This spinning fibre is both Organic and Fair Trade, it comes from Peru. Organic cotton is gorgeous to spin with, just make sure you have your wheel set up to spin at a fairly fast pace, and use a long-draw method (I use assisted long-draw). I have been spinning almost exclusively with organic cotton for the past few years, except for the occasional dip into bamboo, soysilk, ingeo, linen etc., and I love it more and more. This may be too challenging to a new spinner, in which case you may want to try some of the other fibres available here. but don’t worry, cotton is not as hard to spin as you might think, just take your time, and enjoy.

After spinning cotton, you can boil it in plain, untreated water to set the twist. With naturally pigmented cottons like this one, the colour will slightly deepen the longer you boil it. (5 minutes to 2 hours). The colour also gently ‘cures’ over time and sets in to an even deeper, richer tone. Add a spoonful of baking soda or soda ash to the water to bring out the deepest shade.