Debbie Held is a freelance writer, a contented real-life spinster, and an international fiber-arts educator. She writes recurring spinning-related content for Spin Off in print and on the web as well as for PLY, SweetGeorgia Yarns, and more. Debbie and her Persian cat, Marty, live on an urban farm in Atlanta, Georgia, where both enjoy watching the Shetland sheep that roam beneath their windows. Debbie’s new book, The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible, is available from Stackpole Books.
I’d been lying to myself about my spinning. A few weeks ago a recent spin with a new-to-me spinning fiber opened my eyes to the truth: I have a type.
I love knitting shawls with my handspun yarn and decided to knit a shoulder cowl. These popular accessories are a shawl-cowl combination, or “scowl.”
More spinners than ever are going electric—what’s your take? Here are some e-spinning tips aimed at twist and takeup management.
On more than one occasion, I have written in support of keeping a well-stocked fiber stash. I like to think of it as a pantry rich with enticing spinning ingredients.
These three factors made spinning with my top whorls (and spinning sheels) stress-free, bringing me a deeper sense of joy and groundedness.
For some, it’s an attraction; for others, a curiosity; and for many like me, it’s a physical need that makes you bring an electric spinner home.
As a believer in keeping a well-stocked fiber stash, I would be lost without a solid way to track exactly what I have on hand.
With bated breath, we tie off our newly skeined handspun, carefully slide it off the niddy-noddy, and marvel at its beauty. After a little wash and time to dry, we consider our skein of handspun yarn completed. But is it really finished? That depends on w
Using handspun yarn in a pattern written for commercial yarn can sometimes go awry in a costly, time-consuming, if well-meaning way. Such was the case for my mom and me recently.
This week I unearthed a favorite skein of handspun yarn from long ago: 750 yards of a colorful, laceweight Frankenskein.