Table of contents for Summer 2020 in Spin-Off

Spring is a time of change and renewal, and as I write in mid-April, change abounds in this season of social distancing and loss. Renewal can be hard to embrace despite trees breaking bud and new lambs exploring green pastures. A year ago, my vision for this issue of Spin Off was about the unrelenting continuity that textiles offer (and have offered for a very, very long time). Through war and famine as well as times of abundance and leisure, people have made, mended, and remade textiles. In cloth of the past, however ancient or recent, we can find creativity, skill, and intention. Spring of 2020 was a time of change, but I look to summer for the reminders of what endures. Whether you sit down to spin at a…

When the handspun, handwoven shirt was discovered in the closet, damaged, my heart hit the floor. The shirt had apparently been slammed in a car door, where weather stripping sliced it like a knife. The right shirt front had two great slits that ran up from the hem, five and eight inches long. With such damage, the garment had to be stabilized and repaired before it could be handled much. What to do? Alden’s Pendleton-style shirt had been an ambitious undertaking, and the rest of the shirt was in nearly mint condition. I had to fix it. I started this repair project with nothing left except the shirt, a 35-year-old written description, and photographs. There were no fibers, no slivers, no yarns left. It was “square one” time. THE ORIGINAL…

I started spinning in the mid-1970s, a time when both equipment and fleece choices were limited. The spinning trend at that time was toward thick, coarse yarns, and I owned an Indian Valley spinning wheel with a bulky head. I can attest to having little concern about consistency and softness during those early years in my handspinning life, and most of my handspun was intended for handweaving. At the same time, just out of college, three friends and I landed on a 150-acre farm rental on the Delaware River. An ad appeared in the local classifieds from a farm across the river selling two flocks of sheep, so my roommate and I took a ride over. I walked out with the owner to the pasture, first passing the Jacobs, and…

As a spinner and a scientist, I find fiber animals endlessly thrilling. With the amazing diversity of breeds around the world and the great variety of fibers available, there is always more to learn. Over the years, my collection of fiber has been growing and includes lock samples, skeins, and swatches, as well as descriptions and pictures of sheep breeds and other fiber animals. I consider it to be a kind of gallery. For quite some time, I’ve been thinking about how to design a quick, useful, and beautiful textile project that could help make breed explorations accessible and enjoyable. One day, the idea of a handspun container made of the very fiber that it should contain popped into my mind. When I pack fiber samples for workshops, demonstrations, and…

Wet spinning is typically done by wetting the drafting fingers and using them to moisten and smooth the fibers. There are many ways to wet the fingertips of the forward hand, including dipping them in a handy bowl of water, grasping a sponge, or wetting them with saliva. I personally am quite clumsy and struggle with little bowls of water, so I (and generations of traditional spinners before me) usually wet spin with saliva. The important thing to remember when wet spinning is to keep your fiber source—and the fingers holding it—dry. If your fiber source gets wet, it makes drafting more difficult. In researching hemp fibers, I found conflicting information on the usefulness of wet spinning; this is based on the pectin content in hemp fiber. Some sources indicated…

Bundle, Steam, Print! Eco-Print & Botanicals Recipe Book Janis Thompson Roll up your sleeves, gather some plant material, and get set to explore eco-printing and dyeing. Janis Thompson, a multimedia fiber-arts instructor at the Eugene Textile Center, enthusiastically initiates newcomers into the magical world of imprinting hues found in leaves and flowers onto fabric. From basic supplies to mordants, this book offers an immersive course complete with recipes, projects, resources, and a sample worksheet to keep a record of the results. Whether you steam or submerge the layered bundles, Thompson will help you create fabrics that will amaze, delight, and even surprise the home hand-dyer. Springfield, Oregon: Janis Thompson, 2019. Spiralbound, 84 pages, $34. ISBN 9780578502380. www.fyberfiend.com/bundle-steam-print Embroidery on Knitting: Inspirational Modern Designs for Stitching onto Knitted Garments Britt-Marie Christoffersson…

This sweater was created to let handspun yarn shine. My usual approach to spinning is to look for the unique superpowers of a fleece and highlight these characteristics in the yarn I make. The next step is to design a garment that shows the yarn to its best advantage. The Selma Margau sweater has stockinette, reverse stockinette, and an easy-to-remember cable pattern to let the yarn be the star. And it helps to have a little extra sparkle from the sari silk I added to the blend. The name of the pattern is simple: Selma is the name of the crossbred sheep that gave me the fleece; Margau is the name of the shepherdess whose care and skills resulted in high-quality fleece. Selma’s and Margau’s work form the foundation of…

Prehistoric cotton fabrics from the southwestern United States are some of the most ancient and diverse textiles ever woven in the Americas. Many of these early techniques are still practiced in the Pueblo communities of Arizona and New Mexico today, while others have been lost through time. Both Pueblo oral tradition and archaeological evidence acknowledge the Mesoamerican origin of cotton and weaving technologies that were introduced into southern Arizona and New Mexico before 500 CE, becoming widely distributed throughout the Southwest by 1100 CE. COTTON AND PUEBLO LIFE As a Pueblo fiber artist of Southern Tiwa and Piro Pueblo heritage, I have long had an interest in all aspects of my culture. As Pueblo people, we are first and foremost farmers, and our ancestors cultivated droughtresistant crops developed over the…

