Hand spinning news for august 2013

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Fibre East and Tour de Fleece It's been a very busy month in the spinning world. This month I've included lots of blog posts from spinning event Tour de Fleece which was in progress last time. Fibre East took place on a glorious weekend at the end of July and we have some pictures and words from visitors. All this plus the usual fibrey finds from the web, this time with an unexpected running theme of cable plying. (photo above right: rjrahardjo's Holden Shawlette. Cover photo: my own Foxgloves yarn from picperfic's Luxure Fibre Club)

Top Stories Tour de Fleece

Fibre East A selection of blog posts from the three-week spinning fest.

Pictures and reviews of Fibre East, this its third year.

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Contents News and articles from around the web Fibre East 2013 Images and reviews Tour de Fleece 2013 From the blogosphere Tips and tutorials Gallery Showing off some of the best images I've found this month Free patterns A selection of free patterns which will work well with handspun yarn Events Some dates for your diary Courses and tuition Where to go for a day, weekend or a week to learn or improve your skills


News, resources and articles from around the web Artificial spider silk is tougher than Kevlar Japanese firm Spiber thinks that spider silk will change the world. It plans to produce the material on an industrial scale (bio-engineered, not using spiders) in a number of forms for many applications. There's no word on whether they'll produce the stuff in a form for hand spinning, but they're claiming great strength and elasticity too, so I'm thinking even better than nylon to mix with wool for sock yarn.... http://www.gizmag.com/spiber-synthetic-silk/28267/

New Zealand congratulates royal couple Just in case you've missed it, there has been a recent addition to our royal family. New Zealand's official gift to the royal couple was a handspun, hand knitted lace shawl and there has been much speculation about whether this was the shawl in which baby George left the hospital. It seems that the shawl that we first saw the baby wrapped in was a merino christening shawl made by G. H. Hurt & Son (with thanks to Spinning Daily for the information). My link goes to more information about the handspun gift from New Zealand. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8951841/PM-congratulates-royal-couple-on-birth

Plying for Knitting In the new Knittyspin, editor Jillian discusses some different plying methods; singles, 2-ply, 3-ply and cable ply. She makes a thorough comparison, knitting swatches of stickinette, lace and cable and then repeats the experiment with some dyed fibre to see how these plying methods affect colour. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEff13/KSFEATff13KS.php

Layering techniques If the talk this month about cable plying whets your appetite for building up your yarn beyond more than two or three plies, you'll enjoy Woolwench's latest newsletter on the subject of layering. She discusses cable plying and the possibilities of adding more layers, to add colour or texture. You will need to sign up to her website, but when you've done that you'll have access to her archive of newsletters and eBooks as well as receiving future newsletters by email. http://www.woolwench.com/videos-and-books/

Will a sheep's wool grow forever? When sheep 'go hermit' they hide from shearing and can grow fleece for many years. We heard a few months ago about Horietta the hermit sheep. Shrek , a previous celebrity hermit sheep, avoided shearing for six years and was eventually shorn in 2004.


This raises many questions; will wool just keep growing and growing? Are there potential health issues? Do most sheep hate getting sheared? This month, Modern Farmer has remembered Shrek and has interviewed sheep academic Dave Thomas who answers these questions and more. http://modernfarmer.com/2013/07/will-sheep/

Sponsored story - Stitchville knitting holiday Stitchville holidays are an excellent opportunity to spend quality time away with your knitting in the company of women with similar interests and an experienced tutor. Beautiful walks, wild nature and beautiful architecture, exciting cultural experiences, nourishing and delicious food and spectacular venues are our winning formula. The next Stitchville holiday will be on Monday 9th - Friday 13th September in Bath, Somerset. The remarkable town house, in the centre of the World Heritage city, is a handsome and spacious Georgian building. If you book, please mention Hand Spinning News. http://stitchville.co.uk/Stitchville/holidays.html


discuss any of this

Fibre East Fibre East This was the third Fibre East. It felt bigger and better than before with an indoor venue removing the risk of another muddy year. josiekitten has written a lovely review with so many colourful and enticing photographs. The number of her photographs really does convey just how much yarn, fibre and equipment was on display. http://theknittingexploitsofjosiekitten.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/fibre-east.html

Batty Fibre-East Elseline also took plenty of photographs. She comments that these include no yarn handspinning has cured her yarn addiction! She also enjoyed the opportunity to meet the indie dyers that she's come to know online. http://momentmusing.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/batty-fibre-east.html

