Happy New Year. Have you made any spinning-related resolutions? Retrospectives are popular at this time of the year and at least two spinners have written their 2021 round-ups.
Roc day, or St Distaff's day seems to come around more quickly each time. This time we mark the day with an article from Kim Caulfield who discusses why, when and how you'd use this iconic tool.
I'm very happy that crochet has hit the news headlines not once but twice. Our first two stories are 'good news' woolly stories from the press (unless you're a Beijing florist).
Read on for this month's round-up of news, views and reviews for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers.
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Cover photo: Kathy deWitt / Alamy.
Crocheted wool bouquets will replace the traditional fresh flowers that are presented to award winners at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
The bouquets are made using traditional Shanghai wool-knitting techniques.
Reka Kohegyi is such a fan of David Attenborough that she's made a blanket the size of a double bed featuring his face.
Some news articles call it a woven tapestry, but this one from the BBC correctly says that she crocheted the blanket. It took five miles of yarn. She used an app to convert the pixels from a photograph into the design.
She wrote to Sir David asking for his favourite charity and was "blown away" to receive a personal reply. Her justgiving page is raising money for WWF and she'll give the blanket to one lucky donor.
Unlike the articles in the media I will not give Reka's age and unlike the news articles I *will* give a link to her justgiving page and recommend that you donate to this incredibly important charity.
St Distaff's Day or Roc Day was 7 January. Traditionally the day that women resumed their household work after the twelve days of Christmas. The distaff is less commonly used today.
Kim Caulfield discusses why, when and how you'd use this iconic tool.
hookafrog has a nice description of the Roc day shenanigans.
You may know that qiviut is a very soft and precious fibre. It has been called "the golden fleece of the arctic". Donna Druchunas visited The Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska and learned that they hand-comb the oxen once a year as they naturally shed their coats for spring.
She shared her experience in Interweave Knits Winter 2015. Interweave have now published the article to the web.
www.interweave.com...hand-combed-qiviut-a-rare-luxury-from-alaska
This type of spindle is new to me. It's a Peruvian 'captive ring' spindle, or 'chac-chac', which means rattle.
Between the fixed whorls is a loose one, which moves when the spindle is spun, making a sound.
This post has more pictures of this and more of Tracy's favourite spindles.
In her latest KnittySpin column, Jillian Moreno takes a look at a current trend in yarn, intermittent colour, and how you might reproduce the effect in handspun yarn from solid-coloured roving.
Silk was allegedly introduced to Mexico in 1523. A boom of silk production was short-lived but silk cultivation and spinning survives today.
This interesting story is told here by Eric Mindling.
There are so many interesting things in this article; spinning in the grease, spinning a lopi-style low-twist single, spinning from the lock, taking out twist by spinning the singles 'backwards'.
Any of these topics individually would be a worthwhile read.
Amanda Roberts' flock consists of Romeldale/CVM and Gotland. They're kept for their fleece and the two breeds complement each other, the former coming in many natural shades and the latter having lustre.
Jacqueline Harp interviews Amanda for Ply magazine.
plymagazine.com/2021/12/wild-hair-fiber-farm-spinning-to-save-sheep-one-smidgen-at-a-time
If you enjoyed the Kaffe Fassett interview last month then the second part is now available on the Fruity Knitting podcast. It begins around an hour into this video.
Despite what PETA would have you believe, shearing is generally done with skill and care for mutual benefit.
In a three-part series, Marie Hoff explored this age-old tradition. She first takes a look at the reasons, then a look inside the shearing shed and finally the process.
This link goes to Fibershed's introductory page which links to the three parts.
https://fibershed.org...shearing-3-part-series-for-understanding-the-shearing-process
When little needs saying except 'beautiful colour'
Besides the stunning spindles, I'm attracted by these very bright and cheery colours; just what's needed at this time of the year.
Purple and gold are both colours associated with wealth. They're contrasting colours, almost opposite on the colourwheel, which makes them eye-catching when used together.
Tanja is spinning wool/silk from screaming.colours by spindle using some kind of distaff, possibly a wrist distaff?
This article will be useful if you're new to spinning. Amy Tyler discusses the different types of lazy Kate and when you might use each.
In the second 'basics' article, Spin-Off's Carol Huebscher Rhoades takes a look at camel fibre, specifically bactrian camel.
Ilze Tomsevics suggests busting your fibre stash (and adding to your yarn stash) by blending fibres / colours without carding them together. This method helps to retain colours and avoid the mud.
Here's how.
As the title says, this is plain weave, with a patterned inlay. The pattern alternates with the plain-weave picks in a small area .
Nancy Peterson explains with pictures.
handwovenmagazine.com/patterned-inlay-on-a-plain-weave-background
With the fashion industry and its supply chain named as the planet's third largest polluter, we need sustainable and biodegradable materials.
Unsurprisingly there are no details about their process, but AlgiKnit has raised a large amount of money to commercialise their production of yarn from kelp, one of the most renewable and regenerative organisms on the planet.
www.prnewswire.com/...eco-conscious-yarns-for-global-fashion-brands...
Muturi Kimani believes that the world is turning away from synthetic fibres. He believes that the bans on materials such as polythene in certain places will become more widespread.
He saw some students experimenting with banana fibre as hair extensions and saw a business opportunity. It seems that the fibre is extracted mechanically rather than the chemical cellulose process.
www.theeastafrican.co.ke...banana-fibre-is-turned-into-hair-carpet-and-yarn...
They're all wrong. It's actually 'taters' today, which is one step above 'brass monkeys'. One day I'll write out the whole scale from 'searing' down to 'witches left tit'.
