March 12-13, 2016

Cotton!  For the handspinner (or at least, for this handspinner!), cotton is pretty intimidating.  It's has a very short staple (length of fiber), which makes it challenging to spin.  I've tried it a few times in the past, and it's always beaten me--the yarn breaks immediately, and I give up in frustration after a few minutes.  I may be easily frustrated, but I'm also really really stubborn and I can't stand to give up on something that I know can be done--if others can do it, so can I, dammit!

I had the great gift to be in the right place/right time recently to learn from someone who really knows how to spin cotton.  She's a member of the spinning group I just joined in January, and she is just a master of cotton.  Plus, she's sweet & generous and a natural, patient teacher.  I've noticed before that just because a person has proficiency in something, doesn't mean they can teach it, but Tara has it and can do it, and I'm so grateful that she took the time to show me the basics!

Part of my issues with spinning cotton in the past was that I wasn't really starting with the easiest setup.  I tried spinning sliver on my wheel, which, while it can be done, just makes a challenging task even more challenging.  Much easier, Tara told me, to start with seed or ginned cotton on a teeny little tahkli support spindle.  Indeed!  I spun cotton!  It wasn't too pretty, but the yarn didn't break every inch!

Immediately after my lesson with Tara, I had to buy some supplies (*grins* New toys!)  I got a sweet little Mistral tahkli from Hipstrings on Etsy with a pretty primrose etched design.  You can see the original photo here.  I also got some seed cotton from her to practice with.  It's probably obvious to everyone else that "seed cotton" is cotton with the seeds still in it (duh).  I don't know what I was thinking, but I guess I wanted to believe the seeds had been removed.  Oh well, they're actually a piece of cake to separate from the cotton, and it's a surprisingly fun activity, seeing the pile of pure fluff grow, and the seeds, well, they just amaze me.  I'm so clueless I didn't realize the seeds were fuzzy.  It's strange to think of a seed as being adorable, but these little guys are like seedy teddy bears (ha, that doesn't sound right, but you get the point!)

A picture of my new stash & process...

Obviously the spindle (with a bit of spun cotton on it--proof!  I can spin cotton!) and the glass bowl I spin it in are on the left (the bottom point of the spindle is super pointy & sharp and is best supported by a hard surface).  At the center top is the cotton I pulled from the seeds, ready to spin.  At the right is cotton still on the seeds, and the center(ish) bottom is the fluffy teddy bear cotton seeds, with as much cotton removed as I could.  I told you they were adorable!

That's about all I've got to show so far.  I'm trying to practice on this a little every day.  It's going to take a while, I imagine, before I'm spinning pretty cotton yarn, but practice is the only way.  (Wow, that sounds very zen, haha.)