Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Paper spinning prep under way

I'm going to experiment again with spinning paper for my Little Books. Warp with cotton, paper weft. This time I'm using coffee filters, strong, can tolerate damp and dyeing.

I'm learning this from the blessed Sarah Swett, whose blog, A Field Guide to Needlework I hugely recommend. She's a great weaver, spinner, artist, and person.







Anyway this is my first shot at making a long continuous strip from a coffee filter, following her instructions. It came out in a couple of strips owing to a couple of slips, but that's not a big problem.

Next I plan to dye, then spin. I have dyes in the freezer which I can use. Just need to choose colors.

If this looks like working I'll get more into it. So far as I know, the cutting worked okay. I need to try spinning next. Previous attempts at spinning  paper haven't met with great success, but that wasn't coffee filter paper, so hope springs eternal.

The reason I think this will work better is that paper spins best damp, and this paper, unlike the other ones I tried, doesn't lose tensile strength when damp.

However it's been a long day and I think I'll do it tomorrow.

Tonight I'll finish the big sweater frame, do the day's dishes, and it'll be about 9 on, so I'll take the rest of the day off.

2 comments:

  1. I must admit I'm avidly curious about this latest caper!! Can't wait to see the results and to hear a full report on how it goes.

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  2. I was quite keen to see results, too. This is blogging without a net! Because I might have to say oh well, can't do it. However, leap and the net will appear.

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