I don't plan themes but sometimes a number of stories connect. this month it's cotton. It has a troubling history but nevertheless is a fibre which is comfortable to wear. History, project ideas and a finished spin/knit project are included in this issue.
Tour de Fleece has almost finished as I send out the full version of this newsletter, so there are plenty of blog posts and social media posts to look back on. I'm including a few in this issue and no doubt there will be more next time.
Read on for this month's cunning curated collection of inspirational information and entertainment for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers.
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Photo right: Melvenea's handspun cotton tee. The cover photo via piqsels.
Here's a heartwarming story, and maybe an activity idea.
Senior residents at independent living community Heritage of Green Hills engaged in an epically silly summer solstice snowball fight.
Afterwards, the yarn snowballs were given faces to transform them into hedgehogs and hidden in the grounds for residents to find.
www.bctv.org...heritage-of-green-hills-celebrates-start-of-summer-with-snowball-fight
Guzzisue likes to prepare and spin raw fleece and her daily Tour de Fleece blog posts have included Jacob, Zwartbles, Cheviot and a mystery fleece. This picture from day 10 shows a number of skeins on her washing line.
The link should take you to the complete list of her TdF posts.
http://travelfibreandthread.blogspot.com/search/label/tour%20de%20fleece
Goldilox's Tour de Fleece has also involved fleece. The white is merino, the black a cria (first shearing) alpaca. Both involved preparing raw fleece.
The alpaca was full of straw. She notes that using combs for preparation removed every bit of the vegetable matter.
goldyspinner.blogspot.com/2020/07/black-and-white-tour-de-fleece.html
Karie Westermann has been finding sewing cotton "intensely therapeutic" and this has prompted her to consider the troubling history of cotton. There are some thought-provoking points within.
www.kariebookish.net/blog/material-history-making-a-cotton-shirt
Not only is this a beautiful finished tee / blouse, but Melvenea has written a journal documenting her daily progress with the project.
With thanks to Fibre Sprite Pamela for this link. Her newsletter is worth subscribing to, and in this particular issue she has included a number of links related to cotton and its history.
traditionsincloth.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/a-makers-journal-knitting-a-handspun-cotton-tee
The child of the title is Ann Kingstone's Great Great Grandfather. Only a few generations ago, he was working as a cotton spinner at the age of 8.
She reconstructs a story using census records. This is at the time of the cotton famine, a time of hardship in the textile industry following a boom. She provides a link to Wikipedia for further reading and notes that at this time, British workers expressed solidarity with American slaves.
Riihivilla has taken advantage of the hot weather in her area. This tub of madder and mordanted yarn is inside a polytunnel with no additional heat. She thinks that 5 days in these conditions will do the trick.
Jean Betts obtained these beautiful yellows using Lady's Mantle. The Wikipedia entry for the plant doesn't mention its use as a dye plant.
The green skein also had a dip in an indigo vat, which she also writes about in this post.
plannedpooling.com is an online utility which helps you to knit patterns from yarn that has repeating colours.
Quite A Yarn demonstrates.
The Japanese concept of Boro is worth looking into. The philosophy is that nothing should be wasted.
With our handspun yarn being so precious, we tend to keep the oddments. Here are Sarah Wroot's tips for getting the most from those handspun remnants, thrums and ends.
spinoffmagazine.com/boro-for-handspinners-how-to-make-the-most-of-precious-handspun-yarn
Bogmen aren't uncommon, but 250-year-old Gunnister Man is particularly interesting because his clothes are so well preserved and they include a number of knitted woollen items, including what's believed to be the earliest example of Fair Isle knitting.
I rarely link to audio or video. (Should I include more? Tell me.) But this episode of Fiber Nation is a well-written, well-presented and listenable story. It includes details of a spinning and knitting project to recreate the clothing.
Tour de Fleece is about challenging yourself.
katalinbeth's personal challenge was to learn how to use a support spindle. It's clear from this picture that she has achieved that goal.
The saying that Laura quotes at the top of this post hadn't reached me, so I'm passing it on.
However, Laura isn't sure about that and advocates fixing or accepting and she has done both in this particular project.
When little needs saying except 'beautiful colour'
April joined the 100DayProject with the goal of spinning each day. Little and often really works and it's surprising to see how much she's done so far.
This fibre is BFL with a clear repeat. The rich colourway is called Durango from Greenwood Fiberworks.
www.withwool.com/blog/2020/6/27/the100dayproject-weeks-10-and-11
threadbender's photographs never disappoint and these pastel colours look lovely on her Bosworth spindles. If the plying shot shows the same yarn, the colours appear stronger in that shot.
The fibre is an unnamed one of a kind colourway from On A Quest For Fibre.
The colours here give an iridescent 'mother of pearl' effect.
elizabethtuttleton has used "Malabrigo nube merino plied with Gutermann poly bronze thread".
Although Jillian has written about her quest to knit from a yarn holder that allows the yarn to run off easily and smoothly (and her solution is fascinating) the most interesting part of this article is the method that she has devised for winding yarn quickly and neatly onto a bobbin.
www.jillianmoreno.com/journal/2020/7/8/akerworks-bobbins-for-knitting
Here are instructions courtesy Jeannine Glaves of Spin-Off for making a cheap and cheerful orifice hook (very cheerful if you drink the wine first).
I'm not sure whether a modern plastic cork will work, a screw-top certainly won't.
In this Knittyspin column, Jillian Moreno discusses the ways that she revives fibre that has been in the stash too long.
It can become compacted or, as Jillian puts it, 'shopworn'. There are a few techniques that can transform such forgotten or left-over fibre.
