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.
Reader Feature: Ruth Venables
words and photos by Ruth Venables
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started spinning. My mother and grandmother always encouraged me to be creative, and I really enjoyed visiting craft shows with them growing up. I was lucky that my primary school had some great volunteers who came in each week to teach us art and craft, and this is where I discovered weaving and then spinning, which was demonstrated for us to learn where yarn came from. My mum made me a drop spindle, and one of the school volunteers agreed to give me a few lessons on her wheel, and that’s where my love of spinning really began. I joined a local group and got my first wheel (an Ashford Traveller) soon after.
Do you have a favorite type of yarn to spin? At the moment, my standard yarn seems to be a sport weight 2 ply; I’ve been really focusing on creating smooth and consistent yarns to knit a sweater, but I’ve also been spinning lace and thread weight on my Turkish spindle. I’d like to have a go at creating art yarns next.
What do you like to make with your handspun yarn? I love a good scarf or shawl knitted in handspun yarn; now the weather is cooler I really look forward to choosing one to wear because it makes me so happy to be wearing something I’ve made! I’ve also been using my handspun yarns for weaving on my knitter’s loom to create scarves and cloth I can cut for jackets.
How long have you been reading PLY? I’ve been reading PLY since the very first issue. I was so pleased to find a spinning magazine that was colourful and relevant for the modern spinner. Before I read PLY, I had been led to believe that handspun yarn had to be woollen, 2-ply, and never, ever forward drafted. Imagine how my eyes were opened!
What do you look forward to most when you get an issue? I love to find a quiet moment and sit down with a cup of tea when I open my issue of PLY. My favourite articles are about techniques as I always find there’s something new to learn and I also love reading the reviews of wheels, spindles, and equipment. Although I sometimes find the articles quite technical, it really deepens my understanding and I’m a better spinner because of it.
Tell us about a project you worked on that was inspired by an article, project, or issue of PLY. I was really excited to read the support spindle issue as this is a new technique I’ve learned this year. I have used a drop spindle since I learned to spin, and last year I bought a Turkish spindle to add to my flock. This was soon joined by a support spindle, and I figured that if I could spin on a drop spindle it would be easy to transition. I watched a couple of videos and read an e-book and could spin quite smoothly, but I was finding it hard work; I could control the spindle, but the fibre and yarn was unruly – maybe it wasn’t for me?
When I swapped to a support spindle, I presumed that I would use my normal fibres, straight from the braid like I would for spinning at my wheel, but after reading PLY I could see where I was making mistakes, and I realised I needed to make some changes and start over. I changed my fibre straight away and reached for 100% alpaca; I would never consider using this with my wheel as it’s so fine, but it seemed it was made for the gentle art of support spindling.
I also read with amusement that I had been holding my fibre supply incorrectly and needed a lighter, more lady-like hold, so I carded an airy rolag and followed the photos and directions – suddenly I could spin on my support spindle without a death grip on either the fibre or the spindle and the yarn was flowing beautifully! My support spindle is now my friend, and we spend many happy evenings together spinning superfine fibres into yarn.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the PLY blog readers? Try different fibres. In general, I’m a wool or wool blend spinner, but I’ve spun some wonderful yarns on my support spindle by using finer fibres that I wouldn’t normally consider. I’ve become a better spinner by adventuring outside my comfort zone!
You can find Ruth on Ravelry as Ruthietoothie.
If you’d like to participate in an upcoming reader feature, fill out the reader feature form and Karen will contact you.
PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
Winter SCENE
Counting Sheep: Reflections and Observations of a Swedish Shepherd by Axel Lindén. “Norwegian Wood meets The Tao of Pooh in this philosophical, witty, and heartwarming collection of daily observations from a Swedish academic-turned-sheep farmer who finds peace and meaning outside the hustle and bustle of modern, urban life.”
Color Matching Dye Formulas: Alanna Wilcox has developed a service where a dyer can select a color from a photograph or a Pantone U color and I will send them a formula designed to help them match that color. The formula includes the brand of dyes to use, the specific colors of dyes, the amount of dyes, and the amount of acid needed to dye a particular weight of fiber. Her system isn’t endorsed or affiliated with Pantone, but rather the culmination of hours of experiments and testing.
