PLY article index

Have you ever had a vision for a perfect knitted garment but found that the reality was disappointing after you finished blocking? As a spinner, you have complete control over the yarn you make, so you can perfectly match the fibre, preparation, and construction to your project.

Shopping for a fleece can be overwhelming if you’re not sure how to find the right kind of fleece for the project you have in mind. Here are some tips to help you find the fleece of your dreams.

Sometimes it’s just nice to sit down and spin for the pure joy of feeling the fibre flow through our hands. But how do we use those skeins once they’re finished?

Save scraps and use them later to invent new yarns! How to prep and spin reclaimed yarn scraps.

This article shares the history of the Back to Back Wool Challenge and the story of the San Diego County Spinners’ experience in the competition.

How to spin yarn for crafters who have hand injuries or chronic hand conditions.

Explore the role of twist in yarn and its effect on woven cloth.

Spinning to weave necessitates making decisions in the hand spinning process that affect the finished fabric. Explore whether the twist direction of plied yarns noticeably affects the woven fabric.

Spinning yarn for crochet is complicated, with many factors that impact the results. This article goes beyond twist direction and investigates singles and plied yarns, both woolen and worsted spun, various levels of twist, and different numbers of plies. Each yarn option is tested with single crochet, granny squares, V-stitch, and puff stitch.

This article explains what an assigned pooling yarn is and how to plan and spin your own. It also provides the details for spinning the yarn for the knit and crochet cowl patterns in the issue.

Pattern for a crochet cowl with assigned pooling.

Pattern for a knit cowl with assigned pooling.

The author shares stories of women she’s met during her time in Crete, who grew up on this southernmost Greek island and learned to spin and weave in their childhoods and considers what it means when you are spinning because you have to rather than as a chosen hobby.

This article explores the author’s journey to spin embroidery thread and provides helpful information for using supported spindles. The fibers used in the article include silk, cotton, and wool (a Merino/nylon blend). The author also describes a project where she used her handspun embroidery thread on a hat.

The author shares her process of creating a handspun yarn to use for her LK150 knitting machine. She specifically wanted a yarn that captured the silky drape of luxury fibers while showcasing the warmth and halo of fibers from her Angora rabbits. She adds Tussah silk and some recycled sari silk for texture. After describing how she spun and finished the yarn, she tests it on her knitting machine and explains the lessons she learned along the way.

The author shares her journey of spinning thread for making crewelwork designs, including how she decided on the fiber and spinning and finishing methods for the thread. She shows how she has used the thread in a tapestry project (based off the techniques from the Bayeaux Tapestry) to create a continuing project showcasing birds.

If you’ve ever wanted to take a thrifted sweater, unravel it, and reuse the yarn, this article explains exactly how to do that, from choosing garments that will work for unraveling to how to unravel them and what to do with the yarn (sometimes spinning or plying is helpful) once it’s been unraveled to prepare it for your new project.

Instructions for how to make a needle book with embroidery designs on the cover.

This article looks at some of the fiber arts crafts that have historically been done but which aren’t as popular in our modern time. It discusses the Heritage Crafts Association, a UK charity dedicated to supporting traditional craft skills, and its Red List of Endangered Crafts. The author also provides details on nalbinding and suggested resources.

This article discusses how to spin silk on suspended spindles to make embroidery thread and some of the options for color, such as marling and blending. It provides specific details for spinning the thread used in the embroidery project included in this issue.

This article looks at the various fibers that can be used to handspin embroidery thread and how the selected fiber can create different effects for the planned embroidery project. The fibers used in this article are ramie, Merino wool, Tussah silk, a blend of Merino and Tussah, cotton, and a blend of Panama wool and sari silk. The article discusses the specifics of spinning embroidery thread: diameter, wheel uptake, speed, twist, and draft.

Trying to spin just the right yarns for gift weaving can push you to extend your skills into new territory with each project. This article describes the process the author uses to plan the projects and yarn for gift giving and how to consider the specific person who will be receiving the gift. It includes two examples of going through the process and the final results for projects the author planned and gifted.

Sampling helps gather information to make decisions about a project and gives you a better understanding of the material you’re working with, but there are different levels of sampling you can do. This article discusses three levels: extremely detailed, enough information for a project, and the least amount of sampling you can do to get by.

Pre-drafting fiber – the process of stretching out and thinning roving or top to a manageable size before spinning – is a common recommendation for a new spinner. But how does pre-drafting fiber affect our yarns? This article compares spinning with and without pre-drafting the fiber to see how the effect on the final yarns, using both combed top and carded fiber and three different fibers.