Learning to spin yarn changed my life // Episode 202 // Taking Back Friday // a fibre arts vlog
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- Learning how to spin yarn changed my life and for that reason, I think that spinning is the gateway craft to the rest of the fibre arts. What led YOU to discover the craft of spinning yarn? Where has spinning taken you in your craft journey?
Download our guide to start spinning here: sweetgeorgiayarns.com/spinning/
Show notes: sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2023/07...
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Love love love this! Spinning IS the gateway!
Spinning is definitely my gateway drug to the fibre arts! I quickly took up crochet to deal with the yarn which I dyed with foraged natural materials Then I bought a floor loom and took up knitting. Next up: sewing my own clothes .
I learned to knit and crochet at an early age, and for a long time crochet was my favourite fibre art because as a child I seemed to have access to more small crochet projects than I could find small knitting projects that wouldn’t bore a child. WhenI hit my teenage years, the school I attended still had mandatory sewing/knitting/crochet classes, and you always had to finish a project. I was taught by my mother to hold my knitting needles differently than my teacher and quickly discovered my teacher would interfere less if the project I chose was a knitting project. So knitting became my favourite.
Later knitting became a necessity: when you live in a tropical country but go on Summer vacation to your home country and those Summers are positively freezing compared to where you live the rest of the year, but the local shops don’t offer warm clothing because, well, it’s Summer, you trek to yarn shops, buy yarn, and knit your heart out by the rented cottage’s fireplace to have a warm sweater so you can go out without being permanently set on vibrate because you’re so cold. LOL
Later my interest moved to lace knitting… I do love diving into a complicated pattern to forget whatever the day threw at me.
Last August (2023) I was frustrated. I couldn’t knit because of a back injury that kept me from sitting in one position for a long time. A friend suggested spinning because it would still give me my ‘fix’ of feeling fibre between my fingers. I ordered a few spindles and some fibre… and absolutely fell in love. Instant addiction. By November I had treated myself to a tiny e-spinner (the EEW Nano2) and now I spin for specific knitting projects. I still bring my favourite spindle to work when I need to go into the office. Lunch break is an hour and who needs an entire hour to eat a salad or a sandwich?
My evenings and weekends are now split between spinning and knitting (I’ve healed enough to knit, yay!) and the freedom of creating exactly the yarn I want is a true knitter’s paradise. Spinning has become my meditative happy place, just mindless enough to either let my mind wander or listen to a podcast, but also demanding just enough focus not to dwell on things I don’t want to dwell on. Knitting requires more focus, and is there to tickle my brain when I want to completely dive into a bubble.
In nine short months I’ve discovered an entirely new world and yes, spinning can change your life. I couldn’t agree more. 😊
Funnily enough, it was getting a rabbit that lead me to spinning. My Lionhead rabbit Ser Bouncealot's floof isn't as nice as Angora fibre, but I started playing with bits of shed fur, twisting it to see if it really would make something like Angora yarn. I then ordered a drop spindle and some roving, and started making some very lumpy yarn. Now I've tried several types of fibre and gotten Lord Woolsley, an English Angora rabbit, as a wooller. I'm working on processing and spinning a local Cotswold fleece, too. I hope to create my own fibre arts business one day, which is not something I was even thinking about ten years ago, so spinning has and will continue to change my life, too.
Yeah, I can totally relate. My mom knew (and showed me) how to make a sweater or a rug starting with freshly shorn (but not cleaned) wool. So, even if I am quite rusty on some of the steps (like spinning and carding), I can still say: "Give me a sheep, I know how to make a sweater out of it" - well, without killing it during shearing, I bet I'd be crap doing that. ;-)
I startet to knit, crochet and sew at about 3, as a grown-up I started tablet weaving and rigid heddle weaving, and I have to say that my sweet spot is weaving (both tablet and rigid heddle, I do not feel the need for a shafted loom). There is something archaic about spinning and weaving, humans have been doing this for thousands of years and I feel a connection to our forefathers when I weave, something elementary to the evolution of mankind.
By the way: some historians really claim that textile development triggered lots of our cultural discoveries due to the need of harvesting fleece or fibers (and ever more of it than can be collected by chance in nature), like agriculture, keeping live stock and tool development.
Have a nice sunday and greetings from Germany!
Well, spinning is my latest new passion! I bought 5 pounds (go big or go home! 😂😂😂) of Spincycle leftovers on a whim, and now I’m signed up for a class next month after decades of embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, beading and others. It was so much fun to hear your joyful enthusiasm in this vlog. I’m 62, not giving up the idea there might still be another new fiber art angle for me after spinning! Excited!!!
