Cottoning to cotton

That's a funny expression. Why do we say "I don't cotton to that" anyway? After playing more with cotton fiber, I think I understand. It really clings to you, to your clothing, your skin, even your shoes; not to mention the carpet and the wooden parts of the spinning wheel. Those fibers are so short they even can go right up your nose. So if you "cotton to" something, I guess you like it enough to stick to it.

I haven't felt that way about spinning cotton, though I certainly do like weaving with it. I don't find it as useful for knitting, however, because it lacks the elasticity we usually want in a knitted fabric.

I got some pima cotton sliver back before the holidays thinking I could spin it up for the COE study group. It turned out to be much trickier than I expected. In fact, it seemed impossible. Hunting through SpinOff back issues, talking to Toni and others, I got a little better idea of the nature of the beast. I added high speed whorls and bobbins to my armaments, but after the first experience I still put off going back to the cotton. Instead, I used them for hemp and ingeo, both of which were easier to spin with a faster twist ratio.

This week we played with cotton some more at the COE group. (Thanks to Susan R. for bringing in various supported spindles and her charkha.) I found I could spin the stuff on a light handspindle if I didn't suspend the spindle. Instead I used a "park and draft" method: put lots of twist in a short leader, then rest the spindle and draw out more fiber, letting the twist slip gradually into it. Since I usually spin worsted style (never any twist in the drafting zone) this was easier for me, but I started to understand why cotton is spun in other ways. The fibers are so short that worsted drafting is difficult. The drafting zone is only a centimeter or so in width at best.

This morning I finally took the cotton back to my double drive wheel, using the highest ratio I could achieve (15:1 with the high speed kit,) and soon figured out a method that works. It's a modified long draw, I guess, or maybe a medium draw? By drafting out ten inches or so while letting in just enough twist to hold the fiber together, and then letting twist in by tiny increments while further drawing out the partially spun yarn, I was able to achieve much better results. With more practice, I suspect I can be pretty good at it. I found that stubborn slubs give way more easily if I flick them with a fingernail while continuing to twist, rather than pulling hard on them (which tends to just break the yarn at its thinnest point,) and also learned that once the yarn is sufficiently uniform in thickness you still need to treadle several more times to put enough twist into it to make it stable.

I am going to play more with cotton now, and suspect I will start to like it better. I also foresee an unexpected side benefit: I've never really been able to do a long draw effectively with wool. After some more practice with the cotton, I think my woolen long draw will improve quickly. In fact, I'm eager to try it with some carded batts from my own sheep that I've had sitting here for some time now.

Hemp!

Normally the word "hemp" would make me think of rope. Recently (in the last few years) I've been seeing hemp fabrics and yarns offered for sale. Some fit with the rope idea, and are more like burlap or jute, while others are much closer to linen in texture and weight.

Seeing that Toni had hemp roving available, I thought I'd try some while we are looking at vegetable fibers. It does seem to have some nice potential.

The spinning technique turns out to be very much the same as that used for linen, and particularly for tow, which often comes as a roving. In order to spin a fine, even thread you need to keep your fingertips moist by dipping them regularly in water or flaxseed dressing. You also need, at least occasionally, to use the flax spinner's technique of winding the twist in and out by rolling the thread through the fingers of your controlling hand.

The resulting thread I've been getting is very similar to what I get from tow. It is not quite as strong (at least to my subjective judgement) but it is even and appears to be strong enough. Linen thread is extremely tough. Hemp is more in the same realm as cotton, I'd say. The color is even similar, though hemp is not quite as shiny.

I'm guessing that the finishing techniques to set twist will be like linen. That is, you boil the thread for a few minutes in clear water. With linen I often cheat and just wet it with a mister while it is on the niddy-noddy, then let it dry before skeining it off, but I'm not sure that will be enough with hemp. I may try each to see.

In any case, I have samples of tow linen and hemp for comparison on Thursday. Hope to see you all there.

Ramie

OK, now that the rush of getting the show mounted is over, I sat for an hour this morning with the ramie. I expected it to be as tough to spin as flax, but it's not. In fact, it's much more like spinning the tussah silk top that we tried last month. It isn't necessary to work wet, as with linen, and if it weren't for the unrelenting snow white color, you could almost think it was silk.

Like linen, it has no elasticity. Like either silk or linen, it will spin very fine without much effort.

It does tend to fluff all over if you aren't careful. In winter, when static electricity can be more pronounced, spinning it with damp fingers might in fact help.

I'm curious about dyeing it. Cellulose fibers dye differently than protein, and are supposed to be more difficult. Obviously, indigo would still work pretty much the same as it does on wool. But what else would you use? Can you get natural dyes from plants to take on cotton or ramie? Anyone have experience?

September meeting: belated update

Four of us were there for the September discussion, and after looking at each other's silk we decided it was time to introduce a new fiber. Rather than pushing into breeds of sheep, Gary suggested we try a vegetable fiber and the group agreed on ramie, the bast fiber from china grass. It is generally available as a roving and can be dyed using the techniques for cotton or other cellulose. The Fold has it as a white roving.

Nan and Gary have put their almost identical skeins of plied tussah into the show in Woodstock. Both are displayed in the front window along with Susan's very fine singles and a drop spindle.

Next meeting will be on Thursday, October 26. We should have some ramie results to examine and discuss, and of course silk is also still welcome. If anyone has silk "disasters" go ahead and bring them so we can consider possible remedies or prevention.

From Worm Spit to Gossamer Silk Yarn

Our first meeting was lots of fun. After much discussion, we decided to begin our COE spinning adventure with silk, choosing from many fiber preparations and spinning one of the following:
-Extra fine smooth yarn (50 or more wraps per inch)
-Fine smooth yarn (32-45 wraps per inch
-Medium smooth yarn -- may be multiple ply (15-30 wraps per inch)
-Extra fine textured yarn (50 or more wraps per inch)
-Fine textured yarn (32-45 wraps per inch

At the August meeting, we'll display our skeins and share our joys and frustrations in trying to meet the COE standard.

Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning

If you are planning to participate in the COE study group, I suggest that you look at Andrea Longo's Web site: Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning and all the linked pages.

Andrea includes copies of all her written work, photos of beautiful skeins of yarn, and some of the judge's comments. It's scary to learn that the judges were not always satisfied with yarns that appear perfect to me. But she did pass with 3413 points out of a possible 3824. The minimum to pass is 3250.

Whether we do or do not submit our yarns to the scrutiny of judges, we will be much better spinners for trying to meet these high standards.

Sample labels for COE

If you downloaded sample-labels.doc the night I uploaded it (Tuesday, I believe), please download it again. That document is a Microsoft Word "form." All the text in it should be protected. You should be able to tab from field to field and enter data without disturbing the text that I copied from the COE book. Unfortunately, when I uploaded the file Tuesday, I forgot to click the lock icon to protect it.

It's entirely possible that you may want to unprotect it and make changes in the text or format. Here's how:
1. From the View menu, choose Toolbars and then select Forms.
2. A toolbar will appear with several icons, including a padlock.
3. Click the padlock to protect and unprotect the text areas of the document.
4. To fill out the document, it should be protected.
5. If this is clear as mud, please post your questions here.