Innehållsförteckning för Winter 2023 från Spin-Off

“Memory” is a term spinners use to describe crimpy locks of wool, stretchy skeins, and sweaters that hold their shape. Memories and musings can also attach to our tools, our movements, our many yards of handspun. When applied to fiber, “memory” always means buoyancy and elasticity; when applied to our very human remembrances, “memory” can be a mixed bag. How can a squishy skein spun during a difficult time feel so heavy? I chose the Memory theme for this Winter issue because I’m fascinated by the connection and disconnection between these two meanings of such a common term. For me, memory—either in terms of crimps per inch or years of experience—connects us to resilience. Like trees that bend so they do not break, we can learn and heal and grow…

Elsa Sturite was supposed to be on the Titanic. But she wasn’t, so I went to Colorado. You see, Elsa was my great-grandmother. She emigrated from Latvia in search of a better life and found it in Brooklyn, New York, in the early twentieth century with my great-grandfather Carl. (He was an immigrant who sweet-talked his way into the United States, but that’s a whole different story.) She brought her knitting, tatting, and sewing skills along with some tools, and she and Carl married and started their family. While Carl worked with extended family at an iron mill (and made the kitchen cabinet hardware for their first home), Elsa flourished as a seamstress in the New York City garment industry. The phrase “dab hand with a needle,” I swear, was coined…

I created these scrappy mittens for a dear friend with cold hands. Sometimes—especially during these difficult years—the best solace we can offer as knitters is cozy warmth. Our scrap yarns and precious leftovers are often quite personal, each offering memories of previous projects. Pulling scraps into one project creates a one-of-a-kind textile for those special people in our lives. These mittens can be knitted with any configuration of colors. Work them up in only two solid colors or in a combo of solids and handspun gradients, or change the MC and CC with every pattern repeat. The DK or light worsted-weight yarn can be substituted with two strands of any fingering-weight yarn held together as needed. Here’s an opportunity to use up all the little bits of leftover yarn in…

When I was in high school in the early 1970s, I took a typing class. I learned how to type on a typewriter. Because of the letter-spacing constraints of typewriters, I was taught to type two spaces after a period before starting the next sentence. I dutifully followed this rule for over 30 years. But a few years back, I was persuaded to switch this well-ingrained habit to one space after a period, not two. It has something to do with computer fonts, which seemed like a reasonable explanation to me, so I decided to make the change. It wasn’t easy. At first, my typing was slow and awkward. But I persisted. It took a few months of conscientious effort to change an old habit for a new one. Now,…

Easy stitches and a little texture go a long way in making this little cowl a cool accessory. Five rows of treble crochet stitches are nestled in between lines created by working into the back bar of half double crochet stitches to elevate a simple design that works just as well in solid colors as in lightly variegated and speckled colorways. The five buttoned tabs interlock when the cowl is closed, creating a dramatic and bold focal point and showcasing some amazing buttons! SPINNING NOTES Starting with handpainted combed top, I first needed to decide how I wanted the colors to present in the finished cowl. My goal was to have stripes that worked well with the button tabs, so I decided to use chain plying to create color runs. I…

How did Solitude Wool get started? Sue and Gretchen were both raising sheep whose wool is not as commercially appreciated as that from finewool breeds. Sue raises Karakul, and Gretchen raises Romney. They met through the Loudoun Valley Sheep Producers in Virginia. Shepherds in their area raising non-finewool sheep were having difficulty selling their raw wool, especially the shepherds who were not fiber folks. Gretchen was already selling her handspun yarn at Virginia and Washington, DC, farmers markets at that time. Sue and Gretchen discovered they were both thinking the same thing: so much interesting local wool was going to waste, and they wanted to do something with it. They made the bold decision to start buying local fleeces and using small US mills to create breed-specific yarn. This was…

Pattern Eldfell Pullover by Bridget Pupillo. Fiber Mill-processed carded roving from coated fleeces from assorted sheep breeds. Wheel Ashford Traditional with jumbo flyer. Ratio 4.5:1. Drafting method Short-backward draw. Singles direction Z-twist. Wraps per inch Finished 2-ply yarn was 12 wpi with 6 ply twists per inch. Total yardage About 2,600 yd. Yarn classification/weight Light worsted. Needles Size 10 (6 mm). Gauge That’s a long story. Finished size From a 2XL sweater to a size M felted jacket. I was raised by a family that had recently emerged from the Great Depression and World War II. One of our favorite family mottos was “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” I learned it early, as it was a matter of daily life. This is a cherished…

