Most part of spinning was fun but was difficult.  Preparation of the wool was much time consuming and required patience.  I spent much time pulling and staggering the fibers.  Positioning the end of one fiber in the middle of the next was essential for the string to grow.  During the spinning process, I faced the toughest challenge of this project.  The string sometimes broke off when I pulled it and the process of reattaching the broken string took a lot of time.  I became frustrated when the string kept breaking off after a number of attempts to reattach.  After a number of trials, I realized that I could avoid this problem by making the string thicker.  I wet the string with warm water and let it dry for two days.  Then I dyed the string black by using hair dye.  The string looked better than I expected. By dyeing the string black, I was able to make a nice  contrast with white warping thread....

I learned the techniques necessary to complete the project by trials and errors.  I made many mistakes since I never had done any spinning and weaving in my life.  However, through the mistakes I made, I realized how to avoid the same mistake and discovered ways to do certain things easier than before.  Mistakes are a valuable lesson to overcome a greater challenge but if I had not made the mistakes, the whole experience could have been much easier....

I learned that it is very important to have patience and consistency to complete a project successfully.  Spinning was the toughest part of the project as it required much patience.  Speaking of consistency, you cannot work hard one day and forget about the project the rest of the week.  This kind of laziness and inconsistency produce the situation where one hurries up to finish the project at the last day before it is due and accidentally makes more mistakes than otherwise have it finished earlier with consistency.  I think that one would not be able to achieve success without patience and consistency.

Trying to tie on the lead thread, I was "all thumbs" and the spindle kept tipping.  I kept dropping it, so I stuck it between my knees and placed my foot on the rubber stopper to keep the apparatus steady while I got the thread started.  I couldn't spin it because it was too heavy, and my left hand was too busy helping out my right hand, so it was up to my foot to get the spindle rotating....  Before I knew it my foot was footloose and spinning the spindle like crazy.  This is why I named my spindle the "footloose spindle" because it was as though I was learning how to dance and feet just took over without much help from my head.

The advantage in using my foot to spin the spindle is that it left both hands to guide the thread.  I was able to get a nice quality of thread -- much finer than what I had expected.  Also important, was the speed I could get going with my feet.  I was able to spin thread relatively quickly, without interruption (except by my cats)....

The amount of work it takes to do things the "old-fashioned way" which truly in almost every sense does not exist in today's technological society, was enlightening.  Overall, the mundane task of spinning sometimes (honestly not often) had a meditative quality, but I can understand the pride that a craftsperson takes in their product when it comes from their hand.  I was very proud of producing that bit of scratchy cloth.  I surprised myself in my tenacity not to give up on my cumbersome rubber stopper -- and this competitive desire with myself to make it work rewarded me in the end.

Perhaps the best moment of this exercise was the EUREKA! moment when my foot went "loose"....  This was not part of the spindle plan and came about trying to solve a problem.  Although I wonder if the spinning wheel, which utilizes a foot pedal came about in this fashion too!

The EUREKA! Moment is when I felt close to Riddley (and his journey has been my own!).  The idea that I was capable of solving a problem of my own accord and learning a skill with mere "fragments of information" from class, the web, and I should mention the classmate who sits behind me -- was exciting.  It gave me a sense of empowerment that anything can be tackled.  I feel what Riddley learns is that anything is possible if you THINK it and have tenacity and a curiosity to follow it through....

Although knowledge of spinning and weaving are not world threatening as the rediscovery of gunpowder in Riddley -- it could be dangerous in that the expense of a nice, cozy Prada sweater seems to be definitely worth the cash now.

On a more serious note, this exercise has given me a new appreciation for the ingenuity that often accompanies discovery.  Understanding and respecting the "earliest technicians" and their encounter with factors that stimulated them onto discovery, or in some cases inhibited them presented a new view of technology that I had easily dismissed as "LUCK".  In my experience with this dynamic process of the weaving project, what is more at work than luck in the discovery was the application of transfer of traditional knowledge of spinning and weaving (through books, Internet and class), a bit of handy geometry, just enough cleverness and "elbow-grease" to produce in the end a scratchy piece of fabric of which I am immensely proud.

