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Every spinner wants to spin "Straw into Gold!" In 1991 I set out to achieve that elusive goal. Over the years I have searched for suitable ways to spin metal. While both weaving and knotting incorporate metal threads at times, I wanted a technique for true metal spinning. While researching the background of ornaments made of Chinese knotting, I found cords wrapped in strands of fine precious metals. In contemporary jewelry, knots are tied from different gauges of gold, silver or copper wire. These examples inspired me to press harder to devise a method of spinning metal. Success depended on finding the right material. Steel wool was out. Wire was out. What else is gold? My mind cranked on. I brought this problem with me while visiting where I grew-up. We did many crafts as children and many of the craft items were still around the house. As my eyes set upon a few ceramic pieces painted and gold leafed, I remembered that we really loved to gold leaf as children because it made things so "special." And then I had my answer; GOLD LEAF! The search for gold leaf was on. Now twenty years later was it available? Would it be prohibitively expensive? I spent the next few hours tearing my parents garage apart looking for the spot Mom put the craft supplies. Pack rats run in our family and I knew she would not have thrown away any leftover gold leaf or any other supplies. I searched my Mother's old craft cupboards. Eureka! Yes, the leaf was pack-ratted away! It was the real stuff. It was some of the original 24K gold leaf. (Now available in the stores are metal alloys at a very high cost.) Unfortunately, there was not much there. Would it be enough? Where could I find more? How shall I use it? Will it spin? How can I make it spin? Not waiting to think things through properly, I sat down and took out one sheet of leaf. Carefully, I began to finger spin. Success? Only for an inch. Too brittle. But an inch is a start. I tried tearing the leaf into strips as I would do to spin paper. So far so good, but some stuck to my fingers. So I tried powdering my fingers first. Next I tried twisting as I would a wool sample. It broke apart like chaff. Thirty minutes and one sheet of leaf later I had two inches of gold too brittle and weak to use. Then I thought maybe core spinning would work, so I tried to spin the gold over sewing thread. Picking up the thread and the leaf I began to twist with some success. The gold slipped off. The gold was crumbling. For my third attempt, I sprayed adhesive on linen thread. I positioned 1 1/2 inch strips of gold leaf on paper and then core spun the gold leaf around around the linen. Unfortunately, too little gold leaf stuck to the linen. For my fourth attempt, I sprayed adhesive on to the gold leaf. Then I core spun the gold leaf around linen. These past two attempts seemed a bit like gluing gold leaf on. The leaf did not really want to spin! Finally for my fifth attempt, I positioned 1 1/2 inch strips of gold leaf on paper, then placed a few very delicate strands of unspun line linen on the gold leaf. I sprayed very lightly with adhesive and then spun gold leaf and linen together. Gold leaf was then in and around the linen thread and it was actually twisting and holding together. Cutting into the thread revealed that the gold was indeed all the way through the thread. This thread was then sealed with clear enamel to cut down on the gold flaking off during knotting. My end use would be for Chinese knotted jewelry and ornaments, highlights in woven tapestries and emphasis in crocheted vests and accessories. I repeated the fifth technique a second time, also with good results. This yarn I knotted into a pin pattern from the Smithsonian. The yarn held up well to the knotting, but I do not feel that it would hold up to regular wear and tear. The final knot was dipped in clear plastic to preserve it. To display the pendant, I spun tussah silk in to a fine single with extra Z twist. It was then Navajo plied. This thread was used to knot a necklace. The familiar knot used for the necklace comes with many names: macramé knot, half square knot, half hitch sennit. The necklace slips over the head and is finished with a traditional tassel. Two tassels are tied to the bottom of the pendant with a button knot. The simple earrings are made with a triple connection knot.
July 2006
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