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Tying a fishing net with hemp twine is an ancient craft that predates written records. iamtbeck has tried her hand. Sprang lace also resembles netting, and is a term that might raise a smile the first time you hear it. We have many such terms in spinning, such as niddy noddy and diz. Do you know where these names come from?
Last month the Tour de Fleece was in full swing, and so this month we see some 'finish line' pictures with some results and recaps.
Read on for this month's round-up of news, views and reviews for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers.
What's being done to raise the profile of this fantastic natural fibre?
You may well have seen this on TV on 11 July, but in case you missed it, Adam met Campaign for Wool's COO Peter Ackroyd to discuss the issues wool has faced due to Covid and demonstrated a number of innovative products that are using the wonderful fibre wool.
As well as the video, this page also describes a number of products that were briefly shown on the screen but not discussed.
Dates have been announced for Wool Week 2021, those being 4 - 31 October. My mental arithmetic isn't great but that does seem to be almost the whole month.
Activities will be online / social, with "options for in-store events where permitted".
The Campaign for Wool reports the story of the traceable wool scheme, which traces wool from the farm gate to the shop floor, giving the customer confidence that the producer has received the best payment for their wool.
Knit Knack has answered a reader's question about Southdown. She writes about her experience with a Southdown fleece that she has washed, prepped, spun and knitted, and about a Southdown / silk combed top, sourced in the UK.
iamtbeck's first attempts at tying a fishing net with hemp twine weren't very secure or even. But with practice and a hand-carved shuttle, her work became better.
This is an ancient craft, predating written records. Found fragments date from 8300BC.
We haven't quite reached the Star Trek replicator yet, but 3-D printing has become very accessible. If you don't own one, you may well know someone with such a printer. If you're technically-minded and curious then they're available for less than £60.
This article from PLY magazine lists a number of ideas for 3d-printed spinning and weaving tools, with links to the models.
For the more experienced / ambitious, the inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel has made all of his designs freely available for home printing.
Sissel Brun Ellevseth also gives you some tips if you are thinking of embarking on this journey.
This is Vampy with Sojourner the Daedalus Sparrow e-spinner.
Evanita has arranged for the migration of two Sparrows. One is making a journey around the USA, the other the UK. A journal travels with each so that spinners can share their thoughts and pictures. There's also a blog, collecting all of the stories together.
I'm linking directly to Vampy's blog. She received Sojourner in July and had the opportunity to do some of her Tour de Fleece spinning with the spinner, and also to take it to the first in-person meeting of the Norwich guild so that other members could try it.
Katia Gorges is a Russian spinning and knitting teacher.
She realised that the Russian goat classifications are different from those in the English-speaking world because the goats are different.
The fibre goats fall into Angora breeds. Cashmere breeds and Cashgora breeds. Katia describes each classification and discusses goat down generally, how it's collected and spun.
Old Dive has made a visit to Spitalfields to see what life was like, both upstairs and downstairs, for the Huguenot silk-weavers and merchants in their heyday. This was a time of wealth for the silk merchants and employment for the skilled weavers, which the Industrial Revolution would change.
It's entirely up to you what goals you set for yourself. Spinning Shepherd decided to do some carding and made a very soft and airy batt from 75% white Ouessant wool and 25% angora rabbit.
You don't often hear of the spins that people hate. Araignee was "really, really sick of" this BFL/silk blend. She has been spinning it for several tours and so decided to abandon the spindle and "give it a sloppy finish on the wheel ".
Knit/Wit also shared her 'finish line' photos. She only intended to spin at least a little every day. This strategy has yielded 1,500 yards of yarn over the course of the tour.
She sees herself "knitting with handspun more in the months ahead".
When little needs saying except 'beautiful colour'
Basin and Range
Threadbender's spindle shots never disappoint. I love this combination which reminds me of clean steel and red rust. It's actually named Basin and Range, dyed by Huckleberry Knits.
This is a similar colour scheme to the previous but is as far as I know unrelated. the name 'Koi' suits these colours well. The rolags are from Spindles and Stitches.
freelifiber is still learning but has been spinning every day during Tour de Fleece and feels that she's getting better.
This beautiful colour palette is made using natural dyes.
Debby has been participating in a 10-week online Natural Dyeing Study Group at the School of Sweet Georgia. She is planning a set of plain weave colour gamp placemats
She decided to have a solid five days of dyeing, and blog about the experience.
I'm linking to the last of those posts, at the end it has links to the earlier posts in the series.
I do find clickbait headlines like this a little offputting but this article genuinely contains three very different ways to add a crocheted edging. The second, adding a pretty edging to a purchased item is an idea that I've never tried or even considered.
If you like Yvonne, click the image to find her page, you can use next and previous to explore more cartoons.
Keeping this wheel spinning
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We tend to spin with feltable fibres, so making a project that involves felting on purpose is an option. You need to knit BIG. The amusing 'before' picture of these slippers is here. She held the yarn double to help achieve the size.
They're still too big for spinner / knitter juxta_posie but just right for their intended recipient. This is her first project from yarn that she spun herself.
Adam Lazar was delighted with his Stripes and Blocks kitchen towel. After hemming, he couldn't bear to use it in the kitchen, and so turned it into this tote bag, which will be functional and show off the woven fabric to a wider audience.
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
Rikke Hat by Sarah Young
Monica recommends the Rikke hat, she has made her second and say that it won't be her last.
The reason?
"The pattern can be easily adjusted to any yarn weight and looks great in semi-solids, variegated, commercial and/or handspun yarns. Also, the garter stitch makes it for a comfortable and squishy hat."
She also has some tips about making this hat with handspun yarn.
She mentions that the Wobble Bobble Beanie could use a little modification when using home-spun alpaca, but doesn't elaborate, other than that she will use a bigger hook next time.
The pattern calls for 175 yards of Worsted weight (10wpi) yarn. Note that the pattern uses US terminology. If you're used to UK terminology, you may find a chart like this one useful.
I'm Shiela Dixon, I've beeing doing this for around ten years in order to promote and encourage the craft of spinning.
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