Death of Campaign for Wool chairman Peter Ackroyd MBE
Campaign for Wool chairman Peter Ackroyd MBE has died suddenly at age 76.
The CfW have published this book of condolence.
www.campaignforwool.org/peter-ackroyd-mbe-book-of-condolence
Hand Spinning News
A lot of the content this month relates to Tour de Fleece spinning. The men's event has finished with the femmes racing as I write this. The event has motivated a lot of spinners, some for the competitive edge, some for the personal challenge and some just for the love of spinning.
Some interesting breeds make an appearance this month. Sharon met a Valais Blacknose and Jillian has written about the Manchego with an unusual plot twist of trying its cheese.
If you'd like an email notification of when the free issue goes live each month, I now have a page at patreon.com/handspinningnews where you can become a member for free.
If you would like to receive a longer version in your inbox, earlier than the free edition appears and support the endeavour at the same time, find the options here.
So without further ado, read on for all of this and more news, views and reviews for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers. This is the free round-up for August 2026.
Cover photo "Standing Stones of Steness, Orkney" by Jasmin Gorsuch on Unsplash
Contents
- In the media
- Handspun stories
- Tour de Fleece 2026
finish line and round-ups - Recent, current and forthcoming events
- Tips and tutorials
- Video and audio
- Technology
- Gallery
Some of the best spinning images I've seen this month - Free Pattern and project suggestions
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn - More Patterns and projects
More project ideas which will work well with handspun yarn - But is is art...?
- UK Events
Events for your 2026 calendar
In the media
Handspun stories
British Wool learning
With kids on a lengthy school holiday, this is a good time to mention the British Wool learning website.
It has a large collection of downloadable worksheets, quizzes, games, lesson plans and more for teachers, parents and club or organisation leaders to inform school-aged children about the story of wool.
In pursuit of elusive 'in-between' yarn colors
Elisabeth explains that Bengala mud dyes are sold as 'perfect for the reluctant dyer'.
She embarked on this adventure with some scepticism. I'll let you read about how it turned out.
Home built Salish wheel
Just ahead of the Tour de Fleece, Thread Head Joanne built this wheel from a given Indian flyer and a Singer treadle base.
Spinner's Alphabet: What Begins with L?
You guessed it. This particular entry in Amelia's alphabet is perhaps a more personal one. She tells us about her own Llama, Mahogany.
Her 'M' is here.
On holiday? Feel like weaving? Find a stick.
Lynn took some scraps of yarn and a tapestry needle with her on holiday and tried weaving using found sticks for her loom.
She also tried weaving around rocks, with less success.
She links to examples of these crafts, including Kaci Smith who also appears in 'But is it art..?' below.
Green gold: pineapple fibre
Munah Kadir eschews machinery, preferring an entirely manual process for extracting fibres from pineapple leaves, making thread and embroidering products.
She needs 100kg of leaves to produce 1kg of yarn. Unfortunately there's a lack of detail about her actual process.
www.freemalaysiatoday.com...pineapple-leaves-into-green-gold
Yarn detective: sheep cheese and wool dreams
I think I've been afraid to try sheep's cheese because I associate it with goat's cheese, which has an unpleasant-to-me tang. After reading Jillian's post, I'm curious.
One of her cheeses is Manchego and she goes on to write about the breed and a brand of specific-breed yarn made from locally-sourced and milled wool.
Tour de Fleece 2026
Le Grand Depart
Araignee's tour began by finding and dusting off some spindle WIPs, some left over from last year.
TDF socialising
Highland Heffalump's TdF spinning was very social, including Zoom sessions and outdoor public spinning.
The end of Tour de Fleece 2026
This is Sue's 'finish line' picture. It's an impressive amount of yarn. Just as impressive is that this is her 15th or 16th year.
travelfibreandthread.blogspot.com...end-of-tour-de-fleece-2026.html
Tour de Fleece wrapped up
This is Thread Head's final photo. The grey yarn is enough for a sweater.
As she comments, the femmes race follows the men's and some spinners also spin then, or prefer to spin then.
Aux Champs Elysee
Araignee also comments that she plans to spin during the femmes race and also during the Vuelta de Espana.
She has many photos of her work but says that it's not a big podium finish for her. There's no doubt though that the event is a great motivator for spinners.
Tour de Fleece 2026: handspun projects that inspire
This is one of the loveliest collections of handspinning photos that I can remember.
SweetGeorgia have gathered this selection of fibre prep, finished yarn, spindle and bobbin shots from their community's Tour de Fleece spinning. Their attitude is 'no teams, no competition, no pressure'.