I dissolve two packets of unflavored gelatin in ½ cup of cold water. Then I put the mixture in a large pot or bucket, add 2 cups of boiling water, stir very well, and let it cool to lukewarm. I then take each skein, put it in the sizing, and thoroughly massage the sizing in before wringing out the skein and repeating until all skeins are thoroughly saturated. I find it easier to start sizing with damp yarn, but I have heard from other weavers that they prefer dry yarn. Once the skeins are sized, they must be hung under tension to dry. Either use a yarn blocker or, iflike me you do not have one, create your own blocking setup. I suspend a dowel using two clothes hangers on…

A sontag, also known as a bosom buddy, habit shirt, or heart hugger, is a triangular shawl that comes over the shoulders, across the body, and then ties in the back and front. The term sontag is reported to come from the German opera singer Henriette Sontag, most popular slightly before and during the Civil War era. The pattern that inspired me was originally published in Godey’s Lady’s Book in January 1860. Godey’s was a popular magazine for women published in Philadelphia from 1830 to 1898. Many issues of this long-out-of-print periodical have been digitized and are available online (see Resources). SPINNING NOTES The original pattern calls for “three and a half ounces crimson double zephyr [yarn], two and a half ounces white, half an ounce black, small bone or…

USA ARIZONA Grandma’s Spinning Wheel 6544 E. Tanque Verde #150 Tucson, AZ 85715 Ph 520 290-3738 spinningramma@aol.com www.grandmasspinningwheel.com CALIFORNIA The Village Spinning & Weaving 425-B Alisal Rd Solvang, CA 93463 Ph 888 686-1192 Toll Free villagespinweave@mac.com www.villagespinweave.com COLORADO Bountiful 211 Green Mountain Dr Livermore, CO 80536 Ph 970 482-7746 Toll-free 877 586-9332 info@bountifulspinweave.com www.bountifulspinweave.com Blazing Star Ranch 3424 S. Broadway Englewood, CO 80113 Ph 303 514-8780 blazingstarranch@gmail.com www.blazingstarranch.com CONNECTICUT The Wheel Thing 454 Wells Hill Rd Lakeville, CT 06039 Ph 860 435-2626 jlynn4540@gmail.com www.the-wheel-thing.com IDAHO The Sheep Shed 76 N. Robinson Rd Nampa ID 83687 sheepshed@q.com Ph 2084664365 ILLINOIS The Fold 3316 Millstream Rd Marengo, IL60152 Ph 815 568-0165 thefold@mc.net www.thefoldatmc.net INDIANA The Trading Post for Fiber Arts 8833 S. 5O W. Pendleton, IN 46064 Ph 765 778-3642 tradingpostfiber@aol.com www.tradingpostfiber.com…

INVENTIVE DESIGNS Dreaming Robots’ Electric Eel Wheel Nano 1.0 offers an affordable way to enter the world of e-spinners. From crowdfunding to updated iterations and open-source licenses, Maurice Ribble improves his spinning devices based on handspinners’ feedback. $80–$110. Editor’s note: As of press, the Nano 1.1 became available and includes a few updates to the 1.0, $110. Dreaming Robots, www.dreamingrobots.com Interruptions happen—keep your handspun from getting tangled. Burning Impressions II Spinnazzmajig hangs from your flyer’s hook and provides a place to anchor your singles when taking a short break from spinning or plying. $3.50. Burning Impressions, www.burningimpressions.shop Try natural dyeing without the need for a dedicated dye studio. Just add water to Loop of the Loom Bengala Mud Dyes and dry your handspun yarns in the sun. The all-natural mineral…

I first learned about hemp fiber as a child, riding with my father as he drove through the fields of southern Minnesota. I noticed plants in the roadside ditches that looked like marijuana; I was scandalized. My father explained to me that hemp had been grown there decades earlier when hemp production for fiber was legal. In fact, he told me, hemp production had been encouraged during World War II to produce the raw materials needed to create rope for the navy and canvas for the army. The hemp plants I saw out the car window were the descendants of those that had escaped fields of cultivated hemp many years before. The species of cannabis that is used to produce fiber is Cannabis sativa, and it has little of the…

Weaving with handspun singles can be a daunting task, but bast fibers offer strength and security when trying handspun singles for the first time. When using projects like this to explore fiber characteristics and spinning techniques in woven cloth, I often take a more spontaneous approach with the color and design. For this project, I used a simple color palette of unbleached and bleached hemp, but allowed myself to experiment with stripe patterns as I wound the warp. I alternated colors as I liked, while winding narrow warp bouts of two inches. This allows me to play with stripe placement before I dress the loom. When I first started weaving, I always made equal stripe patterns, but a dear friend pushed me to experiment with more random, asymmetrical stripes. With…

ARIZONA Fiber Creek Suite 123, 1046 Willow Creek Rd Prescott, AZ 86301 (928) 717-1774 fibercreekprescott.com Tempe Yarn & Fiber 1415 E University Dr Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 557-9166 tempeyarn.com CALIFORNIA Babetta’s Yarn & Gifts 4400 San Juan Ave #20 Fair Oaks, CA 95628 (916) 965-6043 babettasyarnandgifts.com Blazing Star Ranch 3424 S Broadway Englewood, CA 80113 (303) 514-8780 blazingstarranch.com Dharma Trading Co 1805 South McDowell Blvd Petaluma, CA 94954 (435) 259-8404 dharmatrading.com Fengari 415 Main St Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 (650) 726-2550 fengari.net The Altered Stitch 12443 W Magnolia Blvd Valley Village, CA 91607 (818) 980-1234 thealteredstitch.com COLORADO Lambspun of CO 1101 E Lincoln Ave Fort Collins, CO 80524 (800) 558-5262 lambspun.com Piney Creek Yarn 15422 E Orchard Rd Centennial, CO 80016 (720) 596-4462 pineycreekyarn.com Serendipity Yarn & Gifts 321…