Mixing Things up for a Sweater

words and photos by: Johanna Carter

I always admire those who are able to spin mountains of yarn for a big project, ready to knit a wonderful sweater or cardigan. It is a satisfying feeling when you finish all that work, especially if you started with washing and combing the wool or even raising your own sheep.

Mixing spinning and knitting

The typical way to work through a larger project is to spin all the singles first and ply them in a particular order so you get the yarn even throughout the whole project. I don’t have so many bobbins, but my bigger problem is that I am quite impatient and want to get on with knitting once I have an idea. And normally, my brain is full of ideas for fibre work and the limit is the time, as I am a musician and teacher. I can’t sit at the spinning wheel for a long time if I’m not on holiday, so during the school year I mostly knit, and during the holidays I can dye, spin, use my drum carder, and do lots of fibre work. The only time I was able to produce bigger quantities of yarn before I knitted them up was during the Tour de Fleece in the two years during the pandemic, when we did not go on holiday at the beginning of July.

A highly photogenic collection of naturally dyed fibres.

I like to finish knitting one big project like a sweater or cardigan before I start the next one, or at least until I can’t carry it in my bag easily anymore, so I have an excuse to begin the next one. Sometimes it is good to have a second project on the go – I call it mindless knitting, where I don’t have to look very much – which I can keep my hands busy during Zoom or other meetings, which helps me listen.

Mixing colours and fibres

Usually I dye my yarn with plants which I collect in the woods or get from garden flowers. I also use cochineal and indigo, which I buy, to get lots of different colours. I really love the greens and blues I get from dyeing with indigo. I have lots of dyed wool, and all those colours give me inspiration for further projects.

Beautiful greens and blues dyed by the author using indigo and other natural dyes.

Blending the wool on the drum carder I can get even more shades. I like to blend with fibres like silk, alpaca, or plant fibres, and I love sari silk, to get those little bits of colour in my yarn.

Fibres of different types and colours are blended on a drum carder for elegant results.

When I have an idea for the next sweater, I start carding, and then I can begin to spin. Once I have spun enough yarn – say, for one day – I cast on and start knitting, usually top down, so I don’t have to decide too much in advance about length and width.

An idea for the author’s next sweater in the gathering stages.

When I spin on my wheel, I have to sit at home, but while spinning I can read a book or talk to others during online meetings. I also like to spin on my spindles, and that works on a walk, or a museum visit. I take them on holiday as they don’t need much space, and when I spin for a lace shawl, I don’t even need much wool either. At home there are spindles all over the place; I can spin when I am waiting for the kettle to boil, when the computer is slow, when I am cooking. Like that I can make good use of a short time and the yarn still grows.

Knitting as soon as the yarn is spun helps the author complete sweater projects in a timely manner.

I can take my knitting almost everywhere, which is why I don’t want to wait to get started until I have spun all the yarn for a whole sweater. I knit at home, on the bus or train. The only thing I have to make sure of is to be one step ahead with the yarn.

I love to knit Fair Isle sweaters. My favourite method is to use only one bobbin, which I don’t even fill, because I need smaller quantities of lots of colours. Then I wind a ply ball and ply it on itself. For that I put my thumb through the ball, so I can tension the two singles with my fingers and they don’t get tangled, as long as my thumb (or a cardboard roll or a pencil) stays in the middle. I don’t have any leftovers from plying, and it is quick when I suddenly need more yarn.

Several charming sweaters dyed, spun, and knit by the author.

I have never had problems with the yarn not being consistent enough throughout a project. I just know what yarn I want and my fingers seem to remember what to do. I am sure it is good advice to have a little card tied to the spinning wheel with a bit of the singles you are aiming for, so you can check and make sure you are spinning a consistent yarn.

Mixing breeds

There are so many different breeds, but some of my favourites are Shetland, BFL, and Jämtland – a Swedish breed. After dyeing them, I often forget what I have used, so when I do a new project it often turns out that I have used different breeds and fibres just to get the right colour. For the Fair Isle knitting I want to juggle lots of colours, which is more important to me than making a sweater out of only one breed.

Recently I made a pullover for my husband using about 12 different breeds and colours, even mixing short and long draw. For me it was a breed experiment and a way to use up lots of smaller quantities of wool I had in my stash. For that sweater I used combed top without blending.

Mixing in knitting during the spinning process is a wonderful way for a spinner to avoid being overwhelmed during a sweater project.

My feeling is that some people don’t dare to start spinning for a bigger project because they get overwhelmed by the quantity they have to spin and then all the knitting there is to do, especially when you want to spin the yarn entirely on spindles. Mixing the spinning and knitting for the same project is more interesting; you get more variety and more freedom to choose what you want to do next as long as you don’t run out of yarn. It breaks the project down into smaller, less daunting parts. The only thing you might want to plan is to have enough fibre at the start, but even that is not necessary, there is always a sheep growing more wool.