All I wanted was to make some cute little needle felted Christmas ornaments to make inexpensive gifts, since I was pretty broke at the time. I found a local shop that sold roving, picked out some pretty colors and some felting needles and had a blast making the ornaments. Then I needle felted some flower brooches. Then I saw some gorgeous crocheted flowers but couldn't afford all the colors in wool yarn from the store (I hadn't learned about dyeing yet), so I thought, "Hey, I'll make some yarn out of that leftover roving!" and got my first spindle. It all just snowballed from there.
Yep, CD spindle at a fibre festival, to big huge Kromski at age 14. I was so frustrated by that big wheel that I gave up and sold the wheel two years later. In grad school I bought a Schact sidekick, much easier to use and easier to store in the tiny apartment I had. Now that I’m experienced and able to make what I really want I’m in mourning for that big old Kromski wheel, sigh.
Same, my entire life has changed focus, everything I do now has in some way to do with fiber.
I started spinning as a pandemic project. For the first 10 months I spun on spindles including drop spindles, supported spindles, and Turkish spindles. Then I got my wheel 😍 It’s a Lendrum Regular DT and it has been a wonderful wheel to learn on! I’ve been spinning on the wheel for two years and now I’m starting to think about getting a Saxony style wheel also because I think it would suit the way my spinning style is evolving. There is something so basic and soothing about spinning. It has very quickly become my favourite fibre art.
Yes!! That's wonderful that you spun with spindles for so long... I had to go to a wheel, get comfortable with spinning, and then go back to trying with spindles. But yes, I love my Saxony style wheel (also a Lendrum) and it's a really wonderful way to decompress from the day. Glad you found spinning!!
I loved the SOS School of Sweet Georgia spinning videos. This is how I learned to spin on an e-spinner, on a wheel, use a drum carder etc.
Oh yay! I’m so happy to hear that 💗💗💗 thanks for being a part of the SOS!
Thank you. This video was just what I needed today. I learned to knit, crochet & quilt when I was about 5-7 years old. I still do all three. I have inherited my aunts spinning (made by my uncle). Have absolutely no idea how to use it. She passed several years ago. We did not live close to each other for quite a few years.
I first did some spinning as a teenager - thinking back I am surprised that someone let me loose on fibre that they had prepped - but maybe it was a way of keeping me quiet and happy while the adults talked. As I remember it, my initial efforts were a bit lumpy - but there was some yarn happening. (By the way, I didn't have any actual training before setting to on the wheel.)
Later, my mother let me loose on her wheel one day when I really needed something to keep my hands busy - I was waiting for an important telephone call in the days of landlines. Mum was visiting me and she'd brought her wheel with her, as you do. Again, she didn't give me a great deal of instruction, other than getting me to ply my yarn when I'd filled a couple of bobbins, and explaining that the plying was in the opposite direction to the initial spinning. I actually ended up with some usable yarn, that I incorporated into a jumper where mum had spun most of the wool in a natural brown.
After a lot of moves and vicissitudes I ended up with mum's wheel (and her lazy Kate and her home-made niddy-noddy). The wheel needed quite a bit of work to get it going again. It's not perfect but it is working and I have been practising spinning diligently for about 9 months now.
I was inspired to learn to spin when I was offered some free llama fiber at work (I'm a zookeeper). I've been crocheting since I was a young kid, so reaching further back into the process to make my own yarn seemed a natural step. I have since also started experimenting with natural dyeing and expanded into a variety of fibers including bactrian camel, goat, nettle, and even red fox. I actually currently have a big barrel full of camel hair from work that I have to finish sorting and cleaning so I can return the barrel. Been putting it off a bit since it's such a large task. 😅
I began spinning simply to stay warm. I was a wildlife biologist for 40 years, now I shear sheep full time. I can make woolen clothing that is warm and superior to anything from the store. I have access to a wide variety of sheep breeds. It is endlessly fascinating.
That's so cool!!
My niece Rebecca was interested in spinning. I took her to a local fiber store for classes and became interested myself. It has become an obsession! Knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, and my favorite of all dyeing!!! There is something so satisfying about taking it all the way through by hand yourself!
That is awesome! I love how you ended up getting interested in all of it!
Funny what gets us excited. I'm blaming my weird interest of growing my own cotton on this fiber rabit hole. Had a harvest of less than a pound of brown and white cotton boles this year. Yep, also started spinning with a spindle and a package of "4 Feet of Sheep".