Fibre East in knitwear Designer Rachel Atkinson travelled from London to visit Fibre East and was rewarded when she met another visitor wearing one of her designs. I particularly like Rachels photographs of the sheep pens behind the Sheer Sheep Experience stage. http://mylifeinknitwear.com/?p=3004

Fickle British weather I'm sneaking in my own pictures and review. http://stitchywitches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/fibre-east-2013.html


discuss any of this

Tour de Fleece Spinning to unwind earthchick had a very long drive near the beginning of the Tour but says that after a few minutes of spinning, her mind "uncurls and lets go" I love this fibre, BFL in "Forest". Click through to her more recent blog posts to see the finished skein. http://earthchicknits.com/2013/07/01/tour-de-fleece-day-3/

It's that time of year again Guzzi Sue started the Tour spinning in public surrounded by fleece, yarn and sheep at the East Bridgford show doing fine work to promote our craft. http://travelfibreandthread.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/tdfits-that-time-of-year-again.html

Golden Skeins In the first four days, Dawn of Raising Seedlings spun and plied this BFL which was naturally dyed with Weld. She loves the finished yarn which is "golden and soft". http://raisingseedlings.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/july-spinning-in-tour-de-fleece.html

Forgotten fluff found that a little taste of an FO was like a drug and decided to make that the theme for her TdF spinning. The fluff she found first was some merino tencel that she'd forgotten. The resulting yarn is "a bit shiny and pretty slick". She may use it for a weaving warp. Her spinning was interspersed with a Kool Aid dyeing experiment (an American drink containing some serious food colouring). The results of that are very nice too. http://weekendknitter.com/2013/07/05/change-of-plans/

Cream V This lovely handspun caught my eye on Flickr and it was great to find that Marie keeps a blog called Livin' La Needle Loca and has documented her TdF spinning very well. Explore her blog for more. I think the wisps of colour give this yarn an abalone / mother of pearl look. http://needleloca.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/tour-de-fleece-2013-days-7-8-and-9.html

Saddle Sore Hazel's title for this post made me laugh. She's not really saddle sore but she lists her aims and tells us how she did. This is her very cute 'bow tie' yarn. One of her goals was to create some Doctor Who inspired yarn.


Follow the link to read about her other goals. http://blog.hazelpurls.co.uk/2013/07/25/saddle-sore/

Crazy Tour de Fleece Challenge Elseline loves the encouragement of the TdF and she has certainly has need it - her project has given her some frustration. This is a story of perseverance and success. 41 WPI 2-ply for a Shetland Shawl is certainly an achievement. I'll let her tell you about it: http://momentmusing.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/crazy-tour-de-fleece-challenge.html

Tour de Fleece wrapup Mary of Hugs for your Head seems disappointed about not meeting her goal but she says that she advances her spinning skills - this year spinning fine enough for socks. These singles look lovely and I look forward to seeing them plied. In this post she shows us the original fibre, mohair / romney from a family farm and independent dyer, and some steps along the way. http://www.hugsforyourhead.com/2013/07/tour-de-fleece-wrapup.html

TdF 2013 Update On the other hand, Liz from Reckless Knitting exceeded her goal of 5 yarns before the end of the Tour. She likes "playing with sparkly fibers and vibrant colors" and there are some wonderful ideas here. Click through to see more yarns. http://recklessknitting.com/?p=1817

Pedalling Along Nicely This rainbow-coloured cake of handspun yarn is made from Falkland fleece naturally-dyed from substances such as woad, madder and onion skins. Goldilox navajo plied to keep the colours separate and plans to make a sideways shawl to show off the rainbow. http://goldyspinner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/pedalling-along-nicely-in-tdf.html


discuss any of this

From the blogosphere Plying two 2-plys together This heavy worsted/aran weight yarn has four singles. AKQGuy started with four bobbins of singles, plied green with brown to make a mixed two-ply and then plied the two 2-plys together. It's a process he calls chain plying but may more usually be called cable plying. If you've not fulled yarn by 'shocking and thwacking' then his description of the process is worth a read. http://www.menwhoknit.com/community/node/13431

I spin - so what? Not in English but your browser may offer you a Google Translation if you don't speak German. filz-t-raum of swiss-handspun-art attended a spin and fibre day and enjoyed meeting an international audience. This tee-shirt caught my eye, I think it means "I spin - so what?" which I'd love to wear (in English). I'm sure her pictures from the day will whet your appetite for one of the forthcoming fibre events (see my Events listing for UK events) http://swiss-handspun-art.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/spinn-und-fasertag-2-juli-2013.html

