Lately I’ve been doing a smorgasbord of fiber work. Bits and pieces of various things.
For the Weavers Guild I did some handspinning and rope making out of corn husks. A very pleasant day outside while the flax process was being demonstrated; I then got our visitors to try their hand at spinning and plying the husks. Some nice cordage was made, including a six strand ply by one very determined young woman! Another much older woman visitor brought in her own cattail and iris leaves to see how they would work – just fine, thank you!
Also for the Weavers Guild (actually for me to have ready for their Fall Sale) I made a series of small blank notebooks. Never did use the sheet music, but that will come in handy for something else, I’m sure. I’ve got some folded papers ready to make up into star ornaments/mini books, too. Need to get out the glue pot for that.
I’ve had some knitting time and have been working on what my youngest son calls ‘ arm socks’ – fingerless gloves that go up over the elbow. Designed for when the guys do winter bike riding. Lots of stripes and fuky colors and many rounds of stockinette. One pair finished and a second one started.
Right now I have some corn husks cooking on the deck. Since I had leftover leaves from the rope making session, I decided to see how they would work up into paper. All I’m doing is cooking the heck out of the leaves (after cutting them into 1-2″ pieces), rinsing them and then putting them through a blender. The iris needs cotton to make a nice sheet. The cattail could stand on its own but does better with a bit of cotton added. After I cook the corn husks I’ve got some Christmas cactus leaves that have shrunk up due to my poor care this summer. Will report on those two sets of pulp when I get that far.
Since the pulp cooking is happening on the deck, I should be able to keep the cooking pots straight and not pick up the wrong one for dinner. Corn husk soup would be interesting…