Posts

Meagan Condon

Alpaca Wool: A Misnomer

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How many times have you heard someone selling their alpaca wool? Or touting their alpaca wool scarf? The only problem is that it isn’t wool. Let me explain!

Fibers can be categorized into a few different classes, including hair, wool, and fur (excluding kemp and guard hair for the moment).

Let’s check out Meagan’s handy chart to get us started.


FIBER TYPE		QUALITIES
CUTICLEMEDULATIONGROWTHDENSITYSEBUM
FURScales overlap, forming as many as 10 layersGenerally present and pronouncedReaches a maximum length and then shedsHigher than 60,000 follicles/sq inchLimited quantity of sebum
HAIRScales overlap, forming as many as 10 layersGenerally present and pronouncedContinuous growth, but sheds500 follicles/sq inch 
Only 100-200 active follicles at a time		Limited quantity of sebum
WOOLIn fine wools, scales overlap, usually forming 1-2 layers.
Scales are barbed		Generally absent or almost absentContinuous, if not shearedUp to 60,000 follicles/sq inchLanolin in varying quantities

Alpaca is actually a hair fiber, like our own hair. Like us, they shed a small amount of their fiber, but it continues to grow and get longer if we don’t cut it. Because of this continuous growth, alpacas have to be sheared regularly for their health.

Check out this microscopic view of alpaca fibers. The first thing you might notice is the dark line going down the center of each fiber. This is the hollow medulla.

Air = Warmth

Any time there is air trapped in a fiber, it contributes to it being a warmer fiber. Air is an insulator. Wool does not have a hollow center, which is one of the reasons why alpaca is so much warmer than wool.

The keratin structures in alpaca fiber are different than the structures in high-memory wool. As a result, the fiber has almost no memory. That means it will not return to its original shape once it has been stretched out. This is great for drape, but not great for anything that requires stretch, like socks or mittens. We often blend wool with alpaca to compensate for its lack of stretch.

While it may be tempting to call alpaca wool because it is so squishy and wool-like, there are some fundamental differences that mean that the fibers behave differently. Are the spinning police going to come after you if you call alpaca wool? No way! Still, it is sometimes helpful to have that scientific distinction to help guide your creative process.

Meagan Condon

SCENE: Upcoming in the Community

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PLY strives to bring together the global spinning community and give a voice to spinners everywhere. Is there an upcoming event you’d like to share? Do you have or know of a new product, fiber, or tool you think the community should know about? If so, fill out this form!

Once each month, we’ll feature SCENE content on the blog and social media.

What are you waiting for? Let us know what’s cool, hep, lit, fire in your fiber world!

Submit to SCENE now!

Meagan Condon

The Secret to Silk Is in Your Hands

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Literally … your hands are the secret to spinning silk on its own.

Hand care is important for all spinners, but special attention needs to be paid when dealing with silk. It will catch on everything. Silk will catch on other fibers. It will catch on clothes. It will catch on every hangnail and every dry patch of skin on your hands. If you think I am joking, try petting a length of silk top or mawata. Individual strands of silk will stick to the most unexpected places on your hand, and I promise, your hands are never quite as silky smooth as you might think.

Before spinning silk, I always treat my hands to a oil and salt scrub. Salt is naturally abrasive, which helps remove dead skin cells and increase circulation. Olive oil, my favorite oil to use, is made mostly of essential fatty acids which can also be found in our skin. A component of our skin is linoleic acid, which allows our skin to easily absorb the fatty acids. As a result, the oil forms a protective barrier that essentially smooths out the surface of our skin.

Spinner’s Handscrub

  • 1 tsp table salt
  • 1 tsp olive oil

Scrub your hands for 30 seconds to a minute with this scrub, paying special attention around your nail beds and the webbing between your fingers. This scrub will also effectively find every papercut you have. If that terrifies you, sub out the salt for sugar for a gentler scrub. I also use this as an opportunity to massage my hand muscles and warm them up for the spinning task ahead.

Smoothing your hands isn’t the only secret to silk success. How you hold it can also be the difference between a fun spin and misery. Silk feels … well, silky smooth, as if it will slip right through your fingers. As a result, many spinners will try to death-grip silk. The problem here is that silk is one of the strongest protein fibers. I promise that in a fight between your hands and silk, the silk will win. Blisters and silk burns are a terrible participation trophy to get.

Depending on how it was processed, it can also have one of the longest staple lengths. If your hands are too close together, it can be nearly impossible to draft. If you find yourself struggling, try moving your hands farther apart and relaxing your grip.

What tips do you have for spinning silk?

