Your Yarns

2013, Spring: Green yarn

Liz Good — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:53:24 GMT

Green yarns! In our Fall 2012 issue, we challenged readers to the very open task of creating green yarn. It was fun to see the variations that can be created while keeping yarn green.

2012, Fall: Recycled yarn

Liz Good — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:48:37 GMT

Recycled yarn! In our Spring 2012 issue, we featured two articles about harvesting yarn from existing garments. We challenged you to use what you learned to reinvent something from your closet (or local thrift store).

2012, Spring: Barber poles and mud

Liz Good — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:42:14 GMT

Barber poles and mud! We challenged readers to explore these two often maligned traits in handspun. We were surprised at the broad spectrum of yarn we received and at how many readers were able to combine barber poles and mud into one yarn!

2011, Fall: Paper

Liz Good — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:38:27 GMT

Paper! In our Spring 2011 issue, Judith MacKenzie shared her experiences spinning with sewing-pattern paper. We hope it got your creative juices flowing to start your own experiments!

2011, Spring: Camelids

Liz Good — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:58:14 GMT

Camelids! From alpaca to camel to guanaco, if it's made from camelid fiber, we wanted to see it! Shown on these pages is the wide selection of the fiber types and spinning styles we received.

2010, Fall: Colors Blended by Hand

stefanie berganini — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:39:55 GMT

Let’s get blending! Whether you used combs, a hackle, or a drumcarder, we wanted to see it! All yarns consist of fiber blended
by hand by the person sending them—no commercially blended fibers are included. Using commercial fibers was fine, as long
as they were mixed with other fibers to create a unique final product. Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 214%.

2010, Spring: Hand-Dyed Yarn

stefanie berganini — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:59:12 GMT

Let’s see your true colors! Dipped, sprinkled, or painted, natural dyes or synthetic—if you spun and dyed it, we wanted to see it. Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 226%.

2009, Fall: Natural Fibers from Scratch Yarns

Spin-Off — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:17:52 GMT

Wool you processed yourself, cotton you prepared from the boll, silk reeled from cocoons, etc. No manufactured or synthetic fibers here—these yarns are as natural and pure as they come! All yarn must also be natural colored or dyed with natural materials. Shown here are the yarns we received. Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 290%.

2009, Spring: Spindle-Spun Yarn

stefanie berganini — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:09:23 GMT

High whorl, low whorl, tahkli, or Turkish—anything goes! Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 235%.

2003, Fall: Rare Wools Skeins

Spin-Off — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:40:57 GMT

Our Rare Wools Challenge received more than 300 skeins!

All of the pages didn’t fit in the Fall 2003 issue, but they all fit here.

2007, Fall: Sock Yarns

Spin-Off — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:19:04 GMT

In our Summer 2006 issue, we asked you about Your Yarn in our survey. Nearly one-third of those who responded liked the feature but wanted to see it take up fewer pages in the magazine.

Forty-four different spinners participated in this issue’s challenge; each is represented by one of the sixty-one yarns submitted. Of the fortyfour
sock yarns showcased, 7% are Navajo-plied, 28% are 2 ply, 16% are 3 ply, 18% are superwash, and 11% incorporate silk. Eleven yarns are featured in the Fall 2007 issue; thirty-three more sock yarns are presented here. Five members of the Illinois Prairie Spinners sent in samples collected during their annual Spinning retreat last May: Mickey Anderson, Diane Rodenbostel, Jan Wilt, Deirdre Swift, and Cindy Bennish. We’d love to hear from your spinning group, and be sure to visit www.spinnersconnection.com to share ideas on activities. Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 170%.

2008, Spring: Exotic Yarn

Spin-Off — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:18:10 GMT

Exotically beautiful yarns, we should say! Wow. These are yarns you want to bury your face in, roll around in, jump into a swimming pool filled with. No wonder so many of you are going to make scarves and shawls with them—you’d want them right by your face so that you can keep feeling that luxurious softness. We measured bumps per inch (bpi) rather than twists per inch (tpi) this time. Shown here are a selection of the fiber types and spinning styles we received; view more in the Spring 2008 issue of Spin-Off. Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 400%.

2008, Fall: New to You Yarn

Spin-Off — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:16:54 GMT

With these yarns, the possibilities are endless! Whether it’s a new fiber or a new technique, these yarns are full of experimentation. Shown here is a selection of the fiber types and spinning styles we received. Yarns are shown at 100%. Details show the yarns magnified at 310%.