Banner image

Hand Spinning News

What a busy spinning month! In the last month we've had Spin in Public Day, Yarndale Wool Week (and Shetland Wool Week) and we have pictures and words from all of these and more.

Spinzilla brought together 25 spinners from the UK (and more who spun rogue) and 1700 spinners from around the world. No official result yet, but miles of yarn were spun and much more gained.

This is the full unedited version of Hand Spinning News for October 2015.

Photo right: Attic 24 - My Yarndale 2015. Cover photo, Spinning mother in Equador with a drop spindle

Contents

Recent events

Worldwide Spin in Public Day

Worldwide Spin in Public Day

Spinners around the world took their wheels and spindles out into public on 19 September.

Here are pictures of the Worstead Guild who spun at Felbrigg Hall and met new friends and new recruits.

http://worsteadweavers.org.uk/2015/09/20/worldwide-spin-in-public-day-2/

Shoppers flock to see sheep on Savile Row

Shoppers flock to see sheep on Savile Row

This year's Wool Week was once again saw a flock of sheep grazing Savile Row.

The bemused sheep were there to meet equally bemused Londoners and promote the properties of wool and the British clothing industry.

The Evening Standard has pictures, story and video.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/shoppers-flock-to-see-sheep

Shetland Wool Week

Shetland Wool Week

Shetland has its own wool week with many events to celebrate their industry and special heritage.

The packed programme comes across in this video from 60 Degree North TV.

The highlight for me is seeing Oliver Henry sorting fleece for Jamieson and Smith. It was delightful to listen to him, one of oddly few Scottish accents in the 5 minute video.

The video is punctuated by The Wool Week Song by sound artist Felicity Ford. If you're brave enough to listen to the whole song, that's here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMasGNWy6dA

Shetland Wool Week in pictures

Shetland Wool Week in pictures

Here is an evocative selection of pictures from the week, courtesy KnitBritish. If you're of the podcast persuasion, then Louise Scollay of KnitBritish made a daily recording which you can find on the Shetland Wool Week blog.

http://www.knitbritish.net/shetland-wool-week-2015-in-pictures-1/

Shetland Wool Week

Shetland Wool Week

Ella Gordon has captured the week in some beautiful images.




https://ellagordon.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/shetland-wool-week/

Yarndale 2015

Yarndale 2015

Yarndale has gone from strength to strength, in this third year it attracted over 10,000 visitors

I'm linking here to woollyadventures' blog - partly because it's the first Yarndale post I found showing some spinning, and partly because she's shown the real variety of exhibitors and other entertainment.

https://woollyadventures.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/yarndale-2015/

Attic 24 - My Yarndale 2015

Attic 24 - My Yarndale 2015

One of the best collections of photographs from the event is from Lucy herself.

We get an insight into the preparations and yarnbombing as well as candid visitor shots, exhibitors, garlands and bunting.

To read more about the event and see more pictures, Lucy has a list of blogs at the bottom of her post.

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2015/10/my-yarndale-2015.html


discuss any of this

 

Spinzilla

Spinzilla 2015... Team Handspinning News UK

Spinzilla 2015... Team Handspinning News UK

Spinning as much as you can for seven days straight is a big physical challenge. Three days later I still have aches. During the week I was mindful of the fact that what is a fun challenge for us was a way of life for many in the past.

babylonglegs spun for Team Hand Spinning News UK and in this blog post she really manages to express just how rewarding the whole exercise was for many.

Also in her post she demonstrates the result of plying together three different natural colours and then overdyeing, with a knitted sample.

http://www.babylonglegs.blogspot.co.uk/...team-handspinning-news.html

Sad it's over

Sad it's over

Jenn also spun for Team Hand Spinning News and writes in her post about the strange 'out of body' effects of so much spinning.

She discusses with pictures the 2.25 miles of yarn that she spun. Do click through to see her 'feathered' yarn, one of the more unusual art yarns spun during the week.

http://fibreworkshop.co.uk/2015/10/15/sad-its-over/

Practice over perfection

Practice over perfection

Rebecca has some very interesting thoughts about the benefits of an event with the focus on quantity, such as Spinzilla.

http://needleandspindle.com/?p=3712

Spinsters, moral fiber and other phrases

Spinsters, moral fibre and other phrases

This video captures two great things; the start of Spinzilla and one of Jenn's 'Spinning in Cowgirl Boots' sessions, where we can watch her hands hypnotitcally spinning and listen to her speak in her own unique way.

We join Jenn as she begins her spinning marathon, not as many did at the stroke of midnight, but early the next morning. Still in her PJs and with coffee, she pulls on her cowgirl boots and muses on some of the phrases that have emerged from our craft, such as 'spinster', 'moral fibre' and 'tapestry of lies'.

