If you're in the northern hemisphere then this is the time of the year when wool comes into its own and helps to keep us warm and comfortable. In our news this month we see home insulation, socks, scarves, blankets and skirt projects; woven, knitted and crocheted. For when the weather's really cold, have you ever thrummed mittens?
This is also the time for looking back over the year. An unusual one to say the least. It's not surprising then that the subject of the lockdown has appeared in a number of items this time.
Read on for this month's especially festive feast of fibrey fun, features and freebies for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers.
Other than making the free issue shorter and putting in the sponsorship stuff, I don't change the content. if you see references to 'last minute gifts' in this issue, please bear in mind that it originally went out to paying subscribers earlier in the month.
This free issue for December 2020 is brought to you in association with Audible. I'm a member and enjoy listening while I spin. Download a free audiobook with your 30-day free trial.
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Photo right: Highland Heffalump, tree ornament from left-over advent calendar mini-skein. Cover photo 'Handmade with Love' courtesy littlefernfibers. The full photo is well worth a look.
This topic has been in the news during 2020 thanks to considerable campaigning with some success.
This article explains the many benefits of using wool for insulation rather than artificial product. It is a high tech product, going through various processes to make it fit for purpose and ensure that it lasts the lifetime of the building.
www.campaignforwool.org/2020/11/17/why-use-wool-insulation-in-your-home
Prince Charles has helped to design a wool scarf which helps to mark the10th anniversary of his Campaign for Wool.
www.townandcountrymag.com...prince-charles-luxury-wool-scarf
With every paint and yarn company announcing their own different colour of the year, the concept has lost its meaning a little.
Perhaps that's why Pantone decided to do something a little different this time. Their own colour of the year is a colour combination. A bright yellow shade, called Illuminating and Ultimate Gray. This makes a mix of optimism and resilience, which is probably very appropriate for the current time.
www.dezeen.com/2020/12/10/pantone-colour-year-2021-ultimate-gray-illuminating
This is a 2-in-1. In this blog post, Rachel looks back at her "Make Nine 2020" and considers her prompts for 2021.
Her 2020 projects page contains an impressive collection of finished projects, most of them using handspun yarn.
I find it a little poignant that she started that project in March, when we had little idea how the year would unfold.
Even if this doesn't inspire you to take part in Make Nine 2021, I hope that Rachel's thoughts will inspire you to think about one or more projects that you'd like to make in 2021 and begin to look forward.
Despite the word 'basics' in the title, this is pretty thorough article, drawing on several good books.
A. Sabine Schröder-Gravendyck explains that there's more to the grease that we wash out of our fleeces (or leave in for spinning) than you may realise.
At first glance the answer to that may seem obvious.
But what about fibres that come from natural products but go through human manufacturing processes (regenerated fibres)?
Amy Clarke Moore gathers some plant and animal fibres. If you're new to spinning, this will be a good introduction to some fibres that you may not have considered. If you're more experienced, this gallery is still a joy to scroll through.
This is the third of the Swedish wool breeds as covered by Josefin.
Rya is a textile, a wool type and a sheep breed. The word may be related to our word 'rug'. The wool is long and lustrous.
This article covers all of this as well as preparing and spinning the wool.
This picture demonstrates well how cosy thrummed mittens can be. They're not ideal if you need to hold anything or grip a steering wheel, but imagine how warm they keep your hands.
These are handspun thrummed mittens by mulberryfiberstudio
sheepassisted couldn't believe that this would work, but it did with a little discreet basting.
It's a wreath form, covered with hand spun and knitted fabric.
I was hoping to have a picture of the finished, decorated wreath but that hasn't appeared in time for this issue. Watch Molly's photos for updates.
When little needs saying except 'beautiful colour'
Teal and orange is a special combination. Being Southern Cross Fibre, it naturally has some darker brown in there too.
Knit/Wit "spun the fibre from one end to the other and chain-plied the resulting singles" in order to maintain the colours as much as possible.
paknitwit.blogspot.com/2020/11/another-week-another-skein.html
This woven wrap is made entirely from handspun BFL / silk, warp and weft.
It's good to see pictures of the fibre, yarn and weaving all in the same post.
The fibre is Three Waters Farm BFL and silk in colour First Breath of Spring
The purples here are offset by a little rust and turquoise. Dyed by wee.chickadee
Siqi Song is the artist who made Sister.
Her new felted film is about family traditions and moving from home.
There are some worthwhile shots and behind-the-schenes video clips on Instagram which are linked on the page that I'm linking to.
Josefin made these socks by nalbinding rather than knitting her handspun yarn. It makes strong socks but holes are inevitable sooner or later.
(In this case the yarn wasn't a strong sock yarn. See also here where Josefin blends rya/mohair for a sock yarn.)