Meagan Condon

Meet the Team: Karen Robinson

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In a community like ours, the people are every bit as important as the craft. It may sound cliché, but we aren’t just fiber people. We are fiber people “together.” The team that curates PLY Magazine is small, but mighty. You’ve seen their names at the front of every issue. You may have seen their faces at this or that fiber conference. How much do you really know the magical people who produce PLY?

Over the next few months, we will be interviewing and featuring members of the PLY team here on the blog!

Managing Editor & Copy Editor

Who are you and what is your role with PLY?

I am Karen Robinson, the Managing Editor and Copy Editor for PLY. November will be my 10th anniversary with PLY!

What is your favorite fiber to spin?

BFL, hands down. Though Targhee is awesome, too.

How long have you been a spinner? (or what is your craft of choice?)

Since 2010, so 14 years. I’ve been knitting since 2004, so just hit 20 years at that. Before I learned to spin, I told myself that I’d never be interested in spinning. But then I took a class at a retreat and instantly fell in love with spinning and the rest is history!

What do you do when you aren’t spinning or working on the magazine?

Knitting, of course. Lots of reading (mostly fantasy books). I do other copyediting (mostly fiction) and teach copyediting classes through a university extended studies program. My family and I enjoy playing board games. And our three Boston Terriers and two cats keep us highly entertained.

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I have a PhD in English with a focus on Arthurian literature, so I love all the stories of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. One of my bucket list items was to visit Tintagel, which was the birthplace of Arthur in all the stories. And a couple of years ago, I took a trip to England and was able to make that dream a reality. It’s just ruins now, but that rocky promontory overlooking at sea was one of the most magnificent places I’ve visited. My cheeks hurt so much from all the grinning I did at being at that magical location.

"Feeding Herdwicks, my favorite sheep breed!"

What’s your favorite weird fiber fact?

Herdwick sheep are my favorites because I think their faces are absolutely adorable. And we have Beatrix Potter to thank for their continued thriving population in the Lake District in the UK. Not only did she advocate for the breed when she was alive, she left a number of farms to the National Trust after her passing–with the stipulation that each farm retain a specific minimum of Herdwick sheep.

Anything else you’d like to share with our followers?

I’m always happy to talk about fantasy and speculative fiction books, so if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them, and let me know if you want any recommendations.

“Feeding Herdwicks, my favorite sheep breed!”

Meagan Condon

Spooky Spins & Handspun Horror

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Enjoy these 3 creepy and fibery micro-stories that will strike fear into any spinner’s heart. Happy Halloween!

And Then There Was None

MaryAnn wanted nothing more than to create a sweater from her own handspun yarn. She had challenged herself to complete it by the end of October so she could wear it to her family’s Thanksgiving celebration. She had carefully calculated the amount of fiber needed for the sweater project and added an extra 10 percent to make sure she had enough yarn.

She carefully selected a gorgeous Cormo fleece for its bounce and squish-factor. She lovingly scoured it lock by lock and carded it by hand into beautiful, lofty rolags. It had taken her weeks to spin the singles and nearly as long to ply and finish it.

Now, as October 31st loomed, she did not experience the joy of completing her sweater. Instead, she felt only dread. Despite her calculations, she didn’t account for the stretch or shrinkage of the crimpy Cormo. She ran out of yarn 6 inches short of completing the second sleeve.

Scared Skeinless

The frog hair lace slipped through her fingers and buried itself in the nearly full bobbin.

The Tell-Tale Wheel

It was a dark and stormy night. All was quiet in the house, except for the sound of rain pattering against the roof and windows. Kevin rolled over in bed. He found it difficult to fall asleep to the sounds of the storm. As he stared at the ceiling, he heard a creaking, almost like footsteps on the old hardwood floors.

He rolled over and found his wife, Janet, was not in bed. Maybe she had gotten up to use the restroom. He waited but didn’t hear the bathroom door open. He just heard the rhythmic creak continue on, becoming louder.

If she wasn’t in the bathroom, maybe she was grabbing a midnight snack in the kitchen. She was known to raid the kitchen at 3 a.m. to snack on shredded cheese. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and placed his bare feet on the cold floor. As he made his way to the kitchen, he thought, I need to remind Janet that I need her to knit me a new pair of alpaca socks.

The kitchen was dark and plagued with shadows. The warm, welcoming glow of the refrigerator light was nowhere to be found. And neither was Janet. The creaking grew louder. It seemed to be coming from the living room.