She touches on the fact that she's spinning 'semi-worsted' and in another post she takes a more in-depth look at this technique.

http://rovingcrafters.com/2015/10/05/spinsters-moral-fiber-and-other-phrases/

How I Won Spinzilla

How I Won Spinzilla

Rogue spinner April didn't spin a winning yardage but she feels that she's a winner because she met a personal goal and the daily spinning will now be a part of her life.

http://www.withwool.com/blog/2015/10/13/how-i-won-spinzilla


discuss any of this

 

From the Blogosphere

A little more caution

A little more caution

Recently I made my first 'knit to felt' project. If you keep stopping to check on the felting process, it's fascinating to watch it happen and it's surprising how much the knitted fabric shrinks.

This is devastating if it happens unintentionally. As handspinners we're at particular risk because we tend to use feltable fibres.

This is a sorry and cautionary tale from Rachel

http://welfordpurls.com/2015/09/18/a-little-more-caution/

Pokeberry Adventure

Pokeberry Adventure

When I saw this picture I thought elderberries. I'd not heard of pokeberries.

Araignee watched these berries form and ripen as she walked her dog and decided to try dyeing with them.

In this post you can see the results, and read more about the harvesting in the previous post.

http://araigneestangledweb.../pokeberry-adventure-part-2.html

DIY Yarn Swift

DIY Yarn Swift

A yarn swift is a very useful tool if you don't have a glamorous assistant to hold out their hands while you wind your yarn into balls. But they can be pricey.

measuredandslow decided to make her own with a genius combination of an expandable coat rack and lazy susan. All parts were already owned or bought on a budget and the result is effective.

http://measuredandslow.com/2015/09/23/diy-yarn-swift/

Women talk

Women talk

Weekend Knitter volunteered at Greenbank Mill and had the chance to spin on this wheel. Dents and marks caused by yarn running through tell of its age.

There are some great pictures here, it's amusing to see that sometimes the modern world meets the ancient one, and that some things don't change

http://weekendknitter.com/2015/09/20/women-talk/

A third fall fair

A third fall fair

onesmallstitch reports from the Salt Spring Island Fall Fair, the winner of the hand spinning prize was Jim Erickson, remarkably it's his first handspun project.

The colour work looks great, personally I'm not sure about the embellishment which is embroidered leather, a very interesting and impressive piece all the same.

https://onesmallstitch.wordpress.com/2015/09/20/a-third-fall-fair/

Never say dye

Never say dye

Sarah of Colours of Northern Ireland grows numerous dye plants but in this post she's achieving yellows from things gathered rather than grown.

http://coloursofnorthernireland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/never-say-dye.html

Beginning spinning on a shoestring

Beginning spinning on a shoestring and beyond

One for the absolute beginners, Sarah addresses a fundamental question; does spinning have to be expensive?

I'll leave her to discuss the difference between a wheel and spindle. I'd only add that spinning by spindle is not only a cheap way to work (or even free if you want to make your spindle) but it's enjoyable, even therapeutic. I make many of my projects by spindle.

http://knittingsarah/.../spinning-on-a-shoestring-and-beyond/

Wedding Yarn

Wedding Yarn

Not immediately obvious, but in this art yarn Goldilox has used pieces from her wedding dress, which would otherwise have remained in a box.

She is thinking of making a necklace but isn't sure whether she likes the yarn.

http://goldyspinner.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/wedding-yarn.html

Sheep Breeds: Greyface Dartmoor

Sheep Breeds: Greyface Dartmoor

Corrie is clearly excited about her new charges and has done some research about the Dartmoor Greyface. It's still a rare breed, but flocks are making their way around the UK and abroad.

They have a long lustrous fleece, Corrie is looking forward to getting involved in shearing and using the wool.

http://www.plutoniummuffins.com/sheep-breeds-greyface-dartmoor/

Sheep - BFL

Bluefaced Leicester - BFL

In a second sheep-with-coloured-face post, Julia is soon to be seeing some Blueface Leicester, a popular wool with hand spinners.

Here she presents her research.

http://insteadforgottenways.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/sheep-bfl.html


discuss any of this

 

Tips and tutorials

2-ply without a lazy kate

2-ply without a lazy kate

Maybe you're just starting out or like to work with the minimum of tools.

Sara explains how to ply from a centre-pull ball. If it looks simple, it is! You don't even need an expensive ball-winder, you can make such a ball using a nostepinne (or improvise one of those from a bit of broom-handle!)

http://blog.yarn.com/spinning-tips-2-ply-without-a-lazy-kate

Space dyeing a cake of yarn with easter egg dye pellets

Space dyeing a cake of yarn with easter egg dye pellets

We mentioned easter egg pellets last time, and here Rebecca of Chemknits has found aspecial use. She's put the pellet in the middle of a centre-pull ball for a very dramatic gradient.

