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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

Learning to Spin Online

words by Ashley Martineau As I was writing my book, Spinning and Dyeing Yarn, I noticed several challenges of teaching from a book. It felt nonsensical, like learning how to ride a bike by reading a sentence and looking at still photos. I realized if I was going to effectively reach my students, I needed […]

Book Review: Dyeing to Spin and Knit by Felicia Lo

reviewed by Sukrita Mahon With every kind of tutorial and technique easily searchable online, dyeing has never been more accessible to spinners and knitters. Most crafters are likely to experiment with some type of dyeing or colour blending at some point in their practice. The creator of Sweet Georgia Yarns, Felicia Lo, has managed to […]

Winter 2020 is coming

The Winter 2020 issue on Warmth is coming next month, and it’s specially crafted to keep you toasty as we slide into December. This issue is full of everything: it’s got smart, informative articles that run the gamut from dyeing (with Sasha Duerr) to how to spin the warmest worsted yarn possible, from what the […]

Make the Best of Your First-Version Handspun Yarns

words and photos by Sarah Elizabeth Your first textured creative yarn (art yarn) may feel like a disaster. I know mine did! Learning to draft thick and then thin, auto wrap thread, and try out other textured techniques left me with no shortage of “bad yarn”: yarn that at first glance and handle felt like […]

Review: Spinning for Socks online course

reviewed by Karen Robinson I love knitting socks, but I had never knit socks using handspun yarn. Even though I was inspired by the Sock issue of PLY (Winter 2018), I still hadn’t sat down and actually tried any of the techniques given in that issue. So I was really excited to take this online […]

Get to know the PLY team: Beth Vincelette

Beth provides PLY’s customer service, so when you write to the contact us email address or call the PLY phone number, Beth is who you’ll reach! Tell us a little bit about yourself, what fiber craft(s) you do, and how you got started in the fiber world. Knitting is my “main” fiber art, but I […]