Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2020 från Spin-Off

USA ARIZONA Grandma’s Spinning Wheel6544 E. Tanque Verde #150Tucson, AZ 85715Ph 520 290-3738spinningramma@aol.comwww.grandmasspinningwheel.com CALIFORNIA The Village Spinning & Weaving425-B Alisal RdSolvang, CA 93463Ph 888 686-1192 Toll Freevillagespinweave@mac.comwww.villagespinweave.com COLORADO Bountiful211 Green Mountain DrLivermore, CO 80536Ph 970 482-7746Toll-free 877 586-9332info@bountifulspinweave.comwww.bountifulspinweave.com Blazing Star Ranch3424 S. BroadwayEnglewood, CO 80113Ph 303 514-8780blazingstarranch@gmail.comwww.blazingstarranch.com CONNECTICUT The Wheel Thing454 Wells Hill RdLakeville, CT 06039Ph 860 435-2626jlynn4540@gmail.comwww.the-wheel-thing.com IDAHO The Sheep Shed76 N. Robinson RdNampa ID 83687sheepshed@q.comPh 2084664365 ILLINOIS The Fold3316 Millstream RdMarengo, IL60152Ph 815 568-0165thefold@mc.netwww.thefoldatmc.net INDIANA The Trading Post for Fiber Arts8833 S. 5O W.Pendleton, IN 46064Ph 765 778-3642tradingpostfiber@aol.comwww.tradingpostfiber.com KENTUCKY The Woolery859 E Main St STE 1AFrankfort, KY 40601Ph 502 352-9800info@woolery.comwww.thewoolery.com LOUISIANA Weavin’ Place79434 Deluane RdFolsom, LA 70437Ph 985 796-8048cheryl@weavinplace.comwww.weavinplace.com MAINE Halcyon Yam12 School StBath, ME 04530Ph 1-800-341-0282purchasing@halcyonyarn.comwww.halcyon.com MICHIGAN Heritage Spinning & Weaving47 E. Flint StLake Orion, Ml 48362Ph…

Salvage botany is nonexploitative collecting of organic material that will otherwise be wasted. Lichens already detached from substrate—those that blow down during winter storms, for example—are ideal for dyeing. Also suitable are urban lichens removed from cemeteries or roofs; lichens on firewood; and lichens collected at sites where human activity puts them at risk (e.g., road construction).…

Let’s lay down a small foundation of terms. Continents are spread out on the globe, ringed by water, with each tending to develop distinctive plant life. Cotton needs a temperate to tropical climate. Thus, it developed and spread across a warm band in parts of the Middle East, India, Africa, Europe, and China. To a cotton geneticist, this is known as the Old World. The theory is that cotton was dispersed from the Old World to the Western Hemisphere, the so-called New World. Scientists believe that the Old World was home to two major cotton-producing species: Gossypium arboreum, or tree cotton, and Gossypium herbaceum, a shorter, shrub-like cotton plant. It seems that there were several dispersals of Old World cottons into the New World. The New World had two predominant…

Handspun cotton can be used to create cloth with a cool, silky drape or a project that is as warm and luxurious as cashmere. There is so much to love about cotton, and with the proper preparation, spinning techniques, and treatment, cotton can be used to create an amazing range of fabrics. Spinners often shy away from using handspun cotton for knitting. They may say that it doesn’t have the loft and elasticity of wool or that it is hard to spin into a consistent yarn. As with all fibers, these challenges can be managed with practice and skill. My best advice is to experiment, spinning many different types of cotton on many spindles and wheels. Creating the best cotton yarn for knitting is a creative spinning challenge. As you…

Structure Plain weave. Equipment Rigid-heddle loom, 10" weaving width; 7½-dent reed; 1 shuttle. Fiber 85% Polwarth/15% silk combed top, 12 oz. Yarns Warp and weft yarns were created from the same handspun yarn that was dyed after spinning: 2-ply, 327 yd (warp: 200 yd; weft: 127 yd), 12 wpi, 432 ypp. Warp: Central ikat dyed with resist ties, 100 yd; two side stripes dyed solid pink, 50 yd; two undyed side stripes, 50 yd. Weft: Solid pink, 127 yd. Warp Length 72 ends 100" long (allows 7" for take-up and 21" for loom waste). Other Supplies Avocado dye (see page 52); scrap yarn; plastic shopping bag cut into strips about 1" wide to create resist ties. Setts Warp: 7½ epi (1/dent in a 7½-dent reed). Weft: 6 ppi. Dimensions Width…

History of Shifu A little-known paper cloth called shifu has captured the attention of many who know about and appreciate its understated beauty. Although very little was documented about shifu and its humble beginnings, it is thought that a paper cloth was first woven in the early 1600s at the time of Japan’s Edo period. For more than 250 years, under the ruling leadership of the Tokugawa shogunate, the country flourished as a predominantly peaceful nation, and its people were able to focus their talents on cultural enrichment. This resulted in considerable economic growth. The national isolation policy adopted during this period closed Japan’s doors to the outside world. This move toward self-sufficiency meant that the four distinct classes in Edo society (warrior, farmer, artisan, and merchant) had to be…