As he inched down the corridor toward the living room, the creaking got louder and shriller. He turned the corner. Beneath the lamplight sat his wife, her eyes fixed in the distance as if in some sort of trance. Her feet treadled faster . . . and faster . . . and her spinning wheel squealed ever louder. It was maddening.

“Your wheel needs oil,” he said, but got no response. “Babe?”

“I’ve never oiled my wheel before,” she said, devoid of emotion.

“Babe, that’s not a Louët, it isn’t self-lubricating,” he replied.

She slowly turned her head toward him. “It will be fine. Come, look closer.”

He felt unease as he leaned forward. . . He edged closer to see the mechanism in action.

He leaned closer . . . and closer. . .

And that was when the drive band snapped.

wool from different breeds of sheep demonstrating different lengths of fiber
Meagan Condon

Three Tips for Making Consistent Yarn

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Maybe you’ve just learned how to spin and now you are struggling to create consistent yarn.  Or perhaps you’ve been spinning for a long time and are ready to refine your technique. These tips will help you create a more consistent yarn.

Tip One: Know Your Staple

examples of different breeds of wool showing different lengths of locks from short to long

If you are experiencing problems with inconsistent yarn, it is often related to drafting. Whether you’re a new spinner or an old hand, it is always valuable to go back and check the staple of your fiber and adjust your hands. For newer spinners, it is a question of building up muscle memory. For experienced spinners, it is easy to fall into hand habits and default movements.

Remember, aim to hold your hands roughly 1 to 1.5x the staple length. If your hands are too far apart, you will wind up with thin spots where your fiber drafted too much. If your hands are too close together, you might be wearing out your hands by fighting to draft your fiber from both ends. This can result in thick sections in your yarn.

Also try to reach the same distance into your fiber supply each time you draw fibers into the draft zone.  The deeper into your fiber supply you pull from, the more fibers in your drafting zone and the thicker yarn you will make.

Tip Two: Rhythm, Rhythm, Rhythm

Rhythm is everything in spinning. Consistent yarn requires the same number of twists in a particular length of yarn, throughout an entire skein. If you’re like me, rhythm doesn’t come naturally.

First, try to practice treadling your wheel with nothing on it; no fiber, no yarn. Treadle while watching a movie. Treadle while having a conversation. The more you practice treadling, the more regular you will become, even if you don’t have a strong internal sense of rhythm. When you practice treadling, you are increasing your muscle memory and reinforcing the neural network. The less you have to consciously think about treadling, the easier it is to find rhythm.

If all else fails and you can’t find a natural rhythm, don’t give up. You can always count. You read that right. Count your treadles for each time you draft. Even if you can’t keep a steady treadle, you can make sure you’re still getting the same amount of twist each time you draft. A funny thing happens when you manually count treadles; often, your rhythm and your muscle memory kick in when you least expect it.

Tip Three:  Sleep on It

All this practice sounds fantastic, but there’s one more thing you need to bring it all together – a good night’s sleep. Research has shown that sleep is necessary for the consolidation of information. Basically, during sleep, the brain retraces the neural pathways used for a particular task and determines which pathways are the most efficient. By reinforcing certain pathways, the same information is more likely to travel along those pathways, saving the brain resources. If you’re feeling frustrated after a spinning session, set your work aside and come back to it the next day. You’ll be amazed at the difference it can make.

dog sleeping
Shilo Weir
Karen Robinson

A Handspinner’s Go-Bag: The ultimate tool kit for wheel spinners on the move

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words and photos by Shilo Weir

I taught myself to spin in 2010. Since then, I have learned a lot through trial and error. One of the most memorable errors was attending my first in-person spinning class at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and feeling completely overwhelmed because, frankly, I was unprepared. About 45 minutes into a 4-hour class, my scotch tension brake cord broke, and I had no idea how I was going to continue. I muddled through and found a way to keep going, but this was the point I decided I needed to be more prepared.

It is easier to overcome spinning setbacks when you are working in your home studio – all your tools and supplies are there, and if a part needs to be replaced, generally there are items you can use as temporary substitutions. However, when you are a spinner on the go, preparation can go a long way. Over the years I have perfected my handspinner’s go-bag to be ready for just about anything when I am spinning out and about.

What is a go-bag?

Go-Bags are bags – or boxes, cases, etc. – that are always packed and ready to grab when it’s time to head out. You may have heard of go-bags in the context of natural disasters or emergency situations, but this isn’t the only time they serve a purpose. Many professionals, such as emergency responders, photographers, and military members, have go-bags so they can respond quickly.

