I’ve moved on now to the ‘textile structures’ section of OCA Textiles 1, having sent the previous fabric manipulation work off at last to my tutor. The first thing to do in this section is collect yarns, and combine some into braids.
Most of my yarns are in boxes, so to help me remember what’s there, I added a few pages in my sketchbook: for some yarns that came to me from a loved one; some of my own handspun; various knitting yarns gathered over the years; and the results of a hunt for other things around the house that could be used as yarn. (I also went down to the beach and came back with a bag of findings, but more of that later.)
1. embroidery wools, cottons and cords, 2. handspun yarns, 3. non-yarn ‘yarns’, 4. knitting yarns
It was fun making a selection of plaited braids and ropes – my ‘ropes’ are plied on the wheel, since the principle seems identical. I also included a felt and fabric cord and a couple of single ply art yarns, spun with particular themes in mind. I can’t yet spin whatever I can think of, but it does give a lovely sense of freedom to think that I can at least have a go!
1. ropes and braids, 2. ropes and braids
spinning too?