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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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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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Inspired by the Illinois Prairie Spinners, I am finally spinning this merino top. It was dyed with natural dyestuffs by Earthly Hues in Granville, Ohio. Photo: Kate Larson. Like most spinners, I keep a stash of fiber. When I have a blissful hour to look through my favorite stash, kept in an oak cabinet...
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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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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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A nineteenth-century upright Swiss table wheel that was a gift to Interweave founder Linda Ligon in 1975 from her first weaving teacher, Janet DeBoer. Jonathan Bosworth's reproduction of a Han Dynasty spinning wheel (China, circa 206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.)—which challenges the commonly held...
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What goes around comes around- and may be spun around twice! As many readers know, the news from your groups and guilds forms the substance of this column. Your events, activities, and projects can be shared with the larger spinning community when you send me your newsletters by post or email. Your comments...
Posted to
Spinner's Connection
by
Peggy Coffey
on
Aug 26, 2011
Filed under:
Filed under: Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Handspun, Wool Processing, Spinning Wool, Spin-Off Magazine, Mohair, SOAR, Types of Yarn, Alpaca Wool
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Spread the word about our free Drop Spindle Spinning eBook Every once in a while I start to daydream about what a world overrun by spinners would look, and more importantly, feel like. What if everyone was a spinner? Standing in line at the grocery store you would be discussing with others the merits...
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Judith MacKenzie explains that being able to make yarns to fit a project is the basis of the spinner's toolbox. Judith demonstrates worsted spinning. Judith demonstrates semi-worsted spinning. What do you have in your toolbox? I have to admit that, as a spinner, I have a weakness for tools. How could...
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The magic of Judith Judith sharing the wonders of bison fiber. Spinning tussah silk. Judith hands on with an alpaca fleece. I remember the first time I met Judith MacKenzie. I was an intern at Schacht Spindle Company, in Boulder, Colorado, and was at a dinner at Maggie Casey's house. Judith was visiting...
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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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What I love about spinning is the generosity of the process. Spinning is not like making TNT, where the steps and proportions have to be perfectly precise (or else), or like computer programming, where every step has to be in logical order. With spinning, you can improvise. You can problem-solve. You...
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I’ve rattled on for years about how hard it is to put spinning instruction in print. It’s such a dynamic, process-intensive craft—so hard to capture in one-shot increments. For all my carrying on, though, I think we’ve done a pretty good job. Thirty-two years of Spin-Off , and...
Posted to
Linda Ligon's Blog
by
Linda Ligon
on
Jun 3, 2009
Filed under:
Filed under: Worsted, Plying, How To Spin, Wool Processing, Spinning Wheels, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Spinning Wool, Merino Wool, Spin-Off Magazine, Types of Yarn, Spinning
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Hello, and welcome to Spin-Off's new and improved home on the web! We've been working on this new site for quite a while, and we hope you like it! I'm feeling a lot of pressure while I sit here trying to write my first blog post - I'm not going to be witty or smart enough and no one will...
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I was looking back, waaay back, the other day, at the second issue of Spin-Off (Fall 1978). This popped out at me: a short article written by Harry and Olive Linder, one of the shining lights and great teachers of the spinning community back in the day. Harry and his wife, Olive, had just traveled in...
Posted to
Linda Ligon's Blog
by
Linda Ligon
on
Jan 22, 2009
Filed under:
Filed under: Wool Processing, Spinning Wheels, Spindle Spinning, Drop Spindle, Handspun, Spinning Wool, Merino Wool, Spin-Off Magazine, How-To, Spinning