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Hand-Spun Cotton Thread and Twine
Cotton fibres are short, so they hold together only with a lot of twist. Spinners in India spun them on a takli, a light spindle twirled with its point resting in a small bowl so the fine yarn never carries the spindle's weight. Two singles twisted together the other way make a thread; four or more make a twine.
From seed cotton: take out the seeds, fluff the fibre, spin, then ply.
Intermediate
Several evenings
Instructions
1
1
Take out the seeds
Take out the seeds
Feed seed cotton between the rollers of a hand roller gin; the fibre passes through and the seeds drop out in front. Weigh fibre and seed.
Materials for this step:
Dried Kapas (seed cotton)500 gTools needed:
Churki Hand Roller Gin
Digital Kitchen Scale2
2
Fluff the fibre
Fluff the fibre
Pluck the bowstring of the carding bow in the heap of fibre until it is an even, airy fluff; or brush small amounts on hand carders.
Tools needed:
Dhunai Bow (cotton carding bow)
Hand Carders3
3
Roll punis
Roll punis
Roll the fluff round a thin stick into loose tubes about 15 cm long, then slide the stick out.
4
4
Spin singles on the takli
Spin singles on the takli
Rest the takli's point in a small bowl dusted with talc. Twirl it clockwise and draw fibre from the puni slowly back, letting twist run into the fibre. Wind the yarn on as the arm's length fills.
Materials for this step:
Talcum Powder5 gTools needed:
Takli Spindle
Small Glass Bowl5
5
Ply into thread
Ply into thread
Take two full singles and twist them together on the spindle turning anticlockwise, the other way from the spinning, until the thread hangs straight without kinking.
Tools needed:
Drop Spindle6
6
Ply into twine
Ply into twine
For twine, ply four or more singles the same way, or ply two threads together.
Tools needed:
Drop Spindle7
7
Set the twist
Set the twist
Wind the thread into a skein, wet it in warm water, squeeze it out and hang it to dry with a light weight. Trim the ends.
Tools needed:
Scissors8
8
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Cotton spinning troubleshooting.
Flow
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Materials
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Tools Required
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