Free Spirit
The Chiarian
Did you do any demonstrations with cotton in Rogers recently? My wife looked at spinning a few years back so I grew some cotton for her. She decided spinning wasn’t for her but had already picked the seeds out. She gave the cotton to some museum in Rogers for spinning demonstrations. I know cotton is harder than many other fibers for spinning.
She is very active in the weaving guild. There are some spinners in that guild so h has contacts with them and the museums and such places that have demonstrations.
She did teach her niece to spin and gave that niece her Ashford wheel.
The last demo I did was at the Pea Ridge Civil War reenactment a couple years ago. Cotton is a very difficult fiber to spin due to it's short staple length. I can do it but I prefer any other fiber. A beginner should always start with wool as anything else, until you get experience, can be frustrating. The Wool and Wheel Handspinners Guild has a top expert on cotton. Likely the best cotton spinner in all of Arkansas. She can spin it as fine as tatting thread and that is what she usually does with it. Your wife probably knows all the spinners in that guild since they hold their meetings at Ozark Folkways Heritage Center and the Prairie Grove Battlefield Park. They are a very nice group of ladies. I have a 4 Harness Table Loom but haven't used that in years either. Currently because I have no space available to use it.