Two-ply handspun cotton

Yesterday I spun up two spindles of the natural brown cotton on the charkha and plied them on my Ashford Joy spinning wheel.  I made a lazy kate from another plastic food storage container to hold the two spindles.  I did not bring a niddy noddy with me, so used the back of a chair to make my skein.

After plying, I simmered the yarn for 1/2 hour to darken the colour.  At first, after taking the yarn out of the water, I thought it was really dark.  But, of  course, it was wet.  When I looked in the morning, the difference was not so great.  And, most yarn looks a bit darker than the roving from which it was spun.

Anyway, here is the two-ply yarn and the roving.  What you can't tell from the photo is how soft the yarn is!

This photo was taken in natural light for the best colour rendering I could get.  Of course your monitor will have an effect as well.

When I got the balls of natural coloured cotton roving/sliver, I thought I had a lot.  But as you can see, the brown cotton is going fast.  Since I want to use this colour for the handspun portion of the weft for the Hippari coat, I will have to order more. I will get it from Cotton Clouds.  They have some lovely brown from Sally Fox, the woman who has made naturally coloured cotton available to us spinners.

I am still sampling on the loom to find just the right pattern and sett.  I have done a sample of plain weave.  Now I will re-sley the reed at a closer sett for a twill sample.  I will have it for you soon.