I guess a dye ice cube could achieve the same.

http://www.chemknits.com/2015/09/space-dyeing-cake-of-yarn-with-easter.html

A treatise on hot pink

A treatise on hot pink

Hot pink is a surprisingly popular colour, and if you've tried dyeing you'll know that colours can be unpredictable, depending on so many factors.

Sayra has tried four different brands of acid dye with three different fibres. She's written a good review of each type of dye and presents her results.

http://www.atomicbluefiber.com/2015/10/a-treatise-on-hot-pink.html

How to dye acrylic yarn with rit dye

How to dye acrylic yarn with Rit dye

I recently discovered that a spinning friend reacts to some wools. This isn't so uncommon and one of the advantages of spinning is that you can make the yarn you like from whatever fibre you like.

Therefore many spinners spin artificial fibres, and now there are acrylic and other artificial fibres available for spinning.

So I was interested to read about this dye. Rit have produced a new range specifically for acrylic fibres. I can't recommend the video, it's a little bit heavy on vocal fry and light on actual tips, but I'd be really interested to hear about anyone spinning or dyeing acrylic or other artificial fibres.

http://blog.lionbrand.com/2015/10/07/tea-with-shira-episode-11-how-to-dye

Blending colour with wool combs

Blending colour with wool combs

Although the fibre in these pictures is already top, after dyeing it Rachel had the idea of pulling it through wool combs to blend the colours.

"It sounds labour intensive, but I promise, it's not", she says. The nests were very fast to spin.

http://welfordpurls.com/2015/10/05/blending-colour-with-wool-combs/

Ply from a swift? Yes we can.

Ply from a swift? Yes we can.

woolandchocolate made these singles into a skein before deciding to ply. No problem, just pop onto a swift and navajo-ply from there.



http://woolandchocolate.com/.../ply-from-a-swift-yes-we-can/

DIY spinning equipment

DIY spinning equipment

Sarah discussed earlier how spinning doesn't need to cost very much. If you (or someone in your life) is of the DIY bent then all of the tools that you need can be made with found or inexpensive materials.

This free eBook describes how to make a drop spindle, yarn balance and niddy noddy. Even an umbrella swift.

http://www.spinningdaily.com/diy-yarn-spinning-equipment/

Tips for choosing colors for a fair isle pattern

Tips for choosing colors for a fair isle pattern

If the pictures from Shetland Wool Week made you want to use your handspun yarn in a Fair Isle project, then there are some useful tips in this article.

Lisa Shroyer passes on some tips from her Mum Nancy, including colour value, proportion and number of colours.

http://www.knittingdaily.com/...colors-for-a-fair-isle-pattern/


discuss any of this

 

Keeping this wheel spinning

Your news here

Your news here

Are you a teacher, pattern designer, dyer, equipment manufacturer or supplier?

Would you like to reach the growing readership of thousands of hand spinners and at the same time help to support Hand Spinning News ?

Read more

Gallery

Sometimes just a picture is enough

Handspun live oak shawlette

Handspun live oak shawlette

Rahardjo is one of my inspirations, I love her fine, semi-solid yarn, usually spun by spindle.

This finished project is no exception, the pattern is Live Oak Shawlette from Rosemary Hill, the fibre is Blueface Leicester.

Her photography is excellent too. Follow the image through to Flickr for details of her pattern modifications.

http://rahardjoknits.tumblr.com/...weekendknitter-rahardjoknits

Suit from scratch

Suit from scratch

This picture has done the social media rounds, so you may have seen it. It has had some brickbats for various reasons; I don't expect he'll be wearing the suit in public during daylight hours.

But you have to hand it to him for learning a number of post-apocalyptic skills including some that many of us have only been curious about, such as raising his own silkworms and tanning leather.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/...suit-from-scratch-over-the-course-of-10

Moose manor hat

Moose manor hat

When I first read the word 'moose' in the title of this post I wondered whether this is a fibre I'd not used before... but it's not moose fibre, it's polwarth dyed by Moose Manor.

Amy says "These fold-over brimmed hats with pompoms are great for using up all (or nearly all) of a 4oz (100g) spun skein of yarn".

http://fluidmotion.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/knitting-moose-manor-hat.html

Prairie Rose shawl

Prairie Rose shawl

Although she didn't intend the subtle colour variations, Diane agrees that they're beautiful and add charm.



http://spinningshepherd..../sheep-to-sweater-sunday-n-172-blocked.html

Handspun yoke and cuffs

Handspun yoke and cuffs

Another example of how you can use small amounts of handspun in a larger project. Colour changes in the yarn are really allowed to speak for themselves, and hint at the traditional colourwork yoke.