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Mood Board: Winter 2026 – Short Draw

Mood Board: Winter 2026 – Short Draw

Proposals due by: December 1, 2025

Final work due by: May 15, 2026

What do you know about spinning worsted yarns using short draw techniques? We want to hear all about it. Can you explain how each short draw draft works? Can you help spinners work with the wheel they have, no matter the drive system, to spin short draw? What about spindles? Which is best for spinning short draw and what should a spinner look for? What about consistency? What about plying and finishing? How do you finish your worsted yarns and how does it affect them? 

What about fiber preps? Which are more traditional for worsted spinning? Which are less traditional but still work well? Can you explain each option and the impact it has on the final yarn? What about doing the prep yourself? Can you explain how to use various tools, such as combs, for a worsted-style prep? 

How do you change diameters while spinning short forward? What if you want to spin a very fine yarn? How about a super bulky yarn – any tips? How do you find the right amount of twist for a worsted yarn? How do you make sure you’re taking care of your body, especially your hands, when drafting with a short draw? 

And we’d love you to share your ideas for projects featuring these sleek and strong yarns. Do you have a design in mind for a knitting, crochet, or weaving (on any type of loom) project? How can you showcase the best qualities of a worsted yarn? 

We want to hear from you about all of this and anything else you can think of! 

Article and project proposals due by December 1, 2025. 

You’ll hear back from us in January 2026. 

Final articles, samples, and projects due by May 15, 2026. 

Call for Blog Submissions: Long Draw

While the Long Draw issue of PLY is already in the works (and it looks like another great one!) we are looking for quality related posts for the blog! Did you have an idea for this topic that you didn’t submit? Or did you miss the submission window?

The blog process is much simpler than the magazine process (which involves contracts and samples sent in, photographs, tech editing, etc.) Instead, you’ll need to send your own photos, and your post will go through a copy edit but no other part of the magazine article process. If your blog submission is accepted and published, we’ll send you a $50 honorarium via PayPal.

Please submit your blog post proposal by October 10, 2025. If your post proposal is accepted, we’ll need your words and photos by December 1, 2025. We’ll be posting the Long Draw posts on the blog in December 2025 and January or February 2026.

Find the mood board below!

PLY Winter 2025 – Long Draw (Blog posts)

This winter let’s talk about woolen yarns spun from long draws. We want to fill this issue with all the different long draw techniques around: point of contact/supported/American, English/double draft, unassisted, and from the fold. Can you tell us how each works? Which creates the loftiest yarn? Are you able to help spinners work with the wheel they have, no matter the drive system, to spin long draw? What about spindles and long draw? Which is best and what should a spinner look for? Charkhas? When spinning long draw, how do you change your yarn’s diameter? What about getting more consistent? What about plying and finishing? How do you do it and how important is it to woolen yarns? 

Conventional spinning knowledge tells us that woolen yarns are not as strong as worsted yarns, that they abrade quicker, that they don’t show stitch patterns as well, so let’s do some tests and see what’s true and what’s not. And if these things are true, how true are they? What about fiber preps? What impact do they have in the final yarn? Does it matter if we use a rolag, a batt, roving, or a puni? Let’s do all the tests and compare all the things! 

Of course we need some projects featuring these light and lofty yarns too. Do you have a design in mind for a warm winter sweater? A spindle-spun woolen shawl or cowl? What about crocheting with woolen yarns? 

Third Thursdays Guild Tip

Tonight is the PLY Spinners Guild Third Thursday foundational spin-in! Here’s a tip to tide you over until the spin-in! 

After you’ve jogged for two and a half hours and you’ve exhausted your muscles, what do your legs feel like the next day? Are they sore? Do they feel weak? How about when you’ve been lifting weights (not something I know from experience, but I’ve been told)? How do your arms feel the next day? Sore, right? 

Hand exhaustion is different. When we exercise our hands, it doesn’t always present as soreness.  

The first sign of hand exhaustion is clumsiness. We lose fine motor control. If you are using a drop spindle, you might notice after spinning for a long period that you start to drop your spindle more frequently. On a wheel, you might let your yarn slip through your fingers and have to rethread the orifice. You might also start to get a less consistent yarn.  

While you should take frequent breaks during a spinning session, once you get to the point of clumsiness, stop for the day. Rest your hands for an extended period. This is the hardest thing to do, because you’re usually in the zone when the clumsiness hits. However, this rest is what gives our bodies time to repair and rebuild muscle.  

We don’t usually think about the muscles in our hands, but it takes muscle to control fiber and twist. And it takes time to build up those muscles. Pottery and spinning use the same hand muscles, but very few other crafts use these muscles. Shorter spinning sessions on a frequent basis will help you build hand muscle far better than one marathon session.  

Neat! Now that you know something new about hand muscles…if you haven’t signed up for the Spinners Guild, you should check it out to learn all kinds of important facts from some of the smartest spinners out there! 


Meagan Condon is an internationally published writer and fiber artist with extensive experience teaching the gentle and not so gentle art of making yarn. Her areas of focus are microscopy of fiber, breed studies, plant fibers, natural dyes, digital community, and the science behind textiles. Since 2014, she has been teaching at fiber retreats and conferences across North America, and she is the director of marketing for PLY Magazine. You can follow her at www.luthvarian.com.