You’ve got something to say about spinning!
Summer 2024 Mood Board – Reference
Summer is the perfect time to fine tune our spinning skills. We thought it would be great to put together a Reference issue of PLY – a greatest hits of tips and tricks to explain the how and why of important spinning basics.
Let’s pull together a library of reference for fiber choice, preparation, drafting, plying, and finishing. We want this to be the issue every spinner keeps next to their wheel and refers to again and again. This issue will help grow great spinners.
We bet you have some ideas of what should be included, right? Let’s hear them! What can you tell us about fiber? Sheep breeds, micron count, staple length? Why are they important, and how can they affect spinning and finished projects? How do you use classes of sheep in your everyday spinning? How would you go about blending fibers to get the exact mix you want? How do you sample for a blend, and how do you get a consistent blend for a whole project?
What are the fundamentals of buying a fleece and washing it? What information do you want to refer to again and again? (No, we don’t have any secrets to moving up Geof Ruppert’s Corriedale fleece list.)
What about drafting? Is worsted always a short forward draft and woolen longdraw? If not, what are they? What makes each draft quintessentially woolen or worsted? Why does it matter and how do you remember? Why would you want to measure yarn, and how do you do it: WIP, grist, TPI, twist angle? Which measurements pertain to what parts of yarn, and how do they affect your knitting or weaving?
If you have a specific yarn you want to make, how do you go about building it? What questions should you ask yourself? Do you always have to spin for a specific project? If you are, what information do you need to gather? What are the best strategies for keeping a yarn consistent? Give us the flow from choosing or blending fibers, prep, drafting, plying, and finishing. How do you set up the ultimate spinning kit? What tools do you need for measuring and keeping track of yarn? What tools do you need for wheel maintenance?
Tell us how you ply: how to position your wheel and kate, how to sit, how to hold your yarn and move your hands. How do each kind of finishing affect your yarn and cloth? When would you want to use each, and what finishing/yarn combinations should we avoid?
What is the information you wish you had handy when you’re spinning? What reminders do you need? What are the things you forget or get confused by? Help us make this the most quintessential reference issue ever!
Project ideas and proposals are due by June 1, 2023. We’ll get back to you in July and final work is due December 1, 2023. Submit your ideas here: https://plymagazine.com/contribute/write-for-ply/
The last few mood boards are here:
Winter 2023: Sweater
Autumn 2023: Drape
Summer 2023: Place
Spring 2023: Science
Winter 2022: Neck and Shoulders
Autumn 2022: Loft
Summer 2022: Mix
Spring 2022: Goats
Winter 2021: Heads and Hands
Autumn 2021: Consistency
