Spinning the (Gradient Yarn) Blues
It often takes extra work for a dyer to create a perfectly smooth gradient of handdyed top. Here are a few strategies for spinning gradient yarn.
Loading the latest stories…
Category
It often takes extra work for a dyer to create a perfectly smooth gradient of handdyed top. Here are a few strategies for spinning gradient yarn.
A spinning teacher taught me to tape my control sample to an index card, noting down the wheel, whorl size, takeup method, and other key details.
Over the next few years, I’ll pursue some sheep breed studies, study Felicia Lo’s dyeing lessons from Dyeing to Spin and Knit, and play around with yarn design.
It all began on January 1, 2017 with our maiden virtual group gathering: the first annual Spin Off Magazine Spinalong and Knitalong (SAL/KAL) focused on the combo spin. Now, we're making haps!
They tell me that one quick way to set a Shetlander’s teeth on edge is to talk about hap shawls. It’s why I wince at a chai tea latte with milk: in India, where “chai” means tea, it’s always tea with milk.
I love knitting shawls with my handspun yarn and decided to knit a shoulder cowl. These popular accessories are a shawl-cowl combination, or “scowl.”
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.
Inspired by an article about the Shetland hap in the upcoming Spin Off Fall 2018, I’ve been thinking about spinning for lace, Shetland shawls, and Margaret Stove.
Terri Drouin-Guerette, a former SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) scholar and Interweave Yarn Fest instructor, shares how spinning satisfies her creative side.
A couple years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. The exhibit I saw was absolutely splendid, and I was very impressed by all the textiles and textile-adjacent items on display.
In the Spring 2013 issue of Spin Off, master spinner and former spinning business owner Kaye Collins shared her advice for setting up shop.
In 2005, the owner of a damaged shawl asked Margaret Stove to restore the family heirloom as closely as possible to its original state. The Shetland-style shawl was likely more than 100 years old and had been knitted by Margret (Thomson) Cheyne (1817–19