PLY article index

Comic/illustration

This article is about spinning woolen yarn on a drop spindle – top-whorl, bottom-whorl, Turkish, Balkan, Norge, Akha, rock, stick;  any drop spindle you’d like to work with. If you can make it twirl and hang from your yarn, you can use these methods.

This articles covers several techniques including “leapfrogging” and “guitar strumming” as well as point-of contact, and plying, all on spindles!

As an archaeologist, the author always wants to know how something was done in the past. How was that stone knife made? How was that pot fired? How was that woolen yarn spun? And that’s the focus of this article, how woolen yarn was historically created.  The article delves into Navajo history and yarn/tools made in Egypt and the Sudan and includes experimental archaeologists and textile researchers studying early fiber preparation tools and their use by traditional handspinners. This research is helping us tease out what that technology looked like in antiquity.

Among contemporary handspinners, the woolen draft is rarely used. This is a shame, in light of all the spinners who intend to use their yarn for warm accessories, hats, mittens, scarves, or gloves, or to full the yarn after it is already converted to make warm, felt-like blankets, vests, bags etc. This article digs into the woolen draft known and double-drafting. It covers fiber choice, fiber prep, how to draft (and double draft), plying and finishing. Plus it’s from Stephenie and she’s got so much to teach.

Spinning with one hand! Unsupported longdraw is a one-handed spinning technique where the fibre supply is pulled backwards with one hand while there is active twist in the drafting zone. Why would you want to spin with just one hand? First, it’s fast! Longdraw can be highly productive if you become proficient at it. The more you practice, the more your speed develops. James covers fiber, fiber prep, wheel set-up, spinning singles, plying, and finishing.

Backward draw, longdraw, woolen draft, assisted or unassisted longdraw, point of contact, and double extension drafting are all drafting techniques used to create woolen singles. This long draw allows you to create very long singles. Making these long singles is curiously satisfying – even sexy. To accomplish the longest draw (and prolong the sexiness) spinners have found a variety of ways to move their fiber supply away from the incoming twist. This usually involves moving their fiber supply arm away from their body, either to the side (shoulder abduction), or back (shoulder extension). I’ve even seen spinners reach overhead (yes, that was a shriek of horror) to lengthen their singles. Spinners often combine these movements with elbow and wrist extension and with rotation of their torso to get the longest draw possible. This article analyzes these movements and  how to alter them to create the same yarn without body harm.

Three spinners give blind reviews of the Strauch drum carder.

Many spinners are also knitters – and yarn that’s meant to be knitted is very forgiving. Almost any yarn that’s stable can be knitted up without too much finagling. Weaving, on the other hand, puts different, and arguably more demanding, requirements on a yarn, particularly yarn that’s meant to be used as warp. Weft yarns can be just about anything, even unspun roving, but warp yarns are under constant tension, and abraded/ abused with each beat. The movement of the reed along the length of the warp yarns can invite wear and breakage, and the relentless tension finds and exploits any weak spot. Both problems have driven many a weaver to hang little film canisters off the back of a loom to tension loosening warp threads; and, worse yet, left some with the notion that “You can’t use handspun for warp.” Not true, and this article walks you through how to spin woolen and semi-woolen yarn for both warp and weft (specifically for the Frost Scarf project in this same issue).

This project  mixes twills while keeping the whole thing to four shafts and a relatively short treadling repeat; complicated equipment and reams of PostIt™ notes aren’t required. A point twill threading weaves little diamonds when treadled as threaded – those diamonds play the part of the frost crystals in this pattern. By upgrading both threading and treadling to advancing point twill, those crystals dance across the cloth. Finally, threading pattern disruptions mimic the way that frost covers windows on a winter morning. Big blocks start in different places, run in different directions, and then crash into each other. Network twill butts against point twill to yield a curve, and skipped threading sequences make visual breaks. All the glory is in the threading; once that’s done, it’s a rhythmic mantra to carry the weaver through the window and onto a snowy landscape.

You’ve heard people talk about “spinning from the fold,” but what does it mean? How do you do it? Why would you do it? What kind of yarn does it produce? Can you do it with any fiber, or does it only work with some? Do you need a flyer wheel to do it, or does it work with spindles? How should the fiber be prepared? This article answers all of those questions.

In order to create something new, to move our craft forward, to go forth and conquer, we need to grasp the courage to break free of our bonds of convention! Rules are made to be broken, and spinning rules are no exception. There is an understood law that the long draw is often considered a method most appropriate for short-stapled wool. But I ask, “why?” OK, so in reality, there are good reasons, but should we just accept the rules and never experiment for ourselves? I say no! No more taking it for granted that “they” know best about how we should spin our wool! No more shunning the glorious longwools when we sit down to spin a woolen yarn! It’s time to rebel! This article embraces that rebellion and takes you along as the author finds the best way to spin longer fibers woolen.

Drum carders, with their heft and pointy teeth, can be intimidating. Choosing one of your own can be even more intimidating. You must consider things such as coarse, fine, or medium cloth, and how many teeth per inch you need. You may ask, “Don’t they all do the same thing? How do I know what I need?” First, figure out what you want to do with the drum carder. Then figure out which one you need to match your goal. This article goes into all the things to consider when buying a drum carder so you can make the right choice for you.

Carding blended stripes is a great way to take full visual control of your work from the very start. You can design batts with a whole rainbow of colors, a simple monochromatic fade, or a solid-colored batt with just one small contrasting stripe. Or, if you are more interested in texture, you can use a solid base and create stripes with various blending fibers. How cool would it be if you created a solid-colored yarn with rainbow tweed stripes made with neps and noils? And you have full control of the size of your stripes. For example, if you are planning a self-striping yarn for a shawl, you can create a series of striped batts with color segments that get progressively larger. This creates consistently sized stripes throughout, and the long edge of your shawl won’t end up with a few rows of variegated color because your stripes weren’t long enough.

This article takes you from zero to hero as you create gorgeous striped batts.

Batts are quick, unpredictable, mysterious, and so beautiful. They are also easy to spin, with an almost infinite variety of options, spinning them can create the loftiest of yarns with them. This article provides nine distinct ways to spin your gorgeous batts, giving you an array of different yarns.

This article looks at spinning a carded preparation in a worsted way, making a semi-woolen yarn to weave into a project. Describes the planning and spinning as well as the weaving, which is done with a Saori philosophy.

This article describes the yarn that was spun for the sweater project in this issue. It uses a Corriedale fleece and a Romney/Corriedale cross fleece.

Knitting pattern for a sweater with stripes (which you can adjust based upon your preferences) and an intarsia snowflake design.

This article provides an overview of Down breeds (Dorset Down, Southdown, Hampshire, Oxford Down, Shropshire, and Suffolk) as well as breeds that are down-like (Clun Forest, Tunis, Cheviot). It discusses the advantages of these breeds, what to look for when choosing a fleece, and some spinning tips.

This article describes the yarn spun for the shawl pattern in this issue.

Knitting pattern for a top-down shawl that starts with a garter tab cast on and is worked downward and outward; it is comprised of 4 wedge-shaped sections. Pattern includes charts.

A look at how a suspended bottom whorl spins with Jill Duarte

A look at how a suspended mid-whorl (also known as an ahka) spins with Jill Duarte

A look at how a suspended crossarm (also known a Turkish spindle) spins with Jill Duarte

A look at how a suspended whorl-less (also known a Dealgan spindle) spins with Jill Duarte