[T]he spinning project made me a true believer in the phrase "It's harder than it looks."  It really was.  When I read the instructions online, I thought it should be a walk in the park, but it was truly a humbling experience for me.  It taught me that book knowledge is one thing and actually doing it is another.  This project also made me question how ready I am for the real world.  Spending 4 years in a university is a lot like reading those instructions on spinning online.  Now that I'm graduating, I wonder if I can weave that piece of cloth called life.

It took me quite a while to complete the drop spindle because I spent many days researching the designs of the spindle.  I wanted to use something else other than the materials provided but I thought it would be cheating.  Using the provided materials would be challenging but it would prove that this is my work and not somebody else's.  Thinking and planning before actually working on the project is a habit of mine.  I usually do this while lying on bed at night and sometimes it happens in my sleep like my mind would never rest.  In my mind, I visualized how the spindle would look like and the steps it would take to complete the final product.  Finally, I decided to stick with the original design from Dr. Becker with a little tweak to it.

The big problem was that the diameter is way smaller than the CD's inside diameter.  I needed something like melted material that would bond the two together.  Superglue was too thin so glue stick was the solution.  Glue stick has to be used in electric glue gun and must be handled with care because once the glue is melted, it will be very hot and dangerous.  Once the glue is dried, it becomes solid like hard rubber.  Before mounting the CDs onto the bamboo stick, I measured and marked a line on the stick indicating one third of the whole stick length.  From that line to the shorter end, I marked another line about 1/4 of an inch.  Then I used a hobby knife to carve out between the marked lines so that part would look like a cube.  At the end, the length of the carved out part was exactly 1/4 inch with 4 sides.  The whole purpose for this carving is to create a grip for the dried glue to hold on to.  If I didn't do this, the dried glue would just wrap around the rounded stick and fall apart if spinning is hard.

The same technique applies for the CDs.  I cut out 4 squares about 3/8 of an inch on the CD near the inner diameter.  The idea is that when the melted glue is applied on to the CDs and the stick, the glue would run into these spaces and when it is dried, it will look like a molded material which bonds very hard to both the CDs and the stick.  Instead of using 2 CDs, I decided to use 3 CDs as to give the spindle a little more weight so that it would create a greater momentum for spinning.  The hook part was easy.  I used a spring-like key chain for the Allen Key (hex key).  I used electric tape to mount the key chain on the end of the longer part of the stick from the discs.  I didn't know my complete design of the drop spindle until I actually spinned the wool for the first time.  The loop on the key [chain] has to be cut out into a hook so that the thread can be easily moved in and out of the hook instead of looping it....

I folded the leading thread into two to make the two-ply thread.  The amazing thing about this technique is that it is twice as strong and the hair won't come apart any more.  To keep this leading thread in one place while spinning on the spindle, I drilled a hole on the CDs big enough for the thread to come through but instead I cut out a slot on the outer edge of the CDs....

I tried to weave the spinned threads into the warping thread.  Superglue was applied to the end of the thread so that it will become hard and act as a needle.  Still, the weaving process was very difficult.  And so I used a small size chopstick as a tool to push every other warping threads upward or downward....

My main sources were the web links from the lecture notes.  For the weaving part, in class demonstration also played a big part in this project.  It would be very difficult to read and figure out the weaving process by myself.  Similar to Riddley's show performance, if he had not attended the Eusa show, he wouldn't perform well as a connection man.  This project turns out to be really interesting because it involves both episteme and techne.  The spinning part is the most challenging part because controlling the raw wools, drafting, and pulling at the same time could result in a muscle strain for the spinner.  The skill it takes to spin into evenly thin thread requires practice after practice.  I almost gave up while spinning because my threads were not perfect.  However, I persisted on practicing every day until one night I mastered it and finished the whole wool bag.  In the end, I was rally proud of what I did.  However, if I have a chance to do it again, the threads will be made thinner and finer to create a nicer cloth piece.  Colors would be nice too.

