Textile Tradition in the Mohawk Valley
Textile Tradition in the Mohawk Valley By Jeanne Gostling T he Mohawk Valley’s textile mills used nature’s abundance to create products. That earned cities like Cohoes the name “Spindle City,” Amsterdam “Rug City,” and Utica was crowned “The Knit Goods Capital of the World.” Shear, pick, scour, dry, card, dye, dry again, rove, oil, spin, and you’ve got yourself some wool yarn, suitable for weaving . Harvest, gin, open, blend, clean, card, comb, form a sliver, card again, draw, rove, spin, ply and twist, gas and singe, mercerize, dye and coat – now you’ve got some cotton thread and bolts of fabric. Before the age of synthetic polymers, people could only choose between plants and animals as sources for clothing. Both require a degree of processing. The simpler the intended new use, such as a blanket or loin cloth, the less complicated the processing. The pelt of an animal, for instance, could b...
