Marling is the barber-pole effect that creates speckles when knitted. It is a way to blend colour or create a speckled effect in the finished item. It has become very popular in the knitting world - you can simply knit with two yarns held together to achieve the effect and this month MDK has a tips for changing colour while knitting. As a spinner you can achieve the effect when spinning singles or when plying and we have some examples of that.
In the wake of the climate summit, there is a wave of stories about wool as a sustainable material, new uses for wool, and sustainable fibres being used in new clothing.
At this time of the year you may be looking for fast ways to create finished items or use yarn. Two ideas that appear this month are using a hand-cranked circular sock knitting machine and using a pin loom.
Read on for this month's round-up of news, views and reviews for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers.
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Photo right: Snowmen: arms or no arms? . Cover photo: Photo by Luiza Braun on Unsplash.
In case you haven't heard this programme already, it's available for another couple of weeks from the point that I'm writing this.
Surprisingly, farming contributes significantly to climate change. In the UK, it contributes 10% of greenhouse gas emissions.
James Rebanks, aka Herdy Shepherd, asks whether he can transform his farming techniques and become economically sustainable while working more closely with nature.
These next two stories feature similar knitted tributes.
This soldier was placed anonymously and overnight at the memorial in Syston, Leicestershire.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/knitting-banksy-leaves-life-size-25414268
This post-box topper, also featuring a Tommy in khaki green was installed in Cosham, Portsmouth by the less-anonymous crocheter Nicky Stoneman. The Portsmouth News carries an interview with Nicky.
www.portsmouth.co.uk...yarn-bomber-behind-the-spectacular-remembrance-post-box-topper...
This memorial in Kemptville, Canada, is adorned with crocheted and knitted poppies. Each year more are added and in its third year, organiser Brenda Ward says that it now looks "absolutely phenomenal".
ottawa.ctvnews.ca/veterans-honoured-with-hand-made-poppy-display...
This remarkably-intact piece of fabric is the oldest evidence of woven textiles in the Iberian Peninsula.
It was found in a cave with human remains and other objects and is believed to be part of 'grave goods'.
www.theolivepress.esspains-oldest-piece-of-fabric-found-near-cordoba-dates-back-5400-years
Also in ancient fabric news, this piece of woven cloth is one of a few found at a settlement in Turkey, and dates back 8-9000 years, putting it in the stone age.
Experts have speculated about what fibres people used for their clothes, possibilities include wool and linen, but these turn out to be bast fibres. There's no evidence that they were cultivating flax, so the fibres are likely to have been from gathered plants.
Credit to Fibre Sprite for sharing this story.
phys.org/news/2021-11-unearthed-textiles-stone-age-settlement.html
Australia is seeing a trend away from fine wool to meat breeds, and so there's a call for new products and new uses for coarser wool. This short film takes a look at coarse wool being used for insulated packaging, fertiliser and carpeting. We get a good look at some shearing and the inner workings of a scouring plant.
In the Swedish Spinning Championships, all spinners receive the same fibre and follow the same rules. they have a month to spin and submit their yarn for judging.
This year the competition was in two parts and the fibres were Värmland wool and flax. Josefin didn't win this year but has detailed her thoughts and experiences with these fibres.
As a bonus link, here's a post in which Josefin gives lots of tips about buying and preparing fleece, and managing a stash.
Andrea Doig of Fruity Knitting has interviewed Kaffe Fassett, who I'm sure needs no introduction to HSN readers.
He talks about his life and talks about colour. The interview is in two parts within this video podcast.
The Bayeux Tapestry is the most famous tapestry in this selection and it's the odd one out because it's not woven but embroidered.
Emma Taggart takes a look at five historic tapestries and the stories they tell.
Spinning Shepherd takes a close look at these two very similar sheep, shows pictures of the sheep, fleece, prepared fibre and finally a gauge swatch putting the two side-by-side. The fleeces appear to be similar in colour but are quite different.
This is a beautiful book and supports a worthy cause.
The book is ethically-produced and includes patterns from leading and new Shetland knitwear designers, essays and photographs.
Here's a bonus link to Ella Gordon's thoughts about the inclusion of her Roosty Tank Top pattern.
shop.shetlandwoolweek.com/products/shetland-wool-week-annual-2021
A while ago we had a story similar to this one featuring some surprising materials; pineapple leather, seaweed fabric, sugarcane shoes etc.
This one lists new products which use materials that we spinners are more familiar with - hemp, seacell, bamboo, as well as environmentally-conscious ones such as recycled sea plastic (let's hope it's disposed of more responsibly the second time around). These products are on shelves now.
www.gearpatrol.com/outdoors/g38234722/new-outdoor-products-innovative-materials
strandedkiwi comments that weaving has given purpose and satisfaction to her love of spinning.
