this is american elm firewood. my partner harvests these trees as they die (too many reasons for here, now) and they make very good firewood. the smoke is a little stinky, but the heat is good. these tussock moth cocoons are scattered all through the 3+ year old stash, and i harvest them as they come through my hands.
variety of sizes, mostly around an inch long
i began to wonder about these, so posed a local biologist, tom langen from clarkson university, a question: what are they? he identified them as tussock moth cocoons. i hoped they were wild silk moths, and they are.
a nice one, many have stains and more than one exit hole and, er, sawdust
i began to gather them up, first a few, then more and more. i tried hand teasing them, cleaning out as much of the detritus as possible, and then found a small steel crochet hook does the best job of cleaning, with retired dental tools a good second choice (thank you dr ross).
hand carding seemed the best thing to coax these fibers apart
i found that washing didn’t really do much to improve the fiber. there must not be too much seracin left in these cocoons after years of outdoors weathering. although this is only a supposition.
i carded each of about seven rolags three or four times, as much as needed to get something spinnable.
thin thread was finger spun,
the hepty spindle was not easy for me because my hands had too much work to do, a huge amount of teasing even after i split up rolags into two or three smaller ones and re-carded. and re-carded.
louet s 40 with practice wool, then the local wild silk.
i thought since i’m much more adept at the wheel why not try the s40, despite it being almost brand new to me…fortunately when i wound the first ball the twist dispersed itself a bit and it wasn’t too nasty.
on the japanese ball winder
here it rested for a couple of days, and i thought about my ineptitude as a spinner.
rested up
and it looks SO much better now. i’m still waiting, and hopefully will process another ball and then ply to see how it is as 2 ply. it will certainly be a stronger yarn.
i almost gave up
i am so glad i persevered and took my time thinking about what was happening. it made such a difference, and now i have some things to explore with this next little basket of cocoons i’ve collected.
some recent developments in the paper studio
flax with ochre
my paper, milkweed seed fiber painting by kathy kelly
kathy left this string of her prayer flags in my care
after so many years when other stuff got in my way, kathy and i have reconnected. such joy, to see her as a painter! and to have lunch together in the paper studio and talk about the makingness of making.
my front window, to the east
i have had a couple wonderful opportunities come along, but the first one is self chosen—tim mclaughlin’s the ink maker’s pen class. at maiwa. in vancouver! and, lucky me, i will spend time with linda marshall, owner of washi arts. my book arts class at school (st lawrence university) is going well, 11 students (one adult) and all are learning to fold and stitch and write and, er, make artists’ books!