Welcome to Fantasy Island: Spinning Exotic Fibers
If there’s any better form of self-care than spinning exotic fibers, I have yet to discover it. My version of Fantasy Island holds a lot of spinning wheels.
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If there’s any better form of self-care than spinning exotic fibers, I have yet to discover it. My version of Fantasy Island holds a lot of spinning wheels.
I wanted a handspun sweater with dripping cables and subtle color transitions—that meant handpainting yarn with food coloring. Although this type of dyeing required a lot of time, it produced spectacular results.
Today I present A Tale of Two Sheepies: the story of my first adventures with raw wool.
Learn crucial dyeing lessons in this expert article that discusses best practices and how to avoid mistakes when dyeing fiber for spinning!
Years ago at a stressful period in my life, I thought a new spinning hobby could help me relax and create pretty things with wool.
Yes, weavers have access to a lot these days, but they don’t have nearly as many choices as handspinners. Handspinners who weave can create the most personal of textiles and weave that which no one else can.
For the Winter 2019 issue of Spin Off, Emily Straw and Joanna Johnson teamed up to bring us the Copper Beeches Cowl.
For me, The Intentional Spinner by Judith MacKenzie is one of those special books that is full of craft detours.
Stephanie Johnson has been using handspun yarn and a pin loom to create a piece of handwoven art that recalls her family’s journeys. Read Part 1 of her article.
Rooted in industrial-scale wool supply, descriptions of the types of wool R.H. Lindsay carries include terms that handspinners don’t find anywhere else.
Margaret Stove has taught spinners around the world how to wash and spin ultrafine wool. But outside the spinning community, she may be best known as the designer of the shawls that were New Zealand’s gifts to Prince William and Prince George.