a field guide to needlework
  • Tapestry
    • 1994 - 1999
    • 2000 - 2003
    • 2004 - 2007
    • 2008 - 2009
    • 2009 - 2012
    • 2013 - 2015
    • 2016 part one
    • 2016 - 2017
    • 2018
    • 2019
    • 2020
    • 2021
    • 2022
    • 2023
    • 2024
  • Newsletter
  • Store
  • Blog 2014-2021
  • About
  • Comics
    • Fatal Distraction
    • Manuscript Revised
    • Stripes
    • Enid and Crow >
      • Enid and Crow: Days In The Life
      • Enid and Crow: The Peregrinations
      • Enid and Crow: Color Choices
      • Enid and Crow: Carried Away
      • Enid and Crow: Somewhere!

Coffee Filter Yarn

3/12/2019

 
Picture
So just when I start thinking
that turning coffee filters into yarn
is interesting and satisfying
but not necessarily
​my absolute favorite thing in the world...
Picture
Hand made watercolors by K J Gear and Sarah C Swett (mine are the funky ones in shells with the consistency of tar...)
my friend Jodi Gear
sends the exquisite 
naturally pigmented coffee filters
she has used to make
 handmade watercolors 
(many of which I get to test--how lucky is that)?
Picture
She was going to throw them away --
the point, after all, was the pigment they contained--

but then fished them from the garbage
​because they were just so pretty.

​SO pretty, 
and springy
and joyous
that I was diverted from
the thrilling project I intended to write about today--
Picture
 to spend more time
with these colors
as snow falls from the sky--
again.

Happily, it turns out
that not only are the filters lovely 
but they are also easier to spin 
than the heavier brown ones I've used so far
Picture
Round rather than cone shaped,
they are also lighter in weight
so I get a finer yarn for a given width of cut.
They are also strong,
which made them easy to handle
when I dunked a few into an indigo pot
to get greens and purples. 
(Jodi has done a LOT of cochineal experiments!)
Picture
Hand Made Watercolors and the filters that made them (plus indigo).
As I've written before
I'm a newbie at this business of spinning paper,
but nonetheless I thought it'd be fun to share
a technique for transforming
a round piece of filter paper
into a continuous strip
​that can be twisted into yarn--
​in case you want to try too.
Picture
Picture
1. Fold the filter in half.
2. Cut from one folded edge to 1/2 inch (1cm) from the other
following the curve.
​DO NOT CUT THROUGH at the end of the cut.
Picture
Picture
3. Make a second cut parallel to the first
and approximately 1/4 inch away
4. Continue cutting parallel  strips  as shown,
always stopping about 1/2 inch from the other folded edge,
until the entire filter is in strips joined at one edge.
Picture
5. Open out the filter with the uncut edge up.
6. Cut from top slit at an angle through to the edge
​making a free end as shown two photos down.
Picture
6. Cut at an angle from the next slit
to the one diagonally across from it
(offset by one as shown).
Picture
7. Continue connecting the offset slits in this way
until the entire circle is one continuous strip.
--It's probably a good idea to make sure it doesn't tangle as you go
​but I'm a little casual about this,
so have to be gentle when handling it.
Picture
The paper spins best when slightly moist
so at this point I've found it best to wrap it in a damp cloth
and let it sit for half an hour or so.
(hankie soaked in water and squeezed out really thoroughly).
Before I read about the Hankie Method
I misted it lightly all over with a squirt bottle,
tossing gently to make sure the paper was evenly damp,
but the hankie method seems to work better.
The amount of moisture is apparently unique
for every kind of paper
and every atmospheric condition
so I've had to practice and adjust...
Too much water and the paper falls apart in my hands.
Too little and it doesn't want to accept the twist.
Experiment!
Picture
The coffee filter paper is far stronger
than, say, the variable annuity semi-annual report pages I've used
but it still won't take a lot of pressure 
(too much 'suck' on a spinning wheel would snap it instantly),
Picture
so I've been doing most of the twisting 
with my Ashford Charkha, 
which has a very low drive ratio.
Other twisting ideas:
Charlotte, a weaver, has used her bobbin winder to great effect
twisting old sewing pattern pieces into yarn
My lightest high whorl Hepty Spindle (20 grams) works well,
and imagine a supported or Medieval spindle would also be great.
Picture
But back to the charkha:
I make a kind of purn 
by wrapping the spindle shaft with a piece of scrap paper,
 taping it at the overlap so it won't unroll while I'm starting to spin.
This allows me to remove the fiber from the spindle 
without unrolling it while it is still damp and fragile.
It's also a handy way to store the yarn.
Picture
Sometimes, if I'm in a hurry,
instead of winding the yarn onto a bobbin
​I even weave with these purns.
It's not particularly effective, 
(no tapping the yarn into place and sometimes they come unwound),
​but alas, I do it anyway.
Picture
This yarn from Jodi's filters
is the nicest that I've made so far--
almost as fine and and pleasant to use
as the samples that Velma sent me.
Picture
It's not my beloved wool, of course.
Nor, indeed, is it as blissful to weave with
as hand spun linen (though a damn site easier to spin).
But I like it.
It has possibilities.
I might eventually try to use it
for something other than tapestry.
Just what I do not know.
But most yarnish experiments are worth a try--
even when the precious materials
have been rescued from the trash.