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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This is a 'twofer' for sock-knitting fans.
Quiteayarn joined two sock clubs last year and has reviewed the related books; Socks of Iceland by Helene Magnusson and Bluestockings by Kate Davies and Nicole Pohl.
Sometimes just a picture is enough
Francoise Danoy has been taking a spinner apprenticeship with Fiberygoodness.
In this update from Francoise, she says that her first few skeins didn't seem knitworthy, but as time went on, she became more intentional and spun with projects in mind.
This yarn is chain-plied. This makes a nice rounded yarn and gave Francoise the gradient that she wanted.
This cowl isn't made from a pattern but a recipe. "There is a special type of feeling that can't be beaten when working with yarn that you spun up yourself."
www.fiberygoodness.com/2021/12/daedalus-fiberygoodness-spinners-apprenticeship-update
Guzzisue has made this hat from Isle of Skye Black Cheviot. Her post also contains some colourful mitts made from hadspun stash oddments.
travelfibreandthread.blogspot.com/2021/12/i-think-this-bobbin-might-be-full.html
Joanne made this hat from fleece that she processed and dyed with indigo.
The pattern is Mehendi by Svetlana Volkova.
joanne-threadhead.blogspot.com/2021/12/year-end-wrap-up.html
This is an unusual finished project shot with balls of the yarn that went into it.
The marled handspun yarn is a 3-ply left over from another project, the grey is a worsted 2ply from Norwegian lamb
The pattern is Cottage Garden by Jennifer Donze.
There are some beautiful close-ups of the hat.
This is yellingpig's first try at overshot weaving. The black is commercial yarn, the black warp is commercial yarn, the coloured weft is her own fractal-spun yarn.
mamasteddybear has made this cardigan from raw Corriedale bought at last year's Rhinebeck. Designer Natalie has praised it as "better than my original".
If you'd like to make one, the pattern, Aneeta Cardigan, is now available. (Originally published in Knitting Magazine.)
Sarah shows how good you can look in handspun and handwoven outfit. All of this is handwoven on rigid-heddle looms using handspun yarns. Sewing patterns are her own.
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
These fingerless gloves are knitted seamlessly in the round from cuff to fingertips and will keep your hands warm and your fingertips free.
mirellamoments.com/glacier-fingerless-gloves-knitting-pattern
This pattern is a Dances with Wools recommendation.
The pattern specifies a wool roving yarn. That appears to be a bulky, very low-twist single yarn, so it might be a fun challenge to spin something similar. Tip: thwack the yarn before setting to full it slightly for strength and to help reduce the biasing.
The loosely-formed cables will make for stretch and warmth.
Download the free pattern at the link below.
www.yarnspirations.com/gb/patons-cushy-cable-hat/PAK0116-001213M.html
This blanket-like shrug appears in the current Knitty magazine. The pattern page is print-friendly (see the buttons near the bottom).
It's a big spin, requiring around 1300 yards, depending on size. But you'll need aran-weight yarn and 6mm-ish needles so the knitting should go fairly quickly.
Oversize Projects on a Pin Loom is a new book from Florencia Campos Correa. It's sponsored by Schacht and they've made this pattern available for download.
This cape uses 70 Zoom Loom squares altogether. The pattern gives the instructions for plain-weave and buchupureo stitch, as well as two different stitches for joining squares.
I'm linking to Schacht's December newsletter which also includes a pattern for a rigid-heddle woven lap-blanket.
Slip stitches form hexagons in Helen's Bee Cosy bed socks. Helen says that they'll keep your feet warm at night which aids sleep.
They're cuff-down with a heel-flap. They use DK, so will be nice and fast.
theknittingexploitsofjosiekitten.blogspot.com/2021/12/bee-cosy-bed-socks.html
Swarf is partial sweater or extended scarf. It's very quick and easy to put on, it has nothing to bunch up when you stick your arms into a coat and it then looks like a jumper.
Thanks to Kay for the recommendation, she called it "a luxurious project that flies off the needles like the down off a thistle."
There are so many examples of this project in handspun yarn that I'm surprised we haven't seen it in the pattern suggestions before.
You'll see from the pattern page that it's a versatile design, and from the project page that it looks great in solid, variegated, fractal or self-striping yarn. And being a scarf, gauge isn't critical.
Thanks to Thread Head Joanne for listing her finished Easy in her 2021 Finished Projects.
I think the tassels that Joanne has added (pictured) look great and will add weight to the ends.
This is a perfect pattern for showing off a small amount of handspun yarn as the contrast colour with commercial yarn for the main body which is what heygeorgiarae has done.
As I write this, Jennifer is offering a 20% introductory discount but I don't know when that will end.
Gudrun's designs are inspired by the knitting traditions of Shetland. Gerda uses a twisted stitch pattern and is shaped with decreases. There are some special techniques which are explained in a video.
This particular cowl was recommended by Jen but it's also available as part of a collection of five cowls. You'll find the link to the eBook if you follow the link to the individual pattern below.
This is art student Will Chatlosh with the self-portrait that he has crocheted.
His completed works include celebrities and notable figures.
uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/video-design-student-crochets-huge-073138865.html
sparklyspinster has crocheted these anatomically-correct body parts using handspun yarn, filled with a suitable material to give the correct weight for the part.
She used anatomical models and a "two steps forward, one step back" technique.
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.
Friday 10 - Sunday 12 June, 2022, John Arbon Textiles, Hacche Lane Business Park, South Molton
This legendary event returns as an in-person event in 2022. Includes mill tour and "all sorts of additional bits and bobs". More details to be announced.
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 been 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.
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Happy spinning!
Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator
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