Making Punis From Roving

Day 162: Having discovered the joys of spinning cotton from punis, I will never go back to my old method of tearing off little bits of roving to pre-draft (i.e., stretch out and loosen the fibers). Instead, I'm making my own punis from the roving, using a cotton carder (one with fine, straight teeth) and my best blending board technique to prepare a small batt. I cover roughly a sixth of the carder with cotton, then carefully pinch the tips of the fibers between two knitting needles and pull the fibers through the carder teeth as I roll the needles, lifting the cotton slightly as I do so. Pulling too hard or rolling too tightly compacts the puni and makes it difficult to spin. Once the material is free of the carder, the knitting needles can be pulled out and the finished puni added to the box. One I have a boxful, I will begin spinning on the charkha wheel without having to worry about prepping another batch of fiber for several hours.