eMags

Colorways, Spring 2012

2012-03-23T22:08:00Z

FEATURES

Colorful Traditions

Purple Nails, Purple Thread: Eric Mindling follows traditional Purpura pansa dyers

Painted Shipibo Textiles: J. Claire Odland explores labyrinthine designs in Peru's Amazon Basin

Resist!

Shape It Up: Malka Dubrawsky's contemporary take on itajime
+PDF Download: Itajime-dyed Luncheon Napkins

Guatemalan Jaspé: Deborah Chandler explains the complex techniques of a simple cloth

Woven Shibori: Catharine Ellis and the Oriole Mill bring the weaving technique to dyers

Colorful People

Life and Times in Color: Nell Znamierowski

Preserving Natural Color: Olga Reiche

Earth Tones

Bingata: John Marshall paints pigments on cloth with an Okinawan technique

Dyeing with Mushrooms, Earth's Colorful Fungi: Jessica Gates finds color beneath our feet

DEPARTMENTS

Editor's Corner

Try This: Natural Dye Workshop with Michel Garcia

Sources & Suppliers

In Closing . . .

Visit the Colorways Blog for more!

SpinKnit, Winter 2011

2011-11-01T11:00:00Z

FEATURES

The Ways of Wool
Take our challenge: see what fibers you can spin on a tahkli. Break the handcarding rules and spin great yarn. Learn how Imperial Stock Ranch keeps Columbia sheep grazing on the Oregon high desert.

Silk Past, Present, and Future
Discover an unexpected history in the Oaxacan highlands, where villagers raise, spin, and weave silk. Visit a silk factory in Wuzhen, China. Learn what's changing (and what remains) in naturally colored silk.

Working with Silk
Try your hand at three methods of working with silk: Michael Cook demonstrates a traditional Lao reeling technique, Sara Lamb explains her method for spinning silk, and Nancy Morey turns silk hankies directly into yarn.

PATTERNS FOR HANDMADE YARN

Columbia Mittens
Keep warm with cables

Flame Shawl
Spun silk glows in lace

Diamond Silk Scarf
Knit with unspun yarn

Rocky River Band
Cardwoven reeled silk

DEPARTMENTS

To the Source
Where to read, shop, and learn more

Contributors
Our talented writers and designers

Sounds of Silk
We imagine the sounds of dining with Bombyx

Visit the SpinKnit Blog for more!

Colorways, Fall 2011

2011-09-10T19:29:00Z

FEATURES

Designing with a Color Wheel
Deb Menz selects and cards colors
+ PDF download: Tetrad Scarves

Color My World
A report from ISEND 2011

Overdyeing One, Two, Three
Sara Lamb transforms textiles from unloved to lovely

The Blue World
Exploring indigo around the world

Growing Green, Growing Blue
Rowland Ricketts brings a Japanese art to the Midwest

Two Ways to Create an Indigo Vat
Dagmar Klos offers directions for natural and chemical processes
+ PDF download: Natural Fermentation Vat
+ PDF Download: Chemical Reduction Vat

Saxon Blue
Linda Ligon explores an unexpected shade of indigo

Indigo in China
Not far from high-tech Shanghai, indigo is used in traditional textiles

In the Kitchen
Cathy Bullington coaxes color from everyday edibles
+ PDF download: Dye Recipes

Lichens: Fungi + Algae = Color!
Glenna Dean shows that color grows on trees

Sermons in Stone
Linda Ligon gets dye from stone soup

DEPARTMENTS

Editor's Corner

Try This: Dye Samples

Further Exploration

Sources & Suppliers

In Closing . . . Indigo

Visit the Colorways Blog for more!

SpinKnit, Fall 2011

2011-08-15T19:24:00Z

FEATURES

Traditional Textiles
In the Pacific Northwest and Chiapas, Mexico, people produce fabric the way their ancestors did. Join participants in Judith MacKenzie's Tribal Treasures workshop as they coax fiber from cedar bark and watch Chamula's Maya shepherdesses turn fleece from their sheep into shaggy woven cloth.

