"If you'd like to weave tapestries, give it a try!", says Rebecca Mezoff. Find or make a simple loom, spin yourself some weft and maybe even some warp, and start making those little scenes"
Rebecca has a new book out and she has an article about spinning for weaving on Handwoven's website.
Tapestry weaving seems to be the thing of the moment. It's also the moment to think Advent calendars and decorations; this month's picks includes alternatives / complements to the usual Smittens garland. Also a couple of advent calendar scarves.
Read on for this month's cunning curated collection of inspirational information and entertainment for spinners, knitters, crocheters, dyers and weavers.
This free issue for November 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.
Find out how to receive a longer ad-free* version of Hand Spinning News a couple of weeks earlier.
Photo right: Spinning flax for weaving. Cover photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
Ellie Stokeld's story is reported in the Yorkshire Post. Ellie started her flock after a disabling accident.
Her 'no slaughter' flock of pedigree Border Leicesters have won prizes and Ellie has been very successfully selling yarn from their fleece.
www.yorkshirepost.co.ukrare-breed-sheep-have-inspired-booming-yarn-enterprise
While recovering from an injury, Emani Outterbridge was unable to sell yarn in the way that she had been doing. So she came up with the innovative idea of investing in some vending machines.
www.inquirer.com/life/north-philadelphia-crafts-crochet-20201030.html
Here are a couple of notable yarny poppy memorials. The main link goes to Shrewsbury Abbey's doors covered with 200 knitted and sewn poppies, and this link goes to The Fall of Poppies for the Fallen at St Michael and All Angels, Lyndhurst
www.shropshirestar.comyarn-bombers-cover-abbeys-ancient-doors-with-poppies-in-tribute
HighlandHeffalump has outlined her experience of the competition. She has learned three new skills and taken part in various challenges
Her round-up of her yardages and achievements are in a separate post here.
If you've not taken part before, this may inspire you to consider BritSpin and similar events to come.
Tracy is keen to become better at spinning flax for weaving. She has settled on 'spinning from the fold' with the flax wrapped in a hanky so that she can spin on the go.
www.einesaite.com/blog/einesaite/2020/10/17/the-many-little-missteps
This is Joanne's The Shift cowl, made from local fleece that she cleaned, combed and dyed herself.
Click through for pictures of the dyed fibre, the yarn and more shots of the finished project.
We have seen this finished handspun project recently, but Emily has now written a blog post containing lots of pictures and details. Not only of the finished jumper but the fibre and spinning too.
In this case, Flax is the name of the pattern, not the fibre used.
There are several ways to combine four plies; regular 4-ply, 2+2 4-ply and cable ply.
They are very different in appearance and feel different in the finished fabric.
In her new KnittySpin column, Jillian Moreno has made some samples and describes them.
Not all bamboo fibers available to handspinners are processed in the same way. Regenerated and bast fibres are very different, especially in the way that they're produced.
Maggie Casey tries three different bamboos, explains how they're produced and makes notes on the yarn and fabric and how she found them to spin.
Rebecca Mezoff says, "if you'd like to weave tapestries, give it a try! Find or make a simple loom, spin yourself some weft and maybe even some warp, and start making those little scenes".
What qualities of handspun yarn make good tapestry yarn? Rebecca explains what she looks for.
handwovenmagazine.com/weaving-handspun-makes-good-tapestry-yarn
Can you get both shine and softness from long locks?
You'll see how Josefin got on in this blog post. Possibly the most interesting thing in this post is the part about 'planking' or second combing. Says Josefin, "with a roving as well prepared as this the spinning feels very light"
waltin.se/josefinwaltinspinner/combing-different-fiber-lengths
Louise of WoolWork (was KnitBritish) couldn't believe her ears when she heard someone claim that you can't buy 100% wool in Scotland.
To be fair, it is difficult for a small producer to make themselves known. Which is why lists of links like the one Louise has compiled are so important. As well as being a direct link for readers, links are also an indication to Google of the importance of the link's target.
Many of Louise's links take you to sites selling yarn, albeit breed- or even flock-specific, but some will also take you to suppliers of roving or fleece. I'd draw your attention in particular to the Woolsack site; Jane Cooper has done an amazing job of listing British suppliers of fibre, fleeces, and if this matters to you, wool from wool-only flocks.
This loom looks very much like a square pin loom or Zoom Loom. It's a potholder loom, designed for using wool loopers - these are made from a tube of knitted fabric, or apparently sold as waste by the hosiery industry.
Syne Mitchell describes the method and some ideas for varying the basic technique.
www.weavezine.com/content/potholder-loom-basics-and-beyond.html
When little needs saying except 'beautiful colour'
Knit/Wit loved this skein so much that she wanted to carry it around like her baby.
The fibre was Rambouillet from Southern Cross Fibre, chain plied.
It's early stages but I'm looking forward to seeing the finished yarn. The orange stands out against the dark moody colours. Fibre is merino in Harvest Moon colourway dyed by ThreadHead Knits Co
This yarn will also be very dark and moody in colour. It looks metallic with the bronze and verdigris-like colours in there.
