First of all, let me say, ladies....I just loved all of your comments on your special creating space from my last post! It is always so wonderful to hear and to take a look at others working places. Just loved hearing from all of you!
Last week, I posted some pictures of life around the farm on my country blog, Eggs In My Pocket. One of those pictures was this....
Fresh field cotton lying on the road from being blown out of the cotton haulers on the way to the gin. Ginny..at Gingerbreads House http://gingerbreadshouse.blogspot.com/ commented that she would be gathering a bag of that to spin on her spinning wheel. Now let me tell you about Ginny. She seems to have walked straight out of the pages of a history book....full of knowledge and wisdom on cooking, frugal living.. and the lost art of weaving and spinning on the spinning wheel. Go visit her, you will just love her! I have always wanted to raise sheep so that I could spin and dye my own yarn. Well, Ginny got me to thinking.... cotton yarn is also wonderful!
Even though the fields have been harvested, there is still quite a lot of cotton left on plants and on the ground that the machine did not pick up. It will soon be ruined by wet weather, blown away in the west Texas winds, and plowed under by the farmers to get their fields ready for next planting season. So with Sophie at my side, out to the cotton field behind our home, we went. I gathered a small amount to play with and a small amount to mail to Ginny. The cotton is full of seeds and leaves, which needs to be removed before spinning. 
I do not own a spinning wheel, so a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do.... I started pulling and spinning with my hands. This is the result.
I emailed Ginny the pictures and asked for her expertise if I was doing this wrong...she was very encouraging and even though this step might work, it would be better and much faster to have a spinning tool. She is anxious for her box of cotton to arrive. We have typed our fingers away talking about farm living, cooking, spinning and dying yarns. I wish Ginny lived next door, she would be so much fun to learn from. Ginny, if you read this, bless you!
13 comments:
There are probably tons of cotton out there - and it definitely won't be used for anything else. You putting it to use by learning how to make yarn from it is very exciting! I love cotton materials - wool is just too heavy for Texas( or Texans) most of the time. But give me a cotton sweater, blue jeans and a good boot - woo hoo!
Good for you - this is very interesting to me and thanks for the link to your friend.
I think you and Giny are both pretty amazing ! I'm gonna go visit her next .
Thanks for stopping by !
My father worked on the railroad, and when I was young he brought home cotton seeds that were on one of the boxcars and grew some plants.I remember as I child being amazed when he told me you could really make yarn and clothes ffrom those little balls of fluff. Thanks for the pleasant memories.
Laurie
My daughter used to use a drop spindle. It's cheap and it's not as hard to use as it sounds, but it does take a little practice and it's fun, too.
Thank you for the wonderful surprise I received in the mail today!!!! I love it!
Merry Christmas,
Patricia :o)
That is so neat, Kathleen! We have lots of cotton laying in the fields around here. I can hardly wait to collect a bit too.
Did you know you can buy these simple little drop spindles? There are some available on eBay. I've always said I'm going to get one and give it a try but I never even thought of cotton either!
Can't wait to stop by and visit Ginny.
Christmas blessings,
Lea
We have cotton fields near here. But I think I will stick to working with wool roving that I buy for felted wool projects. Too cold and wet here anyway. Now there is 4 inches of snow outside.
Judy
Just popped over from Ginny's blog. How kind of you to share the bounty of cotton left over from the harvesters! Reminds me of gleaning from the book of Ruth in the Bible. :>}
Hi Kathleen,
I think you need to ask Santa for a spinning wheel this Christmas. I bet you will create some amazing treasures.
xo Cath
Kathleen, thanks for your wonderful comments on my blog. I love your embroidery work, it's beautiful. Let me know when you are ready to sell some! You have a beautiful way with words, love your blogs.
Boy did this bring back memories. I picked cotton once down in southern California. That was not fun,bleeding finger tips and hardly any weight to the fluffy things, and of course we got paid by the pound. I didn't make much but I sure tried.I often thought I would like to try growing it here in the PNW I don't know if we could. Thanks for the memories.TTFN
PNW
Merry Christmas Sweet Kathleen!
Hugs,
Maryjane xo
very interesting, Kathleen....we don't have any cotton fields here. Great idea to glean some of the leftovers.....are you going to do anything with it after its spun?
Post a Comment