In Search of Fishers Cove Secretspinner often spins epic yardages of very fine yarn for large shawls and this is no exception. This is detail from her 'In Search of Fishers Cove' shawl. An evocative title. The colours really are reminiscent of a beach perhaps with a coppery sunset. The 'shell stitch' pattern is lovely too. Her project page has more photographs of the finished shawl, the progress and her yarn. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/secretspinner/queen-of-the-waves

Spinning wheel drink holder It was very hot here in England during the Tour de Fleece and I gave into temptation and bought one of these drinks holders. I don't have a table close by and as I get older (or lazier) the floor is more difficult to reach. Read my glowing review of this clever creation. http://stitchywitches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/review-spinning-wheel-drink-holder.html

Kashmiri textiles A friend of familyhandspun's Gigi brought some Kashmir-made textiles to show. She has posted pictures of this light and soft handspun, handwoven cloth as well as hand- and machine-embroidered cloths. http://familyhandspun.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/kashmiri-textiles.html


Scandinavian spinning wheels This is one of two Scandinavian wheels that knitsnthings has recently acquired and one of many photographs of her restoration of the wheel. She tirelessly works on old wheels to give them back some useful life. This one took 20 hours of "patience and plenty of elbow grease" to strip and re-finish. It's had very little use and is in good shape. http://knitsnthings.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/scandinavian-spinning-wheels/

A Twist of Luxury In the third part of her series (this post contains links to the other two, covering Merino blends and BFL) Grace of SweetGeorgia Yarns spins and knits samples using silk, silk blends and a wool / bamboo blend. It's good to read about the differences between the products and very useful to hear her general thoughts on spinning with silk. She also has a great tip for beating the 'sweaty hand' problem. http://www.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2013/07/fibre-sampling-sessions-silk-luxury/

Thick-and-thin weaving experiment Our first handspun is almost certainly thick-and-thin and we work hard to make our spun yarn more even. But the effect can be beautiful when yarn is deliberately spun thick and thin. In this weaving experiment, Monikah has woven with a thick-and-thin yarn and loves the effect. She says that it "gives a great three-dimensionality to the finished fabric". She plans to make a full scarf in this texture. http://monikahschuschu.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/weaving-experiments/

Washed in the river Very few details here but it seems that this fleece has been washed clean by being towed behind a boat. Spinning School teacher Pam Austin says that it came out "beautifully clean" - apart from a little weed! http://spinningschool.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/washed-in-river.html

Sheep to shawl I'd like more information about this event but it's still a lovely sequence of pictures. In this annual event, Common Threads, a spinners and dyers guild, demonstrated all stages of wool production from shearing the sheep through the processes of carding, spinning and weaving. This post contains pictures of the finished shawl and those from previous years. http://commonthreadsguild.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/hull-house-sheep-to-shawl-lenore.html discuss any of this

Tips and tutorials


Dealing with a braid of dyed fibre My last few projects have involved braids of fibre from independent dyers. I love that even when I'm not dyeing the fibre myself, it was dyed by someone I know. But where to start with one of these braids is a good question. When my Mum asked for tips I made the resulting tutorial public in case it helps others. http://stitchywitches.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/how-to-deal-with-braid-of-dyed-fibre.html

Skirting and Sorting a Sheep Fleece Fran's writing is always such good value, it's a delight to read and contains inspiration and useful tips, often from her own experimentations. Here she describes skirting a fleece and sorting out the best bits. She took these lovely pictures after sorting a Jacob fleece which has the added challenge of separating the colours. http://wooltribulations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/skirting-and-sorting-sheep-fleece.html discuss any of this


Keeping this wheel spinning Your news here Are you a teacher, pattern designer, supplier, dyer? Would you like to help to support Hand Spinning News and at the same time reach the growing readership of thousands of hand spinners? Read more

Gallery Sometimes just a picture is enough

Handspun holden shawlette rjrahardjo has become a regular in this gallery; I love her work. It's usually more solid in colour but here she starts with a beautifully graduated braid of fibre and navajo plies to preserve that graduation. The Holden Shawlette is a free pattern (featured in HSN in January) and rjrahardjo has knitted it so beautifully. It was difficult to choose just one picture, please click through and see all of her images of the fibre, the handspun and the finished shawl. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahardjo-knits/9326361547/in/set-72157632406475361/

Handspun cowl Handspun yarn often has beautiful colours and texture and doesn't always need a complex pattern to show it off. Without a pattern, Ami cast on around 100 stitches of her handspun and knit a tube. The finished cowl is beautiful. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourcherries/2454246613/in/photostream/

