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A Sweater Without Compromises

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Have you ever blown out the elbow of a favorite sweater? Or knit up an entire sweater only to find you have to wear a turtleneck under it? When choosing a fleece to spin into a sweater, lots of people reach for one end of the spectrum or another: a Merino or associated crossbreed, or something that makes a nice hard-wearing barn sweater like a Romney. However, both of those approaches leave us with a sweater yarn full of compromises. Fortunately, there is an alternative. 

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The Devotion of a Handspinner: Donna Jo Copeland

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At seventy-three-years-young, there is no stopping Donna Jo Copeland from keeping a small flock of sheep, a few quirky angora goats, and about eleven English angora rabbits on Breezy Manor Farm, located in Mooresville, Indiana. After over five decades of shepherding, she is still fascinated by her fiber animals and loves working with the gift of their wool. Let’s learn more about Donna Jo’s flock-to-sweater process, which proves that you are never too old or too young to enjoy fibers. 

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For the Love of Flax

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Fiber artist and experienced hand spinner Kathy Sparks shares her lifelong flax to fabric journey with the readers of the PLY Magazine Blog.

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Jacob & Company

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As is the case with many others before me, the more I knit the more I wanted to know about wool. For years I was attracted by the rainbow of colors available. I’d done a lot of dyeing, but a real game-changer for me was seeing a heathered yarn for the first time. After studying it, I realized it was not something I could dye; rather, it was something that had to be spun. I had to learn how. 

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Ask Jacey: Are 3D Printed Bobbins Better?

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As featured in PLY’s September 2023 newsletter, the Ask Jacey column answers a question about 3D printed bobbins!

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A Love Letter from a Spinner to MDSW

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This year Maryland Sheep and Wool festival celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. This important milestone has me reflecting on how much the festival has impacted me as a spinner (and person) across the years.

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Ferrara-Pisani: A Fiber Journey through Emotional Places

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A clap of thunder brought me back to the moment. Sitting in front of my wheel, I looked hard at the wool in my hands. It had been cold, gray, and rainy for the past week. A few hours earlier, I’d pulled out my drum carder and decided to make a few batts from some of the beautiful Jacob fleece I had washed and separated into piles of grays, whites, blacks, and even a pile with tan overtones.

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Making the Most out of a Fiber Festival

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While researching and writing my book on festivals, Fiber Gathering, published in 2009, I went to a lot of festivals and events. Every experience was different, with so many special things to buy or new experiences! Here are some tips for how to research and plan purchases, classes, and adventures to make the most of your next fiber event. 

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Spinning in a Public Space: The County Fair

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In a things-are-somewhat-back-to-normal-but-not-quite year, 2022 became not just a time to reacquaint myself with society, it also became a year to carve a new identity.

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