You choose a hand-dyed braid for its colours but there are many ways to work those colours. You could simply spin from one end. You can split it lengthwise, equally so that your plies match, or unequally for fractal spinning.
Emonieiesha Hopkins suggests more ways to be even more intentional with your colours. You can change the order of the hues, tone down certain colours or even make new shades.
spinoffmagazine.com/how-to-deconstruct-a-hand-dyed-braid-to-add-depth
I've seen these symbols but didn't know the origins of the system.
This chart is a very handy guide, it not only includes WPI values but TPI (twists per inch) and the same for 2-ply as well as singles.
So armed with a suitable spinner's gauge you'll be able to better match the yarn type given on a pattern.
Andrea Mielke Schroer shares her five tips for successfully winding your yarn onto your spindle. There is more to the subject than you may imagine!
If this appeals to you, you may also enjoy Tom Golding's look at spindle hook alignment.
spinoffmagazine.com/winding-well-5-tips-for-building-your-spindles-cop
"Next you'll be demanding pay above and beyond this lovely grass I supply. It doesn't grow on trees you know."
If you like Yvonne, click the image to find her page, you can use next and previous to explore more cartoons.
Thank you very much if you've had a go at any of these on your computer or tablet.
I've set them up with 35 - 50 pieces- just the right number for a coffee-break challenge and you gradually reveal the cartoon.
But if you fancy more of a challenge (or less) you can customise the number of pieces before you start.
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Sometimes just a picture is enough
The yarn for this project was the result of a combo spin. This combines different braids of fibre. In this case Knit/Wit used a total of 12 oz (340g) which spun into over 1000 yards.
The pattern is Tegna by Caitlin Hunter.
Two projects have come to completion for Josefin this month. This bag has been in progress for months. Spindle-spun from carefully chosen and sorted fleece and then backstrap-woven before being sewn and assembled.
The colours in the fabric happen to reflect the colours around her in the spot where she wove it.
There are some interesting details and tips around the assembly and reinforcement.
garngrej's Jenny Flower looks perfect in hand dyed and hand spun yarn.
The pattern is Jenny Flower by Julie Knits in Paris
I don't have very much information about this vest other than what's in the tags.
The yarn is alpaca in a light grey colour.
This beautifully-decorated wheel is known as 'The Ugly Duckling'.
Sue Shaw restored and painted the wheel, which has been sold with proceeds to charity.
The whole story with photographs is in three parts on the British Fibre Art magazine's blog. I'm linking to part three, find the links at the bottom of the page for parts one and two.
says that the Casta Diva shawl doesn't require evening dress. Jeans and a tank top work just as well.
This one is made from hand spun alpaca.
The yarn used in this shawl was not only spun but dyed by sandysglassshack. She blended the fibre by drum carder for depth and tonal variation. Singles were chain-plied to retain the colour separation.
The pattern is Faraway, So Close by Carina Spencer.
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
If you're new to tapestry weaving and are looking for a practical project, then this bag may be for you.
It includes many different techniques but complete instructions are available for free, along with some videos on warping, twining and picking up.
Wild Swan is a medium to advanced difficulty pattern. It uses 656 - 766 yards of fingering (14 wpi) yarn. With a shawl, yarn weight and needle size are of course flexible.
The thumbnail and my main link will take you to pictures of flyingofftheneedles' finished shawl, which she made in her handspun yarn dyed by a friend.
The pattern is Wild Swan by Anne-Lise Maigaard and Nim Teasdale and is free.
The suggested yarn for this is a blend of cotton, rayon and hemp.
If you've been inspired to spin cotton for a project, this may be a perfect pattern.
It requires 720 - 1620 yards of Fingering (14 wpi) yarn. The main body is worked in the round.
www.interweave.com/article/knitting/summer-lovin-the-laughlin-tee
This came to my attention because Green Goat Ranch is supplying the pattern complete with handspun yarn in these four colours. I believe the one Alex is wearing in the picture is made from said handspun yarn, which is bamboo/seacell.
It's designed for mini skeins in four colours. The designer says that "any fingering weight yarn will work, when swapping yarn keep in mind the fabric you're creating".
The crochet pattern is an easy one, and comes with video tutorials.
Could this be the perfect summer sweater?
It's lightweight, using 3 and 4mm needles with 811 - 2351 yards of fingering weight (14 wpi) yarn.
It looks great with short or long sleeves. It has short-row shaping. The yoke pattern is written and charted.
When I send out the paid version of this issue, there will be two days left of a 10% discount using code KNITTRELLIS
www.knitterella.com/blogs/knitterella/new-pattern-summer-trellis
From a distance it's hard to imagine that these dresses aren't made from yarn.
designer Alexandra Sipa uses waste electrical wires.
In light of the current situation, the regular events listing here is temporarily replaced by an 'online events' listing.
Are you hosting or taking part in an online event or challenge that I'm not aware of? Let me know.
14th to 18th October 2020
Challenge, Fun, Friends, Charity.
There is no entry fee to register a team. Spinners will be invited to donate a minimum of £5 each and ALL funds raised in 2020 will be donated directly to the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution)
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 HSN earlier and receive a longer ad-free* version (approx half the number of stories again).
A final word of thanks to everyone who blogs, writes articles or posts pictures on the subject of spinning, knitting, crochet or weaving. This newsletter wouldn't exist without people writing interesting and useful things.
If you enjoy Hand Spinning News, please don't keep it to yourself. Obviously the link to the full version is a benefit for paying subscribers, but 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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