Her post comes with some pictures of these lovely carved spindles.
One option for quickly turning yarn into a finished item is a circular sock knitting machine. They should work fine with handspun yarn.
In this video, Clare demonstrates and discusses her machine. it's very engaging, particularly if you're curious about these devices.
John Mullarkey documents this weaving project using an inkle loom, pierced cards and handspun silk from Devin Helmen.
It's slightly slubby which adds texture, and has drape.
spinoffmagazine.com/tablet-weaving-with-handspun-silk-hankies
When little needs saying except 'beautiful colour'
These cheerful colours are just what's needed here in (in the Northern hemisphere) deep mid-winter.
The marl is strong in this finished yarn. Notice how it blends the very strong colours into something more pastel. the colours would be more concentrated with a Navajo/chain ply.
yarns.and.brews spun the yarn during Tour de Fleece 2021, from Corriedale in colours called Pleasant Glow from helloyarn.
This colour is called Murky Rainbow. The name fits but I don't think it sells the beautiful colours here.
Araignee recommends this video as "the cutest thing ever".
It took me a while to get my head around the fact that it's a music video, I saw it as brilliant stop-motion felted-wool animation by Andrea Love with accompanying music.
Is your yarn hard, scratchy, and not amazing?
In this agony-aunt column, Jacey has a possible answer.
Kathryn of Craftmehappy comments that most DIY combs use nails for tines, but she needed something more delicate for a finer, shorter fibre like alpaca.
She had already made a hackle using onion holders/slicers and used these with 3D printing to make some mini-combs.
This page contains video tutorials for the hackle and combs, as well as instructions in words and pictures.
www.craftmehappy.com/2021/12/diy-3d-printed-mini-wool-combs-spinning.html
If you haven't yet tackled a hat, Roxanne Richardson points out that "hats are simply tubes of fabric that are closed at one end".
She goes on to explain a number of options for shaping the crown of a hat, in some cases with charts.
www.interweave.com/article/knitting/hat-crown-decreases-explained
For more advanced hat-knitters, Woolly Wormhead has quite a number of tutorials on her blog. In this article she introduces the various construction methods.
www.woollywormhead.com/blog/2021/7/29/a-look-at-hat-construction-methods
As spinners, we know marling as the barber-pole effect from contrasting colours when we spin singles, or contrasting colours coming together when plying. it's not to everyone's taste, but if you want to create the effect when knitting, then hold two yarns together. Jen has some tips for changing colour.
www.moderndailyknitting.com/2021/11/17/little-lessons-changing-colors-for-marls
Yes, another article about swatching.
Leslie Ordal isn't preaching that you must make a swatch (she points out that there are no knitting police!) but she shares her top tips for making a swatch, or improving your chances if you don't want to.
Sara Lamb's article is a little light on facts and tips, but the title only claims one secret. No spoilers here.
Some may be squeamish about this idea, but the ideal material for wound dressings is a woven fabric made from a strong and elastic fibre, which allows secretions to move away from the wound, has good biocompatibility and is biodegradable.
Spider silk meets these criteria and has been created artificially in the lab, It is already used in thread form for stitching wounds.
(My tumbnail is from the Wikipedia page about Spidroin, as the image on the news page I'm linking to has a picture which doesn't seem relevant.)
www.advancedsciencenews.com/making-wound-dressings-from-spider-silk
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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Sometimes just a picture is enough
I've been looking out for a picture of these finished mitts. They're still not quite finished but spinneanne only needs to add a little bit of ribbing to the thumbs.
The pattern is Thula Mitts by Erica Heusser. Spinneanne has used Shetland wool (brown) and a blend of Finn and cashmere.
This beautiful decoration is a Dorset button. HighlandHeffalump took a lesson over Zoom.
highlandheffalump.com...a-week-of-firsts-inkle-loom-dorset-buttons-and-pockets
Hunter tackles the important and controversial question of whether snowmen should have arms or no arms, but either way this is an incredibly cute little knitted figure.
faded.frost has revealed this finished project on the same day that she completed her 100 day dress challenge.
This very fine lace shawl is Slow Foxtrot from Galina Ivanova's Dance philosophy range. The fibre was from a Gotland/BFL cross named Miss Vicki.
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
The Twisted Yarn designed this cowl for Hobbycraft but is now free to make it available. There's a link to the PDF at the bottom of the page I'm linking to.
It appears to use quite a few balls of the suggested yarn but this is a little deceptive as many different colours are used. A self-striping or graduating yarn would give a nice effect. I can't find yardage but it appears to use 100g of the suggested background yarn and I guess the same for the contrast colour(s).
thetwistedyarn.com/2021/11/27/the-leaves-have-fallen-and-the-free-cowl-pattern-is-here
This old page says that the "truly courageous will cast-on and work both socks at the same time".
