needle, and a little more and a heel ” “ I am starting a piece of the wool that we have worked, the white and the black, but I start it with the white ” “ Two stitches to the right and two backwards. You can also do one to the right and two backwards, but we have a habit of doing two to the right and two backwards ” “ This in winter, in the villages, is done very early at night, and then from five in the afternoon Until eleven o'clock at night we are spinning, making stockings, woolen skirts , sweaters for the man, for the shepherd, everything and petticoats that ... the woolen looks ” “ The palicos, when girls, were made by our friends , the bride and groom, in the mountains and they gave us a palico. José Giménez gave me one. And they made it to us with some drawings and they gave us the name, like now friends who make themselves a gift from the factory or from the store, since then the boyfriend or friend gave us the palico by hand. They made us very nice, look at you, and they put the letters in us, you see, with windows and drawings, and the letters, you see, this one does not have letters, but they put the letters in us and when they conquered us they did things like that to see if we wanted being girlfriends " " When you work fast, the needles make music. It is as an accompaniment to work. Look you see. They make a music ... They just need to play a song and the noise of the needles, because everything was a distraction " " Well, I have to do it now is to measure it because for it to be a sock the same as the other, well there are I have to measure it, you know, then they both come out exactly the same, and I already close the sock, because it is already quite big. So I have measured it with the other and I say that the two are already the same " " So now each pass is taken out the point and you see it is drawn like this, one point above the other, and thus it closes without realizing it. Look you see. Be careful that sometimes the stitches also get loose, don't think " " I'm done. You see that with a stitch a chain is made, and now the thread and santaspascuas are broken " " Now I knot them both together. Have been very good, and you see thus put to hang because it is not apolillan, that wool is also one thing to look after her very well if not apolilla "From the care of the sheep to the production of garments and apparels There is a path through which life passes in San Juan de Plan. Trades and uses that once were daily in the Pyrenean valleys are being relegated in the memory of its inhabitants and they try to transmit them to future generations as a sign of identity.
