I was recently asked if I could share how I maintain grist, a consistent thickness in my handspun. First, I think it is important for me to stress that my spinning does contain inconsistencies but those inconsistencies are not nearly as noticeable once turned into woven or knitted fabric. Here… Read More »The gist of grist
As mentioned in Part II, my hands get quite warm and sometimes moist when I spin silk. Not a good combination at all. As the silk starts to stick to my hands, the fibre source becomes disheveled causing the fibre to draft poorly. Several years ago, I decided to see… Read More »Eri Silk, Part III
HYDRATING ERI SLIVER The night prior to preparing rolags, I place a length of sliver in a baggie along with a damp cotton ball, which has been gently squeezed to prevent dripping. After tucking the damp cotton ball into a corner of the baggie away from the sliver, the baggie is… Read More »Eri Silk, Part II
The handspun textural accents in this scarf were spun from hand-painted eri sliver. The fibre preparation had a silky soft hand and a satiny sheen. Quite a contrast to my first experience spinning eri fibre from India in the early 1980’s. At that time, the traditional degumming process subjected cocoons… Read More »Eri Silk, Part I
First, why load the sliver onto a distaff in the first place? There are several good reasons actually: It gives you a chance to slightly attenuate the sliver if it is compacted from packaging or dyeing. Eri silk is almost as fine as Bombyx. Even the slightest breeze can blow… Read More »Eri Silk, spinning on a top whorl spindle
In my world a Tussie Mussie is a fibre preparation method I developed for Eri silk sliver. No special equipment is required, just my hands. At first glance you would think a Tussie Mussie would result in an awful tangled mess. Surprisingly it doesn’t. Instead it helps you to keep… Read More »What is a Tussie Mussie?
In my silk workshops I often meet spinners who have tried spinning silk at some point along the way but, after struggling with the fibre, they have written it off as being just too difficult. I did the same with cotton a few decades ago. In fact I was so… Read More »Revisiting a Fibre or Technique, Defining Moment #8
Further details and registration available on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/exploring-sumptuous-silk-blends-tickets-138021529109
Further details and registration for this workshop is available through Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/blending-alluring-silk-rolags-and-sliver-tickets-138020554193
My ability to spin a consistent yarn took a huge leap forward when I recognized how to change the grist of my yarn without making changes to either the fibre prep or spinning ratio. I could spin a thicker yarn by simply working closer to the orifice and a thinner… Read More »Defining Moment #4