Archive for category: We couldn’t fit it in the print issue!

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 course from Alanna Wilcox on Spinning for Socks.

Upon purchase of the course, I received a PDF with a link to the course and a unique password. The course contains two hours of pre-recorded videos that you can watch on your own schedule as many times as you’d like. (You can schedule individual one-on-one lessons with Alanna after taking the class if you need/want more in-depth lessons.) There are also 3 worksheets provided as part of the course: an overview of the videos, a chart of wool grades and micron counts, and a twist gauge tool.

On the course website, the list of prior knowledge makes it clear what you need to know to be successful in this course. Essentially, it’s suitable for spinners with a basic knowledge of spinning. A list of materials is also provided, although it is recommended to watch all of the videos first before purchasing any items to be sure you don’t buy anything you personally wouldn’t find beneficial.

The videos include an introduction plus 4 videos, with a time stamp list of contents for each video so you can jump to a specific topic. This is very handy for when you want to go back and watch part of a video again. Videos are between 21 and 35 minutes long.

The intro video gives a brief overview of the workshop, why you’d want to use handspun for socks, and suggestions for how to go through the workshop. The course videos cover spinning from already prepared fiber as well as spinning from fleece. Alanna does a good job outlining at the beginning of each video what will be covered in the video. Each video contains some lecture, some demonstration, and some slides with images. Overall the presentation is clear and organized.

Video breakdown

The first video gives a good overview of the considerations to keep in mind when planning for spinning and knitting socks (desirable sock qualities). An advanced spinner would probably be familiar with this information already, but the video is still worthwhile watching for little tidbits here and there. For someone less familiar with this information, you’ll get a solid foundation.

One small issue I noticed is that when you finish a video (which is hosted on Vimeo), another video from Alanna’s channel comes up (not related to this course). Although it doesn’t autoplay, it does replace the course video on the website you are viewing, so if you want to get back to the course video, you need to refresh the page.

The second video looks specifically at the best wool for socks as well as possible blends. Alanna shows example of carding and pulling through a diz and gives options for what to do if you don’t have hand cards. (You can also use commercial top.) There’s a short quiz toward the end of the video giving 3 options for you to choose which blend would be best for socks, which is nice to test the knowledge you’ve learned in this lesson.

The third lesson is divided into 2 videos. The first one starts with a lesson on worsted spinning and uses short backward draw. At one point in the video, the sound quality isn’t quite as good (it seems like some minor feedback); if you’re listening with earbuds, you should watch for this about 5 minutes in because it might be jarring to your ears (it lasts about 5 minutes). Alanna does a worsted vs woolen comparison (which is a little repetitive because it was also done in the first video but it’s more in depth and can be good to reinforce the knowledge, especially if it’s new to you). She shows how to measure twist angle and then gives a challenge for you to try out measuring twist. (I found this to be a really helpful part of the course.) She also shows how to use plyback samples to figure out the best twist and WPI to use. (Note: the camera had some autofocus issues during this part.)

In part 2 of the third lesson, Alanna shows you how to deconstruct commercial sock yarn to find twists per inch of both plied yarn and the singles and then shows how to spin to match that commercial sock yarn. The focus here is on how much twist to add in both the single and the plied yarn. She discusses the number of plies best appropriate for sock yarn; however, she does not mention other options such as cable, crepe, or opposing ply yarn. She also talks a bit about fiber prep and wheel setup. The challenge for this lesson is to spin a specific WPI and twist angle yarn using a fiber recommended.

There are some great examples of pretty handspun socks (credit given to the spinners/knitters at the end of the last video). If you like cats, make sure to watch to the very end.

The verdict

If you’re new to sock spinning (or have tried sock spinning but haven’t felt successful) and want a good foundation for where to start, this video course will definitely be helpful to you. If you’ve done some spinning for socks using 3-ply and 4-ply yarns that you’re happy with and want to expand your skills beyond those yarn constructions, you won’t find that in this particular video course, though you may find some tips sprinkled throughout that you would find helpful.

