Innehållsförteckning för Fall 2022 från Spin-Off

The phrase “reinventing the wheel,” typically a rebuff, often comes to my mind. The idea is, why bother figuring out something that is settled, something now optimized and made modern? So, why do we learn to spin yarn, knit sweaters, or bake bread when efficient machines now replace these hard-won hand-skills? Why? Because I—and likely you, dear reader—find doing and making and learning to be a vital part of being alive in this world. And I think that’s why our tools can become so endearing to us. Tools are our companions as we explore. Together, we face challenges, find our flow, and wander off the beaten track. Spinning wheels, in particular, find a way into our hearts. “Reinventing the wheel” is a common adage, but I chose to think of this…

Pattern Peacock Scarf. Fiber/preparation Mulberry silk and 19-micron Merino; drumcarded batts. Wheel Electric Eel Nano. Drafting method Short-forward draw. Ply wraps per inch 22. Total yardage 5- to 15-gram batts equaling 556 yards spun. Yards per pound About 5,600 (roughly equivalent to 20/2 wool). Yarn classification/weight Fingering. Loom 16-shaft Ashford table loom. Setts 24 epi; 22–24 ppi. Finished size 67" × 63/4". I’ve been a weaver for five years and was looking to ply some extremely thin millspun yarns. I saw the Kickstarter project for the Electric Eel Nano. A friend and I went in on one together, and she taught me the fundamentals of spinning. Now, I’ve been spinning for about two years and still haven’t plied the thin yarns that started my spinning journey. The inspiration for the scarf was a…

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Using a knitting machine with handspun yarn may seem abhorrent to some purists. Nevertheless, the machine has the great advantage of speed. Knitting faster, especially those boring parts of plain stockinette, leaves more time to prepare fiber, dye, or spin. Moreover, the knitting machine is not a new textile tool. Invented by Englishman William Lee in 1589, the knitting machine is older than the sewing machine, and it is certainly older than your e-spinner! Not everyone was pleased with the mechanization of knitting, however. Legend has it that Ned Ludd and his gang of “Luddites” smashed early knitting frames at factories in early nineteenth-century England in a series of frenzied nighttime raids. Even today, the term “Luddite” is used to indicate anyone who opposes technological innovation. However, if we dig…

The goal of the One Acre Exchange project, according to organizer Tyler Jenkins, is to engage in regional economic development through “organizing local seed-to-product regenerative agriculture projects with farmers and workers along the supply chain.” Hemp is a crop that requires little to no pesticides and relatively little water, and it was historically grown in North Carolina before drug laws made growing hemp illegal. Cultivation was reintroduced under a pilot program beginning in 2016, and as of 2022, hemp can be grown with a special license from the US Department of Agriculture. One Acre Exchange has been test-growing varieties of hemp for fiber since 2017. The project started with a quarter-acre field trial of 10 organic varieties of hemp and moved to a full acre of a single variety the following…

I KNEW I NEEDED TO FIX the monster. Gray and white and knitted with recycled yarn (from @recycledyarn on Instagram), the adorable creature represented one of the very first handmade items I had gifted to my now-toddler son. Unfortunately, he could no longer play with it, as two quarter-sized holes had opened up on the main body, exposing the fluffy fill underneath. I knew I needed to fix the holes before they became bigger and bigger—but how? Although a prolific knitter, I never learned to darn, and the oddly shaped stuffed animal with no access to the “wrong side” of the work presented additional challenges. Enter Visible Creative Mending for Knitwear by Flora Collingwood-Norris. Providing thorough instruction paired with bright, beautiful photography, Collingwood-Norris takes readers step-by-step through a variety of darning…

One of the benefits of being a spinner is having the ability to create an intentional yarn for a given project—but just because a yarn is functional doesn’t mean it can’t also be captivating from both a spinning and knitting perspective. So, when I opted to spin for my ultimate comfort sock yarn, I decided that I may as well incorporate a little added elegance in the form of a visually complex tweed. These socks would be worn year-round and actively, either in my sneakers on my daily walks or while kicking around the house in my Birkenstocks. To be in rotation with my current favorite pair of socks—shorties, densely knitted from an elastic sportweight handspun—my new pair would need to be equally plush and durable. WHAT’S IN A TWEED?…

In early 2003, I lived outside of Buffalo, New York, near an auction house. On a cold, dark winter day, I went to an auction alone after reading that there were spinning wheels involved. As I cut across the empty parking lot, I slipped on black ice. One whole side of my leg, jeans, and coat were soaked, and later on, there were significant bruises from the fall. This didn’t stop me! I got up and kept going, icy leg and all. The auction had some amazing collectors’ items, but I only had eyes for the Quebec Production Wheel. Some people call these Canadian Production Wheels, but they were made in Quebec. (I don’t give my wheels human names, but Canada’s a big place, so “Quebec wheel” it is.) I…

