Cotton and String Thing

Ever since I received the amazingly generous cotton samplers from Pat and the fantastic Tahkli I have been spinning a little bit of cotton a day, and being dissatisfied with how my speed was, though amazed that I can spin cotton at all, as it had defeated me every other time I had tried. I buckled down yesterday and spent more than 15 minutes, and lo and behold both my speed and quality went up.
Here is my first full tahkli. It is half of the Acala easy to spin sliver that was in my aladdin's cave of a package.

I have since sampled some naturally colored cotton off the seed (Green, in more ways than one!) , recycled jeans, and now some punis from India.  I am loving cotton and seeing the big slubs disappear into fine and even yarn. I will stash all the yarn I am making for weaving . I am going to try and grow some cotton next year, I believe it is too late for the early indoor start Minnesota would need. 

In other news, this is my new friend, who I have made to learn to sew. Her name is Margaret Maria, after my two grandmothers. 

Finally, I am beyond excited for the Stringtopia String Thing which I will be attending in 4.5 days (EEEEEH). I will get to take classes in weaving, spinning techniques, a japanese dyeing technique, and the history of pre-columbian textiles. WOOO.

I will also get to meet some of the people who I have met on the internet and who have been so welcoming. Most of all I am excited for that. 

Stay tuned for details about String Thing!