Innehållsförteckning för Winter 2016 från Spin-Off

If you’re reading this, chances are that sitting down to spin is a luxury for you. We’re thrilled to have professional spinners—production spinners, teachers making samples, working artists—among our readers, but there are not many of our readers who spin to keep clothes on their backs and food on the table. (If you do, please get in touch. I’d love to know more.) Compared with other indulgent hobbies (think yachting!), spinning is pretty restrained. Still, there are cashmere and silk and handmade spinning tools . . . or even the humblest of materials combined with the greatest luxury of all: time. Sometimes it’s a challenge to feel that we deserve such bounty. Opening my bin of precious fibers and pawing through the little bags of yak, bison, and qiviut, I…

We all spin for different reasons, but most of us who love the feel of fibers in our hands can agree that we would like to spend more time doing just that—spinning. The dedicated crew behind Spinzilla, hosted by the Spinning and Weaving Group (SWG), which is a part of the TNNA (The National NeedlAarts Association), created the event to inspire us to spin more. While the goal of the competition is to see how many yards we can spin in a week, Spinzilla challenges us to try new fibers, fine-tune our spinning, meet other spinners (in person or online), and above all, spend more time honing our skills. Spinners raised over $17,700 for the Needle Arts Mentoring Program to supply spinning and weaving supplies to youth groups. More spinners…

Abby was one of the first artists to appear on video for Interweave way back in 2009. We figured it was time to have her back. Here are a few moments we captured. LearnMore Get More Spun: Spinning to Knit Large Projects video Abby Franquemont www.bit.ly/spinning-for-large -projects-video Get More Spun: Spinning for Sale video Abby Franquemont www.bit.ly/spinning-for-sale-video New Spinner's Guide to Troubleshooting video Abby Franquemont www.bit.ly/spinners-guide-to-troubleshooting-video…

Q How do I know how much twist to add when plying? Yarns that look very overplied at first can look balanced when I wash them, and I’ve heard that you don’t always even want perfectly balanced yarns. A balanced skein is one that hangs without showing any twist in the skein and without any kinks in the yarn making up the skein. Balanced yarns are not the only “good” yarns; there are many beautiful, successful, and useful unbalanced yarns. Highly unbalanced yarns—also called “energized yarns”—can produce intriguing textural effects in knitting and weaving. Balanced yarns, in contrast, knit and weave up in a smooth and consistent way. If your goal is a balanced yarn, the amount of twist you add when plying depends on the amount of twist you…

Weaving with my own handspun yarn is great fun. I call myself “a spinner who weaves.” I focus on the fiber and yarn, the twist and plies, and how I will use the resulting yarns in the textiles I make. One can weave with almost any yarn, but spinning the best yarn for a specific end product is what gives spinners the advantage over other weavers: we can spin exactly what we want and need for the project at hand. SPINNING FINE FIBERS TO WEAVE Fibers such as silk, cashmere, cotton, and yak present a few challenges because of their fine and soft character, yet they can be spun to weave the most beautiful, comfortable, warm, and wearable fabrics with very little trouble. Fine animal fibers are often down fibers,…

Spring breezes wafted through the doors to the Kelly House on the grounds of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park during the 150th anniversary observation of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to the United States’ General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Potomac. The commemoration, observed April 8–12, 2015, brought thousands of visitors and dignitaries from around the world and across the United States. But perhaps only a few hundred saw what I was doing. Inside the building that served as a residence in the village, I had set up three of my four spinning wheels. My great wheel sat on display near one window. My Jefferson-era flax wheel sat on display with flax loosely tied to the birdcage distaff.…

For a quick, sumptuous gift (or a guilt-free treat for yourself!), knit this simple and addictive cowl to beat the winter’s chill. When you save a cashmere sweater from the thrift store and transform it with dyeing and plying, you have an inexpensive, ecofriendly fiber source. SPINNING Jill dyed a horizontal gradient on two panels, raveled them, and plied the two resulting yarns together in the Z direction to create a 4-ply cabled gradient heather. The cabled yarn creates a richer, more interesting effect than the 2-ply yarns. The fun textured pattern breaks up the colors and makes the cowl more interesting. Knitting in the round and using an odd number of stitches creates a seamless fabric. KNITTING FIBER 3 oz recycled cashmere yarn, dyed in gradient heather. YARN 4-ply…