From this experience, I learned that planning and designing are the most important steps.  I learned not to stay with one design and not hesitate to change the design because my goals are the efficiency of the making and quality of the final product.  To make the spinning process easier, modification of the spindle design had to be made here and there.  Practice takes time but it is rewarding as I learn to master the technique.  In fact, one must practice long enough until he/she could truly understand the whole process.

When I first read the syllabus for History 135, I thought the spinning project was a metaphor for something that would be explained later on in the course.  I didn't actually think it literally meant spinning wool and weaving an original piece of cloth.  I must've been mistaken.

I wasn't mistaken.  Once the instructor explained the project and showed us her own project I was horrified.  I kept remembering the time I set fire to my car trying to jump start my friend's dead battery.  I'm not a technical person....

As I kept spinning I started to contemplate on how much I had taken for granted.  For instance, all the clothes I was wearing.  Thousands of years of ingenuity and development went into my entire wardrobe.  Each process had evolved over time to give me choices in color, fabric, and style.  I began to take notice of other things around me and think of how they were developed.  When the character Riddley Walker was looking at 'jynt' machines from the past, he couldn't believe how advanced society had been.  When I look back, I'm in awe of how advanced society has become.  Society isn't perfect; a lot of people are at a disadvantage because of their lack of knowledge or their inaccessibility to obtain knowledge.  But one thing I have learned is how much I personally have benefited from advancements in technology.  If I had lived in a different time, as a disabled woman, I would not have had access to higher education.  Today, activists have changed that through the transmission of knowledge regarding disabilities and increasing people's tolerance.  Gutenberg, along with many others, can be thanked for this.

I think it is important to remember that although people can benefit from technology, it can also be used to oppress people.  "A Brave New World" is like a moral tale warning against the misuse of eugenics.  But Hitler's (and other states) use of the pseudo-science of eugenics is a real life warning.  I'm reminded of the Nazi regime while reading "A Brave New World" because the world community wants to control every aspect of life from birth until death.

From just spinning wool to the Nazis, technology is everywhere and should be acknowledged more in academia.  Especially important and understudied are the links between science and public policy.  There is a notion in the U.S. that we are impervious to such atrocities as those committed by the Nazis.  Yet, the U.S. was complicit in compulsory sterilization programs.  Most undergraduate courses do not address how this happened in [our] own country.

I found most of my challenges in the second part of the project, making yarn.  Spinning reminded me of Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder's A Wonderous Oriental Fairy Tale of a Naked Saint.  This naked saint "could not rest; day and night one saw him in violent, ardent exertions, like a person straining to turn a gigantic wheel."  In my experience, spinning was like struggling to turn a gigantic wheel.  I was frustrated that I could not work perhaps one of technology's simplest inventions.  Looking through the Internet for instructions and spinning clips was least helpful since my Internet service ran very slowly and occasionally disconnected.  I figured asking my fellow classmates would be most helpful.  It was only until I received assistance from one of my classmates, that I was actually able to learn the trade.  Although I was finally able to get started, my yarn did not come out as fine as my other classmates' yarn.  However, it was strong enough to go on to the third part of the project, weaving....

I think the ultimate goal of technology and science is progress.  This is evident in Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, and the Spinning and Weaving project.  For Riddley Walker and Goodparley, their current environment was not good enough for them.  They were living backwards in a somewhat barbaric uncivilized society.  So they looked to the past to create an improved and progressive future.  Huxley's Brave New World is an example of a utopist kind of society where progress meant everybody would be satisfied and happy.  This is evident in the different social classes such as Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons where all are conditioned to be content with their contribution to society.  However, there are obstacles as well where progress could also mean mistakes that cannot be reversed because "every discovery in pure science is potentially subversive; even science must sometimes be treated as a possible enemy" (Brave New World, p. 225).  The Spinning and weaving project was an example of progress in that being successful not only meant getting a good grade, but the human need to create and succeed.  Sometimes just making something as simple as a spindle drop work can mean progress.