Alpaca / llama / merino It's always interesting to see pictures of handspun yarn alongside the original fibre. This alpaca/llama/merino sounds like a very soft mix and the natural colours look beautiful together. http://www.flickr.com/photos/22905905@N07/8652324244

Hydrangea shrug This very attractive shrug uses a small amount of handpsun. Veldagia has carded her chosen colours, made rolags to spin her 2-ply yarn. http://www.flickr.com/photos/veldagia/9467336902/in/set-72157632490781311/


Crochet beret I can find no information at all about this colourful crocheted handspun beret. http://www.flickr.com/photos/31628665@N06/9452176626/in/photostream/

Ornaments for yarn lovers I bet I'm not the only one who finds it difficult to throw away even the smallest oddments of handspun yarn? How about this beautiful idea. There are no instructions but if you can find the right glass ornaments it looks fairly self-explanatory. http://www.flickr.com/photos/goldfishlovefibers/9413270590/in/set-72157634875411979/

Handspun yarn + jar = candle holder Decorative and functional, simple to make and another great way to show off a small amount of handspun yarn, thanks to Sarah of Crafts from the Cwtch for this idea. There are some broad instructions here on her blog but it's basically a tube with some decorative yarn-overs in the middle. http://www.flickr.com/photos/craftsfromthecwtch/9421422793/in/photostream/ discuss any of this


Free patterns A selection of free seasonal patterns which will work well with handspun yarn.

Square by square This isn't so much a pattern as an idea. Kate of Fox's Lane aims to knit all of the squares from a knitting stitch book and then sew them together to make a blanket. She isn't specifically using handspun for her project, but she does say that one of the many benefits of this project is that it's a great scrap-buster. If you're like me then those ball-ends of handspun are too precious to throw away and you'll have a bagful of them. http://foxslane.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/square-by-square.html

Small Talk Shawl by Cheri McEwen I've used Glittertind's picture because I love the colour graduation in VickeVira's Handspun yarn. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/small-talk-shawl

Pineapple curtain accessories If you're not up for making a complete pair of curtains from handspun (or have a smaller quantity of yarn) how about embellishing your curtains with a valance or tiebacks? With thanks to Knithacker for sharing this free crochet pattern from Agnes Russell with an intermediate skill level. http://www.freepatterns.com/detail.html?code=FC00838&cat_id=1

Simple Sideways Triangle Scarf Tina of Peacefully Knitting recommends this as a great stash-busting project, with the added benefits of being aimed at knitters of any level and ideal for the travel bag. Tina's using commercial yarn, but at 330 yards of 12wpi yarn it'll be perfect for a small skein of handspun. http://www.churchmouseyarns.com/collections/free-patterns/products/simple-sideways-trianglescarf#.UguAx-DCNjI I also selected free knit and crochet patterns over at HSN's sister publication, Purl Two Together. The new issue will be available very shortly. discuss any of this


Events 2013 Glastonbury Wool Fair 24 & 25 August, Glastonbury, Somerset A weekend of sheep related entertainment! The sheep and alpaca run is on Saturday and everyone is invited to make woollen hats to wear on Sunday - the more outrageous the better. They would also appreciate volunteers. glastonburywoolfestival.co.uk

Yarndale 28 and 29 September Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire For you if you love yarn and are passionate about all things woolly. It aims to celebrate the beauty and diversity of wool, cotton, linen and silk fibres in all their forms yarndale.co.uk

Masham Sheep Fair Masham, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, 28 and 29 September A fabulous fair with plenty of sheepy things, lots of fleeces and fibres for sale and a spinning competition to enter. An action packed programme on both Saturday and Sunday, with a Sheep Show, Sheep Racing, Craft Market, Bishop Blaize Procession, Fleece Stalls, Wool Competition, Sheepdog Demonstrations, Hand Bell Ringers, Morris Dancers, Art Exhibition and Tours of Theakstons & BlackSheep Breweries, as well as the Old Time Children's Fair. http://www.mashamsheepfair.com

Shetland Wool Week 7 - 13 October 2013 A busy weekend dedicated to celebrating Shetland wool and textile heritage. The full events list includes workshops, demonstrations, open studios, spinning, knitting, weaving and Britain's most northerly sheep. www.shetlandwoolweek.com

Wool Week 14 - 20 October 2013, multiple activities throughout Britain Run by the Campaign for Wool with patron HRH The Prince of Wales. Wool Week 2013 will begin in the United Kingdom on October 14 with lots of events around the UK. www.campaignforwool.org


