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.
Keeping Track While Spinning and Lazy
There are a lot of different ways to keep track of your yarn for consistency while spinning. I like the lazy ways. Here are four ways to keep track that I use when I spin.
On the left, WPI gauge: I love this one from Nancy’s Knit Knacks. I find I get a more consistent reading with this one because I roll the yarn on rather than wrap it, so it goes on gently not pulled tight. I use this way of measuring while I spin the least.
On the right, Spinner’s Control Card/WPI Gauge: This is a piece of clear plastic that has lines painted on it approximating the WPI of yarn. To use it, hold your yarn either on top or under the plastic and see where your yarn fits but doesn’t extend past the lines. I used to use this one a lot, but I kept forgetting what number my yarn was supposed to be, so I moved on. This is my third favorite way of measuring.
In the middle, Card of Laziness (two ways of measuring in one): Some spinners call these control cards, but I’m not about control, I’m about lazy. I use card stock tags. On the top I wrap unfinished singles. While I spin I can compare the singles I’m spinning to the ones on the card, by holding them side by side. On the bottom of the card on the left is a ply back sample made from fresh single twisted back on itself and pretending to be a balanced 2-ply. Every so often while spinning, I pull a length of single from the bobbin, let it twist back on itself and compare it to my ply back sample. (The yarn on the bottom right is 2-ply that has been finished.) I use these two way of measuring almost interchangeably, but the singles wrapped on the card wins as my #1 because it really uses the least effort, skipping that time-consuming plying-back stage.
I can’t spin without measuring now. While I do like my yarn to be mostly consistent, I’m not anal about it. I’ve spun too many yarns that start out worsted and finish less than DK to shun measuring while I spin. I’ve reluctantly become a measurer, but a lazy one.
Tell me your measuring stories!
finishing
wristbands or tyvex envelopes cut down
Scouring
It’s January and around my house that usually means a lot of wool washing is going to happen. I have 8 teaching appointments this year and almost everyone chooses classes that require unprocessed wool. That’s because around 75% of my class list consists of classes that are about processing wool from raw. I love it. I think the yanr you get when you do your own processing is better than the yarn you spin from mill processed stuff – that’s not to say that i 
don’t spin plenty of mill process wool. It’s like thinking about cakes. The completely home made from scratch cake will always be better than the box mix but that box mix surely has its place on my shelf.
Anyway, when I get to scouring I usually wash about 60 to 80 pounds per week. This year my list has 21 breeds that need a good dunk in the hot water. That will take me about 3 weeks to complete.
Everyone has their favorite method for scouring raw fleece and I thought I’d talk about mine today.
I’ve read every article that has come in my view about scouring and talked to other spinners who love raw fleece and from all of them I developed the method that works best for me and my space. I tried doing the whole fleece in the bath tub and I hated it. I ended up wet from my shoulders to my waist. Plus all that getting down onto the floor made me sad.
I tried it in the washing machine tub but I hated it because at first it was too scary and then it was just too much moving the wet wool in and out of the tub. as the water filled and drained.
I haven’t tried the fermented suint method because I need to get the wool washed now and it takes too long…plus it stinks.
In addition, I have tried most of the wool scouring products plus Dawn and Orvus and found that my favorite is Unicorn Power Scour. One of the main reasons I love it is because there is no need to boil water to get the temperature high enough to melt the lanolin. There is some kind of magic ingredient that makes that not necessary and since I wash wool in my laundry room on the second floor, heating water would make me crazy.
So after all that, what do I do? I have 4 tubs that I use. I got them from the people at Soak. They call the ones I use Phil. You can get them from the Soak website or your local shop that sells Soak products. These basins hold between 1.5 and 2 pounds of wool depending on the breed and how fluffy it is. That’s why I have 4. If I have a fleece that weighs 8 pounds I can almost always wash the whole thing all at one time. 
So, I line the basins up using my washer and dryer as a counter top. I have a utility sink next to the washer and I have a cut off garden hose attached to the faucet. This way I can direct the water to the tub that is furthest away without having to move it an extra time. (ignore the messy stuff around the sink, please.)
I turn on the hot water and let it run a bit until it is as hot as it will get. We have our hot water heater set to 120 degrees F. (Unicorn recommends 140 but this temp works for me.) Then I start filling the 
buckets until they are a little over 3/4 full. It seems like a lot when you are going to put the wool in but the wool soaks up some water and often I have to top them off a bit after the wool is in.
But before I add the wool I add the wool wash. The Power Scour works sort of like dye as far as how you determine the amount to use. It is based on the weight of the wool you want to wash. For these basins when I am washing about 2 pounds I add around 2 to 3 tablespoons in the first soak.
When I add the wool I push it down into the water. I have a couple of paint stirrers on the shelf for this purpose.
I soak the wool in the hot water and scour for at least 15 minutes. It’s important to not forget about the wool at this point because if the water cools and the lanolin sets back onto the wool it can be much more difficult to remove.
