Fibre Prep

 

red/rust - 2/16 cotton - teal - 16/2 cotton

I keep coming back to my microscope photos of yarns, willing myself to better understanding what is happening in the yarn.

I learned to spin in 1974, long before I had any intention to take up weaving.  But I became fascinated by what was happening in the loom room and eventually changed my focus.

However, what was 'common' in 1974, at least in my town, was that people tended to spin wool from local fleeces, make their own rolags with hand carders, and spin using a supported long draw method.

Having finally managed to get a handle on spinning that way, it was a very short step over to spinning shorter fibres from the 'cloud'.

I gave up spinning once I became immersed in weaving, but those early days never left me and I was able to spin both from rolags and the cloud many decades later.  Still can, although my hands have enough arthritis in them that spinning is less enjoyable (more painful) so I only spin a little bit, now and then.

At various times I've posted photos of cotton still in the boll, and talked about different methods of spinning yarn.  And the editors at WEFT seem interested in following that 'thread' where it leads.

So I asked a local spinner if she would produce some very short staple cotton from the cloud and make a small quantity of thread on a drop spindle, both singles and plied, which I'll send with the latest article.

Some people will argue that it doesn't matter because the *weavers* don't need to know how the yarn is spun.  I still maintain that it *does* matter because different qualities of yarn are produced.  And weavers need to know the quality of their yarn - is it weaker or stronger?  More or less lint-y?  Is it smoother or more textured?   Etc.

It is no different than a baker needing to know what type of flour they are using and how best to make bread using that type of flour.  Or a potter the type of clay they have.  A woodworker which of hundreds of kinds of wood are being used.

If we do not understand the qualities of our materials, how can we know the 'best' practice while using them?

It depends.  Everything.  It all depends on the particulars of what a weaver does with their materials as they attempt to create a cloth of a particular quality.

So, yes, I'm back to sampling, doing more samples for the article I sent last month(?).  I've second guessed myself a couple dozen times now, but the loom is set up for the 2nd sample, and I think I have a good set up for the 'next' sample.   Then I will re-sley again, and weave another.  Then re-thread and sley and weave another.  If there is warp left over, who knows, maybe I will weave more?  

It depends!