How did you become a spinner? I taught myself to knit as an adult, and I couldn’t find much yarn I liked. One day, while perusing the large magazine stand in Barnes and Noble, I found a copy of Spin. Off magazine. I had no idea there was a magazine about handspinning! There was an article about knitting unspun roving into a huge Möbius scarf. The colors of the fibers were so compelling. Do your job and your fiber/spinning hobbies ever overlap? I worked my way up the ladder from a shift production supervisor to a paper machine superintendant. I was in charge of a paper machine and the people who ran it. Early in my career, I matched color for a living, monitoring production runs of colored paper on…

Thinking back to the late 1970s, when Spin.Off began, spinning was generally regarded as a subsidiary of weaving. There wasn’t really a national spinning community; there were strong pockets of activity here and there and some extraordinary people doing fine work with no fanfare. To mention them all would be a worthy project, but I’m going to focus on one group and one remarkable woman. The locus was Straw Into Gold in Berkeley, California (later in Oakland). This vast storehouse of everything fiber was created by Susan Druding, a story unto herself. It was a gathering place, a mecca for spinners, weavers, knitters. Down in the basement was Alden Amos’s workshop, where he built splendid wheels and mentored apprentices who went on to have outsize influence in the spinning world.…

Located two hours north of Oslo, Norway, the beloved fiber shop Spinnvilt is growing the regional fiber arts scene. Particularly well known for carrying a large selection of spinning wheels and equipment, the shop is located in central Lillehammer. Owners Tove Skolseg and Eirik Bruvik, both dedicated fiber artists, have been inspiring an ever-increasing community of spinners, weavers, and knitters since opening Spinnvilt nine years ago. Eirik says, “Our community is growing. Many are young people, but also many adults who once learned to spin are coming back. They are fascinated about what the new spinning wheels, equipment, and materials can do for a better experience and the many possibilities.” In 2010, Eirik and Tove hosted their first spinning festival and invited art yarn spinner Lexi Boeger to join the…

Check your local retailer for these necessities. If you have new product information you would like to see included in Get This!, please contact us at spinoff@interweave.com. 70% alpaca and 30% fine Merino roving from the Shepherd’s Mill combines fine wool and the mill’s airy alpaca, adding a little extra body to the finished yarn. The result preserves the cloudlike feel of the fiber. The Summer Skies colorway (shown here) represents the everchanging Kansas sky. $3.50/1 oz. The Shepherd’s Mill, Inc., 839 Third St., Phillipsburg, KS 67661. (785) 543-3128; www.kansasfiber.com. The Lotion Baah from A Little Teapot Designs is a luxurious all-body balm to soothe dry, sensitive skin. Each adorable sheep-shaped bar is about 2.3 ounces and packaged in a reusable tin, making it a wonderful gift for spinners. An…

To make the most of your luxury fibers, I suggest spinning a laceweight yarn. This will give you the best bang for your buck—the most yardage per gram. To make fine yarns, nothing is better than a supported spindle. It spins superfast, providing plenty of twist, and because it is supported, you don’t have to worry about the weight of your spindle or the pull of your wheel breaking your delicate singles. Supported spindle spinning is the perfect method to spin a light and lofty laceweight. SPINDLE TYPES A supported spindle is any handspinning tool that rests in a bowl, on the ground, or in your hand while spinning. There are several types, all with their own properties and advantages. FIBER PREP When spinning supported, one hand is typically occupied…

I live just outside the small Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge in a small stone cottage that dates from the seventeenth century. The rooms are small, and because of the nature of the local geography, the garden is . . . eccentric! There is no space for a workshop. My husband and I are both spinners, each with our own collection of tools and our own stash. We teach spindle spinning, so between class spindles, selling spindles, and our personal collections, that makes for a few hundred. I am sure that the picture is perfectly clear. Did I mention the four cats? Ah . . . For a long time, when my husband was still employed and it was just me working from home, we managed by forgoing spare bedrooms,…