So, after 15 minutes I take the basin to the sink and dump it out. I squeeze out a bit of the water and refill the basin with hot water. At this point I add half as much
of the scour to the basin. After all 4 have been emptied and refilled I let them soak for another 15 minutes.
I repeat the process 2 more times but with only clear water. So that’s 2 washes and 2 rinses. After the last soak the water may not be clear. There may still be some dirt showing but I don’t worry about it. There are several more opportunities to get the last bit of dirt out.
At this point when i dump out the basin in the sink, I transfer the wool into lingerie bags. I 
used to just squeeze out as much water as I could and then roll the wool in towels but I like to spin it out in the washer now. It gets out more water and I don’t have as many sopping wet towels laying around.
One bag will hold all of the wool from one basin.
I let it go through the whole spin cycle. Make sure that your washer doesn’t spray water during the spin. If it does, you can turn off the water going to the washer during this part.
And finally I take the wool to the drying racks.
These are just sweater drying racks that are stackable. I have several of them and if I run out of space i move to the floor. I wash wool until there is no more space and then I may need to take a a day or off while the fleeces dry and some space is available. I make sure to write the breed on a card and place it next to the wool. Sometimes if you have several white fleeces drying next to each other it can be a little confusing so the labels are important.
All of this takes about 90 minutes from start to finish and I feel pretty accomplished.
Do yu have any special things you do to wash your fleece?
If you are interested in playing with the fleeces i’m scouring now, come and see me in Boulder Colorado! I’ll be ther in February. Here’s the link for registration. http://www.handweaversofboulder.org/explore/forms/HGBBethSmithRegistration.pdf
Facts about PLY – What makes us different?
Lately we’ve been working on outreach – getting the word out about PLY so that we can get our magazine into the hands of more spinners – and in that process, we’ve put together a little list of “fun facts” about PLY as a way to introduce ourselves to new people.
Even if you’ve been with us for a while – subscribing, reading this blog, following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – we think you might find this interesting!
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We’ve all probably heard (or used) the phrase “Spinning – because knitting isn’t weird enough!” And maybe that’s one of the greatest things about being a spinner – embracing the “weird,” and doing something a little bit different from what everyone else is doing.
Here at PLY, we like that we’re different from other magazines on the market. And if you’ve been reading our magazine for a while, chances are you like our differences, too! Here are some ways we embrace our own “weird” and strive to stand out in the magazine publishing and fiber arts industries.
Facts about PLY Magazine
- PLY Magazine is owned and run by Jacey Boggs Faulkner, an avid spinner. No other company or person owns, operates, or has a stake in it.
- PLY has a main staff of 3: Jacey (editor in chief, director, ads, accounting, etc), Kitten, Jacey’s ex-husband and good friend (layout and design), and Bernadette, Jacey’s best friend (photography). There are 5 other people that help out: Utah, Jacey and Kitten’s 13 year old does some graphic work; Levi, Jacey’s husband, packs and ships all the back issues; Karen who does all the freelance copy editing; Jessica B. upkeeps the website; and Jessica C. does much personal assisting.
- PLY is proud to pay everyone involved in making it great a living wage, almost 4 times the industry standard. That means that all writers, designers, illustrators, and photographers get paid. (The only person not getting a regular salary is Jacey.)
- PLY is always themed, printed on thick, archival, white paper, has a printable spine, and is shipped in a recycled plastic wrapper to protect it from damage.
- PLY believes that it’s not just known names that have something valuable to contribute to the spinning world and to that end we accept article proposals from every spinner!
- Jacey believes in transparency and strives to always be fair and truthful.
- PLY started at 104 pages and was recently upped to 112 pages.
- Each issue never has more than 15% advertising (most magazines are 50%-75%).
- PLY’s advertising ads are affordable, to allow indie fiber companies to have feasible advertising.
- Because of the low percentage and price of ads, PLY’s subscriptions make up the majority (80% – 90% instead of the normal 10% – 15%) of revenue. That means that every single subscription counts and also explains why the subscriptions are a bit more than other non-independent magazines and why PLY never goes on sale.
- PLY is published 4 times a year (March, June, Sept, and Dec). The price for a subscription in the US is $36.
- PLY was started with the money from a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $37,000 in a week. That’s when we knew we were really onto something.
- Currently, each issue of PLY takes $75,000 to produce. That includes everybody getting paid (except Jacey). Each issue brings in $12,000 in ad revenue which means that the subscriptions have to make up the other $62,000 each issue ($248,000 annually) at the current subscription number. So when we tell you that we really appreciate that you’re a subscriber – we mean it!
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If we’ve convinced you that this publication might just be worth a read, you can head here to subscribe or pick up a back issue in our shop.
If you love what makes PLY different and enjoy reading the magazine, we hope you’ll share our message with your spinning friends!
“Hey spinners! Have you heard of @Plymagazine? Read all about what makes them different, in a good way: https://plymagazine.com/?p=8285”
(Click to tweet this!)
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