Table of contents for Fall 2021 in Spin-Off

Handspinning has become like breathing to me these days. A regular practice keeps me balanced and grounded. It has helped me heal my wounds after my father’s death and reconcile with my life. The Chalo Charkho Ramiye program is about the revival of handspinning in India through a holistic approach. The Indian spinning wheel, or charkha, is generally associated with India’s independence movement and Mahatma Gandhi, but for me, it all started with a passion to revive an indigenous craft that is fast becoming almost extinct in my country. To my surprise, only after two years working with the program did I find out that my mother had learned charkha spinning in school. The occupational skills of farming, textile making, and carpentry formed the core of the Indian education system.…

As handspinners, we indulge our senses with each new yarn that we spin. We are entranced and soothed as our eyes watch the twist travel through the fiber. We fluff, stretch, and tug it into every possible yarn configuration and enjoy that therapeutic zen that comes with it. Ginning your own cotton by hand adds another layer of bliss to the spinning experience. There are two traditional ways to hand-gin small amounts of cotton that likely won’t require you to purchase any materials—just take a look around your home. The first method is the slowest, requiring only your patience and fingertips to extract the seeds, and the second method utilizes a single dowel to roll the seeds from the fiber. I have successfully used both methods for smooth and hairy…

Hog Island sheep are both charming and rare, so I’m fortunate to have a pair of ewes in my handspinner’s flock. They are a relatively small breed with white or black/gray wool, some with spots and speckles and various colors on their faces and legs. Curious and playful, Hog Island sheep are also intelligent and affectionate if you take time to get to know them. This rough-and-tumble breed fits perfectly into our small, partially wooded farm. Their lanolin-rich fleece and sturdy feet protect them from wet and humid weather here in Maryland. Like goats, Hog Island sheep prefer to eat varied plants and brush before grazing on grass. Their dense fleeces have a disorganized crimp pattern that makes a wonderful, bouncy yarn, but these fleeces also excel at trapping and…

Chalo Charkho Ramiye: A Contemporary Charkha Movement Avani Varia My first encounter with the charkha was when I learned about Gandhi and Indian independence. I was enthralled with the central role spinning and textiles took in a political and social movement. Now I am so excited to find a book that discusses both the historical importance of spinning on an Indian book charkha and a modern movement that is bringing the craft of spinning back to a more central role in India. Chalo Charkho Ramiye is a contemporary charkha movement dedicated to accomplishing this. [Read more about this movement and Avani Varia on page 10. —Editor] This book, with the same name as the movement, describes the historical and social importance of charkha spinning and provides an overview of how…

Working intentionally with color in your handspun projects can be like enjoying a layer cake. Spinning your favorite color is satisfying, but you can invite other colors into the experience, adding depth and complexity to your work. No color is an island unto itself, but it can take some practice to develop the skill of seeing the color interactions that surround us. Using more than one color leads you down the path of perceiving how colors appear when placed next to each other. Seeing the ways in which colors interact—really seeing them—is as important a tool as key color concepts, such as hue, value, and saturation, and familiarity with a basic 12-hue color wheel. Josef Albers, considered one of the most influential teachers of visual art in the twentieth century,…

I love pin looms. They are such accessible and useful tools. I find mine light and fun to use, and it’s a great way to quell the need for an instant-gratification project. A square counts as a finished object, surely. Each one is unique; each one is interesting in texture and color. Each square is a miniature documentation of choices that I get to make as a spinner—fiber type, fiber management, drafting technique, and so on. If you’ve been tempted to dip your toes into the world of weaving but aren’t ready to invest in something larger or more expensive, I recommend pin looms as a great addition to your spinner’s toolbox. Not only are pin looms portable and convenient, but working with smaller looms gives us options for sampling…

