Saga Hill Designs

09/28/2026

Another year of growing and processing linen flax has come to an end! Here is my updated blog to tell the concluding story: https://sagahill.blogspot.com

I'm looking forward to being the keynote speaker at this weekend's Midwest Weavers' Federation conference in Alexandria, Minnesota. My keynote, "Linen Flax: from seed to fiber, from thread to cloth," is on Friday night, and immediately after my talk and presentation, I'll head back to the Twin Cities for a weekend of flax-processing demonstrations (October 3 & 4, 10 AM to 4 PM) at the Three Rivers Park Fall Festival at Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista, Minnesota (the educational farm where I've championed a linen flax plot for the past three years). Maybe I'll see you at one of these events?

To conclude the seed-rippling details, we ended up with about six pounds of Avian variety linen flax seeds after winnowing! Since we sowed about 2 pounds, that is a nice increase in seed yield for future use. 

09/13/2026

A new meaning to "shipping" textiles! From a Piecework magazine article:

Aalto University unveils two dresses knitted from fiber spun from the reclaimed wood of Finland’s oldest known boat!…. Together with the University of Helsinki, the team at the Bioinnovation Center had already developed a patented process, Ioncell®, to sustainably convert discarded textiles and cellulosic waste into textiles.

09/07/2026

This fall, there are lots of opportunities to learn more about linen flax! I hope to meet you at one of these events...

September 12, 2026, 1–2 PM – "Flax to Linen: From Seed to Fiber" – I will speak about the history and cultivation of linen flax and demonstrate the mechanical steps of flax processing to create fiber for linen. Carver County Library, Chanhassen, MN.

September 17–20, 2026 – FinnFest (annual national festival in the U.S. celebrating Finnish-American heritage & broader Nordic culture). A Finnish linen display that is part of a weekend Nordic/Finnish-themed fiber arts exhibit at the Weavers' Guild of Minnesota (Open Book Building, 101 Washington Avenue, Third Floor, Minneapolis, MN). My display shows the history and modern-day application of linen in Finland. Opening evening reception (time TBA), Thursday, September 17 & ongoing drop-in weekend exhibit.

October 2, 2026 – Keynote Address: Minnesota Federation of Weavers Annual Conference. "Flax to Linen: From Seed to Fiber, from Thread to Cloth" – I will speak about the history and growing of linen flax with a particular leaning towards fiber enthusiasts, and demonstrate the mechanical steps of flax processing to create fiber for linen. This talk includes a hands-on component! Mt. Carmel, Alexandria, MN.

October 3–4, 2026 – Gale Woods Farm Harvest Festival. Demonstrations of linen flax processing using flax grown and biologically processed at Gale Woods Farm. Minnetrista, MN.

08/30/2026

Sorry. I’m late to share this. It was so fun to co-present with Matt Holen from the University of Minnesota! We had a blast sharing our passion for flax and linen with the Minnesota State Fair visitors! 🫶🏻

08/21/2026

Long time no post. But I'm finally getting caught up with the past couple of months of Saga Hill activities. Flax work and health issues kept me from staying up to date during a busy summer. A few classes have happened since, and a few more are coming up, along with presentations (the first at the Minnesota State Fair, Weaver's Guild of Minnesota booth in the Creative Activities building on August 27th!) that are keeping me hopping this fall. And I finally updated my linen flax-growing blog! Check it out!

Apparently, time doesn’t go into updating the blog since I have a major catch-up to do here. The past two months have been overwhelmingly packed with activities and some health stuff I’ve been dealing with. The harvest wasn’t going to wait for me to recover, so I broke down my Viking resolve t...

07/01/2026

Summer is moving along quickly! Check the status of the linen flax flowers on my blog:

Our weather has been brutally hot and stormy recently. The heat made me concerned that the flax stalks would keel over or mature too rapidly. They prefer the cooler temperatures of more temperate climates. But they also like wet conditions, and they've had that in spades this summer, which might b...

06/18/2026

Happy midsummer, all! The flax fields are in bloom!! Check out my blog update: https://sagahill.blogspot.com
(There's also a video of the Gale Woods Farm flax plot for a taste of what it's like to be among the beauties in case you cannot visit them in person!)

06/03/2026

Another flax field update! https://sagahill.blogspot.com

I'm looking forward to the SOLD OUT drop spindle workshop I'm leading this weekend at the Plymouth Creek Center. We will have lots of fun preparing and spinning wool using traditional methods!

This spring has proven to be a very cold one. I am hoping that linen flax has the stamina of the woodland ephemerals, which are holding their own in my back woods, even with nighttime temperatures in the near-to-freezing level. Linen flax seedlings are known to be able to handle a frost, and even a....

05/20/2026

They survived! What is this about? Check out my blog! https://sagahill.blogspot.com

05/06/2026

Quick note to check out my linen flax blog—updated with seedling news! https://sagahill.blogspot.com

Remember, the Minnesota Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival is this weekend! Hope to see you there! https://shepherdsharvestfestival.org

About two weeks after the harvest, the flax stalks were removed from the fence where they had been hanging to dry. The periodic rains we were receiving were stunting the dry time, so it made more sense to put the stalks under cover in the farm greenhouse to further dry.