New Zealand Gamekeepers Possum Fiber: A startup business in New Zealand is selling A-grade possum fibre (with yarn and roving to come). A booklet on “How to work with possum fibre for fibre artists” is coming. You can also find them on Facebook as a page and a group.
Use Your Oops
words and photos by Carole Bournias
Let me begin by saying I am not a patient person. Once I set my mind on something, it’s full steam ahead and I want to see results as quickly as possible! Unfortunately, I have found impatience does not work well in some projects, such as dyeing experiments. However, I’ve found a few ways to use my oops fibers instead of throwing them away in disgust.
Thrumming mitts
My first foray into dyeing wool seemed simple enough. I procured the needed supplies and dyes and watched a few YouTube videos. Then I couldn’t decide between low immersion, the crockpot, or steaming methods, so I decided to do all 3 at once because, hey, everything was out and the kitchen was already wrapped in plastic to prevent any possible spills. I happily prepared my dye stocks, squirted a bunch of different colors onto my soaked rovings, and set them all to cook different ways. What I wasn’t prepared for was the time it took for them to cool to room temperature, which where my impatience reared its ugly head. After about an hour, I dumped them all into a big colander. After another hour, they were still hot, so I started rearranging and fluffing a bit so they’d cool off faster. After another hour, I thought, “Well, I’ll just gently rinse them off with water a little cooler than the fiber.” Big mistake. I rinsed and then squeezed to get most of the water out, and then I set them in the sun to dry. After drying, although the colors were brilliant, I could not for the life of me pull off a staple length! Nor any length! Hmmm. I rolled them up and decided I would worry about that later.
About that time I was getting ready to make mitts for Christmas gifts. I had made thrummed mitts in the past, but people had advised me they were so bulky that they were unable to keep hold of a snow shovel or steering wheel. And personally, making all those individual thrums drove me crazy. I decided to try using roving and stranding it on the inside of the mittens to keep the warmth but not the bulk. Ah ha! Using that felted fiber would be perfect as it would not drift apart as easily as normal roving or top but would still provide protection from the cold and wind.
I set to work stripping (scratch that, I mean ripping) apart thin strips from my felted roving, and I used a basic mitten pattern I’ve had for ages. This was a slow process because it was definitely a rip instead of a normal strip! I just did a few inches at a time, trying to keep my strips as even as possible, about a quarter inch wide. Since my roving was multi-colored, I spun some white Cheviot to use as the main color and started knitting, using the roving to knit every 3rd stitch on every other row and taking care not to pull the stranded roving too tight. They came out wonderfully! I even used the roving in the ribbing, which created more beauty in the finished item.
Since then, I’ve been looking for different ways to use my oops and have even purchased more oops fiber from a popular indie dyer that was offered at a discount. (I had asked her if she had any extra, but she replied she hoped she would not have any more!) I know I am not the first person to think of stranding roving instead of using thrums for mitts, but let me tell you this technique is perfect for using up the occasional mistake. I can’t wait to try it for hats and slippers, or perhaps a cozy sweater or wrap for these cold winter months!
More ideas
I’ve had great luck adding bits to dryer balls. I roll white wool into balls and then take a small piece of felted roving and really stretch it out, gently pulling it in all directions to cover part or most of the ball as desired but still letting the base color show through. I use the nylon stocking method of stuffing them into knee highs, tying a knot in between each one, and throwing them in with a hot load in the washing machine and dryer to felt them. I have not had any color transfer, but I made sure the dye had been fully absorbed and the water was perfectly clear when I rinsed. If you experience any color leakage after you dye, I wouldn’t recommend using your felted fiber for dryer balls.
Tapestry weaving is another area to dabble in with your oops. Felted roving holds up fabulously with the abrasion of back and forth weaving across the warp. It’s interesting to see the color variations in the woven product, and it’s a very soft organic color shifting. How about needle felting? I bet it would be simple to needlefelt to a background.
There are so many ways to use up unintended oops fiber. I’m sure there are many more applications that I have not discovered yet!
Carole Bournias is a Buyer for a large food ingredient company. Residing in a small town on the banks of the St. Clair River in Michigan, her main focus is spinning, knitting, and creating. She is currently dabbling in dyeing and weaving; next on her bucket list is designing and commissioning.
PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
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