After looking at some looms I decided to create mine out of a shoe box cover.  I cut a slit every half inch into opposite sides of the cover in order to create a loom....  I needed to figure out how to weave my yarn into the warp.  I thought about creating a shuttle out of a ruler but I could not locate one in time so I cut up a coat hanger and fashioned it into a shuttle to make the weaving process easier.  Once I had created my shuttle I was able to begin my weaving.  Weaving was an easy task to do and I did not have any trouble completing my cloth in a few hours.  Once I had completed my cloth I decided to finish it off simply by tying adjacent warp threads together.  The end result was in my opinion exactly what I was expecting from my efforts considering that this was my first attempt at spinning and weaving.

Spinning the wool too thin would often cause the thread to fall apart (getting the thread to an optimal thickness proved to be somewhat time consuming).  The result of this difficulty after a few hours caused me to give up on spinning for about two weeks (and throwing my spindle at the wall).  After restarting on the project (upon seeing other people's examples in class), spinning proved to go more smoothly (seeing how thick others' threads were)....

Washing/drying/putting the thread on a spool (a foot and half long metal pipe) went without a hitch (mainly due to my recruiting of a younger sibling to provide two extra hands.)....

Running my fingers over the cloth, revealed how uncomfortable it would be to wear an entire piece of clothing made in this method.

I found a great online resource with a very detailed and understandable article entitled, "Spinning with a Top-Whorl Drop Spindle".  Although the article had great descriptions of each step of the spinning process, I was hesitant to use it since it made use of a top-whorl spindle instead of the traditional spindles we talked about in class which have the whorl closer to the bottom.  After several agonizing minutes, I decided that I should try to follow the one and only set of instructions I had as close as possible, so I built a top-whorl spindle using the provided bamboo stick and two CDs (plus one more of my own), two washers, a screw-in hook and lots and lots of super glue....

The only problems I had was when my thread broke a couple of times (probably because I was getting a little to cocky thinking I could make really thin thread).  This was the most fun process.  I was so proud of the thread that I created and I was excited to show my family and friends what I had made.  It really gave me a sense of how an artisan could take such pride in their work.  Now that I had finished spinning the bag of wool, I was reading to take the thread off the spindle and "finish" it, and so I proceeded to wind the thread around my arm to make a loop.  This is the point I almost had a heart attack.  Because I had put so much twist in my thread (like the instructions emphasized), it became very tricky to handle.  The whole mass of thread wanted to twist up into a big tangled mess, and at one point it did!  The horrors!!!  Luckily, I managed to sort it out and mold the loop I had made around the bottom of a small bucket.  I placed the bucket in sink and washed it three times in warm water baths.  The first bath had dishwashing soap to clean oil and other residue from the wool, the second had a little bit of white vinegar which probably "denatured" the twist, and the final bath had hair conditioner in it to make the thread soft (and good-smelling).  After the baths, which lasted about ten minutes each, I hung the loop of thread over the shower head in my bathroom and put tension on it by placing a can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup in the bottom cradle of the loop.  I let it hang there for a few days to make sure it was completely dry and as "un-twisty" as it could be.

I tried thinking of several possible designs for a loom, but nothing really seemed good, until, one day, while shopping for shampoo in a Sav-on drugstore, I spotted a couple of very thick, wide-toothed combs.  I could use these for a loom, I thought to myself.  At home, I found a thin piece of plywood which was just the right size and screwed the combs to each side.  Voilà:  a sturdy loom!  I also fashioned a shuttle with notched ends.  I strung the loom and taped around the combs so the warp thread would not slip off.  I used a ruler to weave through the warp and twisted it so there was enough space to pass my shuttle through....

