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We know what it means to pour your heart and soul into a functional piece Unknown Navajo Artist, Blanket, Chief’s Style–Third Phase, 1860s. Wool and dye. Denver Art Museum; Native Arts acquisition funds. The textile community in Colorado has been buzzing for the last several months about...
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Reconsider cotton The lovely natural dyed cotton of Ella Baker. Cotton is an amazing fiber—great for keeping us cool and dry when it is hot and humid out. Cotton is the fiber of the ages. It is the fiber the ancient Egyptians cultivated to clothe themselves and also to wrap their dead in to ensure...
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Spinning the Edges Spinning connects me in those moments when I feel alone, when I wonder who I am, where I fit in and in what direction I should go. When I feel lost, I spin. At first it’s subtle. I find the way the colors are working together interesting, then slowly I become those colors intertwining...
Posted to
SOAR Scholar's Blog
by
aa.thorstenson
on
Nov 27, 2012
Filed under:
Filed under: Dyeing, SOAR, Spin-Off Magazine, Spinning Wool, Merino Wool, Plying, Spinning Wheels, Handspun, Natural Dyes, Spinning Cotton, Spinning, Dyeing Yarn, Wool Processing, How-To
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What I wish history class had been like Norman Kennedy demonstrating breaking up the husk of the retted flax plant to harvest the fiber. Thank goodness for those in our community who keep traditional techniques alive. Norman Kennedy is one of these treasures. We were lucky to record some of his vast...
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Spinning Through the Ages We've invited Anne Merrow, Interweave spinning and knitting video producer and eMag editor, to share some exciting details about our upcoming workshop video with Norman Kennedy. Norman has spent his life travelling the world and learning traditional spinning and weaving...
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Cotton really is the fabric of our lives—but for handspinners, spinning cotton can be a bit intimidating. It is spun in the same way that wool is although it is a bit more difficult due to the short smooth fiber and lack of crimp.
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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 busy kitchen at the Moore's. Yak fiber and a tahkli—Amy's key to finding more time for spinning. Hannah wove on while Sarah's quick tantrum played itself out--the result of having her nap interrupted. Spinning is yoga for my fingers and brain Do you follow in the tradition of setting...
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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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Linda behind the wheel with Alden Amos. Linda's "Vanna White act" with Cindy Lair. The entrancing computer-aided cutting machine at Schacht Spindle Company. Ladybug parts ready for assembly. Pretending to be a whorl When I asked Alden Amos and Cindy Lair to star in a two-part video about...
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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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Just a small sample of the cotton fiber Linda loves. Rita Buchanan spinning cotton while reading a book, from her DVD How I Spin . Stephenie Gaustad demonstrating one of her cotton spinning techniques in her upcoming DVD Spinning Cotton . Can I conquer cottonphobia? Read on. Here's the truth: I have...
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Spinning Across Spain I started my summer off with a trip to Sitges, Spain (just south of Barcelona), to visit my parents who are there for a year while my Dad works on a Fulbright research grant. Traveling with my husband and two daughters, Hannah (five years) and Sarah (eight months), I knew that it...
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I can hardly believe it’s been four months since I was there. But I’ve had that trip on my mind a lot, and for good reason. Spin-Off is planning to publish a wall calendar for 2010, photography is happening today, and a beautiful supported spindle with handspun natural brown cotton on it...
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Last post, I was asking the world at large whether men of the Guatemalan highlands still spin wool on drop spindles, as they did when Olive and Harry Linder visited there in the late 1970s. Having spent several days chasing the answer, I have to say it’s a qualified “no.” Of course...