When the Spin Off team decided to revisit Susan Bradshaw’s Handy Dandy Denim Card Cover from the Spring 1991 issue, I volunteered to make a model. I had recently acquired a new set of handcards that needed a cover. I made two covers; one follows the original design, and the other is custom sized to fit my cards. The variation also has shorter flaps and a different placement of the carrying strap. To keep true to the original denim pattern, I reclaimed some fabric from worn-out blue jeans and used a salvaged side seam as a ready-made sturdy strap. Cards come in a variety of sizes so tailor your own cover to fit. INSTRUCTIONS Stack your cards front-to-back or face-to-face as you want to store them. Measure the cards: • From…

My local spinners’ guild, the Wasatch Woolpack, has a gift exchange every Christmas. A few years ago, I went home with 2 ounces of lovely hand-dyed multicolor silk hankies. I had never spun silk before, so I was eager to experiment and learn. I played with the silk hankies and enjoyed spinning the irregular silk on my drop spindle. I decided that the singles would make a beautiful weft for a twill scarf. I chose a dark commercial wool for the warp and tabby weft to make the bright silk colors pop. The shifting colors and shining silk remind me of the mountain forests with their pine trees and bright leaves in the fall. SPINNING NOTES I began by searching the internet for everything I could find about spinning silk…

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Shopping for a new wheel can be fun, exciting, and, let’s face it, a little overwhelming—especially if you’re a first-time buyer. There are so many things to consider! Everything from price and what it includes, to the materials it’s made of, and the wheel’s aesthetics seem to muddy the waters of clear, objective decision-making. Let’s take a step back and consider the selection process with you—not the wheel—at the center of the decision. Because you are the probable energy source that will operate this device, your needs, not those of the yarn you will produce, come first. When you boil it down, all wheels have one thing in common. They are powered (somehow) to revolve around an axis, creating rotational energy (twist) that is then delivered into the attenuated fibers…

Some knitters love knitting socks, while others definitely do not. If you didn’t love your previous sock-knitting experiences, I urge you to give it another try. Socks don’t have to be tedious to knit, and excellent sock yarn doesn’t always need to be a fine fingering weight. With this in mind, I decided to spin for the ultimate sporty but hardy pair of shortie socks to wear in my sneakers and clogs. I set out to create yarn that was durable and plush but also easy on the eye. After quite a lot of sampling, I finally created my ideal sock tweed (see page 26) by using a base of springy Cheviot wool carded with my own airy mix of ingredients. I spun and plied the singles into a traditional…

Understanding how your wheel operates and what it excels at directly affects the success and the pleasure of the spinning experience. Many spinners abandon spinning particular yarns on their wheels or e-spinners due to frustration. Although you can spin almost any yarn on any wheel, it is easier and feels more comfortable to spin the range of yarns that are best suited to your wheel. Spinners are often unsure how the wheel they become familiar with compares to others. I want to describe different types of wheels by both drive systems and tensioning systems so that you have a better idea of how your wheel (or wheels) fits into the larger picture. Understanding why your wheel excels at some yarns and is challenged by others can help you be your…

I don’t know much of the history of my antique wheel. She was found by my mother-in-law at an Illinois flea market several years back. She’s not a Frank Fell wheel, but she does have screw holes on the bottom of the mother-of-all where there once was a nameplate. I was lucky that she had all her parts intact, and I spent several months refinishing her and getting her back in working condition. More often than not, flea market gems will be missing the flyer assembly. The bobbins are sometimes lost or broken, and handcrafted replacement parts can be prohibitively expensive. Many older wheels were fully handmade, and the bobbin from one antique wheel rarely fits the flyer from another wheel. There aren’t standard interchangeable parts available, so that inexpensive spinning…

O’ humble little onion Grown round beneath the ground, Staple of our pantries And of dishes the world ‘round. O’ what cheerful surprise to see Golden shades brought forth from naught, As if the sun’s own rays Come into my little dyepot! —Madeline Most of us can recall our first project—that awkward scarf, a woven swatch, or the somehow over- and underspun skein of yarn. Natural dyeing is the same, and most dyers I know can tell you where their joyful journey began. My moment of curiosity was sparked by a book I still hold dear. I had already begun shifting away from acrylic yarns toward natural fibers when I scored a copy of The Natural Knitter by Barbara Albright, on sale at a local used bookstore. My 20-year-old self…