I took a drop spindle class at my LYS and quickly became OBSESSED. I participated in my first Tour de Fleece that summer, and made a lot of uneducated but ambitious attempts! By that Christmas, I had a rent-to-own Ladybug, and the momentum just hasn't stopped ever since. I went from a spinning-curious knitter to a spinner who knits. I'm now weaving-curious, and boy isn't that a fun place to be...:)
Yes!!! Love this story! 💗🔥
I started with knitting, and then came to spinning because I was on a quest to learn more about yarn - why some things worked and other didn't. That led me to realize I needed to learn about fibre, which got me into spinning, and then dyeing, and now weaving.... Your videos have been really helpful, as I now have a LeClerc Fanny loom.
Also - I love your top - what pattern is it?
This is 100% my story too!!! including the Fanny loom! haha Yes, I'm delighted that knitting and yarn have led us to all these new topics to explore.
I learned to spin because a friend that I knit with wanted to learn so we learned together. Then that lead me to dyeing my own fibres and weaving. Eventually, I decided to build myself an eSpinner so I could take my non-spindle projects on the go with me. There's almost always fibre with me these days - so much so that I groan when I have to drive because I can't spin in the car at the same time. :) I do spin far more than I weave or knit though.
I started spinning using my sisters cats hair and I made a drop spindle from a cd and big knitting needle. It actually worked. I was hooked. I then bought a proper drop spindle. I then bought a small Majacraft spinning wheel and then a Hansen E spinner. I feel very blessed. I love to knit by hand but also have a Dean and Bean sock machine, Sentro, and LK150. I've gone down the fibre rabbit hole for sure and love it. There is nothing more satisfying than wearing something you have spun the yarn for and knit. You do have beautiful fibre that I have treated myself too. I love the videos where you talk about spinning and your knitting machines. I followed you as you waited for your sock machine. You are always inspiring.
Yes!! a CD spindle! That's awesome... you just need a tiny taste of making yarn to get hooked! Amazing ... are you knitting your handspun with your knitting machines? That's my happy place. Thank you for watching and following the evolution of craft here!! ❤
@@sweetgeorgia I haven't put my hand spun on my knitting machines yet, but it is on my to do list. Would love to watch you do that. :)
There IS something else more satisfying Paula, and that is raising the animals that produce the fiber for the yarn to knit up and wear. I started with angora bunnies 🐇and learning to spin 40 years ago and then as a retirement project got the big guys, some colored angora goats, Babydoll sheep, llamas and alpacas. 🐐🐑🦙 And then after 14 years with them, covid hit so now it is just bunnies again🥰. They were my first love. But what fun it all was. The animals took a lot of time so now I am back to the sock machine and other tunnels of the rabbit hole. Still loving it all though .
The colors of fiber are stunning! I began spinning back in the 1980's when I simplified my life and thought that I might like to homestead. A lady with a flock of sheep showed me how to spin in about 30 minutes and I lived and breathed for Spin Off magazine back when it was all about actual spinning.
Your story is a lot like mine! It's a crazy addiction isn't it?!!
I learned to spin about 20 years ago at a fiber festival in Santa Monica. I bought a spindle and some fiber. A month later I bought a Louet s10 wheel off eBay from the Netherlands. In 2006 I started the Tour de Fleece 🤣 That’s the journey folks. Spinning is a slippery slope! I picked up an e-spinner two years ago or so. I’m dealing with chronic illness and pain but I am not spinning so much these days. It will always have a special place in my heart. ❤❤❤
It starts with a spindle and a bag of fibre! hahah yes... such a slippery slope. Even if you're not spinning much these days, it sounds like it's been a big part of your fibre and crafty journey :)
I don't personally have much of an interest in spinning fiber to yarn, but I do think that plying yarn is an underappreciated art unto itself. I have a drop spindle that I use for plying, for example, to make yarn for diced intarsia knitting
Felicia, I really enjoy your videos - thank you! It would be great to see the yarns you've been spinning from these lovely braids.
I'm a recent spinner but have been knitting/crocheting/sewing/weaving since I was a kid (actually knew to knit before I knew how to read). I got (mild) covid over Christmas, and since I was confined, I thought I tried something new and ordered a basic spindle kit. Loved it and span enough yarn for a couple of sweaters. Then in February I took a few hours of class with a fabulous spinner and got hooked, it's like therapy and magic combined. Definitely a rabbit hole as I'm now contemplating dying my own yarn...
Spinning remains one of my mainstay crafts, despite all the spinoffs you mention! There is always more to explore and learn. This year, I have been spinning cotton grown in my garden, some of which I have dyed with indigo grown in my garden.
