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.
Travelling with spindles
Words by Sissel Ellevseth
“The travelling itself is part of the journey,” my dad always said when my siblings and I started complaining about being bored in the back seat. The 1000-km drive to visit my grandparents in Vesterålen almost took the joy out of the summer vacation for us. Today, I don’t think much of it and rather enjoy spending hours upon hours in the car, my husband driving and myself spinning or knitting in the passenger seat.
I’m not much of a globetrotter. I’m perfectly fine at home with my stash and my tools, and I prefer to drive if I’m going somewhere. Sometimes though, I need to go by plane either for work or holidays. Every time I start to stress, not for the journey itself, but for the possibility of packing too little wool – or worse, for bringing the wrong projects for the trip. I start test packing wool and spindles early. It must be something rather compact because I do not like to drag several pieces of luggage. My travelling spinning project should bring me joy on the journey and not be something I will struggle with. It should be something special. I usually change my mind a couple of times before I go.
If I’m to pack for standing or walking spindling, I would choose a suspended spindle. I have a couple of already dinged up Bossies that do that duty. I know there are ways to support spindle while walking, but that is still on my list of skills to tackle later. However, for hanging around airports and for spinning on a plane, train, or bus, I prefer supported spindles. I feel I can sit and spin without constantly being watched. When sitting, I relax more with a supported spindle.
The only time I have had issues with spindles and security was in Orlando waiting in line for one of the Disney parks while spinning on a small Jenkins. The security officer in my line might very well have been a spindler herself. She spotted me early and signaled me to put my Turkish spindle away. When it was my turn, she politely told me it could be confiscated by the other security officers and advised me to bring other types to the park. I could not understand how my little Jenkins Aegean spindle could be dangerous, but of course I kept it away for the day. I had other spindles in my backpack, so I was good.
I have not been doing a lot of airplane spindling, but I always choose spindles that look the least like a weapon for vampire dealings. Nevertheless, I stand in line for security, anxious with my heart in my throat, hoping my spindles will go through without notice. Although I have not yet had any problems with airport security and my spindles, I wanted to be sure and ready for my next trip. I headed to the computer to find out more information. If you look up hand spindle or any other relevant word to spinning on the TSA’s pages, you do not get any hits. Knitting needles are allowed, and some airlines say wood or plastic are preferred over metal, circulars over straights, but no other limitations to sticks in general are mentioned.
There are a lot of different styles of supported spindles, and most of them look like they belong in van Helsing’s tool kit, some more than others. I have successfully brought phangs and small Tibetans on planes without hassle. How would security react if I were to bring a larger, pointier version? If I were to lose one of my precious carved WW spindles, I would be devastated for sure. I thought it best to check with the authorities.
I emailed the TSA, and after a few days they got back to me with an answer that did not exactly make me want to go on a plane trip with any spindle at all. Knitting needles are allowed up to 4 inches, and no tools at all measuring more than 7 inches. That excludes almost all but circular needles and the shorter sock needles. If tools are to be shorter than 7 inches, only my 2-inch Goldings would fly, and of all my supported spindles, only my takli spindle would be allowed, which is ironic since the takli was the one I thought would never be allowed.
What scared me the most in their answer, though, was the final words stating that officers have the discretion to prohibit any item through security if they believe it poses a security threat. And that after I assured the TSA in my email that all spindlers were peaceful and responsible people..
With that answer in mind, I am not sure I will ever bring my supported spindles on a plane again because I wouldn’t want to risk having them confiscated. For all other travelling, though, they are my first choice to sit and have a relaxing trip.
I might, of course, bring something small and replaceable and be sure to have means for it to escape security, if it should be detained and denied travelling with me. A padded envelope with my home address and with postage paid should be possible to have mailed at most airports.
Remember also to pack your precious safely as you do not know when something might fall out of your bag or when a fellow traveler might step on a bag of fiber and spindles. Imagine the horror! I prefer plastic containers for safety, but I also use an extra padded spindle bag that is nice to look at and that gives a fair protection to the spindles inside. I always pack at minimum 2 supported spindles together so they can support each other on the journey. At least that’s my excuse when my husband asks why I need to bring so many spindles on a trip…
Sissel Brun Ellevseth is a self-taught spinner and fiber wizard. Eleven years ago she started her spinning adventure, spinning for lace on a 120g spindle. Sissel lives with her husband and 2 girls in Bodø, north in Norway, where she teaches spindle classes on occasion, and in the daytime she repairs airplanes to pay for her fiber addiction.
Call for Tips
We’d love to get your tips for our Winter issue on Warmth.