Recent, current and forthcoming events
Bendigo 2026 show report
Sharon reports from the Bendigo show, AKA The Australian Sheep and Wool Show, where the emphasis seems to be on sheep breeds and socialising, though her haul shows that there's plenty of fibre and yarn to be scored.
sharondoubleknit.blogspot.com...bendigo-2026-show-report.html
Tips and tutorials
All sorts of warp ends
Do you know your single ends from your doubled and working ends? Handwoven clarifies that for us.
Recording your handspun projects shouldn't put you in a twist
If one batch of handspun yarn pills quickly but another doesn't, will you remember the details and be able to work out why?
This is one example of how keeping good records can help you.
In exchange for a sign-up to their newsletter, SweetGeorgia are offering a printable record sheet along with a tag for tying to the yarn.
Tulle and tools for blending boards
Amy has an extensive list of tools and accessories for the simple blending board with a few tips thrown in.
From WIF to woven cloth
Christina explains how weaving software can help you to visualise a pattern and play with colours before starting to thread the loom.
By coincidence, Kate Atherley has written about apps that can help with knitting.
How to spot an AI-generated fake pattern
A little later in this issue, Kelly warns of lazy AI-generated books that are poorly-written and contain incorrect information.
You'll probably be aware that there's a proliferation of similarly low-quality or even scammy patterns. Toni has some advice on how to spot them.
The great fleece makeover
Is life too short to process a bad fleece?
Emonieiesha Hopkins lists all of the potential problems with real examples and has tips for dealing with them.
Fancy and functional Turkish spindle wraps
winding a cop in a methodical way has advantages and with a Turkish spindle, there are several styles that you can choose from.
spinoffmagazine.com/fancy-and-functional-turkish-spindle-wraps
Products and Reviews
Dreaming Robots' new e-spinner and thoughts
Jillian Eve has received the new EEW Fold e-spinner from Dreaming Robots and has put it through its paces.
MOW 2026 special - Seafarer fibre tops
With both the Mill Open Weekend and the virtual MOW now behind us, John Arbon still have stock of their Mill Open Weekend special in five shades of top, the very popular Seafarer.
www.jarbon.com/products/mow-2026-special-seafarer-fibre-tops
The best inkle and band weaving books
Kelly has listed her pick of books on inkle and band weaving, including new and vintage.
She also has a word of caution about a 'flood' of AI-generated books on the market that are poorly-written and contain mistakes.
kellycasanovaweavinglessons.come...books-for-every-weaver.html
The Annual from John Arbon Textiles
Issue six of John Arbon's annual will launch at the beginning of September, with pre-orders available from 14 August.
They're gradually revealing some of the patterns on their blog, such as this Brunel Cowl and Shawl, shown here in Yarnadelic and Seafarer.
Motifs that can do tricks
Crochet Kaleidoscope: Shifting Shapes and Shades Across 100 Motifs is a new book by Sandra Eng packed with 100 crochet motifs that build into surprising designs.
Interweave Editors have picked out some of their favourites.
Video and audio
The Odyssey's most important tool wasn't a weapon
Engineering Knits has been watching the new Odyssey film and reading Prehistoric Textiles by E J W Barber. She has been inspired to build and use her own weighted-warp loom.
Places to visit
From Field to Fashion, Derby Museum of Making
I did list this exhibition last time, but since then Sue has visited and has put her photographs and her thoughts into this blog post.
travelfibreandthread.blogspot.com...field-to-fashion-derby-museum-of.html
Technology
Chinese researchers develop living fungus-based textile
The yuck factor is strong with this one. But then again, if you see something on a rail that looks and feels like regular fabric, do you think twice about exactly what fibres it's made from?
The interesting part here is that rather than 'growing' fibres and spinning them into thread, these researchers have grown sheets of fabric. Other microorganisms produced colour and UV protection. The material could be self-repairing.
The level of biodegradability here goes with a fast cycle of 'wear / dispose' rather than trying to fight against it.
Wool waste turned into antibacterial textile finish
Researchers have turned post-consumer wool waste into a coating for recycled banana or cotton fabrics that gives remarkable antibacterial properties as well as UV protection.
I found the best information in this summary of the research article.
Multistable fabrics that snap between different shapes
Researchers have created 'multistable' fabrics that can snap from one shape to another. A few applications are given. For example, they can create switches within the fabric so that a light that can be switched when the fabric moves from one shape to another, or count steps.
seas.harvard.edu/news/oh-snap-fabrics-multiple-stable-shapes
Gallery
Sometimes just a picture is enough
Hand spun stripes
Jencait has finished this spindle-spun jumper (except for weaving in 78 ends!)
The yarn is made from a bag of mixed Wingham blend laps. The pattern is Ink & Brass by Dani Sunshine. jenny has marked it with five stars and a low difficulty.
Sk8er Hat
Cleo spun some Yarnadelic Black Gold of the Sun fibre tops from John Arbon and and paired it with a commercial Alpaca yarn.
