The making of a prehistoric IKEA bag, Part 1

Ever wonder how people survived before the invention of those giant bags from IKEA? Apparently the answer is, they made their own! Christina Pappas shows us how it was done in this two-part post, starting today! When we last met, we took a long look at the slippers I’ll be replicating for this project. This […]

My Favorite Way to Get Spinning Done

It seems like at the beginning of the new year every spinner I know has the goal of spinning more. Me included! This year I want to spin 10 new-to-me-dyers and make 12 things for myself (some handspun some not). I have a favorite trick to get myself to spin more, it works for me […]

Fair Fiber Wage, a look from the other side

You can’t pay people what they’ll take, you have to pay them what they’re worth. This simple premise becomes difficult for a myriad of reasons. The first and most confusing for some is that often people don’t know what they’re worth. That not knowing comes from a culture of silence, a lack of transparency, and […]

Spindles – They are for everybody

I’m primarily a wheel spinner. Actually it’s been that way since I learned to spin. I love my wheels. I love how they look. I love how I imagine I look when I’m using them (don’t laugh). Many of the classes I teach are wheel focused classes. But I like spindles too. I have plenty […]

Would you like to teach at PLY Away 2017?

PLY Away 2016 was a resounding success and we’re already hard at work planning 2017 and 2018!

Use Your Yarn

I teach a lot of classes and I am always surprised at how many spinners I meet who don’t use their handspun yarns for projects. They give me lots of reasons for it. (1) They don’t think they have enough yarn for a project or (2) they don’t have enough matching skeins or (3) they think […]

Learning to Love the Singles yarn

Guest blogger Amberlee Venters visits us today with her story of learning to spin outside her own box and give singles yarn a try, both for spinning and knitting. If you’ve ever been hesitant to spin a singles yarn, Amberlee’s story might just inspire you to try an experiment of your own. ——————————————————————————————————–   The […]

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 […]

Thin? It’s All Relative

Our latest issue of PLY is all about spinning thin yarn. When I think about thin yarn I think about that finer-than-fine yarn, that’s really thread, some spinners can spin. I say some spinners because so far I’m not one of them.   As I read through this issue I realized that thin is relative. […]