I see woodworking interconnect with the continuum of fiber arts because it enables me to intentionally create a tool that complements how I wish to work with fiber. Starting with exploring the fiber—texture, staple length, color, and so on—I reflect on what type of wood and spindle design would enhance the spinning experience. How will the relationship between densities of wood used for the whorl and spindle influence twist? Will I carve shapes in the spindle to be decorative, functional, or both? Are there grains in some types of wood that would pair with the fiber, enhancing the spinning experience? I also enjoy creating spindles inspired by the sourcing of materials. For example, my father-in-law has generously gifted me some walnut from a tree that my husband used to climb…

On a June 2019 visit to the Xanthi Folk and Historical Museum in northeastern Greece, I was excited to find ethnographic exhibits showing the everyday life of the Sarakatsani, Greek transhumant shepherds who moved their sheep and goats between fixed winter and summer pastures. As a knitter, I was particularly captivated by the museum exhibits that featured mannequins garbed in the intricately detailed socks and leggings characteristic of Sarakatsani women’s costumes. I vowed to learn more about the Sarakatsani upon my return to the United States—research that resulted in the article “Sarakatsani Women and Their Costumes” and related projects “Xanthi Socks and Leggings” that appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of Spin Off’s sister publication PieceWork magazine. As I studied the Sarakatsani, I realized that I had first learned about…

Ewe-Nited States of Fiber takes advantage of the hands-on nature of creating rolags to offer a riot of colors and fun fiber combinations. I Want Candy rolags combine Corriedale, Merino, bamboo, and pearl fiber. Pearl fiber is cellulose fiber infused with pearl powder, which adds absorbency, subtle sparkle, and natural UV protection. ewe-nitedstatesoffiber.com Take control of your yarn with Koigu’s Knitting Pig. Attach the “pig” to any bowl or box, and the easy-flow stainless steel yarn guide will keep your yarn headed in the right direction. The nylon clamping screw is gentle on delicate surfaces. Made from dark or light hardwood by craftsmen in Canada. shop.koigustudio.com Sincere Sheep was founded on principles from the slow-food movement, applying the idea of traditional and regionally sourced ingredients to textiles. The Terroir Fiber…

There are multiple ways we can develop our color perception and hone our ability to see color. We can read books by and about color theorists, but hands-on learning is vital. As a handspinner, I’ve found many opportunities to put color theory into practice. Here are a few “tools” for your own color journey. 1. Find Color Mentors Authors and artists such as Josef Albers and Rita Buchanan provided the foundation for my color knowledge. There are many resources and mentors you can connect with through books, videos, workshops, and more. See Resources for more suggestions. 2. Take an Art Class Prior to spinning yarn, I was an intense knitter, and a guild member recommended an art class titled “Color Dynamics” that applied exercises from Albers’s book Interaction of Color.…

Storing thread and yarn is an essential part of the spinning process, and many spinners I know wind their singles onto plastic weaving bobbins for storage. In addition to these plastic bobbins, I use homemade bobbins that are simple and easy to make from natural materials—no lathe required. Some trees and shrubs provide a “prepared” core; they have pith inside. Once you know what tree and woody plant species work, start looking in your garden or neighborhood. If you don’t have a garden, ask a landscaper working in a park or on school grounds. Often, they are happy to give you some twigs and might even be interested in what you’re up to. I’ve worked with many woods, but one has particularly desired qualities for our purpose: the elder, also…

A lazy kate is a device that spinners use for the process of plying. These clever tools have shafts that are similar in diameter to a shaft on a spinning wheel flyer and hold bobbins loaded with fibers ready for plying, usually handspun singles. The bobbins held by the lazy kate are unloaded as the newly plied yarn is spun onto an empty bobbin on the wheel. This is a simple idea, but there are several types of lazy kates—also sometimes called spool knaves or bobbin caddies—and choosing the right one can greatly improve your plying experience. Most lazy kates will hold two to four bobbins at a time, allowing you to make two-ply, three-ply, and four-ply yarns. If you want to make yarns with more than four plies, you…