The pattern is Sk8er Hat by Maxim Cyr
Collection of tapestries from creative challenge
Seaflower Spins has taken part in the Craft and Design Canberra Creative Challenge, where each day has a prompt such as 'Glitch', 'Spark' and 'Ferment'.
This is a collage of her work from the final two weeks and is well worth viewing close-up.
bsky.app/profile/seaflowerspins.bsky.social/post/3mrfdkkush22z
Durham Miners' Gala 2026
I wasn't quite sure how to categorise this but I love the banners in Susan's blog post. They really are beautiful.
They're traditionally made of silk and hand-painted. I can't find any information about whether today's banners are painted or printed but if anyone knows or can point me to more information about the making of them, I'd be grateful.
Flights of fancy
Handwoven have put together this gallery of readers' projects.
Free patterns and projects
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
Belofte by Donielle Oliver Showvay
This is somewhere between a shawl and a garment with the images showing many attractive ways to wear it.
It's free for a limited and undisclosed amount of time, so nab it right away if you like it and if it's still free when you read this.
You'll need a 6mm hook. The pattern calls for two strands of light fingering held together but I think that one of DK will do just as well.
The boho pillow free rigid heddle weaving project
I think this is a good demonstration of what you can do with a variable-dent reed. If you have one, I'm not sure that you need this pattern but credit to Kelly for creating this detailed pattern / instructions and an accompanying 2.5-hour video which are all freely available on this page.
Fellowship of the Pint: From Hobbiton
This is a pair of LOTR-themed colourwork socks. The pattern was released in stages as part of a knit-a-long but all parts are available now by exploring the blog posts. I'm linking to the post that contains the last part (free pdf download) and from there you'll find links to the second part and the project sheet.
The pattern also contains a colourwork swatch that doubles as a coffee cosy.
lattesandllamas.com/2026/07/26/fellowship-of-the-pint-the-prancing-pony
Pattern and project suggestions
Meret by Anne Hanson
This is a very attractive scarf / stole / choker. It's light enough for summer months and has enough texture for visual interest and a little warmth on cooler days.
Anne says that this is "a good candidate for silky yarns with a bit of sheen".
It requires 450 - 1650 yards of fingering weight (14 wpi) yarn depending on the size chosen.
Megalodon Cowl (Knit) by Mary P Hunt
Mary has released her Megalodon pattern in honour of Shark Week. It features megalodon jaws and teeth framing a live shark, squid and fish.
50% of the proceeds will go to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
I have yet to see a handspun example. Be the first!
With thanks to quiteayarnblog for posting the details.
If, like Quiteayarnblog, you don't need another cowl, then you could do as she has done and turn this pattern into a cushion!
Juniper Top by Dora Ohrenstein
This pattern is from a collection of crop and halter tops. Personally I'm past exposing my belly or even shoulders but they are mostly shown being worn over a blouse or long-sleeved top which is a good look.
It requires 600 - 800 yards of fingering-weight yarn on a 3.25 mm hook.
Misty Depths by Anne Hanson
This 'between-season' pattern was originally designed for an ombre effect but plain and simple works too.
It has options for neck and sleeves and there are no less than ten sizes.
But is it art...?
Kustaa Saksi: vivid oversized tapestries
In the Borderlands is an exhibition of jacquard textiles at the Helsinki Design Museum by designer Kustaa Saksi, on display until 15 October.
Kaci Smith
Kaci Smith weaves colourful patterns into wishbones and branches serving as miniature looms.
She began during the pandemic as an indoor activity.
Hussein Shikha
As a child, Hussein Shikha made a connection between the pixels on the screen of his Playstation and the woven pattern in his carpet and today as he designs for the jacquard loom he's still thinking in terms of pixels. His work draws on Islamic and Mesopotamian mythology, folklore and designs.
Lucy Sparrow: The Beginning Of Convenience
This isn't the first store that Lucy has made from wool. This one marks the beginning of the convenience store and is a replica of an 80s-style Walmart-inspired supermarket.
It consists of more than 20,000 handmade felt replicas of produce and products.
It's installed at The Momentary gallery, Bentonville, AR. It's free, no ticket required. In addition there's a replica of Lucy's studio and will feature in a documentary.
www.thisiscolossal.com...lucy-sparrow-the-beginning-of-convenience
Adelene Koh
As a conservation book binder, Adelene Koh uses those skills and materials to make her sculptures of paper and coloured thread.
She is a finalist for this year's Loewe Foundation Craft Prize.
www.thisiscolossal.com...adelene-koh-bookbinding-paper-sewing...
Myra Stimson: drawing in slow motion
Myra Stimson works with paint and thread and calls stitching "drawing in slow motion".
UK Events
2026
Southern Wool Show
22 - 23 August 2026, Newbury Racecourse, Berkshire
A festival of woolly goodies. The perfect event for all lovers of knitting, crochet, feltmaking, weaving, spinning, dyeing, and all things woolly!
