A Different Spin

Day 147: Spinning cotton is quite another breed of cat from spinning wool. Cotton is a "short staple" fiber, i.e., the length of the individual fibers is much shorter than that of wool. This means that it needs substantially more twists per inch to make a sturdy thread. Although some standard spinning wheels can be set up to spin cotton successfully, mine does not accommodate a high-ratio bobbin, so I spin cotton on a charka wheel. Not many spinners work with cotton, but of course I am always looking for new challenges, so last year, I indulged a whim and bought my "book charka" after playing around with a manual, supported tahkli to see if I could get the hang of it. I am happy to say that now I can spin a consistent, fine thread which holds together nicely and can be plied into a double strand. If you study the photo, you will see that the big wheel in the foreground drives the smaller wheel at the midpoint. In turn, the smaller wheel drives the tahkli at high speed. Each turn of the main drive wheel results in over 100 turns of the tahkli to put plenty of twist in the thread. That said, this is where your long-draw skills come into play. One hand runs the wheel while the other manipulates the cotton fibers, drawing them out from roving or a puni as far as possible. Then the fiber can be pinched off as more twists are added. Then the thread can be wound onto the tahkli in a self-building cone called a cop/copp. Once you have two tahklis fully loaded, it's time to ply. Of course, you may choose to leave your thread as a single, but it won't be as durable.

Book Charkha

Day 179: Spinning cotton with a tahkli proved to be so enjoyable that I decided I would indulge my fiber-arts habit with a new toy when and if the gov'mint saw fit to stimulate my personal economy. This odd device is a "book" charkha, which is to say it's a spinning wheel which packs up to the size of the current edition of Hitchcock's "Flora of the Pacific Northwest," eminently portable and entirely self-contained. Every component locks in place, both for use and for storage, and it can be assembled and ready to go in less than two minutes. The workmanship on this particular model from India is exquisite, right down to the finish of the wood. Three tahklis are included so that when two are filled, the threads can be plied together on the third. It even includes a yarn swift! Although I'm not yet spinning threads as fine as I could achieve on the tahkli, I've only had the charkha for less than 24 hours and am still in the process of learning to control the feed of short cotton fibers to the degree I eventually hope to achieve. The ratio between the large drive wheel, the accelerator wheel and the spindle imparts an incredible amount of twist to the thread with very little effort. The spinner turns the drive wheel with one hand and manipulates the raw cotton with the other, drawing it out to the desired thickness until arm's-length is reached. Then a few full turns of the drive tightens the twist and it can be wound onto the tahkli spindle. Yes, I think it's time for wool to move over. I've found a new love in cotton.