Cotton is a warm weather plant that must be planted every year when domesticated. The plant has cream colored flowers that turn purple after they open. When the flower falls off the plant, a seed pod, called the cotton boll, remains. Inside the boll are the seeds and white fibers. Those fibers are extremely strong.

Cotton grows in a temperate to hot climate so the major supply for Pern comes from Southern Boll hold. Cotton requires fertile, well-drained soil and moisture, which Boll seem to provide for adequately. When the ripe cotton bolls open, about 130-180 days after planting, the cotton is ready for harvesting. The cotton fiber is grated, separating the fiber from the seed. The fiber is then cleaned and pressed into bales. After cleaning, it is rolled, carded, then combed. Combing straightens out the fibers and removes the shorter fibers, producing a smoother, more even yarn.

Carding and combing produce ropelike strands of cotton called slivers. These strands must be then pulled and twisted to form a tight, thin thread. this pulling, or drawing, is done on a drawing frame. It is repeated several times, drawing out the fibers into finer and tighter strands. A spinning frame twists the fibers together into a yarn that can be woven or knotted into a fabric.

From the agave family, sisal is rased of Southern Boll and is easily obtained for the Weaver Hall. Stalks grow about three to four feet tall with leaves that appear spear shaped and grow in clumps on the stalk. The leaves are dark grey to dark green in color, and are quite stiff.

To produce a workable fabric, the leaves are crushed and the excess pulp scrapped off.The remaining fiber is washed and dried, and becomes off white in color, before the fibers are ready for the loom.

Being fairly coarse and rigid, sisal fibers used for clothing must be pounded and pulped until only the very finest fibers remain, which then produce a fine silky fabric. This is the one substitute for silk, as there are no silk worms on Pern.

This fiber can also be used for cords from the coarser fibers, being fairly resistant to sea water and strong, while having some give to it.

Wool is the hairlike covering on the bodies of ovines, and is one of the most important textile fibers in use on Pern. Wool is soft, warm, and flexible, being able to be woven, knitted and felted into hundreds of different textiles.

Wool is obtained from the ovines by shearing (clipping) its fleece. This is done just before the warm season starts. Sorting is the first process, being broken up into length and fineness of the fibers.

The next step is the cleaning, or scouring. This is done by gently moving the raw wool through long tubs of hot, soapy water. The scouring frees the wool of dirt and most of the natural lanolin (a crude, waxy grease).

After the clean wool has dried, the fibers have to be disentangled and straightened out for spinning. This process is called carding, done by rolling the wool between a series of cylinders with sharp wire teeth. The teeth brush and straighten the fibers into long, soft slivers, which are wound onto large spools.

There are two methods of processing from here- one becoming woolen yarns, and the other worsted. Woollen yarn is fuzzy, soft, and thick- used to make flannels and all the soft and bulky textiles. Worsted yarns is made in to the crisper, sturdier fabrics used for coats and garments needing to be smooth, hard or rounded in cut.

To make worsted yarn, the carding machine lays the fibers parallel in the slivers. For the fuzzy woolen yarn, the fibers are left irregular and crisscross. Woolen slivers go from the carding directly into spinning, but worsted slivers must go through several processes of combing. Combing removes the last of the short, fuzzy fibers, which are not wanted in worsted yarns.

More about spinning and dyeing on their own pages.