Sunday, October 19, 2008

Cotton Lint Spinning: Purples Plus

By Leigh

Procion MX Purple #2
Procion MX Purple #1
Procion MX Fuchsia

Related Posts:
Spinning Cotton Lint - how to
Cotton Lint Spinning Progress
Summary of Procion MX Dye Experiments - recipes for these and more

16 comments:

manchester fat acceptance said...

beautiful colours!

Woolly Bits said...

Leigh, your cottons look yummee! it looks soft and I think if you knitted it into a tee or similar, it would be perfect for summer clothing! or - you could have tried blending some of the fibres before spinning:))

Anonymous said...

Nice range of colors, and 2-plying. Your grist is pretty even, too. Well done.

Tina T-P said...

Beautiful! Can't wait to see what you do with it! T.

Sharon said...

Wow!!!! You need to leave a few imperfections so you can prove those yarns aren't mill spun. I'm so glad I'm not entering skeins in any place that your are - those are extraordinary!

Julie said...

I haven't spun cotton yet! How is it to spin for a newer spinner? I really like the colors!!

Mim said...

Yum Yum I love the colors no, no I will not spin cotton. Bought some once long ago and never did catch on. Maybe it's too cool over here.

Leigh said...

Thank you, all. I love these colors, especially the purples.

Sharon, I have a friend who spins so perfectly that folks sometimes think she's pulling their leg when she tell them her lace knitwear is made from her handspun. The pink especially difficult to spin; I carded it more but it was still pretty neppy.

Jewel, I'd say that cotton is not a good fiber for most beginners. The staple is very short and it tends to be slippery and not want to hold together. If you can manage to spin it fine with a lot of twist, it makes a lovely, soft yarn.

Woolly Bits, I like the idea of a tee!

Dorothy said...

Lovely colours and inspiration - I'm just getting around to organising my first order of Procion MX dyes.

Thinking of tips for beginners, did you teach yourself Leigh or learn from a tutor / workshop? Personally, I didn't really understand cotton spinning techniques 'til I got along to a workshop. I guess a good video (if there is one) would also be helpful.

Leigh said...

Dorothy, I learned how to spin from from videos. The one that helped me with cotton was Patsy Zawistoski's Spinning Cotton, Silk & Flax. Also(!), for Online Guild members, there are the Cotton Fibre Challenge lessons at our UKWSDOnline2005 Yahoo site under Files > Past Workshops > 2006 > 06-01 Cotton.

bspinner said...

Leigh you've out done yourself with this project. The color and spinning are wonderful!!!!

Sheepish Annie said...

How pretty! I do love a nice purple. Those colors remind me of raspberries and grapes. Now I'm hungry...

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, the one at the top is my favorite so far. I love a deep dark purple.

Are you doing all of this dyeing in your kitchen? I always had to do a thorough wipe down of my kitchen after dyeing wool to get all of the loose dye that would float around.

Leigh said...

Thank you Barb!

Sheepish Annie, I'm a confirmed purple lover too! (Pink not so much, but I had to do one batch with the Procion MX fuchsia, and that is the bubble gummish looking one.)

Patrick, I did all my dyeing on my little balcony. My kitchen is so tiny that I wasn't keen on possibly getting dye powders, nor drops of dye stock on things. I've pretty much decided that I'll do my dyeing in the summer, and the spinning and weaving of it in the cold months.

Alison said...

Wonderful colors! I have my first loom coming next week, so I've been looking at a lot of weaving blogs and came across yours. Those are colors I would have chosen myself :-)

Leigh said...

Thank you Alison, and congratulations on your first loom! If you love yarns and color, then you will love weaving.