The only problem that I had during this process was trying to prevent the cloth from narrowing as I went along.  I tried to make compensation, but the final cloth did not turn out perfectly square.  Oh well, it was a nice piece of cloth that I had wove from thread that I had spun from a little bag of wool.  I felt like the little red hen who made corn bread (or something like that) from the corn she had ground, harvested, tended, and planted all by herself.  Despite the cloth's misshapen look, it was still something that I took pride in.  But I must give credit to the wonderful article about spinning I found online.  It really gave me a sense of direction.  If I were to do the project again, I would try to make the thread thinner (I cannot imagine how thin the spinners of yore had to make their thread for some of the fine fabrics that were made) and I would probably try dyeing the thread.  It was truly a very interesting process and it really put into perspective an example of technology that I think we all take for granted.  I am looking at my closet full of clothes right now, and it is still hard for me to imagine that, if I were living 200 years ago, I would probably have only two sets of clothes (one for work and one for church).  That really shows how valuable fabric was back then and how technological changes over the years have made cloth such a commonplace thing.  It is also strange to think that there are still places around the world that people use the basic spinning and weaving technology, similar to what we experienced in this project.

Often, when creating things, the final product does not always live up to expectations.  However, the essence of creating lies in the satisfaction one feels upon the completion of a project.  It is not always important how an object looks, but more the process it took to create it.  That is how I feel about the Spinning Project.  I looked at what I had created and was initially disappointed with the final product.  However, after a period of reflection, I have realized that it is not always the importance of the "destination," but the journey one travels to get there.

In order to spin the wool, I needed to build a spindle.  This task posed an immediate problem -- the spindle needed to be weighted accurately in order to spin the wool efficiently.  I had no concept for exactly how much weight needed to be added, so the process was left up to experimentation.  It was suggested that I used CDs to add and subtract weight with ease.  This prompted the concept for my spindle design.  I would use a 50 CD spool and a 100 CD spool in order to create my spindle.  Each of the spool bases were glued together, using hot glue, with a piece of round cardboard between them.  The cardboard was used to provide a stronger base for fixating the spools.  At this point, I added a hook to one end, experimenting with bottom and top spindle whorls.  I settled on the top spindle whorl.  I began adding and subtracting CDs to adjust the weight.  In the end, I found that the spindle spun fastest without any CDs!  This process of trial and error led to frustration, and was by far the most challenging task as a weaver.

The first step in my spinning project was to get advice from people who had already started their project.  In this way I was able to learn from their experiences and mistakes which greatly reduced the problems I encountered.  It also allowed me to complete the project in less time....

The wool in my bag seemed to be of two different consistencies and when I weaved it the size of the thread varied greatly.  While some strands were nice and tight other strands were thick and unwieldy.  I never discovered a surefire method of preventing this because it seems to be caused by where the strands twist together during the spinning, and because I had very little control over this there was not much I could do.

After the spinning was complete I dyed the finished product in a mix of Blue Kool-Aid, which was fairly successful.  Though the color does come off on your hands if you handle it too much....

In the end I was fairly happy with the way my project came out.  Because of this project I now have a great deal of respect for people in the clothmaking business during human history.  It is amazing that people even bothered making clothes.  It is so labor intensive.  I never realized it was so much work!!  And now thanks to technology, and exploitation of labor in developing countries, you can [get] a T-shirt for under $10.  We have come a long way.  But are we better off?

I had previously considered how lucky we were to have access to email and instant messengers, but I had lacked the appreciation of the simple luxury of clothing.  In the process I also received a hands on approach to the value of perseverance and change....