From a distance this looks to be a fiery orange-red, but a closer look reveals many colours; pink, blue, yellow.
This reminds me of silver and amethyst, which is a combination I love.
Janelle obviously wasn't so keen. She kept it for years, ripped some of it up for thrums and then finally decided to spin what she could after it had compacted a little.
The resulting yarn looks really nice.It's surprising how different from the fibre it looks. Click through to see both pictures together.
Thanks to Ewespecial for sharing this short but fascinating video.
The stems of lotus flowers are a waste product but they contain fragile fibres which can be spun and woven. The painstaking process is shown here
Spin Off's Heavenly Bresser is using a vintage spinning wheel in these pictures but I think the lubricating points and advice will be similar for old and new flyer wheels.
spinoffmagazine.com/how-to-maintain-your-spinning-wheel-oil-and-lubrication
You may have heard of clasped-weft weaving but how about clasped-warp?
As with clasped-weft, the weaver chooses the point along the warp that the colour changes. This can be
either planned or freeform.
Robin Lynde says that the rigid-heddle loom lends itself beautifully to this idea.
Bast fibres are separated from the woody stems of certain plants. They have many useful properties and are available to hand spinners.
If you're curious but don't know where to start, Devin Helmen offers tips.
spinoffmagazine.com/bast-basics-get-to-know-flax-and-hemp-fibers
If you travel with your wheel, or even if you don't, you may keep a box or bag of useful parts and tools.
Lonna Alexander-Steele goes through hers. There are some obvious things and some clever ideas.
Sizing means coating your yarn with something to stiffen and keep it compact as you weave. After weaving, it washes out and the yarn can bloom.
The practice has gone out of fashion but Anne Merrow has some tips in case you're inspired to try it.
The beautiful bag here is Kate Larson's Golden Hour bag. The pattern is available in Spin-Off, Spring 2012 or Spin-Off Spin and Knit, 2017.
She wanted a smooth worsted three-ply yarn, and to keep the colours in the locks as distinct as possible. Flicking or combing the locks would achieve this best, In this article on Spin-Off's website, she discusses flicking vs combing painted locks.
Singtex coffee ground yarn is making its way into consumer products.
This jacket is made from fabric which uses plastic bottles and used coffee grounds. It claims to outperform cotton and oil-based materials in many ways.
www.fibre2fashion.com...new-3-in-1-jacket-using-coffee-yarn-tech...
If you like Yvonne, click the image to find her page, you can use next and previous to explore more cartoons.
Are you a teacher, pattern designer, dyer, equipment manufacturer or supplier?
Would you like to reach the readership of thousands of hand spinners and at the same time help to support Hand Spinning News ?
Find out more about advertising here using the link below.
If you are a supplier, please don't miss the UK Supplier List. If you're not already on it, please let me know, and if you are on it, please consider paying a modest amount for a coloured box around the listing and an additional sales message.
Sponsored story
The Coronavirus pandemic is causing havoc in all our lives at the moment but what about the charities and organisations that rely on public fundraising to maintain their care services? Martin House Children's Hospice is such a charity, with an annual running cost of around £9 million to provide their vital services to families, they need our help.
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.
Schacht have listed this brand new book in their newsletter with a short but positive review. The book is out sometime in November, maybe by the time you read this.
There are some notes and links to other reviews on Rebecca Mezoff's own website.
Majacraft's standard hand carders are 96tpi which are a little finer than Ashford's. They're curved and made from bamboo ply.
Fiberygoodness has been using them for some time, this is her review.
Sometimes just a picture is enough
Carol Irving responded to a friend's challenge and has produced a series of tapestries based on Michigan's endangered wildflowers.
On Handwoven she shows three of the pieces and discusses her background, the inspiration for these and the techniques used.
handwovenmagazine.com/a-weavers-journal-of-endangered-wildflowers/
This is a small tapestry weaving using milkweed, raw and boiled willow bark.
There are many pictures in Sarah's blog post which show the gathered milkweed, the spinning and the tapestry weaving.
Also see below Two Blue Houses which uses the same milkweed yarn.
www.afieldguidetoneedlework.com/blog/triumph-of-the-unexptected
In this very poetic blog post, Sarah describes her experiences with backstrap weaving and we see WIP and finished shots of the Two Blue Houses which uses tapestry and plain backstrap weaving.
This line-up of spindles is sporting a selection of yarns for a tapestry project.
Crafty Effie finished this test knit in August and I tucked it away safely and waited for the pattern to be released.
Jupiter Shawl by Sambaknits is now available. I have to say I prefer Effie's rendition. the one pictured with the pattern is subtle in colour. Although it alternates plain lace sections with striped garter stitch sections which helps to break up plain colour, Effie's colour choices look great. She combined a skein of her handspun yarn with commercial yarn.
The pattern is Framework Bralette by Jessie Maed Designs (Ravelry). The yarn is "turquoise mohair and @primroseyarnco "Tarot Cards" colorway combo"
says Carrie Kathryn, "the colors are drool worthy!"
Meaghan made her Find Your Fade shawl from stash which included handspun.
We saw the Water Bearer shawl as a pattern suggestion back in February. Jennie found the pattern quite challenging but loves the result.