Spindle Love
An old tool has a new following. Veteran spinner Sara Lamb recounts her recent but fervent conversion to spindles and shares a pattern for her Copper Cowl. A visit to Tom Forrester's Woodshaper Studio reveals the science and skill that the master craftsman uses to create elegant, quirky tools.

Glorious Sheep
Meet the Gleasons' carefully bred flock of Australian Bond and Corriedale sheep—and knit a Bond Bon-Bon Bowler adapted from Susan Z. Douglas's pattern. North Ronaldsay sheep developed the ability to subsist on a diet of seaweed, but their charms don't end there. Learn about the many uses of this rich multi-coated fleece.

Spinning to Knit
Can't wait to get your hands on some delicious yarns? For a new spin, try Jacey Boggs's tailspinning technique for lush textured yarns and knit her Tailspun Mittens with your own color combination. To get maximum mileage from handsome handspun sock yarn, knit Debbie O'Neill's Pilaster Socks.

DEPARTMENTS

Going to the Source
How to find these goodies, visit these places, and find more to explore

Contributors
Meet the team that sets the eMag spinning

. . . and Finally
Leaping Lambs, Bouncing Bonds
The Gleasons' baby Bonds say hello to summer

Visit the SpinKnit Blog for more!

Colorways, Summer 2011

2011-06-08T19:07:00Z

FEATURES

Dye from Insects
Cochineal, Crimson of Kings
+ Recipes from 2 Dye Masters

Natural Colors of Oaxaca
A Master Weaver Revives a Textile Tradition

Cotton Blossoms with Natural Colors

Michele Wipplinger
Bringing Local Color to the Global Marketplace

Kakishibu
Color Craves Sunshine
+ Shibori Scarf to Tie and Dye

Print with Plants
An Excerpt from Eco-Colour

India Inspired in the East Bay
A Verb for Keeping Warm

Fabric of Life
In Mali, Textile Traditions Bring New Beginnings

DEPARTMENTS

Welcome to Colorways

More to Discover: Further Reading

Try this: Mud Cloth

Sources & Suppliers

On the Horizon

In Closing. . .The Woad Ode

Visit the Colorways Blog for more!

SpinKnit

2010-10-21T19:20:00Z

FEATURES

Spinning and Knitting in the Andes
Visit the spinners and knitters of Chinchero and an alpaca mill in Arequipa, high in the Peruvian Andes, and learn from an American who has studied Andean knitting techniques. You'll find patterns for a Bolivianinspired coin purse, an alpaca wrap patterned after Quechua llicllas, and an adorable baby's poncho with a clever, historic cast-on.

A Visit with Pricilla Gibson-Roberts
This luminary of the spinning and knitting worlds shares her personal story, her wide-ranging explorations and discoveries, and her heartfelt hopes for the future of the crafts.

Yarn with a Mind of its Own
Kathryn Alexander has ventured into new knitting territories with energized S and Z yarns. Learn how she creates her yarns from hoof to mill, how she pushes them to their limits in her lively and colorful knitwear, and how she manages them in the dyepot. You'll find a pattern for lively socks that will be as much fun to make as to wear.

DEPARTMENTS

Fiber Focus
What are paco-vicuña, and how did they come to be in the Colorado Rockies?

A Deeper Look
Compare the double-drafting techniques of Sarah Natani of the Navajo Nation and the spinners of Chinchero, Peru.

The Scene
Fleece judging with Judith MacKenzie at the 2010 Black Sheep Gathering. Plus highlights from the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat.

Contributors
The talented throng who made this eMag possible.

Going to the Source
Places to go, patterns to see, and fiber and yarn to fuel your creativity.

. . . And Finally
The Whorl
Judith MacKenzie considers the lowly whorl.

Visit the SpinKnit Blog for more!