My sock spinning experience so far

As for myself, I started with some BFL fiber and spun some samples to put on a card to help keep me consistent as I spun. I feel like I did great with regard to the twist angle and twists per inch; however, I was so focused on that part that I didn’t pay as close attention to my WPI. So when I finished my 3-ply yarn, I realized that it was more of a sport weight than the fingering weight yarn I had been aiming for.

I did start knitting a sock with it, but I used my usual size needles for fingering weight yarn and realized that was making my hands hurt. So I haven’t finished the first sock yet (and I even made it an ankle sock) as the knitting is slow going. But I did spin only half of the fiber, so with the other half, I’m trying again, this time trying to focus as much on the thickness of the yarn as I did on the twist. I’m still working on this project but so far I’m already noticing a difference and feel hopeful that this attempt will produce something much closer to the fingering weight yarn I am aiming for.

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.

On October 18, Jacey Faulkner and Jillian Moreno kicked off the PLY vlog with a live virtual chat with spinners from around the world. If you missed the vlog (or just want to hear it again), you can catch up with it here. Listen as Jacey and Jillian each share their favorite parts of the recent Basics issue. Watch with glee as Jacey shares one of the mystery boxes she receives from Judith MacKenzie, filled with surprises for each issue. Need a visual on joins for both worsted and woolen spinning? Jacey shows you how she does each. Jillian shares the wonderful fiber and tools from indie artists featured in the Basics issue. You’ll also get a sneak peek at the upcoming Winter issue on Warmth and learn some behind the scenes secrets of PLY. Don’t miss the great Q&A as they answer questions from spinners like you! (And watch for announcements for future live vlogs from PLY.)

Links mentioned in the video:

Ply Basics

A Spinner’s Dozen

Rachel Smith Wool n’ Spinning

Katie Weston – Hilltop cloud

Hipstrings

Grittyknits

Cat and Sparrow

Sheepspot

Akerworks Bobbins

Into the Whirled

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.

words and photos by Sally Hands

As a committed spindle spinner for over 10 years, I thought the time had come to spin a really big project.

I usually use local fleece as I’m lucky enough to live in Wales where we have more sheep than people. I’m also a big fan of the Fibreshed movement and of saving the planet. I won’t use fibre with air miles on it; I buy local and grow my own dyes – woad and madder for blue and brick red and onion skins from the kitchen for yellow.

A couple of summers ago, I came back from a nearby farm (Cwmchwefru Wool) with a big Corriedale/ Shetland fleece, soaked it overnight, washed it in the morning with dish soap in very hot water, and then spun it in the machine in sections inside a pillowcase.

Over a period of weeks, I dyed it with the plant dyes from the garden. I had to source some woad from a supplier as I didn’t have enough fresh stuff. I ended up with a big pile of multicoloured fluff in different shades. The dyeing didn’t have to be consistent since I was going to blend and mix it.

It’s nice sometimes to make projects with minimal equipment in a small space. With a spindle, rigid heddle loom, and something to card or comb with, this was one of those projects. Even a relative beginner could make this, and if you weren’t a confident spindle spinner when you started, you would be when you finished! For a beginner, I’d recommend you prepare a smooth lump-free length of fibre; I comb mine and then blend it a bit, either by using a blending board or just by breaking off small pieces of coloured fluff and spinning them randomly. And it helps to pre-draft.

My favourite spindle is a Turkish spindle from Ian Tait at IST Craft on the Isle of Wight, and this spindle was great for all the singles. To make a 2 ply, I put 2 cops into 2 old teapots and plied from the spouts. This puts a useful tension on the yarn as you ply. I plied on the heavy low-whorl spindle I learned to spin on. I was using the same yarn for warp and weft and spun both the same way, but I did put a bit of extra twist in. You don’t want your yarn fraying in the beater as it’s woven. The singles were a lively multicoloured thread in blues, reds, and yellows, and I plied randomly.