And oh golly, these colors feel like spring.
Picture
There is so much richness in this material
I hope you will give it a try.
And if you do,
please keep us posted about your experiments, K?
Sally K
3/12/2019 01:18:47 pm

The colors are so lovely and soft!

Jodi link
3/12/2019 01:48:09 pm

Oh my. I just knew they would be useful for something - and this “something” is pretty amazingly awesome. Love it.

Lotus Baker
3/12/2019 02:02:37 pm

Oh My! The pigments are fascinating, how does she do them?!!
The filters are lovely and your spinning is great!

Daria Wilber
3/12/2019 02:31:13 pm

Absolutely gorgeous!

Mary
3/12/2019 03:25:56 pm

Any idea of what brand of coffee filters she uses?

Mary Warren
3/12/2019 03:53:15 pm

You've done it again, Sarah! Such great treasures you offer us in the fiber world! Thanks!

Jodi
3/12/2019 08:33:46 pm

Mary- they are the white brew-rite coffeee filters, the basket kind for a 12 cup coffee maker.

NancyB
3/13/2019 03:55:09 am

What a fun experiment, and those colours do bring hope of Spring, don't they. These last snows, known hereabouts as lambing snow, are egregious and surplus to requirements, I always think. The technique for making continuous thread from the coffee filters isn't too far away from what I do with old t-shirts and worn out sheets (ones not worth trying to turn). It's so clever a solution, I feel, for items that aren't fit for their original purpose. Aren't people clever?

Patti Kirch
3/13/2019 10:08:45 pm

Funny how your intro to this post read like a pour over, describing the coffee you were .... no wait, totally tea You! Thank you for these insightful pictures and daily sketches, marvelous!

Barbara Heller link
3/14/2019 04:23:11 pm

My former studio partner was from Finland and showed me fabric for mattress covers that was spun from paper. Waste not, want not.

Barbara Rickman
3/21/2019 05:41:34 am

Coffee filters that I put in my compost along with the grounds. Yarn huh. Well...you just never know..

bjr


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


    Categories

    All
    Backstrap
    Books
    Cellulosic Experiments
    Clothes
    Coffee Filter Yarn
    Comics
    Distractions
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    Hand Spinning
    Knitting
    Linsey Woolsey
    Looping
    Mending
    Milkweed
    Out In The World
    Plain Weave
    PVC Pipe Loom
    Shoes
    Sketchbook
    Slow Literature
    Tapestry
    Textile Tools
    Things To Wear
    Vague Instructions
    Willow

    Archives

    September 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

things to make:
yarn . music . friends
whatever it is you cannot 

not
begin
Proudly powered by Weebly