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.
Consistency
I love a smooth, consistent yarn. I do. I love how that kind of yarn feels and drapes. I love to spin them too. I love the rhythm of it.
I’ve spent almost my entire spinning career working toward getting my yarns to be more consistent and learning what helps to make that happen. The great thing about all of that focus is that learning those things has helped me to be able to have the control I need to make almost any yarn that I try.
Every spinning skill that we learn transfers to so many other techniques.
So, let me give you two tips for how to be more consistent in your spinning.
Tip number one: When you are drafting using a short forward draw, draw out only about one half of the staple length for each draft. This will improve things almost immediately if you are sturggling with consistency. Do that with every draft and your yarn will improve.
Tip number two: get your hands and feet into a rhythm. This works with both woolen and worsted spinning. For example, say you are treadling at about the tempo of a waltz. 1,2,3 and 1,2,3. Now draft in the same rhythm. Draft, slide, hold and draft, slide hold. Often inconsistencies in yarn can come from inconsistencies in twist so if you can get your hands and feet to work together the twist will be pretty consistent over the whole bobbin.
If you are interested in knowing all of my tips for consistent yarn, I have a new video that was just released yesterday that’s called Spinning to Get Even. It’s from Interweave and is available as a DVD or a download.
Where Does Spinning Lead You?
I was so excited to interview Diane Varney for this new issue of PLY. Her book, Spinning Designer Yarns, has been such an inspiration to so many spinners.
I was excited to hear what inspired her and to find out what she was spinning now. Except she’s not spinning now, not at all. She spun enthusiastically for a time, wrote the book, taught for a couple of years and then quit spinning. I was stunned. There is so much love of spinning and fiber her book, I assumed she would still be doing it 20 years down the road. It turned out that for Diane spinning lead her to other things, embroidery, metal work, and ultimately painting.
I’ve thought about that a lot since I talked to Diane. For me spinning had lead me to other things, but they also include spinning. I started stitching and instantly wanted to use handspun. I’m picking up weaving again and won’t pretend anything other than I’m most curious about how my handspun will behave in the loom. Spinning is so enmeshed in my craft thinking that every new craft I try includes spinning in some way, rather than just being a stepping stone to to other media. Twenty years down my road I’m sure I’ll still be spinning.
Where has spinning led you?
Proper Chairs
Don’t ask me about what chair to sit in when you spin. Don’t ask me about posture. I got nuthin’.
I will say that when you are learning to spin it is important to sit in a chair that is a height that allows you to reach the treadles. I think one with a back is nice.
I have always been a comfortable chair spinner. I sat on the couch when I was learning but at home I have a rocking recliner that I sit in.
Sometimes I like a little stool off to the side so I can prop one foot up. The arm on this chair is just about right at my elbow so when i’m doing long draw I can prop my elbow and just move my fore arn back and forth. It’s very comfortable.
But last weekend I went to spin at Jillian‘s house and I sat in the spot I usually spin in. I like that spot. There is a table on my right side just like at home. I can put my cup there and it’s very comfortable. One thing I noticed this time (and maybe it’s because I’ve been spinning so much lately) is that the arm on Jillian’s couch is much higher than the arm on my chair at home.
Seriously, it’s like armpit height. That means I had to adjust my spinning technique. Instead of holding my arm at a 90 degree angle like at home, I held it straight out. See? I still found a way to use the arm rest and make myself comfortable.
I’m not saying that certain chairs don’t work better for different wheels. My Norm Hall Castle wheel has treadles that are a bit higher off the floor than the Schachts and it is a bit more heavy feeling to treadle and so I need a chair that is a tiny bit higher. That calls for Lou’s (Mr Beth) recliner with a pillow behind my back. It works great.
All I’m saying is get comfy when you spin. Try out all the chairs and try different sitting positions. And if you are very comfortable and your one foot is propped up and you are too far away to move the thread to a new hook, get your kid to do it, or teach your dog to do it. Not sure if the cat will, though.
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