She used some of the original white handspun yarn, for a 'semi-visible' repair.
Anu Bhatia's final words in the instructional video are "easy peasy". I'm not sure that I would agree but I feel that if I watched the video some more times and tried it myself, I'd be able to produce something using this technique.
The technique is doubleweave pick-up. In doubleweave, two layers are woven at the same time. In pick-up, weavers manipulate warp ends manually with a pick-up stick to create various weave structures. Doubleweave pick-up combines these two techniques to produce a pixelated graphic in fabric. A pattern such as a cross-stitch pattern will work, and Anu Bhatia's Leo The Cat pattern is available at the link below.
Historically, wool yarn used in embroidery, or crewel embroidery, would tend to be fine, smooth, and consistent. However, says Kate Larson, as spinners we can make any yarn we please. The type of wool and the preparation and spinning method produce yarns with various properties.
Here are Kates tips for producing different types of wool yarn for embroidery. If the subject intrigues you after reading part one using the main link below, then part 2 is here in which Kate discusses some common stitches and demonstrates them with wool thread.
spinoffmagazine.com/sublime-stitches-part-1-spinning-wool-for-embroidery
Sara Lamb explains how to turn thrums, or loom waste, into beautiful designs in knotted pile.
Ladders can happen when switching from knit to purl stitch, which mean that the problem may appear in ribbing or seed stitch too.
Donna Estin has several methods for prevention, as well as tips for fixing after the fact.
www.interweave.com/article/knitting/controlling-ladders-in-cables
Kat is pleased with the even chain plying in this yarn. She used a tip from Knit/Wit which involves putting the yarn through the wheel twice.
A dyeing experiment ended with fibre too felted to spin. Rather than throw it away, Carole Bournias found some ways to use it.
If you've tried intarsia knitting then this may be a familiar sight. If you've done very much of it then you'll have found your own techniques that work for you. But if you haven't reached that point, then Kay has some tips.
I've already added Kaffe Fassett's Village Scarf to this month's patterns. In this article Kay is knitting (and links to) his Kites Throw from the same book.
www.moderndailyknitting.com/intarsia-the-full-ball-fallacy-and-other-tangle-tips
Patterns that include tassels will often explain how to make a tassel, but of course you can use your favourite method. There's nothing stopping you from adding them to any other shawl of scarf to add weight to the edges or points.
This is Craft House Magic's tutorial.
crafthousemagic.blogspot.com/2020/12/how-i-make-tassels.html
When you have a new-to-you fleece, Devin suggests trying several methods of preparation and spinning to see what works best.
spinoffmagazine.com/get-to-know-your-spinning-fiber-sampling
If you've made something special for someone special then these gift tags are just the ticket for adding that finishing touch.
mirellamoments.com/handmade-with-love-free-printable-gift-tags
Inventor Logan Williams has created a biodegradeable material made of a combination of strong wool and corn starch, which could be a replacement for plastic and help the wool industry. (very few details on this page.)
www.stuff.co.nz...wool-combination-to-save-the-wool-industry
If you like Yvonne, click the image to find her page, you can use next and previous to explore more cartoons.
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As a way of offering support to Martin House, Adam Curtis Online are donating a percentage every sale of their two most popular ranges, the Best of British Wool Throw Collection and the Real Shetland Cushion range.
Please see their blog for more information about Martin House and the fundraising products.
Sukrita Mahon's review appears on Ply Magazine's site.
plymagazine.com/2020/11/book-review-dyeing-to-spin-and-knit-by-felicia-lo/
Sometimes just a picture is enough
It's not so much the yarn but the technique that intrigued me about this bag.
As Janelle says, you could make flat fabric, fold and seam it. Doubleweave makes two layers of fabric connected at the selvedge. This is tubular doubleweave; two layers connected at each selvedge to make a tube.
The strap is interesting too, a woven icord.
Araignee has been spinning on her deck after dinner with a fire. She says that it has been "the best half hour of the day".
This is a woven skirt incorporating handspun made by Melissa Ludden. It's mostly cottolin, but uses handspun singles for the warp near the hem.
This archived article gives instructions for weaving the fabric. There is no sewing pattern for the skirt, I guess a sewing pattern is difficult to provide electronically or at least print at home. but Melissa does give some tips for drawing your own. Or you can use your favourite bought pattern.
This Doctor Who-inspired scarf is one of nine handwoven projects appearing in Handwoven magazine's Reader's Gallery. The page is especially interesting because each has a 'designer statement' and many of those reflect on the life during lockdown.