This way of spinning is slow. With the Turkish spindle I have to watch my hands for the over-two under-one wind on. It could be quicker to use a light high whorl spindle with a faster spin and an easier wind on where you don’t have to look at your hands. But my Turkish spindle is a favourite, and this was a big project; I’d be spinning a little bit every day for nearly a year, so I used the spindle I loved. I work as an artist and musician and have come to realise it’s the process that is a joy more than the finished piece.

I almost always spin my default yarn. It’s quite fine: the singles are 32 WPI, and the 2 ply is 18 WPI. I spin a small cop as twirling a heavy spindle hurts due to an old shoulder injury. My 2-ply skein weighed about 32 grams when it was washed and measured around 90 yards. I looked at the first skein in these colours and thought it looked lovely. Only another 25 skeins to go!

When the pile of skeins grew to about 20, I just had to wind the warp. I couldn’t wait to see the colour effect. I wound a warp on the rigid heddle loom that was 28 inches wide. Since I was going to weave 120 inches, I added on top of that about 18 inches to the warp for waste. The warp in the random spun yarn looked yummy!

I quickly went on to spin the rest of the yarn and wove the weft to 120 inches. After cutting the fabric off the loom and admiring it, I zig-zagged with the sewing machine across the middle halfway up and cut across, giving me 2 rectangles measuring 28 inches x 60 inches. After being washed, it was a little smaller. I pressed it damp after again spinning it in the washing machine in a pillowcase to protect it and stitched it by hand into a loose cocoon coat.

I’ve been so pleased with this simple coat. I’ve been asked where I bought it, and I’ve worn it to the opera. My yarn wove nicely in a 10-dent reed, but you can spin the yarn to any thickness; just warp it in a fatter reed if it’s thicker. I’ve seen loads of cocoon jackets and coats on Pinterest this year, and if you want to be environmentally friendly you can wear it over basic leggings and a t-shirt and look dressed up. You don’t have to shop for new clothes.

I’m considering my next big project and may buy black, fawn, and grey fleece from the farm and make a multicoloured yarn in natural sheep shades next time. Just don’t worry about quick projects; enjoy the spinning. It’s the process that satisfies the soul!

Sally Hands is an artist and musician working in  Wales. She spends all day making and teaching art and music; at night  she has acquired the bad habit of spindle  spinning lying across an armchair with her feet in her husband’s lap demanding a foot massage. You can find her @sallyhands on Instagram.

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.

reviewed by Sukrita Mahon

Perhaps because of the rise of the internet and social media, spinning is enjoying a revival – possibly its second one in the post-industrial era, the first having taken place in the 1960s–70s or so. In a lot of ways, though, it remains a niche interest, with quirks that even those within the community struggle to explain. One such quirk is demonstrated in the highly unusual format of this “book”: it’s a USB drive shipped manually, containing an interactive PDF and videos. I’m just as baffled as you probably are. Why not make the files available for download?

This “book” was published in 2012, and I wonder if this was an attempt on the author’s part to bypass both conventional publishing routes as well as the personal expense of self-publishing. I do wish they had an alternative method of distribution and still hold out hope of an upgrade one day.

The buy-the-USB format means the book is highly inconvenient and expensive to purchase outside the U.S. or Americas. I had purchased my copy in Australia through the spindle maker Malcolm Fielding, as part of a “learn to spin on supported spindles” set. This offering is no longer available since the maker has retired and passed on the business to their successor. If I had to purchase it from the U.S. today, the price combined with shipping would be a serious deterrent.

That said, if you can get over the feeling of confusion of buying a “USB book,” the material it contains is excellent. Trying to learn support spindle spinning can be a very frustrating experience. There seems to be almost no literature on the subject (barring a few magazine issues), videos online feel incomplete and lacking enough description, and local guilds may or may not have the required knowledge. Fleegle, aka Susan, provides all the technical information for the beginner to start spinning supported.

