I was at a spinning retreat in the early 1990’s and took a course on spinning cotton with my Wee Peggy spinning wheel. It was more than a little frustrating because of the low wheel ration, but a very nice lady gave me a great tip for drafting the fiber. She showed me how to draft straight back without hesitating and treadle like crazy. It worked but I knew I would need a different wheel to be able to spin cotton and I eventually purchased an Ashford Traditional double-drive wheel and was able to spin cotton just fine.
These days I spin cotton on my Kromski Sonata. The bobbins are larger and it has a higher ratio than the Ashford or the Wee Peggy and I am able to spin fast and evenly. I had two Ashford wheels and a couple of years ago I gave them to a friend to use in the spinning classes that she teaches.
I discovered natural colored cotton back in the 1990’s and love spinning it. This yarn was spun from Sally Fox’s natural colored cotton.
The last cotton fiber I purchased was at the DFW Fiber Fest from a Brookmoore Creations booth. I bought a pound each of natural, green, and brown Easy-To-Spin cotton sliver. I would like to get enough of this cotton spun for a weaving project. It spins like a dream and makes a nice break from spinning wool and wool blends.
This scarf was woven from yarn spun from a combination of natural cotton sliver and recycled blue jean fiber. It is one of my favorite projects and I enjoy wearing it in warmer weather.
These cotton yarns were all spun on my Kromski wheel. The four on the left are 100% recycled cotton from shredded blue jeans and the two in the middle are a blend of natural cotton and recycled blue jean fabric.
Rural Texas Knitter 