Spinning Cotton

A little over a year ago I took a spinning class. (Not the kind with stationary bicycles--silly reader!). It was a beginner class on using a spinning wheel to turn fiber into string. I loved it and a spinner was born.

In one year, I went from no wheel to two wheels and I have my eye on a third. There is an astonishing amount to learn, like types of wheels, breeds of sheep and their wool, and loads of spinning and plying techniques.

Next on my list of things to learn is spinning cotton. There are other plant fibers to spin, including something called tencel which is a tree fiber. But cotton is my current challenge. I found a pretty good deal on some used cotton cards- those brush things you use to line up fiber for spinning.

So, with new-to-me carders in hand, I pulled out a couple of cotton bolls that friends had given me, probably as a joke. I brushed them into punis (a word I just learned for a type of cotton preparation for spinning) and tried spinning it. I made string! It's a little lumpy bumpy, but it's holding together.

Next, I'm going to try carding wool into rolags.