In January 2025, we invited handspinners to join us for a spin-along themed With a Twist and to make a garment or accessory using the craft of their choice. And so, for the past several months, this creative group of makers dyed, spun, knitted, wove, crocheted, and embroidered while providing support for fellow spinners along the way. We admire their creativity and asked the spinners to share a photo and a few words about their handspun creations. Thank you to all of the participants!
—Spin Off editorial staff
Photos by Jill Fry
Jill Fry, Alberta, Canada
I love the inspiration these annual spin-alongs provide and this year I started off by spinning a bulky two-ply of blended Alpaca and Corriedale with BFL locks inserted following the instructions in Spin Off Winter 2025. Using this yarn, I knitted the Equinox Cowl—my first time doing a Moebius cast-on (pictured at the top of the post)! I then decided to carry on with a theme of knitting from the same issue of the magazine and spun a minor key mid-value three-ply using Alpaca, Merino, and Corriedale for a pair of En Plein Air Half-Mitts and finished up with an Icelandic two-ply, which I knitted into The Ultimate Icelandic Hiking Socks.
Photos by Stephanie Ford
Stephanie Ford , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Inspired by Jillian Moreno’s value study workshop at Maryland Sheep and Wool Winterfest, I combo-spun a two-ply sport-weight yarn using Polwarth top (‘Dried Flowers’) from Bramble Ridge Hand Dyed Yarns and Targhee top (‘London Fog’) from Flower Hill Fleeces, along with some brown Cormo and magenta Corriedale that I combo-drafted into the singles. This yarn became the weft for a handwoven infinity cowl. For warp, I spun a slightly finer two-ply from natural-brown Corriedale top. I wove the cowl on my Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom at 10 ends per inch and then seamed it with a half-twist.
Photo by Martha Driscoll
Martha Driscoll, Danvers, Massachusetts
For this year's spin-along, With a Twist, I spun a three-ply yarn and chose three different colors for a marled effect. I spun commercial Corriedale top in green and teal, and Black Welsh Mountain top for the third ply. The spinning was done on a cross-arm spindle at 24 wraps per inch (WPI), and the finished three-ply yarn measures 8 WPI. The Equinox Cowl was a quick knit with this aran-weight yarn.
Photos by Dorothy Gallagher
Dorothy Gallagher, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
My finished item is an example of mosaic knitting based on a Murano Squares pattern, but the biggest hero of this project is the yarn I designed to knit with. I’ve been an Eastern European-style knitter for over 50 years, but for the last four years, I’ve only used my own handspun yarn.
By participating in multiple spin-alongs with the Mirkwood Arts group, I’ve won 25 gemstone-studded supported spindles in the past three years, and each spindle came with two to three grams of test-fiber sample. These samples were the base for the colored yarn I created for the Murano Squares. The light-colored yarn is spun from Shetland fleece rejects—wool that fiber mills would not accept, I received for free! I’m proud that I completed a finished object from “nothing,” where my only investment was my time and my love for spinning and knitting.
Photo by Elaine Fuller
Elaine Fuller, McKinleyville, California
This little project was mini stash buster. Breeds included Merino, Jacob, and Dorset Horn. The result was a tiny Christmas stocking, just big enough to hold a couple of pieces of candy.
Photos by Gina Geaudry
Gina Geaudry, Greenleaf, Wisconsin
I spun enough yarn for a sweater and a hat, but wasn't happy with my sweater (which I still need to fix), so here are photos of my hat, modeled by my son, Eli.
I sheared, scoured, flicked, and spun wool from my dear CVM wether, Burt. He is mostly black/dark brown, but has some white spots, and I tried to preserve those spots to give depth to the finished product. I spun up singles and triple-plied them into a DK-weight yarn, then knitted a cabled hat for the “twist” theme of this year’s spin-along.
Photos by Marie Quig Hobson
Marie Quig Hobson, Taylorsville, Kentucky
I wanted to spin a consistent ombré-type yarn for a crocheted cable braid project. I used a 100% Merino braid, dyed by an indie dyer, and spun three singles but chain plied them in order to keep the ombré effect. I had enough yarn to make two sister pairs of crocheted cable braid fingerless gloves with just a wee bit of yarn left over.
I also decided to try Tunisian Crochet, so I spun two coordinating yarns to use in the Twisted Cowl pattern by ACCROchet (pictured above). Both yarns came from 100% Merino braids dyed by indie dyers. The colored yarn was spun fine and chain plied to maintain color blocks. The gray yarn was a true three-ply yarn. Both were light fingering to laceweight when done. I enjoyed learning how to do Tunisian Crochet with this project.
Photo by Tracy Irwin
Tracy Irwin, Cornelius, Oregon
My spun fiber is the pale blue main color in this Easy V sweater by Caitlin Hunter. I wanted to recreate Brooklyn Tweed Loft in handspun using Merino combed top with two soft singles plied more tightly to get a woolen effect. I then dyed the yarn with indigo once it was spun. The stranded colorwork bits are commercial yarns.
Photo by Stefanie Johnson
Stefanie Johnson, Blandinsville, Illinois
For my Thick as Thieves cabled socks, I spun a Merino wool-and-nylon blend that my sister and I dyed using dried marigold flowers grown on my hobby farm (after mordanting the fiber with an alum solution). We achieved a rich greenish-gold hue. I spun the singles “S” (46 wpi), two 2-plies “Z” (28 wpi), and then plied those together “S” for a finished cabled knitting yarn with a WPI of 14.
I knit the first three quarters of one sock, then grabbed a second set of needles to start sock number two from the other end of the yarn cake, as I feared I was running short on yarn. When I reached the toe section, I worked the other sock to the same point, then found the center point of the remaining yarn and tied a slipknot. I finished one sock a few inches before the slipknot, then breathed easy as I completed the other sock, ending up with only eight inches of leftover yarn and a pair of socks that I love.
Photo by Donna Peyton
Donna Peyton, Madison, Mississippi
I spun and plied three different singles: one with Corriedale and Stellina blended on the blending board; one with Merino, silk, and Angelina; and one with wool roving. I knitted my bag in the round with a Saxony Braid Cable pattern framed by 2x2 cables repeated twice. I folded my tube in half and stitched the sides together to create a three-pocket purse finished with an I-cord strap.
Photo by Colleen Brooks
Colleen Brooks, Pittsburg, Kansas
I have wanted to try embroidery on mittens for a while and the Spin Off spin-along gave me the opportunity—turns out I really enjoyed trying my hand at embroidery. I was inspired by the book Embroidery on Knits by Judit Gummlich. Embroidering is a real challenge for me, but I hope to do more of it. The white and brown pairs are knitted from BFL that has been in my stash for over 35 years, and the blue is most likely Corriedale. The embroidery yarn is also Corriedale, purchased specifically for this purpose.
See the upcoming Winter 2026 issue of Spin Off for a spin-along project gallery. And then join us in January 2026 for a brand new spin-along!