Spinning is both art and science. While the techniques can be learned, it is an artist’s eye that combines color and texture to produce the finished yarn. And that artist’s eye often goes beyond the yarn to the wheel itself. Few spinners have a custom-built, one-of-a-kind crafted wheel, but many personalize their wheels. Sometimes the wheel that emerges is a collaboration between spinner and artist, and at times the spinner performs the transformation. Some commercially made wheels seem to attract customizers, while others seem rarely to be altered. Hardwoods such as cherry, walnut, and oak are prized for their grain and are seldom touched, but woods such as Baltic birch plywood, as well as PVC, beg for a makeover. From steampunk to delicate floral displays, spinners embellish and personalize their…

Every spring since 2008, I have purchased wool from a small flock of mixed-breed sheep owned by Marie and Paul Glaesemann. Each spring, I purchased the fleece from a sheep named Lucy, a lovely gray fleece with wavy, long locks. But Lucy is no more, having died last year. I have spun and knitted a lot of Lucy’s wool, and I have shared Lucy’s wool in many workshops. With just a bit left of her last fleece from 2014, I wanted to make something special: a Christmas stocking. For years, Lucy’s fleece remained unchanged: medium gray, healthy long locks, making for roving that practically spun itself. Her wool made me feel like a champion spinner. I noticed a difference in her 2014 fleece: it was darker, with some wiry hairs…

A Drumcarder Tip: If you don’t use your drum daily, remove the drive band. If it sits in one position for too long, it will develop a kink. If this happens to you, simply remove the synthetic band and place it in a dishpan or bucket of hot tap water for 30 minutes. It will soften and return to its round shape. Happy carding and spinning! Dave, Kish Designs Phoenix, Arizona I have attached a picture of a wonderful piece of wire rope, unique in a design which is no longer used. It is wire rope used to pull the San Francisco cable cars prior to the rehabilitation of the system in the mid-1980s. The steel strands are twisted, and then twisted around a sisal core. (A new design was…

Free Spirit Knits: 20 Knitted Garments and Accessories Inspired by the Southwest BY ANNE PODLESAK Anne Podlesak has a following as the owner of Wooly Wonka Fibers, and knitters will recognize her work from Spin.Off and publications such as Jane Austen Knits, Sockupied, and The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits. In Free Spirit Knits, her first book, Podlesak includes twenty projects inspired by her home in northern New Mexico. This connection to the landscape is evident throughout the book, be it in a sweater yoke striped with shades of rusty orange, sunshine yellow, and sky blue; a lace pattern evoking the plant life of the high desert; or a cowl with Navajo-inspired geometric colorwork. Patterns are included for both men and women, including several unisex options. Projects range from hats and…

A handful of Spanish Merino ewes imported in the mid-1790s form the foundation of the Australian wool industry. The industry has passed its peak but remains a major economic factor to the tune of $2 billion. In its heyday, Australia controlled most of the world’s wool supply and made its fortune on the sheep’s back. On a recent trip to Australia, we spent a day at Australia’s wonderful National Wool Museum, a monument to the role of sheep and wool in this country. Today, Australia produces about 25 percent of the global wool clip; it was once closer to 85 percent. The world depended on Australia for wool. Up through World War II, during which the wool needs of the armies were so great, Australia was the global force. The…

I used to be afraid of cashmere. I believed it to be a very delicate and fragile fiber that required costly cleaning and extreme care. Today, after much experimentation, I know better. STRONG AND SOFT There are things I do to cashmere that would make the faint of heart keel over. Cashmere can take treatment that would destroy fine wool. Raw cashmere fiber can be put in a warm dryer as long as it is bonedry. Cashmere yarn can be put in very hot water without harm. Cashmere fiber and yarn can be dyed and steamed, although I would not put loose cashmere fiber in a simmering pot. Cashmere fiber can be dyed in a microwave with the guard hair intact. Judith MacKenzie prompted me to take my first steps…