This particular piece uses picked-up doubleweave; a tutorial also appears in this issue. Tanya used charts from a double-knitting pattern.
handwovenmagazine.com/readers-gallery-reflecting-on-life-during-lockdown
This is the result of an "An afternoon of play time with some handspun remnants and the Felted Pod pattern by Olivia Sherwood"
This is knits_and_bonnets' first time with brioche, plus she only started spinning seriously in September.
The fibre was from @knittyandcolor during her Halloween season. "it is giving me Halloween stained glass look" says Roberta.
materialkillaz Soft and snuggly cowl style scarf. Made from handspun British Romney wool.
The warp is dyed grey, weft in turquoise. There are occasional sparkles and flashes of red where the main weft yarn is doubled up with a few yards of a merino blend.
hackberry_farm's Honeycomb mittens are made with shetland wool and coloured scraps from stash.
Woollyelly's Christmas jumper is certainly not ugly. The white is angora, the green is self-dyed shetland tops.
(Ravelry link)
www.ravelry.com/discuss/uk-spinners/177789/34351-34375#34372
2ndvariety says that this is her first completed handspun sweater for an adult, finished in time for a Christmas gift.
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
Kelly McClure / bohoknits says that this pattern is "the perfect project for that one skein of sock yarn that you just can't bear to put on your feet"
If a matching hat / cowl set appeals to you, there's also a Sockhead Cowl (Cowl is Ravelry link, hat is displayed on Kelly's own blog.)
Thanks to Janelle for the suggestion.
This is a basic 2-needle mitten pattern. It's Dances with Wools' favourite. It works up quickly, and suits everyone from child to adult.
danceswithwool.wordpress.com...my-favorite-felted-mittens-knitting-pattern
This is a cute gift for yourself or someone else. it'll be quick to make and use only 30-40 yards per rug.
It looks like a woven rug but is knitted in seed stitch, which doesn't curl, has a drop-stitch feature and fringes.
This scarf uses a lot of yarn, but... pockets!
436 yards doesn't sound a great deal, but that's super-bulky yarn (5-6 WPI) so if you make an easier-to-spin weight and cable it or hold it double, then double the yardage.
The pattern is free in the middle of the page I'm linking to, or available to purchase as a downloadable ad-free pdf
The Cobblestone pictured here is violinjodie's Wedding Gift. It's one of many handspun examples of this popular pattern.
Beware of the Boyfriend Sweater Curse, but if that holds no fear for you, then this is a handsome pullover for a chap.
I came to this pattern via this very humorous post from thetwistedyarn. I certainly recognised many of the steps.
This is an interesting approach to providing a pattern. The primary link to the pattern takes you to a video tutorial, which may be useful if you want to see the designer talk through some of the techniques used. In the video's description is a download link for the free written pattern.
The thumbnail I've used is from the designer's Instagram. It's a yoked sweater. Scroll through the pictures on this Instagram post to see the many different looks you can achieve with your yarn / colour choices.
This pattern is made from squares, each in two colours. The pattern suggests an overall main colour and any number of contrast colours. Gauge is not so important although I guess that the yarn weight should be reasonably consistent throughout the project.
This all means that it could be ideal for using stash yarn.
There are no seams, you pick up stitches as you go. This could be a shawl or blanket.
(Ravelry link)
I was initially attracted to the Village Scarf which turns out to be one of a collection of patterns by Kaffe Fassett.
The designs are simple but effective and open up the world of simple intarsia knitting to those who have only tried stranded colourwork.
www.moderndailyknitting.com/shop/mdk-field-guide-no-16-painterly/
The skirt pictured is a recently-finished project by Quite a Yarn. It's not handspun but looks it from a distance, textured and flecked with colour. it's very interesting to see how she added pockets.
The pattern is versatile, with two gauges, 11 sizes and any length.
It requires either light worsted or heavy worsted. The yardage will of course vary considerably, possibly between 470 - 930 yards depending on the size and length.
This is a beautiful and seasonal table runner. The one shown is made from silk/mohair snowflakes surrounded by cotton/bamboo hexagons.
This is a cozy and comfortable skirt with an attractive stitch pattern.
It's written in nine sizes. The main part is made from DK / 11 WPI on 5.5mm needles, so won't be a tediously long knit.
There's still a little knitting time left and these are all small projects.
blog.tincanknits.com/2020/12/10/merry-little-christmas-ornaments
Anne Samat's work is based on traditional woven patterns but also includes various unexpected objects to make hangings "that fan outward and billow down onto the floor".
www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/11/anne-samat-follow-your-heart-wholeheartedly
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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All that remains is for me to thank everyone who blogs, writes articles or posts pictures on the subject of spinning, knitting, crochet or weaving. This newsletter wouldn't exist without them.
And, if you celebrate Christmas, to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
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Happy spinning!
Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator
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