Single topic issues
Single topic issues allow us to deeply explore a spinning topic from every angle. Collecting issues of PLY is like building your own comprehensive spinning library that you’ll refer to often.
Beginner to Advanced
We don’t just cover the basics, we explore and experiment. Whether you need to build skills and be inspired or advance the skills you have and step out of your comfort zone, PLY is for you.
Look and Feel
PLY is an indie magazine that looks and feels different than other magazines. With 121-128 archival-quality pages and only 15% ads, you get more information and gorgeous photography.
In the Current Issue
Summer 2026: The Purpose Issue
This issue looks at all the ways you can spin with a purpose. Although spinning up a gorgeous skein of yarn seems like a project in and of itself, ultimately most handspun yarn is used to create something else. The contributors explore how to spin with a purpose in mind, how to decide on a purpose for yarn that’s already been spun, and various ways to use handspun yarn.
Want to know what you should think about when you’re planning a yarn for a specific purpose? You’ll find articles on how the choices you make affect the yarn, how to use various levels of sampling to get the yarn you want, and how to plan yarns for projects you intend to give to someone as a gift. And we can’t forget about planning yarns that will be friendly on our hands, both during spinning and for the intended use.
What about planning for specific crafts? Kira Dulaney does a deep dive on spinning yarns for crochet, going behind the question of twist direction to explore the effects of other yarn characteristics of various crochet stitches. A pair of articles explore different aspects of twist for weaving yarns. Other articles discuss spinning yarns for embroidery and crewelwork, and one article tackles spinning yarns for flatbed knitting machines.
If you’ve wondered how to spin a yarn that will work for an assigned pooling project, Carissa Browning has all the details, as well as a pair of cowls, one knit and one crochet, that use the assigned pooling technique. And Christopher Kale explains how to make an embroidered needle book using handspun silk embroidery thread.
The issue also looks at the idea of repurposing: using scraps for spinning projects and repurposing yarn from commercial garments, which might need some additional processing or spinning before you work with it. You’ll also find articles exploring historical fiber crafts, the spinning culture in the mountains of Crete, spinning as part of a competition, and what to do at a fleece sale.
Don’t miss out on this extremely useful and purposeful issue!
In the Blog
Don’t miss out on everything happening with PLY!
What our Subscribers are Saying
This is the only magazine that I use and keep like a book. When it arrives, I drop everything and read PLY cover to cover. I indulge in all of the well-written content, beautiful photography, as well as the pertinent topics, discussions, instruction, patterns, tips, thought-provoking articles and product reviews. I look carefully at all of the ads as well for new tools and fiber sources! As a spinner and fiber artist, PLY is an invaluable resource that I refer back to often when dreaming up new projects. Thank you PLY for playing a vital role in my fiber arts journey!
I look forward to receiving my issue of PLY each quarter. I spend the next few weeks poring over every article and project and review. I then shelve the issue right next to my fibre reference books. I have gone back to past issues many times. This magazine is so very inspiring. Not only is there a great deal of information from many different spinners there is also a general spirit of enthusiasm and curiosity that is evident in this magazine. The contributors try so many different approaches and it really opens my eyes to all kinds of possibilities that I want to work on myself. I don’t subscribe to any other publications. I’ve never come across another magazine that is so consistently worth every penny.
PLY magazine has filled a void in the magazine publishing world. Many of the magazines have gone to less in-depth articles or in some cases, no articles; just patterns. I enjoy a magazine that I actually have to take time to read and that makes me want to pull out fiber and try some of the techniques. There is enough information and pictures in the articles that that is possible. It also doesn’t seem like a rehash of the same information presented in a different format. The limited advertising space is also a big plus. Keep up the good work. I look forward to each issue.
PLY Magazine is hands down the best money I spend on my spinning every year. I get so excited about every topic covered and the quality of the articles is not to be beat! But the best compliment I can give it is actually not mine at all. I recently had some houseguests (friends of my partner) staying in the house. While hanging out in the living room one morning, one of these fellows picked up the Cotton issue of PLY, which was hanging out on the coffee table. A non-spinner, I was surprised to see him reading the whole issue, cover to cover, and ask me questions. Fiber craft is not something he’s into, but he got so engrossed in the magazine topic that he asked if I could show him how a spindle worked. I was so happy to see that not only is it a beautiful coffee table magazine, but it does the same thing to non-spinners as it does to me – makes them excited about things they didn’t think they liked!
A Sweater Inspired by a Family Photo
/in Community/by Karen RobinsonWords and photos by Debbie West It all started with this sweater! Once upon a time, I had a photo of my mother wearing it in her mid-twenties. The photo did not survive the passage of time, but the sweater did, making it at least sixty years old. I thought this sweater could be an […]