To weave I attempted to make a machine.  I thought of many ways in which I could set up layers in which I would not have to weave the yarn.  But I realized that these devices would block the direction of one layer of the yarn.  I could not locate a good description or "exploded diagram" of a loom.  I did not begin to explore in thought the concept of having a "door hinge" type model until the end.  I decided to make the cardboard loom similar to that I had seen in class.  I used a "munch-em's" box cut open.  I also used some duct tape since it was strong.  And a comb to push the threads down because my chopsticks didn't seem to move it enough and my fingers did not make it even or achieve a good enough grip.  After I had woven some I found that the threads were too tight and close to the end of the box to work the "shuttle" I had made of an index card and my hand.  I rolled up what I had woven and clipped it and extended the threads I had to weave the remaining yarn.  I used two chopsticks leaving one in place and the other to weave.  I placed 2 colors alternately in order to "visually" quicken which to weave with the moving chopstick.  I found the weave to be better when pulled tightly.  Which caused my weaving to taper, since I did not discover this right away.

I believe this project had good and bad aspects.  It did require much time, but I personally found it enjoyable.  I appreciated that we did have the supplies given; otherwise I do not feel I would have accomplished the task, but I felt that in many ways having the "known" way stifled my creative drive.  I knew that if I "slacked at making my technology" that there would be a way I could easily use to get the task done with minimal brain racking.  I learned my information largely from websites and listening to others in class and how the teacher had accomplished her parts.  Some of my technique, as with finishing was purely by guess-timation.  I found the best information to be a mix of all the tools.  I do not believe I would have fully understood the text-based websites without the visual of the video clips and teachers sample, as the video clips also lacked a full explanation on why you wanted certain steps done a certain way.  I enjoyed this project and also the strange reactions I got from people when I chose to talk about it.  Most shared the initial disbelief as I had originally had and shared in the amazement when I had completed the steps.  Not only did it affect the way I view technology, but also those who were around me!

When considering our spinning and weaving project, at first I was flabbergasted.  I knew that I would be able to weave with relative ease, but I had no idea how to spin.  Learning to spin, and making strong, consistent thread was my biggest challenge.  Once I learned how to efficiently card the wool and spin the fibers into thread the project actually advanced fairly quickly and easily....

[A] friend brought up a very good idea that I decided not to try.  His concept was to create a miniature loom made out of popsicle sticks that would automatically move the alternating rows of string either up or down.  The device seemed ingenious and relatively easy to make, but I decided that the small scale of the weaving project did not warrant the time required to make the design work.....

This project taught me that living long ago must have been extremely hard.  I found the weaving assignment to be difficult and time consuming, and we did not have to make a realistically sized swatch of cloth.  This has given me a new appreciation for the trials those in the past have gone through.  This project has also taught me about improvements in work environments.  The improvement, while it will eventually save time and effort, requires some effort and time to develop, and may not be worth it if the project is not large enough to save greatly.  This applies to mass production.  In the end this project broadened my horizons and gave me a new appreciation for technology.

The weaving was very tedious.  The only idea of weaving I had was to go over, under, over, under, so that is what I did.  I pulled through the loom with my fingers until I reached the other side.  I then pulled enough string through so I could go back through again.  After this process I realized that I should pull through all the wool first then start weaving.  I also realized that it would take forever if I kept using my fingers to weave.  I took some time to think of how I could make the weaving go faster.  My friend suggested that I use chopsticks.  It sounded like a good idea so I used a chopstick and put it through the loom over, under, over, under.  I then pulled the wool through the [loom] again with my fingers.  After a few times of weaving in my fingers and replacing the chopstick, I thought it could go a lot faster if I could tie the string to the chopstick and just pull the wool through.  The chopstick was too sleek and wool would not stay attached....  I then realized I could tie the wool onto my mechanical pencil.  The mechanical pencil worked very well as I began weaving at warp speed....

The spinning project proved to be more work than I could have ever imagined.  I can't believe how much effort is needed to make a piece of cloth.  After seeing the piece of cloth it felt like I climbed Mount Everest....

