It’s nearly July in a leap year, which means that my favorite bi-annual event is just around the corner. Formerly known as Ravelympics, now changed to Ravellenic Games,* this event will always be known to me by its original title, dreamed up by the Yarn Harlot: The Knitting Olympics. What? What is this insanity, ask … More Training Camp
Exactly one day too late, I finished Mithril. One day too late, that is, to participate in Susan Pandorf’s lovely KAL giveaway; it’s not like the yarn went bad. Although you might suspect it from how it looked when it came off the needles. Like anything lace, it would take some water and pins to … More Freedom and Irresponsibility
The Holy Spirit – or, since it’s a name, you can leave off the article and call the third person of the Trinity “Holy Spirit” – is, by definition, very hard to pin down. Mom used to say to us, when we were kids, that if we got a really good idea, and we … More On the Spirit
After the disappointments recounted yesterday, I want to end the review of our little spin weekend on a high note. Yarn with beads in it is mega cool stuff, almost universally expensive, and gorgeous nigh unto irrisistability. Tilli Thomas and Art Yarns are among the most mainstream producers of such goodies, and they are on … More Spin Retreat ’12: Bead Away
What would a weekend of experimentation be if we didn’t have any let-downs? I already told you about my least favorite, the color combo turning my first tailspun yarn into a bucket of weird. Mom had a doozie too. It started with a felted, unlikeable top. It had come with her wheel when she bought … More Spin Retreat ’12 – Success, Failure, and Compensation
Even though I’m taking forever to wash the silver fleece, both Mom and I opted for the speedy route when it came to washing our Cormo cross. And during our spinning retreat, Mom showed me up close and personal how she uses her new combs to process this fine, short-stapled fiber into perfectly spinnable top. … More Spin Retreat ’12: Cormolicious Combing
When Mom washed and dyed her half of the silver fleece a few weeks ago, she was unsatisfied with the still-very-grey wool that came out of the dyebath. But, having dyed grey fleece with black beans myself, quite a while ago, I knew that her silver locks had turned bluer than she realized. Of course, … More Spin Retreat ’12: Proof and Progress
So on Thursday, I wrote a bit about core spinning. An even more basic way to core spin is to just hold some fiber perpendicular to your core, and as it spins, it will grab ahold of it and create a wonderful light fuzzy something of a yarn. You can also do this with locks. … More Spin Retreat ’12: Locked on Target
So while we’re on the subject of ridiculous yarns, let’s get even weirder. I received these bags of hand-dyed locks as a destash gift from the incomparably lovely B.W., and every now and then I would run into them and wonder what to do with them. One could always just card and spin them up … More Spin Retreat ’12: Locks in a Tailspin
From the sublime to the ridiculous, my silk hankie thread was next followed by my first-ever intentional novelty yarn. Core spun yarn, that is; specifically core spun singles. The singles in question were 1.6 oz. of “fine wool,” a takeaway from 2011’s spin in. And, I thought, very nearly Kirby colored. I wish to picture … More Spin Retreat ’12: Softcore – or soft, with a core.
Osborn Fiber Studio 