Table of contents for Fall 2024 in Spin-Off

For so many of us, spinning provides a meditative, creative space to slow down. We can disengage from our worries for a time, be present with each yard of handspun we spin, and then return to life a bit lighter. Despite being an ancient tool, spindles allow us to extend that practice into more of the modern spaces we move through. Airports, city parks, the train, the couch with family—spindles are sometimes more portable and less intrusive than our wheels or e-spinners. Just keeping a small spindle with a bit of fiber in my bag makes me feel prepared to take on unknown challenges as I step out of my front door. In this “Spindle & Spinner” issue, we wanted to take a wide view of the world of spindles…

How did you come to own a woolen mill? Jess: Our journey to starting the mill began with our love of crafts and natural materials. We saw a need for more of the materials we love to use; seeking out locally sourced and produced materials was a challenge, and we knew there were shepherds clamoring for mill services. The lack of infrastructure is a huge part of that puzzle, and when the opportunity to purchase our first piece of machinery came up—a century-old industrial carder lovingly named Rosie—we knew it could be the start of something big for us and our fiber community. We translated our love of natural fibers—both in craft and lifestyle—into a rapidly growing, full-service mill. Anna: So much of our experience with handcrafting actually informs our…

My favorite childhood book was a collection of Greek myths. Before I could read for myself, I would page through, letting the illustrations retell compelling stories: the quest for the Golden Fleece, Arachne’s ill-fated weaving contest, Penelope’s three years of weaving by day and unweaving by night so as to trick her unwanted suitors. My favorite goddess was Athena, patroness of the textile arts. When I was 10, I saw a picture of an Ancient Greek vase showing women preparing wool, spinning, and weaving. At about the same time, I read a description of how to use a drop spindle. My fate was sealed: I had to learn how to make yarn. This was before the advent of YouTube. Nobody I knew spun. But I had a description, an image,…

As a spinner and weaver who loves cotton, I enjoy designing checked and plaid fabrics from natural-colored cottons. My technique is simple but versatile. First, I make a striped warp from commercially spun, natural-colored, 10/2 cotton from Fox Fibre (Colorganic). For weft, I use handspun singles. I need only one shuttle because I put color changes into the yarn by spinning from a striped sliver, which is prepared and held so that the colors remain separate but parallel. Several striped slivers are available commercially, but you can make your own. To prepare a striped sliver, first choose two or more colors of prepared sliver. Determine which end drafts more easily on each of them, then align them parallel to one another. I do a little hand drafting to thin out…

Travels can take us near, and they can take us far; both, I suppose, are relative. For this traveler, no corner of the earth is too far to go and explore. Although there is an abundance of art and craft making here in the United States, sometimes by going back to the source—the birthplace of its creation—you get a better understanding of the motivation and the inspiration of the makers behind a tradition. Several years ago, I began taking fiber enthusiasts on international textile-focused tours, where we explored many facets of life and textile-making traditions. On one such tour, we attended the Scottish Yarn Festival in Perth, Scotland, which showcased fiber producers, designers, and retailers from all over the United Kingdom. As I lovingly perused some of the knitting patterns…

This messenger bag starts with pin-loom squares, all woven of the same yarn, sewn together, and then fulled. The surprising thing is how well these squares full—to the point that the individual squares are almost impossible to identify after fulling. The leatherwork is uncomplicated and requires only a leather punch, a needle, and waxed cord. MATERIALS Type of Project Pin loom. Structure Plain weave. Equipment 4" × 4" pin loom with 6" weaving needle; tapestry needle; fork or packing comb. Yarns Fishermen’s Wool (78% wool/13% acrylic/9% rayon; 465 yd/8 oz; Lion Brand), Birch Tweed, 1 skein. Other Supplies Mild detergent; primary wire, 50" 16-gauge (AWG) (plastic-covered electrician’s wire found at any building-supply store); wire cutters; 1½" × 42" leather strap; two 4" lengths of gold chain with ¾" × 1"…

3 Ways to Wind a Nøstepinne Current subscribers can find a tutorial for Heavenly Bresser’s techniques for winding tidy center-pull balls.  LT.Media/Nostepinne Sock Fiber Taste Test We put several sock blends to the test. See how they stood up.  LT.Media/Sock-Fiber 5 Ways to Remove Singles from a Spindle Spin Off subscribers, learn five methods for removing your singles from a spindle, including how to wind a plying ball, ply on the fly, and more.  LT.Media/Removing-Singles Your Complete Guide to Support Spindles Learn how to use a support spindle, plus find out what to do with your new skills. All Access subscribers will find our special skill guide on this unique tool. LT.Media/Support-Spindles Global Spindles You Should Know About We love learning about spindles and their makers around the world. Read…

Cop (noun): A cylindrical or conical mass of thread, yarn, or roving wound on a quill or tube. First known use before the twelfth century; Middle English, from Old English copp. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary If you are a spindle spinner, you probably have a favorite spindle or two. As we spin, we store our yarn in the cop. As we build our cop, we increase the total spindle weight, which will impact the way the spindle performs. Having a repertoire of cop shapes in our skill set will make us better spindle spinners and possibly make a poor-performing spindle work better. Maybe a lesser-used spindle just needs a small adjustment to become your new favorite. BUILDING A COP Tension on the yarn as it winds onto the cop is important; it must be…

Although I am a longtime (and devoted) wheel spinner, I enjoy spindle spinning, too. In recent years, I have been drawn to supported spindles, and I won’t lie—the beauty of spindles has been a factor! But keeping a lap bowl steady has been a struggle. I use a martini glass as a stemmed lap bowl, but my regular bowls just seemed to slip around and break the rhythm of the spin. After seeing a photo of a beautifully embroidered biscornu pincushion, I realized I could make a weighted pillow using that intriguing geometric shape to hold a small bowl comfortably on my lap. Biscornu is a French word, variously translated as two-horned, irregular, or quirky. Typical examples are elaborately embroidered or cross-stitched and stuffed, with a tiny decorative button at…

I have been spinning cotton on a charkha for about 40 years. When I first visited a cotton mill, it was a major revelation to me that cloth was woven with singles in both warp and weft. I never really enjoyed plying, so this gave me license to explore my singles as weft. Until about 100 years ago, industrial spinning mules wound yarn as it was spun onto bobbins that fit into fly shuttles—allowing the yarn to go directly to the loom. Today, we can follow that process with shuttles made specifically for charkha spindles.1 After a spindle is filled with handspun singles, it can sit for a day, allowing the singles to rest. It is then placed in the shuttle, ready to weave without further treatment. Using such a…

Although I spin on various types of spindles—often while watching TV or on the train—I find the most satisfying to use are the crossarm spindles that we usually refer to as Turkish. Be they top whorl, bottom whorl, Andean-style, or Russian, none of my other spindles provide the same meditative act of winding on the yarn slowly into a cop. The typical over-two-under-one method of winding around the crossarms may take longer than forming the cone-shaped cop of a top-whorl spindle, but this “slow yarn” process is relaxing and mindful, and the resulting patterns of variegated fiber are like looking through a kaleidoscope. Slow fashion, slow food—and slow yarn. … I would never have imagined the slow passion to that deliberate progress.—Thom Gunn, “Considering the Snail” Nowadays, spinning is, for…