Spinning emergencies aren’t life or death, but they can be frustrating and overwhelming. A well-stocked go-bag can help you respond to the unexpected. I fill my go-bag with essential items I can use to fix my wheel and a few personal comfort extras. Whether I am spinning in public for the afternoon or at a week-long retreat, my go-bag makes it easy to overcome issues that arise.

My ultimate goal in putting my go-bag together was to make sure I can fix problems quickly so the spinning doesn’t have to stop. The essentials for your on-the-go spinning come down to three categories: parts, tools, and personal comfort.

Parts

Every spinning wheel is a little different. Often, you can get back-up parts to carry with you just in case. For example, I carry spare drive bands and tension kits for most of my antique Louet travel wheels. They are often available through online retail stores and don’t take up much space.

Alternatively, there are some basic materials you may have around the house that can temporarily replace broken parts:

  • Yarn or thread: A sturdy cotton or nylon yarn or thread can replace a drive band in a pinch. The same holds true for replacing tension cords. It is an inexpensive alternative to maintaining a stock of manufacturer replacement parts. Cut a section at least twice as long as you think you might need and wrap it in a butterfly.
  • Fishing line: A light to medium weight fishing line can easily substitute for a tension brake, and a thicker, heavy weight line can replace a drive band. These packages can be stowed in the same way as cotton thread for easy transport.
  • Spare springs: Tension springs are often extension springs with loops at both ends so they can be attached between the wheel and the tension brake cord. Most hardware stores offer assortment packs of extension springs for less than $10, so finding the right one for your wheel is easy.
  • Elastic band: Many styles of elastic hair bands can substitute for a tension system spring that has lost its stretch or broken with age.

Tools

Even on a well-maintained spinning wheel, parts shake loose with use. Screws and bolts may need to be tightened, or wires and strings may need to be shortened. Essential tools for addressing these types of issues include the following:

  • Screwdriver: Choose a small screwdriver that matches the heads of the screws holding your wheel together (i.e., Phillips, slotted, Allen, hex, etc.).
  • Wrench: Some wheels have bolts, and a wrench can tighten those when loose.
  • Pliers: A pair of pliers can provide extra leverage when repairing or replacing springs, bands, tensioning systems, etc.
  • Scissors: It’s always a good idea to have something to cut with on hand when spinning. A small pair of scissors or other cutting device will also help with repairs if something goes wrong.

Personal comfort

If you have filled your go-bag with the essentials and kept things compact, here are some extras to consider throwing in:

  • Adhesive bandages: Sometimes you need to cover a spot on your hands that gets irritated by the friction of spinning and plying. I find this most helpful in the winter months when no amount of lotion helps keep my hands moisturized.
  • Writing utensil and a small notebook: Taking notes and tracking progress is always helpful and it’s nice to have these items at the ready.
  • Small ruler: Handy for measuring twists per inch and wraps per inch.
  • Snacks: I throw in a bar or small packet of trail mix. If I get hangry, all will be lost.
  • NSAIDs: I get achy – especially during longer outings. A small container of my preferred pain killer or anti-inflammatory is a great addition to my go-bag.

This may seem like a lot of stuff to put in one bag. The key to building a great handspinners go-bag is maximizing utility while minimizing the size of the items you pack. I can’t say enough about the value of the multitool for keeping things manageable. Multitools are compact and versatile and will help with getting all these items into a small- to medium-size cosmetic style bag. Most basic multitools include at least two sizes of screwdriver, a plier head, and a cutting implement or two. One of my favorite multi-purpose tools is my fancy pencil with built-in ruler and screwdriver.

And, as an aside, I try to carry a multitool with a built-in corkscrew and bottle opener because, well, you never know when you are going to be out of town with your spinning friends for a Rock Day celebration and the Airbnb isn’t well-equipped.

A well-stocked go-bag can save the day when you are a handspinner on the go. I have learned how to pack a compact set of tools and essentials to keep my spinning going in unusual situations. From the obvious to the unexpected, my little go-bag of tricks is pretty fantastic.

Shilo Weir is a spinner, knitter and fiber craft enthusiast who has shared a bit of herself with the community through her blog and podcast for the past 13 years. She retired from her first career and is still trying to decide what she wants to do when she grows up. Share her adventures on Instagram: @ForeverHandmade.

Guest Blogger

So You Wanna Learn to Spin

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Hello! If you have found your way to this little corner of the internet, I take it that you are at least somewhat interested in learning how to spin yarn. Well, new friend, you have come to the right place!

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Guest Blogger

Step Away from Your Electric Wheel

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The title sounds like something the “Spinning Police” would say, doesn’t it? No, I’m not here to give you a ticket, but maybe an idea instead. 

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