Newark Knitting and Wool Show
5 - 6 September, Newark Showground
An exciting new festival of knitting, crochet, weaving, spinning and woolly fibre crafts with 90 exhibitors, workshops and demos.
This is a new show from the organisers of Spring into Wool (Leeds), Brighton Wool Show, Midlands Wool Festival (Wolverhampton), Summer Wool Festival (Ampthill) and more.
The Scottish Yarn Festival
12 - 13 September at Perth Concert Hall
The Scottish Yarn Festival is the new name for Perth Festival of Yarn.
The Vendors' Gallery Marketplace is the place to find materials and inspiration for your future crafting projects, the chance to meet and talk with the makers behind your favourite independent brands, to indulge in a little celebrity spotting.
Past tutors and lecturers have included Jeanette Sloan, Françoise Danoy, Andre de Castro, Di Gilpin, and Amy Palko
A fringe programme of social events has included books signings, gala dinners and fashions shows, and Perthshire gin flights
unravel... autumn
Fri 11 - Sat 12 September 2026, Farnham Maltings
unravel... autumn is a celebration of all things yarn making from knitting and crochet to spinning and weaving
At the core of unravel... autumn is the curated marketplace which showcases independent producers, well established makers alongside first-time yarn show exhibitors from around the UK. In addition, on each day of the festival, there is an inspiring programme of bookable workshops.
Yarn Gathering
Sun 20 September 2026, Daniel Owen Centre, Mold, Flintshire
Yarn O'clock & Kath Andrews Designs are delighted to be hosting Yarn Gathering once again for its fifth year.
Yarndale
26 - 27 September 2026, Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire
Over 180 makers, craft workers, retailers, and artisans in the picturesque market town of Skipton, North Yorkshire.
The Wool Event, Masham Sheep Fair
26 - 27 September 2026, Masham Town Hall
Craft market and fleece stalls, specialising in British wool to compliment the sheep-related events that fill the square of Masham over the weekend.
Spinning Yarns Festival
Sat 29 August 2026 Mossley Mill, Antrim and Newtownabbey
This celebration brings the timeless beauty of wool and linen to life through craft, storytelling, and community spirit.
Shetland Wool Week
27 September - 6 October 2026
Shetland Wool Week is a world renowned celebration of Britain's most northerly native sheep, the Shetland textile industry and the rural farming community on these islands.
Includes classes, talks, drop-ins, art. See website for the full events listing.
Yarnstock
2 - 4 October 2026
A cosy weekend festival for crochet lovers, yarn crafters, and wool enthusiasts. Camp or visit for the day.
West Wales Wool Show
Saturday 3 October 2026, Queen's Hall and Plas Hyfryd Hotel, Narberth, Pembrokeshire
A celebration of all things woolly. From beautifully hand crafted items, clothing and footwear to knitting wool, fleece and all the equipment needed to make at home. Demonstrations run throughout the day with stall holders sharing their skills and knowledge with visitors plus wool skill workshops such as felting.
The Glasgow School of Yarn
10 - 11 October 2026, The Briggait, Glasgow
Scotland's longest running yarn festival, championing local and innovative makers since 2011.
GSoY has an abundance of beautiful yarns, fibres, and accessories for every crafter.
Stafford Wool Gathering
17 - 18 October 2026 Staffordshire County Showground
Bakewell Wool Gathering has moved to Stafford.
Over 100 exhibitors showcasing their skills and offering everything you need. Or take part in workshops to learn and improve on your own skills.
Whether you enjoy spinning, felting, weaving, knitting, or crochet, it's an event you won't want to miss.
Yorkshire Yarn Fest
14 - 15 November 2026, Sandburn Hall, York YO60 7RB
More details to follow
Knit + Stitch Show Northern Ireland
12-15 November 2026, The Eikon Exhibition Centre
Meet up with like-minded crafters, discuss ideas, learn new skills, find inspiration and shop for your annual craft supplies, including wool, fabric and beyond from big brands and specialist suppliers.
Christmas Wool Show
14 - 15 November, National Conference Centre, Birmingham
80 amazing exhibitors from all over the country in a fabulous venue. Free parking, café, free demonstrations from local guilds, charity magazine stall, yarn winding service and plenty of room to sit and chat.
Knit + Stitch, Harrogate (previously The Knitting and Stitching Show)
19 - 22 November 2026, Harrogate Convention Centre
Meet up with like-minded crafters, discuss ideas, learn new skills and shop for your annual craft supplies, including wool, beads and beyond from household name brands and special suppliers alike including Fabric Godmother, Toft and more.
Support Hand Spinning News
I'm Shiela Dixon, I've been doing this for around seventeen years in order to promote and encourage spinning and related crafts.
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