There are many reasons to learn support spindle spinning: it’s the only way I find it possible to spin cotton, for instance. It can be a much more accessible way of learning to spin long draw, as it feels a lot more intuitive than on a wheel. I often hear that support spinning may be more comfortable for long stretches of time compared to using a drop spindle, but I’m awkward enough that either can result in pinched nerves. For those who prefer spinning seated, or who have mobility issues, it may be worth looking into as an option.

The book contains an interactive PDF and a printable PDF, along with 25-odd videos. It is photo-heavy and humorously written, briefly referencing the Ravelry forums, where the idea for the book originated – Fleegle is the author’s Ravelry name. This may or may not be appealing to readers, depending on how they relate to the “forum era” of the internet. I have to admit that there’s a portion about a hairy frog that I’m still puzzled about but don’t care enough to try to understand.

The section on fiber is very extensive: it covers dog and cat hair, possum, cow and horse hair, deer hair, pig fur… the list is endless and fascinating. I learned a lot from it, despite the fact that almost every spinning book has a fiber chapter. The author takes full advantage of the fact that we have unprecedented access to novel fibers today, and the idea that we are only limited by our imaginations is very freeing. The experimental portions, such as spinning straw, are interspersed with practical information, such as how to handle various preparations of silk.

For those looking to use plant-based fibers, there is a section on flax, ramie, nettle, milkweed, fireweed, pineapple, and even kozo or mulberry paper. The author correctly calls out the polluting processing methods of increasingly popular fibers, such as bamboo, soy, banana, and milk, that are promoted as plant-based despite being unsustainable. There is even a section on spinning with feathers.

Fleegle goes on to explore color and working with different fiber preparations for support spindles: from processing and working with raw fleece to using dyed tops and blended batts. It is quite in-depth but still interesting for intermediate-level spinners. The ever-relevant question of how to avoid colors blending into “mud” as they are spun is addressed. There are tutorials on making fauxlags and pseudo-rolags, which are very useful for long draw.

There’s a chapter called Support Spindles Around the World, which explores the various spindle styles and traditions that exist worldwide. The diversity in form and spinning style in each tradition is very intriguing. This chapter ends with a portion on bead style spindles, which I have yet to use. However, there is an instructional chapter on how to make your own bead spindle, with photographs. The book mentions another spindle I have yet to see in the wild – a lap spindle with built-in support. These are available online from makers such as Spindolyn.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when trying to decide on a spindle to buy, although it gets easier with practice. The section on the anatomy of a support spindle and what to look for is extremely useful. Many of their favorite makers are listed here, which is helpful despite the fact that such a list could never be conclusive. The author has gone above and beyond in giving us readers all the information we may need: even to the extent of showing step-by-step photos of how support spindles are made.

The spinning how-tos are meticulously presented, with every technique both written out and demonstrated on video. Special care is taken to show both left- and right-handed technique. Among the tutorials are park and draft, long draw, and semi-continuous spinning. Fleegle spins with an ease that is so graceful and enviable; it makes you want to be that good, too. They go on to explain how to make a cop, whether to choose to make a temporary cop or a permanent one, and what the difference is. Despite the detail, the reader is encouraged to try everything and break the rules.

Plying on a support spindle is examined in some depth, even though it’s a little impractical. We are walked through troubleshooting steps while winding off onto plying balls, which is much appreciated. In case you were looking for a real challenge, there is a how-to on chain plying on a support spindle. Personally, I don’t think I’m going to try that anytime soon, but it’s good to know it’s possible.

The book ends with a section on spinning bowls, which is amusing since the novice support spinner may not yet know that bowl collecting is about to be a significant part of their new interest.

All in all, Fleegle Spins Supported is a fantastic resource for the beginning support spindler, particularly one who feels disheartened with most available tutorials. It’s just a shame about the USB format.

Rating: 3.5/5

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.