JenniPMcGyver's Amazing Cotton Spindle

If it can be done, I'm going to figure out a way to do it.

If I'm told it can't be done, I'm going to figure out a way to do it.

If I'm told it's impossible and beyond the realm of plausibility, I will take it as a personal mission to figure out a way to do it.

Behold my latest figuring.

It all started with a cotton plant.

These sorry things show up in elementary schools about this time of year, as the classroom teachers incorporate 'real world' into their lessons. Today, as the unsightly, dead shrub is lying in the back of my co-worker's classroom, I decide all I can really do in this instance is waste some time and dig out some seeds for The Things. I set about my little personal mission, much to the somewhat bizarre amazement of the 5th graders in the classroom.

As I go about picking out the seeds my teacher friend, Ms. E, mentions to the class that I have the ability to spin the cotton into yarn. Okay, this is true in theory, but 1) I have only spun cotton (pencil roving) once, and 2) I wasn't sure it was even possible to spin straight from the boll.

The students, being unconvinced that thread or yarn could POSSIBLY come from that little bit of fluff ("I mean, it's, like, what you clean your ears with"), I take it as a personal mission to prove them wrong. Just to make my day. I'm like that.

There's just one small, inconvenient issue. I have no spindle or spinning appliances with me at school at the time. Never fear, I am a Master at creating something out of nothing. So, I set about on my scavenger hunt. An old rhythm stick (it's good to be the music teacher), a bobbin of jewelry filament (it's good to be friends with the art teacher) and a push pin. And Scotch tape. Lots of Scotch tape.

5 minutes later, I had a working, if slightly unbalanced, spindle.

Now, came the tricky part. Spinning the 1/2 inch cotton fibers into singles. Cotton has its own issues for spinning because of the fiber length. They're just so short, they require lots of twist and some quick finger work to make the fibers stick together. My original plan was to create a supported spindle, but I couldn't work out the weight issues and get a good spin, so I settled on a drop spindle and hoped I could get enough spin to allow me to draft the cotton.

I did.


Of course, I did.

Just call me McGyver.

To Market, To Market

New items listed in the Etsy Shop. Here's a small preview.

It's June in Georgia - A Great Time to Think Sweaters!

Now that the move is settling out a little, I have some time to actually look at some of my in progress projects. One of the major ones is the sweater for Necropolis I agreed to make after his post Christmas pronouncement of "You never knit anything for me."

Well, this is true. I never really considered it as 1) Nec's tastes in clothing are almost as particular as mine and B) I figured it was a waste of good yarn to make the effort. However, with his whiny-butt statement, I set off on the unenviable task of trying to find something I thought I would find remotely interesting to knit, and he would agree to wear. Eventually, I stumbled on one of Brooklyn Tweed's submissions to Interweave Knits in the Fall '07 issue. It's called Cobblestone, and it just a basic sweater. Now, Nec's not generally a sweater type of guy. And, I was very upfront with him (ad nauseum) that if I took the time to do this, I would be expecting more than the occasional wear. He agreed, and I set off to find the right yarn.

This proved to be a challenge of epic proportions.

We live, basically, on the line that equatorially bisects the state, affectionately referred to by all Georgia History students as "The Fall Line". Last winter, I wore my wool coat a grand total of twice, and only because I wore a lighter weight dress than the temperature required. We haven't had anything resembling real snow or ice since MUC was an infant (he's now 7). And, even I don't wear pullover style sweaters unless it is COLD (re: not in a very long time). So, if I expect the sweater to see some wear time, the yarn would have to be a special blend. I was thinking something like a lighter weight wool, but with some of the same warm/cool properties of a silk blend as well. Try finding that in a commercial yarn. It was either near impossible or prohibitively expensive.

Which lead to my chatting it up on Ravelry on one of the boards. I ran across someone who actually does the washing/dying/carding/combing/blending, and better yet, she was a dream to work with. I gave her my less than specific, obtusely general ideas, and she turned it into a roving that was just wonderful. I spun it into a yarn, and checked to see if the gauge was at least in the ballpark, and we were cooking with gas! (By the way, I really can't say enough wonderful things about Julie and her fiber, so if you're looking for something of that nature, I really suggest you check out her Etsy Store ).

I've spun a specific amount of the fiber, to check my yards/oz, and then we'll determine the exact amount I'll need for the entire project. This is something I'm really looking forward to seeing to the end result.

The New Man in My Life

I have a new love in my life. He's unfinished, rough around the edges, stubborn, infuriating, migraine inducing, and my latest obsession. I've loved him from the moment I found him, and that love only grew when he showed up on my doorstep.

Meet Karl, my new love.

So, okay, there are no actual Y chromosomes involved in this, but still, he's so much fun. This was my Christmas present this year. I convinced Necropolis that all I really wanted was either a wheel or a really good camera, and since the wheel was the lesser of two bank account evils, that's the one I received.

Karl is an Ashford Kiwi model, double treadle (that means it has two pedals, Dr. Lucy) with scotch tension. Karl came in a box, dismantled, and MUC and I had a great time putting him together. Dispite a slight mishap with a flathead screwdriver and my left thumbnail, we all arrived at the finish line with no major difficulties. I immediately began to figure out the whole spinning phenomonnon, and promptly decided my wheel was definately a man in a former life. Oy vey!

Ashford is based in New Zealand, and the only New Zealander male I could think of at the time was Karl Urban, the actor (probably best known as Eomer from Lord of the Rings). Hence, the wheel was christened Karl. The more I thought about it, the more I decided it was appropriately named. Karl Urban has this sort of unfinished, rough look going, and so does the wheel. It's kismet.

And, I've actually somewhat conquered the mechanics of spinning. I'm not fantastic, but I can produce useable yarn. Here are some of my first attempts.

And, Lucy, you can stop humming Gretchen am Spinnrade now.

Spinning Wheel

One of my newer fiber hobbies is handspinning. I've been playing with it more than really producing anything useful, but it's been fun. And, once again, it's a testament to the power of the internet. After some searching around online, I found a 'viral video on YouTube from Abby at Abby's Yarns. (I've also purchased very dreamy fiber from her, but that's another post.) She shows how to start and handle a drop spindle, and it completely opened a whole new level of fiber obsession. I had been playing around with a student grade spindle I bought at Wild Fibre during my beach trip in Savannah. I also found something online about creating a drop spindle with a dowel and a CD and played around with that too. Then, I discovered Spinsanity's store on Etsy.com. And, now that I have a grown-up, real spindle, life will never be the same. It's loverly. It has a flower on it. It spins like a dream. Yes, it's my pressscccciooouuussss.

Now I want a kick spindle.

By the way, I notice my blog seems to be having some photo issues. I'm not sure why that is, but I'll get to working on that after I finish getting the garb done....like tomorrow.