Walkin' in High Cotton

I'm an Air Force kid, my dad was a fighter pilot, and so I was raised all over this great big, beautiful country (and for a while in Japan), but home to me will always be Tahoka, Texas.

Tahoka is a very small town south of Lubbock in the plains of Texas's panhandle, and where both my parents were raised. Needless to say, I'm related to most of the town! Every summer, and most Christmas's were spent with my extended family there, and to this day, I drag my Yankee husband and four Yankee kids with me to Tahoka every Fourth of July (there's nothing like a Fourth in Texas!).

And what do we all talk about? Cotton. Both my grandfathers, all my uncles, a cousin, and most family friends have been, or are, cotton farmers. Tahoka is surrounded by cotton fields, and it is the sustaining resourse for life on the plains. Everything revolves around cotton.

My Grandfather, his brothers and their wives and kids on tractors--farming cotton.

Last year, in the midst of all this cotton talk, my uncle Gary turned to me and said, "Why, you could spin us up some of that cotton." Let me take a minute to address the type of cotton grown in the heat of Texas. It is not long-staple Egytian cotton that glides through your fingers at the wheel. Nope. It's short-staple, denim or T-shirt cotton. As all you spinners out there can understand, I froze. Ummm . . .  I could physically spin it, with a lot of patience and determination, but what in the world would the finished yarn look like and how would I use it?! I had images of finished yarn simple drifting apart once it hit water!

Gary, hilarious and determined man that he is, was set on my daddy buying me a bale of cotton for spinning.

And here it is:

That is 30 pounds of compressed West Texas cotton from my uncle's co-op. Luckily, my dad now works for FedEx and got it to us for a reasonable price! 30 pounds! AND, luckily, my mom was with Dad for the purchasing, and got me a little tourist version so that I don't actually have to open the big bale (could you imagine 30 pounds of cotton popping out of those metal bands?!). It's currently being used as a footstool/cat bed. And a good one at that.

I opened the small, 1 pounder, washed a bit up (when wet, cotton closely resembles a spit wad), and sprinkled it onto a batt. There is no way to card it by itself for a resonable puni unless I get out my hand cards (I'm soooo not getting out my handcards!).

And, besides, I'm loving this:

This is Bluefaced Leicester dyed in shades of denim and Texas sky. The white, webb-y stuff on top is the cotton.

I knew I didn't have time for spinning this, but wasn't really ready to put it up in the shop (Frankly, I wasn't sure at all how the cotton would react once spun! And this was just one of those batts that was hard to let go of.)

What to do? What to do? Fate would have it that my best friend, and fantastic spinner, Petra, fell in love with it!!! So it was gifted over to Petra as long as she promised to spin it up and let me take pictures of the finished yarn.

Ta-Da:

Isn't she a fabulous spinner?! Didn't the yarn turn out awesome?! I love the texture of the cotton, and Petra assured me that she really enjoyed spinning it up. She's encouraged me to make more for the shop, so that's on the to-do list, right after I get November's Phat Fiber samples ready! And battle more laundry.

I'd love to hear what you think about this little adventure!

What Has Become of Me?!

Just last Friday I broke down and created art batts. I also made a grand statement that I would resist sparkle in my batt creations.

And now look at me. So weak-willed. So spineless. I have Sue of the Critter Ranch to thank for it all.

Friday I declared "no bling". Saturday I attended the Fingerlakes Fiber Festival in Hemlock, NY, and caved. What a fickle heart I have!

One of my dearest friends, Petra, and I went on our merry way to Hemlock, and there we met up with Sue. Let me take a minute to say what a treasure Sue is. Despite her devious ways, she contained a wealth of information and advice about running a fiber business on-line. And she was so generous to share all that knowledge and wisdom. One kernal of advice from her: add bling to your batts. It sells.

But doesn't she know what I stand for?! Doesn't she know that I'm a purist and want to uphold small farming values and make myself stand out?!

Yes, she does, but she also knows I want to be sucessful and actually sell something. So bling it is. It's very sound advice, and she's assured me that I'm not compromising my ethics if a little nylon slips in with the wool now and then.

Sigh. She's right. So I tested Firestar and Angelina. I like Firestar much better. And here's my first batt with bling:

 

A look at the batt opened up:

I actually like it a lot. And I even liked working with the Firestar. Sue and I joked that I resisted because I know once I played with it, I'd be hooked! She may be right there as well.

The batt still contains 98% Romney and will be a part of my Shepherds' Friend line, because I still feel like it will give a spinner a good idea of what the breed represents. I don't think the tiny bit of Firestar will affect the wool's characteristics. Just give the finished yarn a bit of flash.

So, what do you think? Worth it? I guess sales will tell.

And I'll fill you all in on the treasures I picked up at Hemlock, but my parents are in town, and tomorrow is Hannah's 6th birthday party, so I may be away from the blog for a few days!!

Photo Session

I've been working on my pictures and getting lighting just right--not as easy as it sounds. I think my next step will be to bring in flood lights!

But here's a sample from my latest photo session -- what do you think about using Romney locks (the white wavy wool) as a semi-prop?

"Serendipity" Blue Faced Leicester Batt