Today I took my share of the cotton bolls I showed you on Tuesday, carded and ginned (deseeded) them, and spun a bit of it.
And here I managed to spin some of it. Nice day of discovery. I didn't have the wherewithal for all the necessary processes, so the cotton is a bit uneven, but it made me happy.
Cotton is such a beautiful plant, and look at that mass of snow-white fiber from just a few bolls. It's got a terrible history, and I can't forget that when I'm working with it.
I got in a chilly walk today before the cold arrives. My replaced hip is a bit stiff, at least the surrounding area is, and I want to stay flexible. Today's walking was in better form than yesterday's.
My go-to food in these cold days is roasted veggies, potatoes, carrots and grape tomatoes, with red chili oil. Easy and very good with the spicy oil. But then practically anything is good with red chili oil. Maybe not birthday cake.
You do a good job of keeping yourself busy! No outside walks here as the windchill is -9° F. Reading and laundry has filled my day.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a walking day, I agree.
DeleteYou know what ... something nice and warm in a bowl sounds good to me about now. Freezing here today. A night to leave the water running. LOVE that you have real cotton and are spinning it. That would make me happy as well. ❤️
ReplyDeleteIt's a thrill.
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DeleteJust look at all those seeds! Wonderful chance to grow a bit of your own cotton next spring, as long as it's not one of those sterile hybrids.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to plant it and find out. We have a long growing season.
DeleteGood on you for getting out to walk! I headed out @4:00, which was nearly too late with how early the sun sets. But I realized it's going to be unmercifully cold tomorrow, and then the snow will hit. So I had to get out! I looked up Abby Franquemont after you mentioned her earlier this week, and I'm a little stuck on the tragic deaths of her parents and sister. Abby seems like a bit of a Caroline Kennedy in all of it -- so much bad luck around her. Additionally, wow, she lived in Peru as a wee one and is now based there? That sounds perfect for community and for her work.
ReplyDeleteI used to be in touch with her quite a bit on the old Twitter, then she went away and I did too. Very interesting person, social justice activist, escaped domestic violence, just an amazing and lovely person.
DeleteEverything you try makes me want to try something new:) I bought some flannel backing for the quilt today and hopefully will get it off to the quilters next week. Stay warm and stay safe, it sounds like it's going to be an awful storm.
ReplyDeleteThe cotton is new and exciting to me. I just had to share.
DeleteWhen I was a kid, my Mom had a real cotton boll from gawd knows where. She never did anything with it except keep it in her sewing basket as a curiosity. I looked at it a lot when I was little. It was very exotic to us.
ReplyDeleteIt does feel exotic. It's like holding history in your hand.
DeleteBeing in Australia, the land of the sheep, we learned the similar process with wool when I was in primary school and we each got a little card of combed wool to take home. I have read about the history of cotton farming with all the mistreatment of slaves and it is sad (really awful) but things are done differently now.
ReplyDeleteSheep being hugely important to your economy I'm not surprised you learned a bit about fleece and process. I love the smell of wool roving. Cotton doesn't smell, being vegetable rather than animal.
DeleteDef NOT chilli oil and cake! Although there are bars of chilli and chocolate around...
ReplyDeleteRed chili oil is red hot and lovely. Homemade.
DeleteAnother fun activity. I’d been wondering about Hippolyta when you’re out walking in this weather. I just found several cake recipes with chili oil!
ReplyDeleteHippolyta is fine, thank you. Other parts get a bit stiff. I think it's the result of having a new joint, which makes the older bits work harder. My theory. I can't see red chili oil in cake!
DeleteHow very satisfying to work with virgin cotton.
ReplyDeleteIt is. The feel is so soft you can hardly tell you're holding it.
DeleteThanks for sharing the great photos of your work with cotton. Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to, new adventure.
DeleteYeah, maybe not birthday cake.
ReplyDeleteI have seen probably hundreds of cotton fields in my life and I have never carded a boll. Much less spun any! I am quite impressed at your work.
It's really interesting to handle. It's different from wool -- slows the spindle much faster.
DeleteIt's minus 30C here right now and that's not accounting for the wind chill. Very glad I can snuggle up in my sewing room and not have to go anywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's fun to see how much useable cotton you got out of your small number of bolls. Now I'm going to be interested to see what artistic idea you have to use the heads.
I was surprised to see how much fiber it was. Yes, home and warm is best today.
DeleteNow I know what a cotton gin does. The cotton looks like a cloud.
ReplyDeleteIt feels like a cloud, very insubstantial.
DeleteWell, it's not really cotton's history that's terrible -- it's humanity's history! Cotton was just an ingredient!
ReplyDeleteThe cotton is so pretty.
ReplyDeleteAnd a big dish of spicy roast veg sounds right up my street.
So easy to roast, too.
DeleteWow! You are so good at this. Roasted veggies are perfect for these cold days.
ReplyDeleteI agree, roasted veg are great cold weather food. Easy, too, a big point, for me anyway.
DeleteYour veggies sound delicious. I've never seen cotton spun like that, just wool roving. How interesting!
ReplyDeleteGandhi spun cotton on a charka (kind of wheel) as a political statement. Mine is less pointed!
DeleteYou did a great job with the cotton. My friend has a replacement hip and she finds sitting with a hot pack helps ease the pain at night, and keep it flexible
ReplyDeleteI don't have pain, never did once the joint was replaced. But the thigh muscles are a bit stressed, nothing that walking and stretching and dancing in the kitchen can't fix. My theory is that the older tendons and muscles have to work harder to keep up!
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