Taking my finished (or nearly finished) project off the loom proved to be the most difficult of the entire process.  I cut one end, but the excess of the warping threads were so short it was very difficult to tie together to make tassels.  The fabric was very curly which was also difficult to handle.  I finally tied all of them off (in quite a random pattern).  I decided to dye it, so I used two packets of kool-aid in about a cup of water, and let it sit overnight.  I was impressed, the thread was red and the warping thread was originally blue, but after being dyed it was black.  Plus, the smell was delicious!  I let it dry for hours, but it still wasn't dry by the time I handed it in.

I think the best teacher was experience.  Granted, I was taught by the suggestions in class and by my friends, but those things were suggested by their experience.  After I was done, I helped another friend with his weaving, and I got creative and helped him tape his loom to the kitchen table, which made it really easy to use both hands to weave.  I think if I had done that I would have saved some time.  I learned too that although you can wait and ask questions after other people got started; sometimes you learn the best after doing it yourself.  If I had to do it all over again, I think I would be able to complete the project faster and better, for instance neater, with thinner thread, etc.  I believe now that the best preparation is experience.

After spinning and weaving and attempting to make something as seemingly simple as a small square mat, I have come to one simple conclusion:  I am very glad that I live in an era where we can use computers, because I certainly don't have the skills to be involved in the textiles industry!  Despite that however, I feel that I managed to come up with a finished product -- it may not have been square, or particularly even, but it is something that is usable, perhaps as a bookmark....

Spinning did cause me some trouble to begin with, as my first attempt at spinning ended up making something that resembled rope more than it did string.  This was probably due to drafting too much wool at a time.  Drafting was a challenge for me as I never quite figured out the right amount to draft, even in my second attempt I still had some parts of my spun wool that was close to the thickness of rope.  This in turn caused me problems when weaving, as it was uneven so it made it quite difficult when I wanted to compact the weaving.  Another issue I had with spinning was that it would sometimes wind onto itself, twisting into a curl instead of a normal piece of string.  I attempted to compensate for the wool wanting to do this by adding more tension to the wool, which I accomplished by taping pennies together and then taping them to the bottom of the CDs, thereby adding weight to the bottom of the spindle.  This helped somewhat, but there was still some amount of twisting.  This issue also hindered my progress in weaving, as it made the weaved product want to pull in closer to itself, making my weaving large on one end to small on the other end.  For this I had no solution, as I think it was a problem that should have been fixed in the spinning stage....

Finishing the project was a great feeling for me, as it was something that I am not used to doing.,  It may not have come out looking like the nicest piece of cloth ever made, but it is amazing to think that I took a bag of wool and turned it into something usable....

I started off my weaving by tying my yarn to a flat kitchen spatula (kind of like the ones you'd use to put frosting on a cake) which had a hole on the end of the handle.  I then began to unwind some yarn from the spindle and weaved my first line.  It was then and there I realized that all the yarn had to be off the spindle and you had to pull all of it through each time until there was none left.  Thus I continued to weave with almost no problem, except for the occasional yarn breaking which was pretty easily fixed by tying it back together with a knot.

In the end I learned that I can do anything, even make cloth.  I may not be the best at it but I can do it if I put some hard work into it.  I found that the internet was not nearly as helpful as it had been claimed to be and had it not been for seeing the other students' examples I would've been in big trouble.  If I were to do this again, I would probably have someone tease and pull the wool while I spun and also to make a much more articulate loom.  Despite my cloth's flaws, I am very proud of it.  It may not be the prettiest one (some of the other ones I saw were pretty good) but I made that cloth with a lot of hard work and effort, and for it being the first piece of cloth ever made by myself I think it's pretty good.

After I was done spinning, I was afraid the thread wouldn't be strong enough to weave but it held up pretty well.  I didn't wash or treat the wool in any way.  I used a cardboard water bottle case for a loom and I cut small slits every 1/8 inch for about 4-1/2 inches wide on opposite sides of the case.

