Traveling the country to fiber events is my favorite way to try to spinning tools, fall in love with new fibers, and meet other wool-obsessed folk.
If you were stranded on a deserted island, what spinning tool would you need?
As Miriam shows, even if the handspun yarn has lingered in “time out” for years, it is not too late to reimagine it into a favorite project.
Spin Off Winter 2019 included an article chronicling Sarah Wroot’s adventures in weaving handspun singles, fulling cloth with a wooden mallet, and more as she re-created an eighteenth-century textile.
Sit at the wheel, fiber in hand, with nary a plan, nor even a purpose, in mind, other than satisfying the itch for a bit of time spent making handspun yarn.
A spinning teacher taught me to tape my control sample to an index card, noting down the wheel, whorl size, takeup method, and other key details.
After completing my first handspun vest, I wanted to use up the last bits of vest yarn in a pair of socks. Here's how I planned the pair.
Trial and error taught me a lot about dyeing yarn when I made my first handspun vest, and about plying when I made my first handspun socks. These lessons helped me on my second handspun vest, and then textured knitting stitches disguised less-than-perfect
I hit the jackpot in Christmas 1997 or 1998: my mother gave me a lace flyer for my spinning wheel, and my fiber dealer friends sent me a few ounces of superfine merino top—the perfect fiber for spinning laceweight yarn!
