PLY article index – mobile friendly

Whether for historic recreation, embroidery, goldwork, lacemaking, embellishment, weaving, crochet, knitting, art, or pure exploration, there are lots of ways and reasons to play with metal and thread or yarn. Explore some of your metal-spinning options in this article.

Inspired by pre-Columbian feather yarns from Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma, learn how to spin a 21st-century version.

How do you describe change in a textile? What if it comes from within the fabric? This spinner experiments with a unique add-in to his yarn: cress seeds.

A staple of the textured spinner’s arsenal is differential-tension plying: explore this foundational technique in this article.

Must a yarn be bulky, curly, and packed with add-ins to be textured? This article looks at something a bit more subtle.

Long durations of repetition enhance the likelihood of injury, but textured yarns are the perfect antidote to the repetitiveness of traditional spinning. Check out these tips for mixing up your practice and taking care of your body.

Anything is possible with a spindle, including expressive and experimental textured yarns!

Textured yarns present unique design challenges: what do you make with them?! Experiment along with this knitter as she explores the personality of art yarns in fabric.

Knitting pattern for a textured pullover sweater.

This yarn is not so much about adding texture but about creating a yarn while not losing the original texture and character of the fleece.

Knitting pattern for a hooded cardigan in bulky, textured wool yarn.

Weaving is a wonderful way to show off textured handspun yarns, and circular weaving is easy but offers creative potential to appeal to a seasoned fiber artist.

It happens to all of us, our yarn end gets buried in the yarn on our bobbin. Here are the best ways that PLY readers have found to recover it.

Aside from having to add more twist to keep the fibers snugly entwined, spinning thin is no more difficult than spinning thick. Tension and mechanial ratio adjustments can produce lovely laceweight with some practice. This article outlines some key considerations for spinning ultra-fine yarns.

A personal perspective on spinning ultra-fine yarns.

Lace textiles extend far back into prehistory and were highly prized and valued—including in the New World. This article profiles the creation of fine yarn and lace in the ancient Americas, particularly Mississippian lace.

Why do we seek the challenge of spinning fine? This short piece considers the spinner’s drive for greater control and consistency, balanced with the practicality of less fine yarns.

This article explores the suitability of eight different sheep breeds (Australian Bond, CVM, Cormo, Corriedale, Merino, Polwarth, Rambouillet, and Targhee) for fine spinning and lace knitting.

If you desire to spin a fine yarn, a fine fleece is the place to start. This article will guide you through preparing and spinning fine locks.

Switching from art yarns to ultra-fine yarns is a drastic shift in spinning style, but it can be done! This collection of tips is aimed at bulky spinners trying to overcome the hurdle of slimming down.

You can do many things to make the fine-yarn spinning process easier on your wheel. In this article, explore the specifics of adjusting tension, bobbins, and lacing for optimal fine spinning.

Have you already tried the usual adjustments for spinning fine yarn on a treadle wheel, but you still avoid it? Maybe it’s time for a charkha. This article makes the case for switching wheels in the right circumstances.

Three spinners give their best advice on which wheel drive configuration makes fine spinning the easiest.

A profile of the Canadian Production Wheel (CPW), a wheel engineered to spin fine yarn and do it fast.