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!

Art Batt Spinning

Update: These yarns are now up and for sale at Inspiration Fibers on Esty.

I had a lovely time this weekend spinning up some of my art batts, and was so excited about the end results, I thought I needed to share!

Art Yarn #1 will be called "Leaves" when it goes up in the shop later today.

It was made from a batt that I had for sale, called "Buffy" and another smooth, BFL batt in the shop called "Cozy Teal." I spun Buffy thick/thin and then plied it with the smooth Cozy Teal.

BuffyCozy TealThey came together well, didn't they?

This next batt I made specifically for spinning, and was never available on the shop. But it was also plied with Cozy Teal.

It will be called "The Life Aquatic" in the shop later today!

Hope everyone enjoys the gratuitous pics!!

New Tutorial--Carding Striped Batts with My "Layers" Method

Last week I promised a new tutorial, and here it is!

Carding Striped Batts

I was going to make one big tutorial about making the yarn I'm using for Hannah's vest, but as I was writing, I realized it really needed to be two different tutorials. One on making the batt and one on pulling the roving. So next week, it's all about pulling striped roving and spinning it up (a little trick here, too!). AND, you'll get to see the final yarn. I just may have the vest finished, but don't hold your breath!

I'm struggling to get my laundry caught up after a week and a half of no washer or dryer (tough with a family of 6!), and getting the whole house unpacked and set up. Busy, busy! Aren't we all!

Have a great Crafty Friday and Fiber Arts Friday!! Follow the links to a ring of artsy blogs!

Adventures in Yarn Design

I decided to make Hannah a vest for her school picture day. Of course, being me, I decided this two weeks before the big day AND felt I needed to design it from scratch with a coordinating hand spun yarn for the edging. Oh, and take pictures along the way for the blog and a publish-able pattern.

So . . . Hannah looked very cute this past Wednesday in her dress from Tea and leggings (sans vest!). Oh well. Sometimes life forces me to be realistic (see this post from Wednesday). And she wasn't too disappointed, in fact, I think she was a little relieved.

But she will get a vest soon, designed from scratch, with a handspun yarn accent, that I will make her wear at least once to school.

Here's what I've been up to:

These are the colors I chose to stripe for her yarn. The gold will be a thin layer over the other colors to create continuity through the stripes.

This is the final batt, ready for pulling.

Some of the pulled roving and the last batt to go.

The vest, part-way finished, laying on the pulled roving.

I plan to have a tutorial on creating the batts and pulling the roving up next week. There's a tricky little catch in the way I pulled the roving!!

And the pattern will be written up and for sale soon.

As of today, the yarn is half-spun, the vest is separated for front and back and my laundry room is almost finished!

Gotta keep all those plates spinning!!

Have a fantastic Fiber Arts Friday, Creative Friday and Crafty Friday! Follow the links to get a full-dose of artsy goodness!

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!!