No one likes saggy socks. My partner’s favorite socks and gloves are made with alpaca fiber, but there’s one problem he complains about. Over time, they all lose their shape and sag. The problem is that alpaca fiber doesn’t have much memory. “Memory” is how spinners often describe a fiber’s ability to return to its original size and shape after it has been stretched. Alpaca has lovely drape and is a wonderfully warm fiber, but it doesn’t have the crimp and memory of fine and medium wools. How can we create yarns that make use of alpaca’s warmth and silkiness for socks or gloves, which need to hug the shape of a hand or foot? I use a surprisingly simple solution: alpaca blends. When blending two different fibers, they each…

STITCHING AS A FORM of mark making is quite popular. This book offers unique ideas for capturing travel memories using fabrics, yarns, and stitching. Paper travel journals capture memories and ideas, but journaling with textiles takes this to an entirely new level that I found inspiring and intriguing. Textile Travels is not a typical how-to book but is filled with many clever and interesting ideas. What do you capture during your own travels? Maps? Colors particular to an area? Symbols? Personally, I like the idea of maps. Maps can show road travel or the route taken by airplane or ship. Maybe you are visiting another country where you have family ties and want to journal your family’s migration route. There are so many possibilities! We, as spinners, can bring an…

Small Batch Hand-Dyed Polwarth Roving Thoughtfully dyed and braided by hand in Baltimore, MD, the subtle color variations from the kettle-dyeing process make each braid of this sustainably processed 100% Polwarth Wool Roving truly one-of-a-kind. Shop gifts for spinners and more at Wild Hand! Visit www.wild-hand.com/collections/hand-dyed. The Perfect Stocking Stuffer Get one for your friend and because you were nice, get one for yourself too. Receive 20% off with the discount code SOG20 at www.unicornclean.com. Ranching Tradition Fiber Explore everything a fiber artist needs at Ranching Tradition Fiber, a fifth generation rancher raising Targhee Rambouillet Wool in Southwest Montana. Find locally sourced fiber including, homegrown combed top, Tobacco Root Valley yarn, handspun yarn, and raw fleeces to finished gifts. Supporting Montana producers, mills and fiber artists for over 18 years.…

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The Rambouillet top I received from Lani’s Lana was delightfully soft, and I had two colors: a beautiful light gray and a medium gray. I knew from the start that they would be a joy to spin. For knitting with this fiber and especially for a shawl, I wanted a light and airy yarn that would wrap around the neck and shoulders and showcase the wool’s best features—its softness and loft. The combed top already draped beautifully, and I wanted to preserve this feature, which would help the finished shawl curl around the shoulders and show off the lace pattern. With an aligned preparation such as top, I usually prefer to spin using a short draw, smoothing the yarn as I spin and encouraging drape and shine. I chose this…

Like many spinners and fellow fiber lovers, I fell in love with the fabric shown on the cover of Prehistoric Textiles by Elizabeth Wayland Barber. This important book has been a touchstone for those interested in prehistoric textiles since it was published in 1991. The memorable textile shown on the cover was discovered in Austria, preserved in the Hallstatt salt mine for 3,000 years. The more I learned about this ancient fragment of woven cloth, the more interesting it became to me. The scrap of wool fabric had been found wrapped around an axe handle, so it had already been recycled when it was finally lost in the mine 3,000 years ago. The fabric was probably woven on a warp-weighted loom in olive green and chocolate brown—a Celtic plaid. Was…

When I think of the plains of central and eastern Montana, two very different pictures come to mind: the golden, rolling fields of cultivated wheat, and their wild counterpart, the more rugged landscape of the Great Northern Plains. While much of this prairie landscape is grassy, it’s also scrubbier, craggier, drier, and windier than the mountainous western part of the state where I live today. When I was growing up in Helena (central Montana), there were windy autumn and winter days when I was certain that I’d never get warm again after being outside in that wind. Eastern Montana and the Great Plains can be a harsh environment, and this landscape was one of the things considered in the early twentieth century by the folks at the US Department of…