WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SPINNING PLANT FIBERS!
Upcoming Spinning Classees
August 17 - 19, 2022
Redmond/Sister, Oregon Central Oregon Spinners and Weavers
Lecture on Industrial Hemp at the Guild Meeting on the 17th
Spinning & Dyeing Cotton & Hemp Workshop
Includes dyeing and spinning both cotton and hemp on the takli and wheels. Goal is to give students a good understanding of cotton and hemp and how to make it into yarns to use in weaving and knitting.
For information: https://www.coswg.org
August 26-27-28, 2022
Eugene Textile Center, Eugene, Oregon
Spinning & Dyeing Cotton and Hemp Workshop
Includes dyeing and spinning both cotton and hemp, with a goal of letting students feel more comfortable both with their spinning wheels and dyeing their own fiber to create the colors and textures they want for both spinning and weaving.
For information: https://www.eugenetextilecenter.com
TEACHING
Joan Ruane was first a teacher and then a fiber artist. Her love of teaching shows when ever she has a chance to teach spinning, weaving or even a little dyeing. Seeing the need for BEGINNING classes, and her love of teaching beginners, has brought her to start beginning classes locally as well as to bring in teachers to teach advance classes.
Realizing that the guilds and conferences often favor bringing in advance classes, Joan wants to offer new people the opportunity to take beginning classes so they can learn the basic fiber art skills, and then be able to move on to advance classes.
Southwest Corner will be offering several classes during 2022 and then will bring in complimentary advanced classes in the winter of 2023. Already Amy Tyler, who teaches advanced spinning techniques, is scheduled to teach in Tucson January 13-15, 2023. Details for her class will be posted on the website soon.
If you or a group of friends are interested in a fiber art class, please let Joan know by emailing or speaking with her so she can accommodate the needs of fiber interested folks who want to learn or even re-learn a new skill. Contact her at spincotton@yahoo.com or text 520-335-4113.
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Here are some new articles to check out, hope you enjoy them!
- “Spinning Hemp Fibre.” The Wheel, by Ashford Wheels & Looms (Issue #32| 2020-2021)
- “Solar Dyeing.” Spin Off, by Long Thread (Spring 2021)
- “Spinning Off the Point on My E-Spinner” PLY Magazine, by Jacey Boggs Faulkner (Summer 2021)
SOLAR DYEING USING CUSHING PERFECTION DYES
Recently I have begun doing some experiments with solar dyeing. Living in the Southwestern United States, there is ample opportunity to use the sun to help dye cotton fiber. Read more...
EASY-TO-SPIN COTTON & WHERE TO FIND IT
Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s when Harry and Olive Linder started teaching cotton spinning the only cotton available to them for their classes was a bale, 480 lbs., of ginned cotton from the local gin in Phoenix, AZ. They would take off wafers depending of how many where in their classes. At that time almost all spinning wheels only had one ratio and that was 6-1. Cotton carders where hard to come by and thus students had to use wool carders. All spinning instructional books said was “cotton is hard to spin”!
When Harry could no longer travel and they asked me to carry on the teaching of cotton spinning, I bought bales of Acala, Pima and Sea Island ginned cotton but soon learned that spinners wanted something already prepared for them to spin. I also learned that commercially cotton was carded and stretched to such an extent for electric commercial spinning gins, that it had no crimp left in it.
That meant I needed to find a place to have it just run through the carding machine. This I did and it was perfect and so I called the sliver “Easy to Spin”. For several years I sold it until my teaching demand made it impossible to do both, I convinced my good friends Jill and Lura to take over the distribution of this wonderful cotton sliver. They have done a marvelous job and has “Easy to Spin” cotton in shops all over the world. If you do not have a local shop carrying it, go to their web site: www.brookmoorecreations.com or e-mail them at cotton@brookmoorecreations.com
WEAVING WITH HANDSPUN SINGLES…WARP AND WEFT
Weaving with handspun cotton singles presents its own challenges and rewards! Over the summer I wove up a scarf using handspun singles and wrote up a description of my project step by step as I worked it through.
I was able to create a completely handspun and handwoven cotton singles scarf that I'm very happy with! When it was finished, it was wonderful to see and FEEL this scarf in my hands and thought I would share my experiences. Here is a review of what I did. More...
TAKLI SPINNING - WHAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL?
The takli is a small support-style spindle that is easily carried from place to place. Because of the high whorl speed it can attain, it is the perfect tool for spinning cotton - you can spin a much finer diameter yarn on the takli than is possible to spin using a wheel. And don't let the small size fool you - you can spin a great deal of yarn in a short time. Joan used takli-spun yarn for the warp on the green blouse described in the article "My Green Blouse"! More...