She used her own batts, which you can see if you swipe the cardigan pictures. It has quite distinct blues and greens. It's interesting to see how these have played out / blended in the finished garment.
This handspun shawlette is also in blues and greens but graduated this time.
Debbie doesn't give the name of the pattern but she does call it a "stress-free low-key project". Her shawlette went from cast-on to blocked in just a week.
Helen Jane says that the main benefit of Winter weather is that you can dig out and wear your woollies.
For this jumper she processed a Poll Dorest fleece and hand-dyed.
seastar63 says that a fractal spin demands to be knit without delay so that you can see what the stripes do.
I believe the fibre is merino in Stone Fruit by Corgi Hill Farm.
This month's sexy spindle shot is a collection of glass-tipped spindles, being used for a long "languishing" spin.
A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.
This is not only a free pattern but also a ground-up tutorial. If you've never knitted cables before, this may be a perfect project.
I think this will be a great pattern for handspun. It uses 6.5mm needles and bulky yarn (or two strands of worsted-weight held together or even cabled). You'll need 70-120 yards of yarn (or obviously twice that if you're holding double).
There are pros and cons to using singles yarn. It's faster to spin because you're not plying. It has a character of its own and the colours remain clear. You have to be careful not to add too much twist because it can bias when knit (but not when woven). It's important to wash and set it and I'd add that thwacking or even gentle fulling can help.
Jan Gibb's pattern is provided here free to download and print for personal use.
www.ashford.co.nz/blog/the-singles-shawl-technique-and-pattern
We usually see the Smitten garland / advent calendar at this time of the year. Here's an idea which is an alternative or which could be combined.
The main link below goes straight to Sue's pattern. Here's a link to her blog post in which she discusses the project.
folksy.com/items/7589121-Mini-Christmas-Stockings-Hand-Knit-Pattern
As with the other little mitten/stocking patterns, these could be tree ornaments or strung as a garland
littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/free_knitting_patterns...knitted_mini_ch.html
This pattern adds five rows for each day of December, using different stitches, including Tunisian crochet on one day, so it may be a great way to try different stitches if you're new to crochet.
(Ravelry)
For knitters, this scarf adds a section in a different lace pattern each day. Charted with instructions in English and German.
(Ravelry)
I think I'm seeing more knitters buying handspun yarns.
That's the case here with gardenandpurrrls' Lakeaires Toque. Her yarn was from wildflowerknitts.
The pattern is designed for Super Bulky (5-6 wpi) yarn.
(Ravelry)
I'm listing these under 'free' because all 24 patterns are available separately for free, but there is a paid option which includes a written pattern, the charts for all of the mittens and a blank chart for designing your own pattern.
www.justcraftyenough.com/2015/12/mitten-garland-advent-calendar-pattern-index
Kat says that "Acorns are so much fun, but even more so with special handspun!".
Designer Hunter Hammersen calls this pattern "adorable, borderline ridiculous knitting that absolutely no one needs and that serves no practical purpose at all. Despite that, I love it."
(Ravelry link)
This is a top-down, one-size patten with adjustable foot length. I guess the size can be adjusted with needle size.
The cables are written and charted.
Suggested yarn is 350 yards of worsted weight (9 wpi) wool yarn on 5mm needles.
Until Dec 31, all proceeds are going to a charitable fund.
This is Sue's Song of Peace slouch hat in her handspun.
The pattern is designed for any worsted / aran weight yarn. It comes in 4 sizes. The brim is knit first and then stitches picked up, so it could be a headband.
(Ravelry)
Clare asks the question, "pattern before yarn or vice versa?"
In this case she bought the handspun Shetland yarn from vickevira before settling on the perfect pattern for it. The pattern is Dancing Nancies by Handmade Closet.
(Ravelry)
This is a popular pattern with handspinners; there are a number of handspun recently finished projects on Ravelry. With thanks to Smatterings for mentioning it.
It uses mosaic knitting (one colour per row) with increases to give the flare.
The main link goes to the knit version. (Ravelry) The crochet version is here.
Helen Leigh makes home-made musical instruments. In this case it's a 'crackle-box' synthesiser made from electronic components and copper embroidery thread.
Entitled 'Flower Power' (of course it is) Joana Vasconcelos has wrapped a Fender Stratocaster in floral crochet, evoking the '60s when the guitar became an icon.
www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/10/joana-vasconcelos-flower-power
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 do share a link to hand-spinning-news.com by email or on social media with anyone who may be interested. Obviously this full version is a benefit to you as a paying subscriber. An edited version of this particular issue will be mailed to free subscribers and visible at hand-spinning-news.com towards the end of the month.
It's always good to hear from readers for any reason (or no reason!)
Happy spinning!
Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator
If you're reading this newsletter on the web and would like it delivered to your email inbox for free every month, just fill in your email address in the box somewhere below. If you've reading this in your inbox and would prefer not to receive any more, just use the Mailchimp 'unsubscribe' link at the foot of the email.
A PeacockMedia publication
Hand Spinning News as a free monthly email.
Please share HSN with your friends:
Follow me on Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