Fibre Flurry - 26 and 27 October, Bournville, Birmingham The third year promises to be the best year yet. Workshops and exhibitors over two days http://www.fibreflurry.co.uk

Courses and tuition Please let me know if you are or you know a tutor with a calendar of events. Cornwall: Audrey Durrant is heavily involved with the Cornwall Guild and works with the Rare Breed Survival Trust. She teaches spinning, basic weaving, is a hand dyer and gives talks and demonstrations. Find out more at www.hawthornfibres.co.uk Derbyshire: Alison Daykin offers week and weekend courses and also has a less formal groups three evenings a week: spinningandweaving.weebly.com Dumfries and Galloway: Sue Macniven offers Residential Courses or one to one workshops in Twynholm or at your own venue http://www.handspun-exotics.co.uk/workavail.html Hampshire: Spinning and wool workshops at The Old Dairy, Westover Farm, Nr Andover. For more details go to www.urbancottage.co.uk/courses or call Nichola 07905167922 Hampshire: Spinning workshops at fibre craft studio Beaker Button, the Fairground Craft and Design centre, Weyhill. Free spinning taster sessions. For more details contact 07738 534164 or http://www.beakerbutton.co.uk Lancashire: Spinning workshops at Knit-Wise. All materials included for ÂŁ40, contact Cathy (lazykate) on 01695 580590 www.knit-wise.co.uk for dates. Lancashire: Carol and Pete Leonard run a regular monthly workshop for hand and wheel spinners where students can either follow the 'topic of the month' or work on their own project guided by Carol and Pete. They also run a residential weekend each year. These are held at Alston Hall, a conference and adult education centre based in the Ribble Valley close to the M6 motorway. For further information please ring 01772 784661 or visit their website www.alstonhall.com London: Weaving, spinning, dyeing, tapestry weaving, and other yarn and fibre crafts workshops at The Handweavers Studio & Gallery. See the website for dates and details. www.handweavers.co.uk/shop/Workshops_Classes.html Manchester:Spinning courses with Dee Sayce. also sewing, felt making, weaving, dyeing, batik and silk painting (external link to beetlefelt) http://www.beetlefelt.co.uk/workshop_spinning.html Northamptonshire: Long Draw Spinning Tuition with Pam Austins, Spinning School. Pam is on a mission to teach longdraw. Most classes are held in Stoke Albany. http://www.spinningschool.blogspot.co.uk/p/calendar.html (external link to Spinning School's calendar) Nottinghamshire: Spinning courses with Juliet Hill www.handspinning.org.uk/index.html (external link to Juliet Hill Handspinning) Norfolk: Single-day spinning courses www.norfolkyarn.co.uk/Homepage/News/tabid/77/Default.aspx(external link to Norfolk Yarn website) Scotland - Perthshire (and Italy): workshops on spinning (beginners or more advanced), fibre preparation and blending, felting, dyeing and knitting. See the Workshops tab on http://www.perfectweatherforspinningandknitting.blogspot.com/ for updated details of forthcoming workshops by Deborah Gray e-mail deborah.gray7@btinternet.com Sheffield: Tuition and Demonstrations by Diane Fisher, the Murmuring Wheel http://www.murmuringwheel.co.uk/events.html (external link to Diane Fisher's calendar) Sussex: Weald and Downland Museum in Singleton sometimes has courses on spinning http://www.wealddown.co.uk/Traditional-Rural-Trades-and-Crafts/Textiles/ (external link to Weald and Downland Museum's calendar) Mid-Wales: Workshops with HilltopCloud's Katie Weston mostly focus on colour blending, full details at http://www.hilltopcloud.co.uk/HilltopCloud/Workshops.html Yorkshire: Spinning courses with Ruth Gough, various workshops for individuals or groups, at Wentworth or your venue http://www.winghamwoolwork.co.uk/content/15-courses (external link to Wingham Wool Work) Yorkshire: Rivers MEET Craft CafĂŠ, Methley, Leeds, West Yorkshire is now running an Introduction to spinning using a drop spindle workshop with Paula Edgintgon. For more details tel: 01977 279729 or see www.riversmeetcraftcafe.co.uk discuss any of this Happy spinning and don't be a stranger! Shiela Dixon - Editor / curator shiela@hand-spinning-news.com If you're reading this newsletter on the web and would like it delivered to your email inbox for free every month, just fill in your email address in the box somewhere up there on the right. If you've reading this in your inbox and


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