naked

loom. This morning there was an official long-awaited cloth removal ceremony. The fabric now so anxiously hovering in the after-loom before-finishing state is my first warp woven with handspun cotton. Immediately the tension was released it showed some signs of relaxing in the less dense stripes. I can't wait to see what the singles weft will do when it hits water. There will be pictures, promise.

I learned a great deal trying to weave with my handspun. Being used to an end-feed shuttle, the spindle shuttle I used for this, in which the yarn comes out the side, was a big change. I'd blissfully forgotten about the bobbin overspinning issue. The idea of taking spindles right from the charka to the loom is fantastic, but it will take some practice. The shuttle seems to work better when the spindle is full. When the cop gets down closer and closer to the shaft, the bobbin turns faster as it is unwinding, leading to a greater possibility of kick back in which the yarn winds around the wrong way or around some part where it shouldn't be or it gets so exuberant it snaps. Also I found that inconsistency in my spinning was a real problem. I already knew this, but the number of times the yarn broke as I was weaving with it convinced me that this is something I *must* figure out if I'm going to be even an adequate spinner. I don't mind thin yarn-- I crave it-- I'd love to be able to spin fine enough to weave almost-transparent cotton gauzes. But when a very very thin place comes in a yarn that isn't overall that small, it gets brittle, and snaps with the force of the shuttle going through the shed. Back to basics, say I to myself. Practice spinning a smooth consistent yarn that's big enough not to be invisible. Another prominent difficulty was the tendency of my singles to twist back on themselves in the shed. This probably has to do with shuttle technique-- too long a weft length coming out for one pick.

In spite of these issues, charka spinning is very pleasureable to me. Still seems magical. I might try for a 3-ply yarn next-- in some color other than natural green cotton.

Comments

[Henrietta]

Just interested to see a pic of your singles weft creation. I'm currently spinning alpaca, will ply it for a warp. I was thinking of doing a weft of angora singles. So was interested in seeing your project.