This week....

It has been all about the cotton. Almost.

One of the many things about me that is considered weird is that I love spinning cotton. I have done ever since taking a Retreat class at SOAR with Patricia Emerick on spindle spinning cotton and being told that the most important thing is to relax. Best advice evah. I find it a magic process - as you barely hold on to the sliver, you can feel the thread forming within the fibre - all you have to do is let it ease out. Well, and sort out the slubs, but that is mostly not too huge a problem.

Having said that, spinning cotton is not something that I do all that often, so this week's preparation was a real treat. I was going to inflict it on them at AH (I live in hopes of the light bulb moment happening for someone.) In the event, there were for the first time in my tenure insufficient people booked on, and the class was cancelled. Too close to the last one; a weaving course; and probably - cotton!

But the prep was not in vain, as the DSM and I were demonstrating cotton spinning up at Gibson Mill on Saturday. This mill used to be first a cotton spinning, later weaving mill. It seemed like a good plan, and I think it worked well. I am not, these days, a great fan of demonstrating to the public, but this was a genuinely interested set of visitors to the venue who were either already quite well informed about textiles, or could ask intelligent questions, and none of the children were anything other than pleasant. We enjoyed out time, spinning on wheel, charka and spindles, both akha and supported.

It was lovely to get out my charka - I have a Bosworth attache, which is a dream to spin on. While I was prepping, I was at the same time thinking what I could do with the fairly fine and slightly slubby yarns that I was accumulating, and I am considering putting two current ideas together and doing a small tapestry weaving using the natural shades of white, brown and green with some recycled blue jean (still got quite a lot in the stash) and some indigo dyed that the DSM has had on the go for.....quite some time. He says he can spare me a little bit! I actually have a tapestry loom already warped, so maybe I will manage to do this over the winter?

The Captiva wrap looks as if it might be finished for SOAR after all. I slowed down a bit, thinking that I was going to run out of yarn and have to frog, which would have been....annoying, before remembering that there was a third ball buried in a basket by my seat. From then on I have been fairly motoring - I am on to the tail section now, which is decidedly hopeful.

The process was helped by it being Bear Knitters today. Nice gathering, as usual. I ordered a latte when we first arrived, and it looked so pretty that I felt forced to photograph it, my camera still being in my bag from the day before. When I hadn't had time to use it. I hope this isn't too fuzzy - you'll get the gist, anyway!



Right, I'm off to skein the merino and tencel finished days ago that is still languishing on the bobbin. The DSM is away next week, so I am hoping for some quality knitting and spinning time. I'm thinking that there is sufficient for a cowl, which would make a nice travel project if I can get worked out how I want it to go - and if I get it done on the flights over, I can wear it if we do the hoped-for whale watching trip (hurricanes permitting - but I'm not thinking about that!)