If you want to spin the warmest yarn, what fiber/fiber blend would you use? (If you’d like to include what draft and plying you would combine in that fiber, please do!)
Head over to the Tip Jar submission page and send us your tip!
Reader Feature: Chantily Lovelace
Chantily posted on the PLYAway board on Ravelry about the “classes” she was taking at home since PLYAway was canceled, so she’s here to share a little bit about that with you as well as a little more about herself.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started spinning.
I’ve been playing with string for as long as I can remember – making webs in the living room of the mobile home my dad had bought from his brother and tying the front door into my web so Mom had to cut it before Dad could get in when he came home from work. I learned to crochet from my mom who taught me what she learned in evening classes. I learned to knit from a 4-H project manual. Spinning seemed magical when I saw it happen, when a former coworker pulled out a drop spindle. Twelve years ago, I demonstrated weaving on an inkle loom at Shepherd’s Cross Farm outside Claremore, OK, and made an acquaintance who was gracious enough to host me for a weekend and pay for me to spend a day learning to spin on a wheel, an Ashford Kiwi. I bought a drop spindle and got going in 10 minutes (I learned how to start without a leader and took off). I have not stopped since.
Do you have a favorite type of yarn to spin?
My default is somewhere between a thick fingering and a thin DK. I generally prefer a smooth yarn over art yarn. I have been working on intentionality, deciding beforehand what yarn I want using tools that measure for consistency. The latest is attempting to duplicate the weight of a commercial yarn recommended for a particular cardigan, Koronki, that I picked for a MeMadeMay challenge of meeting the criteria of including red, mohair, and a pleat. Fibers I love spinning are BFL and Cormo. Luxury fibers are cashmere and paco-vicuña, not that I get them very often.
What do you like to make with your handspun yarn?
I have no particular garment or accessory I prefer in handspun. When I started spinning I chose to buy fiber over yarn for getting more enjoyment for my money. My first handknit out of handspun was the Adamas shawl out of a thick lace/sock weight yarn from mohair, shetland, and alpaca that I hand blended with combs.
How long have you been reading PLY?
I’m a newer reader of PLY, looking it over after taking my first class at the 2nd PLYAway. I susbcribed and ordered back issues after PLYAway 5 was cancelled. I’ve been reading those since, looking through the issues most relevant to something I’m doing.
What do you look forward to most when you get an issue?
I’ve enjoyed articles written by PLYAway instructors I have taken classes from – as a way to refresh what’s rolling around in my head from class.
Tell us about not being able to have PLYAway and what you did instead.
I was so hoping COVID-19 would not affect (or minimally affect) PLYAway. It’s my one big fiber event. I don’t travel well, so having something this big so close is wonderful beyond words. I can count myself fortunate that the canceling of PLYAway was my only sorrow in the pandemic, but still, I was heartbroken. I get so much new learning to incorporate and work with over the rest of the year, and it’s the one event where I feel energized by being around people because I’m with people who share my favorite thing to do.
When PLYAway week approached, I decided to do “PLYAway At Home”: I wore my T-shirts and plotted out some activities I knew would take at least a day to do and some that would be a challenge. One day was “Learn to Love the Dealgan.” I watched Lois Swales’ “Spin Like You’re Scottish” on YouTube and then ordered a shorter, heavier dealgan to see if it was me or the tool. A heaver tool with a shorter neck worked better; it’s a bit of a wobbly thing.
I spent a day blending a batt on a blending board and making rolags, attempting to come close to replicating a tiny sample of yarn I wanted more of.
I spent time finishing some Cormo wool I had prepped and spun earlier. Hot soak, twacking, and a cool rinse led to blue fluffiness.
I couldn’t pass up experiencing Spin & Nosh (mostly noshing), so bought sheep milk cheeses from The Better Cheddar – shoutout to Green Dirt Farm’s spreadable sheep cheese.
And then, shopping! Live virtual shopping at Spry Whimsy got me 2 Uncharted Waters spindles and Essential Fibers roving.
The Natural Twist was very happy to custom blend big batts, using pictures of spring colors that I sent.
The 100th Sheep had gorgeous colors in Cormo – yes, I’m in love with Cormo.
I also bought pansy-themed yarn from Fairy Tailspun Fibers, blue & white from The Fiber Sprite, the PLYAway color from Essential Fibers, and yarn from Greenwood.
I certainly hope PLYAway can happen next year. In the meantime, I have a whole lotta spinning.
Chantilly Lovelace is the outreach chair for the Fiber Guild of Greater Kansas City. You can find her as Chantillylace on Ravelry.
If you’d like to participate in an upcoming reader feature, fill out the reader feature form and Karen will contact you.
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