If you've never knit two socks at the same time with two circular needles, then it may be time to pluck up your courage and try it, as this pattern has good instructions with pictures.
The pattern has two sizes and uses 350 - 400 yards of Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi) yarn.
With thanks to ewespecial for the suggestion.
Constance Hall used a rigid-heddle loom with pick-up sticks for these krokbragd-style stockings.
The free pdf pattern includes all instructions, including details of how to tie string heddles or use texsolv heddles to help with the picking-up. The sewing pattern is also included.
This tablet cover has an attractive cable pattern and will be a functional project or gift from a smaller quantity of yarn. It's made from aran-weight yarn on 5mm & 5.5mm needles.
www.gathered.how/knitting-and-crochet/knitting/diy-tablet-cover
After being published in The Knitter magazine under a different name, Helen has been able to publish the pattern herself with the name she originally wanted. She explains in her blog post.
The design was inspired by forests of pine trees in winter time, with frost and snow sparkling and glittering on the branches.
It calls for 465 yards of Light Fingering / 3 ply yarn, so it's quite a fine knit. The pattern has three sizes. It uses some interesting techniques; the lace tree motif is picked out with silver beads on the last 8 rounds, and the cuff is finished with a pico cast-off
Helen is offering 25% off until the end of December with the code 'winter'. All proceeds are going to charity.
theknittingexploitsofjosiekitten.blogspot.com/2021/12/winter-boughs-socks.html
quiteayarn "highly recommends" this shawl and it has now gone onto my personal (very long) queue.
It includes mosaic knitting and lace knitting. Quiteayarn has added beads to the border, which adds a little weight to the border as well as some sparkle.
At least one spinner has made one using handspun yarn; craftydebbi has used cria fleece in dark and medium colours.
(affiliate link)
These cozy slippers will be quick to knit and use a small quantity of DK-weight yarn (240 yards).
Elsewhere in this issue I've linked to a Woolly Wormhead blog post about hat constructions. Here is an example of a very interesting construction.
The pattern is written in such a way that it can easily be made in different yarn weights and hat sizes. Points are noted on the chart for adjusting width and depth.
The page I'm linking to should be visible to all and has links to the pattern on various platforms. The pattern has an interesting backstory. Note that there was a 30% discount for newsletter subscribers and patrons. that has passed now, but if you like Woolly's hats you may like to at least sign up for her newsletter for future benefits.
Sunday 16 January 2022 10am-4pm, Marriott Hotel, Old Shire Lane, Waltham Abbey
Chosen charity since 2017 is Knit for Peace. Workshops range from beginner to intermediate.
50 exhibitors, a selection of crochet, knitting, spinning and other craft workshops at a variety of levels.
11 - 13 February 2022, Farnham Maltings, Hampshire
At the core of unravel's three day in-person festival 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.
farnhammaltings.com/artists-and-makers/craft/festivals/unravel
9 - 20 March 2022, The Forum, Norwich.
A wide variety of crafts including knittings, spinning, weaving, crochet.
Demonstrations, have-a-go tables, workshops and exhibitions.
23-24 April 2022, Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells
First held in 2006 to promote the market for Welsh wool and add value to product for small wool & fibre producers in Wales, the festival celebrates the green credentials of Welsh wool and its versatility as a material for creative crafts, designer clothes, home furnishings and more.
Wonderwool Wales has grown year on year. It covers everything from the start to the end of the creative process.
A list of accommodation and camping in the surrounding area is available on the Wonderwool website.
18 - 19 June 2022 FlyDSA Arena, Broughton Lane, Sheffield S9 2DF
Accessible, inclusive, welcoming.
3 and 4 September 2022, Newbury Racecourse, Berkshire
The perfect event for all lovers of knitting, crochet, feltmaking, weaving, spinning, dyeing, and all things woolly!
17 - 18 September 2022,
To highlight and raise awareness of all the wonderful things that our British wool can be used for.
24 and 25 September 2022, Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire
Stunning exhibitions, skill demonstrations and a full programme of textile workshops create a visual feast and make Yarndale a real must-visit for yarn lovers.
6 - 9 October 2022, Alexandra Palace, London
I'm Shiela Dixon, I've beeing doing this for around ten years in order to promote and encourage the craft of spinning.
You can help to support this work with a regular contribution (pay what you like, no matter how small) and in return receive a longer ad-free* version (approx half the number of stories again) of HSN earlier in the month.
All that remains is for me to wish you a very merry Christmas if you celebrate it, a happy New Year and 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.
If you enjoy Hand Spinning News, please do share a link to hand-spinning-news.com by email or on social media with anyone who may be interested.
It's always good to hear from readers for any reason (or no reason!)
Happy spinning!
Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator
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