I do not generally recommend using distilled water for dyeing except for when sampling. My sampling practice starts with a single dyestuff, such as madder, dyeing fiber samples in both distilled water and the hard water in my studio sink. The comparison can tell you a lot about your water. If your water contains iron, the colors will be dull. Although your water may be hard, it can still be used for many types of dyes. Using an acid, such as cream of tartar, in the mordanting process may compensate for the hard water. To increase the pH value of your water, you can use calcium carbonate.…

Another little-known natural dye process is using madder to color tagua-nut (also known as corozo) buttons and beads. The nut, also called vegetable ivory, comes from a tropical tree. It is hard-wearing and used for many commercial buttons. Unfortunately, most commercial taguanut buttons are not labeled, so it is tricky to find them unless you buy from a supplier who markets them as such. Place the beads or buttons in a cheesecloth or tulle bag because the heat can crack them if they are left in the bottom of a pot. Recipe for Mordanting Tagua-Nut and Coconut-Hull Buttons & Beads This simple, three-step recipe appeared in Michele Wipplinger’s Natural Dyes for Artisans of the Americas and is shared with her permission. Bath #1: Alum 5% WOG. Hold at 170ºF for…

From the beginning, I was a wool-obsessed spinner. I learned to spin and enjoy cotton, linen, and ramie, but they didn’t fascinate me like wool. As a child, I had a habit of naming special sheep in my family’s flock after vegetables, so Broccoli and Cauliflower were as close to botanical-fiber love as I came for quite some time. And then about six years ago, I purchased a book charkha. My whole spinning life changed. I learned to think, move, and react in new ways as thousands of yards of cotton singles passed from my hand to this tiny, exquisite tool. I began to recognize the life in plant fibers that I connected with so deeply in animal fibers. My charkha is made from recycled bits of metal and repurposed…

Pattern and designer Plummy Set by Katy H. Carroll Fiber/preparation About 118 grams (4.2 ounces) of Polwarth and 60% Polwarth/40% silk gradient braids from Allons-Y! Fiber Arts, and a 80% Polwarth/20% silk gradient braid and a 100% Rambouillet tonal braid from Corgi Hill Farm Wheel system/spindle Singles spun on three Jenkins Finch Spindles, Tru, Rose, and Miss Marbles; yarn plied on a Silly Salmon Designs’ Miss Dippy Lacewood and a Bosworth Red Midi top-whorl spindle Drafting method Worsted Singles direction Z-spun Yarn 3-ply; cowl, 13 wpi, 1,312 ypp; mitts, 18 wpi, 2,414 ypp Yarn classification/weight Cowl, sportweight; mitts, fingering weight Total yardage Cowl, 162 yards; mitts, 357 yards Yardage used Cowl, 160 yards; mitts, 250 yards Needles Cowl, U.S. size 5 (3.75 mm); mitts, U.S. size 2.5 (3.0 mm) Gauge…

The reservation, consisting of 22,000 acres of land, is home to the direct descendants of, and successors in interest to, the Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, and other allied bands signatory to the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. After the treaty signing, the signatory tribes ceded millions of acres of land to the United States government in exchange for a protected reservation, medical care, education, and the continued reserved right to hunt, fish, and gather in their ancestral homelands.…

• Trouble drafting? Commercially prepared slivers can easily become compacted. Try carefully splitting them lengthwise into long strips to loosen the preparation without disorganizing the fibers.• Spin faster and more efficiently on a supported spindle by using a temporary cop. This means that several yards of singles are wound into a small cop about an inch below the spindle tip during spinning. Once you have about 3 yards or so, transfer the yarn onto your fingers by winding a figure eight, then carefully add it to the permanent cop on the spindle.• Take special care when winding singles onto a spindle cop or wheel bobbin, preventing the yarn from winding loosely in any spot. On a spindle, wrap the yarn in thin layers back and forth on the shaft. When…

Dyeing with madder represents a true “slow-fiber” process. The dyepot must be heated slowly, maintaining a temperature below 160ºF. An extended period above that temperature will yield a brown color instead of the intended reds and oranges. It can be quite disappointing. I have seen it happen in a class, where a student preparing the dyestock let it boil when extracting the color from the roots. Should you get caught with a raised temperature, turn off the burner and remove the pot. If it is much above 160ºF, I pull sample jars out of the water bath, or if using a dyepot, I set it in some cold water. Fortunately, the temperature must be elevated for a length of time for the color to spoil, and I have not taken…

There is something charming about the idea of mixing plant and animal fibers—two worlds coming together. For the last several years, wool/flax blends have been trending in the fiber world. I decided to spin and knit a shawl to explore the qualities of this compelling blend. The Schiaparelli’s Shawl pattern by Toby Roxane Barna (originally published in Knitting Traditions 2018), with its bold combination of lace and garterstitch stripes, is perfect for showcasing how the blends behave in two different knitted motifs. Fiber Wool and flax have some competing qualities that make their combination tricky. Flax has no crimp or memory, so adding it to a blend increases a yarn’s density and drape. Flax also reduces the amount of elasticity in the yarn, which is important to keep in mind…

Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy By Rebecca Burgess, with Courtney White Spinners don’t need much convincing to work with their local wool, but weaver and natural dyer Rebecca Burgess’s new book will have you looking for additional ways to engage with your area’s fiber producers. Burgess urges us to reconnect with the literal clothes on our backs. Part manifesto and part guidebook, the author calls on makers to understand the impact of commercial clothing on our environment and actively help revitalize local textile resources. Within the book’s pages handspinners will find some familiar names, such as Sally Fox, but thumb to the back, and you’ll find useful resources to help you make better purchases and get involved with your own…

My father was an anthropologist, and I grew up seeing his teaching collections. As a child with textile tendencies, I was always fascinated by the bundles of cordage and the baskets and mats made with them. We know that cordage has existed for tens of thousands of years, and the earliest archaeological evidence I could find for it in the literature I reviewed was fired clay bearing impressions of cordage from 28,000 years ago. The earliest actual remains of cordage I read about were from 17,000 years ago. Cordage has long been a vital part of human civilization, and even today we are surrounded by it: cords used as drawstrings in waistbands and backpacks, twine used to tie up bean plants in the garden, and even the cord on your…

We all start somewhere. Every summer, when my Instagram feed fills with photos of gorgeous plant-dyed yarns, I start dreaming of botanical hues in greens, yellows, browns, and pinks. Would this be the year I would be tempted to try natural dyeing instead of using powdered acid dyes? I have been very satisfied using acid dyes on my fiber and yarns; it seems safer and simpler than dyeing with plants. No hunting for the right plants, no drying and boiling for hours on end outside, and no (presumed) dangerous mordants to prepare the yarn for dyeing. I worried that I wouldn’t even find the right plants, as the only time I have a green thumb is if I forget to wear gloves when using green Jacquard dye. The thought of…

Ramie can add some very desirable characteristics to blends, such as resistance to bacteria, mildew, and insect attack. It is extremely absorbent, dyes fairly easily, increases in strength when wet, withstands high water temperatures during laundering, and can be bleached. The smooth, lustrous appearance of ramie improves with washing, and ramie keeps its shape and does not shrink. It has long been used in summer garments because it is cool, absorbs moisture well, and dries quickly. Interested in making handspun, handwoven curtains? Ramie is a great choice as it has very little stretch and good resistance to sunlight. All of these characteristics can be valuable additions to blends with other fibers. A rule I follow when blending fibers is to match fiber lengths so that no fiber in the mix…

Red dyes hold a special place in the hearts of natural dyers. There’s a magic in their ability to move along the color wheel based on water quality, mordants, and simple assistants to the dyebath. Madder—like its equally intriguing partner in the scheme of natural red dyes, cochineal bugs—has distinct reactions to both pH and water quality. Unlike the persnickety cochineal, which can have a bad reaction to hard water, madder loves it. Those of us living on rural water systems with deep hard-water wells can cash in when it comes to dyeing with madder roots. I’ve been using madder for many years, but sometimes, what I read about madder was contradicted by my own experiences. So, I created a series of experiments to get to the root of the…

ARIZONA Fiber CreekSuite 123, 1046 Willow Creek RdPrescott, AZ 86301(928) 717-1774fibercreekprescott.com Tempe Yarn & Fiber1415 E University DrTempe, AZ 85281(480) 557-9166tempeyarn.com CALIFORNIA Babetta’s Yarn & Gifts4400 San Juan Ave #20Fair Oaks, CA 95628(916) 965-6043babettasyarnandgifts.com Blazing Star Ranch3424 S BroadwayEnglewood, CA 80113(303) 514-8780blazingstarranch.com Dharma Trading Co1805 South McDowell BlvdPetaluma, CA 94954(435) 259-8404dharmatrading.com Fengari415 Main StHalf Moon Bay, CA 94019(650) 726-2550fengari.net The Altered Stitch12443 W Magnolia BlvdValley Village, CA 91607(818) 980-1234thealteredstitch.com COLORADO Lambspun of CO1101 E Lincoln AveFort Collins, CO 80524(800) 558-5262lambspun.com Piney Creek Yarn15422 E Orchard RdCentennial, CO 80016(720) 596-4462pineycreekyarn.com Serendipity Yarn & Gifts321 W Main StBuena Vista, CO 81211(719) 395-3110serendipityyarn.com Shuttles Spindles & Skeins635 S Broadway Unit EBoulder, CO 80305(303) 494-1071shuttlesspindlesandskeins.com Yarns, Threads & More1125 S Camino Del Rio #300BDurango, CO 81303(970) 259-9827yarndurango.com CONNECTICUT Madison Wool56 Wall StMadison, CT 06443(203)…