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Learn how to choose your fiber preparation with a knitting project in mind—here are some suggestions to get you started!
Spin Off Editorial Staff4 min read
Choosing a new knitting project is always exciting—but when you’re working with your precious handspun, the options can feel overwhelming. The challenge grows when you’re experimenting with new fiber prep methods.
While there aren’t many hard rules for matching yarn to project (beyond hitting gauge), some pairings just work better than others—you wouldn’t want soft, fluffy yarn for hiking socks that fall apart on the first wear!
To help you start thinking of how to select a knitting project to pair with your fiber-prep, we’ve paired four preparation methods with ideal projects show off your handspun. Whether you’re spinning rolags, combed top, dizzed roving, or a carded batt, these curated combinations are sure to inspire. And those hiking socks? How about Barbara Kelly-Landry’s Ultimate Icelandic Hiking Socks, which combine both combed top and rolags for the best of both worlds!
—Spin Off editors
A freshly carded batt is a joy to spin. The fiber is organized into a light and lofty mass, and your resulting yarn will trap plenty of warm air to keep you nice and cozy—especially if you pair the prep with a woolen drafting style. Your airy yarn will be the perfect starting point for Martha Owen’s Crescent Shawl Recipe. Use one yarn or a combination of small samples or stash. You can even consider overdyeing the finished piece, like Martha did, to create a stunning, personalized result.
Knit Martha Owen’s Crescent Shawl Recipe and discover her approach to piece dyeing.
Martha modeling her shawl before it heads to the dyepot. Photo by David Liden
Whether you’re working from a blending board, drumcarder, or handcards, dizzed roving has all the loft and ease of spinning that a batt does, but many spinners find the resulting ribbon of fiber much easier to handle. From here, you can take your spinning anywhere, but why not try knitting the soft and lacy Horseshoe Cap? In addition to being a great way to show off your handspun, this quick project is a quick and delightful way to dip your toes into lace knitting!
Find the Horseshoe Cap pattern in the Spin Off Library, along with a gallery of other options to customize your own version.
Spin Off contributor Janet Wray spun a soft and squishy Polwarth yarn for her beautiful Horseshoe Cap. Photo by Joe Coca
There are plenty of ways to make rolags and fauxlags. Whether made on a blending board, drumcarder, or with handcards, fluffy rolags are fun to make and spin. They’re also a great way to blend color like Kim McKenna did in her version of Diana Twiss’s En Plein Air Half-Mitts. Built with a literal tube of air in the center, yarn made from rolags is know for being warm and cozy—perfect for the chill of fall and winter days that are just around the corner for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere!
Find the En Plein Air Half-Mitts pattern in the library, and read about how Kim McKenna blended her colors in the Winter 2025 issue of Spin Off.
The En Plein Air Half-Mitts are quick and satisfying to spin and knit. Photo by Matt Graves
If you want to knit socks with your handspun yarn, you want them to last. Hand-combed top, paired with a strong wool, fits the bill perfectly. Sandi Rosner’s Socks Fit for a Spinner is a pattern that lets you customize your socks to your gauge, and your recipient’s feet, and is sure to be your go-to sock recipe for years to come.
Find Sandi Rosner’s Socks Fit for a Spinner and many more sock patterns in the Library.
Sandi Rosner's Socks Fit For a Spinner pattern is a blank canvas for experimenting with color, stitches, and more. Photo by Matt Graves
Want to learn more about one of these fiber-prep methods? Every spinner has a different approach, and there’s always more to discover! That's why we put all four of these methods—and more—in the Fall 2025 Spin Off issue, coming out August 28, 2025. When you pick up this issue, you'll learn:
After you’ve had a chance to see all the exciting articles, projects, and tutorials in the upcoming Fall 2025 issue, we hope you’ll experiment and find your perfect prep/project pair.
Do you want to get right to your spinning wheel or spindle without spending all your time on preparing the fiber yourself? There’s no shame in that! Any of these projects can be made with commercial top, so you can dive straight into spinning and focus on creating a beautiful yarn.
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