I used black yarn for warping thread and I followed the instructions on the class website to warp the loom....  I used the bamboo with the wool thread still attached (the CDs and tape were removed from the spindle) to guide the thread through the warping yarn.

I used a ruler to go over every other thread and then turned it on its side to give room for the wool thread to go through to the other side.

This was definitely a lesson in understanding.  I learned the amount of work it takes, or at least use to take, to make clothes.  We didn't even have to make anything out of our cloth so technically we only saw part of the process.  I don't think that each individual step was very complicated but the entire process was definitely tedious.  I relied mainly on in-class instructions and seldom consulted the web pages, but I definitely think that it helps to see what you're dealing with firsthand.  I don't think spinning and weaving is something easily described in text; it is much clearer when you have someone explaining and showing the process to you in person or in pictures.  And I think that is the case with most hands-on, or techné, activities; you can't become an expert on spinning and weaving from a book.

If I had to do it all over again, I would try to make my thread more even and thinner.  I noticed that since there wasn't that much strain on the thread, I could've made it of a finer consistency; although, I thought, the thicker the thread the softer the cloth.  I would also try to make the thickness of the thread more even throughout so as to have a more even weave.  I would also like to try dying the string because I think it would make the final product more appealing, if not more vibrant.

Spinning the thread was an exercise in futility for the first couple hours.  This was due to the fact that I was not "teasing" the wool correctly.  After many attempts where the thread would quickly fall apart, I decided to read the tutorials ... included via links on the course website.  After focusing on the details, I began to "tease" and spin the yarn.  Some strands came out great, while others were either too short, too thick, or a combination of the two.  I spent roughly 6 hours spinning yarn, and what I ended up with was roughly 20 separate pieces formed when thread snapped, or the fibers came apart.  About 1/4 of them looked right, the rest merely resembled yarn, but were mostly fuzzy and too fat for their own good....

I learned a few things in the project above and beyond just weaving.  One is that true weaving and spinning is a skill, not a mere hobby.  There is a reason why it has been perfected over centuries and centuries, not just a period of days.  No matter what I may think, any form of art or craftwork deserves respect.  To do it poorly is easy, to do it well is entirely different....

My early threading attempts were constantly failing.  I thought that the problem lie in the low weight of my spindle, so I weighed it down.  When that didn't help, I began to break up the wool more thoroughly, pulling each clump into long thin waves of wool.  This helped a little, but my strands were still too inconstant and would either be way too thick or way too thin.  The solution to my problem came on that Tuesday when you had us bring in our current progress.  During this class, John demonstrated how to spin and showed his spindle with its hook closer to the discs  I quickly rebuilt my spindle, to copy his (it was falling apart anyways), but it took me four days of fruitless attempts to discern my real problem.  I had always put my fingers at the end of the mass of wool, and kept in very tight.  This made the wool by my fingers turning into very thin, but fairly strong thread, but coiled the remaining wool very loosely and turned the leader thread into a little spring.  Only by applying a lot of downwards force could improve the string, but this put too much on the wool and leader thread.  Both broke many times.  Finally, almost accidentally, I put the pressure on the point where the wool met the leader thread.  The thread began to form, especially when I stopped squeezing so hard on the join.  Once I figured out [how] to continually pull back while spinning, I began to create acceptable string at [a] fast rate.  The inconsistency of my thread was still an issue, especially at the points when I added new wool.  That, and my decision not to set my thread, proved to be my greatest challenges when I began my weave....

In general, I learned quite a bit during this project.  I learned that I am quite impatient, and that rushing any thing can cause my problems, and the interesting, yet time consuming skills of weaving and spinning thread.  I wished that I would have started this, successfully, earlier, so I might have tried setting or dyeing my thread.  But to be honest, dyeing made me kind of nervous, especially after I heard that story about the thread that disintegrated.