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We invited Lory Widmer Hess of Chestnut Ridge, New York, to share her insights as she learned to spin on her second attempt. Lory is the Managing Editor for the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America . Realizing the potential of spinning Lory Widmer Hess My first attempt to learn to spin...
Posted to
Guest Blog
by
Amy Clarke Moore
on
Feb 27, 2013
Filed under:
Filed under: How To Spin, Wool Processing, Natural Fiber, Handspun, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Dyeing, Carding and Combing, Natural Dyes, Dyeing Yarn
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Start with the right tools, it makes a big difference Maggie Casey showing Eunny Jang how best to insert twist in Start Spinning: The Video. It is starting to feel like I've always been able to spin. What a wonderful feeling! When I sit down at my wheel my default yarn comes naturally. And, well...
Posted to
Liz's Blog
by
Liz Good
on
Dec 5, 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: Spin-Off Magazine, Handspun, Plying, How To Spin, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Wool Processing, How-To, Types of Yarn, Your Yarn, Spinning, Processing Fiber
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Donna Towell helping 4-H members learn to spin. Wisconsin Spindle and Dyepot Guild. Spinning demonstrations at the county fair. Wisconsin Spindle and Dyepot Guild. Learning to spin llama. Wisconsin Spindle and Dyepot Guild. What was your first handspinning experience? Many people are inspired to learn...
Posted to
Spinner's Connection
by
Kate Larson
on
Jun 29, 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: Dyeing, Natural Dyes, Processing Fiber, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Handspun, How To Spin, Drum Carder, Spin-Off Magazine, SOAR, Types of Yarn, Carding and Combing, Spinning, Dyeing Yarn
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When I was little, I remember sitting on the couch listening to the whirl of the wheel as my mom spun. She let me try my hand at the wheel and patiently helped me keep my drop spindle going. The spinning bug didn't really bite though until many years later when I came to work at Interweave. Again...
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Working toward our common goal How often do you spin in public? I find myself doing it more and more as I have spinning that I want to do, but fewer blocks of time in which to do it. I've been hauling my spinning wheel to the local coffee shop when I meet up with my knitting group because I've...
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A trip down memory lane I just received a copy of the Spin-Off 2000 Collection CD, and seeing it brought back a flood of memories—it is the year I transitioned from assistant editor to guest editor, to editor, represented in the Spring, Summer, and Fall issues. It was all so new to me—every...
Posted to
Amy's Blog
by
Amy Clarke Moore
on
Jan 18, 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: Handspun, Rare Wools, Spinning Cotton, Spindle Spinning, Spinning Wheels, Drop Spindle, How To Spin, Spin-Off Magazine, Spinning Silk, Spinning, Alpaca Wool
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The fabric of our lives Most spinners learn how to spin with wool—it is easy to learn with and is widely available as a spinning fiber. Sometimes not knowing that something is challenging can be a good thing. For instance, I learned how to spin by spinning cotton. I was a college student studying...
Posted to
Amy's Blog
by
Amy Clarke Moore
on
Dec 29, 2011
Filed under:
Filed under: Natural Fiber, Handspun, Spinning Cotton, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, How To Spin, Spinning Wool, Merino Wool, Handwoven, Spinning Fiber, Wool Processing, Types of Yarn, Spinning
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Liz demonstrates spinning unsuccessfully at the Estes Park Wool Market in 2004. Ed Franquemont skillfully demonstrates Andean spinning in his 1983 article. Sarah Natani deftly demonstrates Navajo spinning in Donna Muller's 1995 article. On the shoulders of giants When I learned to spin it was, as...
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What were your thoughts and feelings when that first spinning wheel came into your life? Did you sit down for a trial spin on it at a fiber festival where it followed you home? Did its silhouette catch your eyes at a garage sale and become your one and only purchase of the day? Was it a brand-spanking...
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I have quickly become addicted to spinning. On cool evenings, you can find me excitedly watching the magic of twist convert fluffy fiber into sturdy yarn. I am still fascinated with the transformation. But spinning has been a home-based-only hobby. My spinning wheel is not portable. It doesn't fit...
Posted to
Guest Blog
by
Toni Rexroat
on
Aug 24, 2011
Filed under:
Filed under: How To Spin, Spinning Wheels, Plying, Drum Carder, Handspun, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, How-To, Carding and Combing, Spinning, Processing Fiber
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Amy behind the scenes at the video shoot. Maggie Casey on the set spinning effortlessly. Liz sitting in to test out the framing of the shot. Is Maggie Casey the Wind Beneath Your Wings? My brother, in addition to his day job (well, night job) of delivering milk and being an artist, has also been working...
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I love cotton In the small Costa Rican village where I learned to spin, cotton was grown on trees, spun on handspindles, and woven on backstrap looms to make skirts and bags. Stephenie Gaustad introducing you to a wealth of information on how to spin cotton in her video, Spinning Cotton. When I first...
Posted to
Amy's Blog
by
Amy Clarke Moore
on
Mar 23, 2011
Filed under:
Filed under: Natural Fiber, Handspun, Spinning Cotton, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, How To Spin, Spin-Off Magazine, Processing Cotton, Spinning, Processing Fiber
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What does creativity mean to you? For some these are tools of torture: coloring pencils and paper. Amy's daughter Hannah making collages at the dining room table. Handspun cotton yarn and weaving tools. Petra didn't like photos of herself—but Alice, whom Petra was teaching how to weave...
Posted to
Amy's Blog
by
Amy Clarke Moore
on
Sep 22, 2010
Filed under:
Filed under: SOAR, Natural Dyes, Dyeing, Handspun, Spindle Spinning, Spinning Wheels, Drop Spindle, Plying, How To Spin, Spinning, Dyeing Yarn
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Meet a Natural Spinner DeAnna Dailey came to spinning in a very normal way (through the accumulation of hair from a pet)—though the direction she's taken her spinning is not very common (spinning is part of her daily life as a nature skills teacher). We've asked her some questions about...
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For years, you've had a secret, inexplicable yearning to make yarn—a subconscious desire that you've resisted, rationalized away, and pushed to the back of your mind. Things have happened, though, that make this resisting harder. Perhaps a good knitting friend has confessed a desire to...
Posted to
Amy's Blog
by
Amy Clarke Moore
on
Sep 16, 2009
Filed under:
Filed under: Natural Fiber, SOAR, Handspun, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Plying, How To Spin, Spin-Off Magazine, Handwoven, Your Yarn, Types of Yarn, Spinning, Processing Fiber