Unfortunately there's no pattern, it was a "seat of the pants kind of thing" but lollyknitter has suggested that she may write it up if there is demand.

https://instagram.com/p/8WA0N7Nn2H/

Late Summer Meadow

Late Summer Meadow

mamato8's poncho has a stitch pattern that shows off her handspun merino and silk yarn so well.

The pattern is Late Summer Meadow by Annie Rowden / Annie Claire

https://instagram.com/p/8TeOkJsvKz/?taken-by=mamato8


discuss any of this

 

Free patterns

A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.

Ancient Stitch Scarf

Ancient Stitch Scarf

A while ago we looked at this sock which was made with the naalebinding technique and also raised the appalling possibility that the ancient Egyptians wore socks with their sandals.

ewespecial wrote about an even older piece of fabric which was also made with the single-needle stitch. If you're interested in the technique then here's her post and a link to a video showing the foundation stitch.

The fabric provided inspiration for purlbee who designed the Ancient Stitch Scarf. The embossed stitch pattern is inspired by the old fabric but it does use two needles and regular stitches. There are videos on the page showing purl front and back and purl through the back loop if you need.

http://www.purlsoho.com/create/2015/09/11/ancient-stitch-scarf/

Fall for Free Fingerless Gloves

Fall for Free Fingerless Gloves

Fingerless gloves are very appropriate for the time of year, so Craftsy have picked eight different patterns with different things to commend them. Maybe you like to knit each finger, maybe you want to use two different colours, or maybe just a stitch pattern to show off a beautiful handspun yarn.

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/10/fingerless-gloves-knitting-pattern/

No Place Like Home scarf

No Place Like Home scarf

This is a basic but attractive lace pattern, so it'll be suitable for you if you're new to lace, or an easy 'TV' knit if you're more experienced.

It uses a sock-weight yarn for a light scarf that drapes.

http://www.craftsy.com/...no-place-like-home-scarf/51852

Crochet beanie by Drops Designs

Crochet beanie by Drops Designs

One for the chaps, or a gift for the chap in your life, this plain hat will carry colour changes in your handspun yarn.

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=6379&lang=us


Basic crochets slipper boots

Basic crochets slipper boots

Another for the crocheters, this time to keep the feet warm.

For health and safety reasons, don't forget that Sock Stop will make sure that you're sure-footed on slippery floors.

http://www.craftsy.com/.../basic-slipper-boots-for-women/122945


discuss any of this

 

Not-so-free patterns

Lierne Cowl aka Tierceron II by Jennifer Kirchenbauer

Lierne Cowl aka Tierceron II by Jennifer Kirchenbauer

I've been looking at this shape of cowl (Cowl at the moon is a worthwhile free one).

Lierne will suit a solid or semi-solid yarn. The lovely lace pattern is reminiscent of a cathedral roof.

http://www.craftsy.com/.../lierne---tierceron-ii/75023

Pretty Little Knickers Lace Lingerie Set by Lauren Riker

Pretty Little Knickers Lace Lingerie Set by Lauren Riker

This pattern includes bra, panties and camisole.



http://www.ravelry.com/...pretty-little-knickers-lace-lingerie-set

Chasing Rainbows

Chasing Rainbows

We looked at hot pink earlier, if it's your colour and you like to spin a laceweight yarn then this new wide crescent shaped shawl from Boo Knits will appeal.

Beata who made this one says that it's "even pinker in real life"

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chasing-rainbows-3


discuss any of this

 

Events 2015

Wonderful Wool Day

Wonderful Wool Day

11 October, Memorial Hall in Oswestry, 11am-4pm. £2 entry for adults.

Bring your work-in-progress, what you are proud of, what you would like to put on the Orphan Lamb Table (to include books this time) and a jolly smile!

Also a Back-to-Back attempt.

https://www.facebook.com/wonderfulwoolday/posts/995303220488569

Bakewell Wool Gathering

Bakewell Wool Gathering

Bakewell Agricultural CentreSaturday 17 and Sunday 18 October

This year sees the third year of the Bakewell Wool Gathering, an event for wool lovers in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales.

There will be exhibitors, demonstrations of fibre crafts, workshops plus a knitting and crochet help desk to help novice and expert alike.

bakewellwool.co.uk/


Happy spinning and don't be a stranger!

Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator

shiela@hand-spinning-news.com

If you're reading this newsletter on the web and would like it delivered to your email inbox for free every month, just fill in your email address in the box somewhere below. If you've reading this in your inbox and would prefer not to receive any more, just use the Mailchimp 'unsubscribe' link at the foot of the email.

A PeacockMedia publication


Don't miss out

Hand Spinning News as a free monthly email.


Twitter Button from twitbuttons.com

Be sociable

Please share HSN with your friends:

Find me (Shiela) on:

Archive

Previous issues are now archived here:

H S N archive

Brought to you in association with

p2tog.com
handspinner.co.uk for spinning information and supplies