I have been spinning for about 5-7 years now and I adore it. I started on a drop spindle a friend had loaned to me out of interest (she was already in love with the craft) and I quickly progressed to a wheel. Which led me to weaving, finding a knitting machine (that I have yet to learn to use), and occasionally dying my own fibre. I could already crochet and simply knit, but I am still in love with spinning and have found it hard to work past this obsession to use up yarn I have made. I just prefer to keep spinning!
I hear you completely! Love how making yarn brings you to the next rabbit hole and then the next… ☺️
❤@@sweetgeorgia
I had a similar experience starting out - saw a bag of fiber and a spindle at the fair - except I bought it. I know my interest had been primed ahead of time by a recent read/reread of Mists of Avalon - as long as I've been spinning I've been as intrigued by the historical side of spinning as by the activity itself.
Took me a year to get to spinning on a wheel though (My first was a Christmas gift the next year), and I've not stopped since. Still love my spindles though, and still have that first one.
Although people tried teaching me to knit when I was a kid, it didn't really take. It took spinning to get me going with both crochet and knitting.
Yes!! I love that spinning brought you to knitting and crochet... truly a gateway craft to the world of yarn and all the magical things you can do with it. Thanks for sharing your journey and learning with us too, Elena!
I am inspired but a bit scared of the spinning rabbit hole. I love to knit, do not have lots of space for craft at home.
Go for it anyway! 😉
For sure! There are small space ways to spin too. I have a tiny Turkish spindle that fits in the palm of my hand. And supported spindles don’t take much space either. Even tiny e-spinners can work well!
Don't need much room (or money) for a spindle! 😀 Jump in!
@@theyarnalist6416 So much encouragement, I might ...
I joke that im collecting all the fiber arts. Embroidery, cross stitch, sewing, knitting, crochet, spinning on a spindle and wheel, weaving, dying, and now i have an eye set to learn nålbinding, tatting, starting my yarn from raw unwashed wool, and tambour embroidery. One day i may peek at knitting machines.
I also started the spinning journey like a psycho, buying alpaca, mohair, and silks as my first things to futz with.
There is a long backstory, but I had wanted to learn to spin from about the age of 10. A college friend of mine was learning to spin (and weave) after we graduated, and I finally got my wish. I learned on a drop spindle and a penguin quill. I wish the penguin quills were still being made as they were wonderful to spin on. (I was already knitting, crocheting and sewing.)
Majacraft wheels have a stylus that can be attached that spins like a quill. I love mine :)
@@rachael_emm_handmade Thanks for letting me know! \(^-^)/
My great Aunt taught me how to crochet when I was ten. I’m now 52.
Along the way I also dove into knitting, sewing, quilting, felting and other various crafts. My passion has always come alive when feeling the yarn flow through my hands. I have sooooo enjoyed felting and I finally feel like some kind of an artist through that avenue. I’ve been BITTEN because I now want to spin my own yarn to use it felting and knitting. But someone, ANYONE out there please tell me what does one do when I have miles of handmade yarn (which will eventually happen.)😂🥰. Honestly and seriously as this is an addiction in my head already the only solution I know is then to SELL the yarn. But I’m not into selling. Please help a girl out and what do you all do with all of your yarn? 🧶❤️🙏🏼
Felicia suggested weaving as a good way to use lots of yarn. I'm still a relatively new spinner (and I spin really fine yarn, so the process is quite slow), so I've only got about 1/2 dozen hanks waiting to be used.
It comes down to: what do you like knitting (or crocheting), what do you need and what do you use? I've got climatic limitations where I live, it doesn't get all that cold here, so I've only got limited needs for things like scarves or for very thick knitted jumpers.
The other thing is you may simply need to impose some discipline on your spinning - once you've got to the stage where you are a reasonably reliable spinner (you do need lots of practice initially), make it a rule that you knit up the yarn you span before you start to spin any more.
While you're not into selling, would you consider trading or bartering with other crafters - if you happen to know someone who isn't into spinning but might enjoy knitting, crocheting or weaving some handspun yarn. Perhaps you could have an arrangement where that person/those people are given some of your handspun and they make something for you with half of it and they get to keep the other half for their own use. Alternatively you could give family members who like knitting or crocheting your handspun yarn as Christmas and birthday gifts.
I am a new spinner, and love to spin but now i need a project. I find there is not a lot of patterns that are specific to new spinners- any suggestion of how to find patterns would be appreciated. BTW Sweet Georgia fiber is wonderful!!
By patterns you mean knitting patterns? I'd probably go with something where getting the size exactly right is not a big issue - so something like a scarf or a cowl or a shawl. Or perhaps a silly project like dolls' clothes or elf socks. That way, inconsistencies aren't going to crash your project.
I believe Andrea Mowry has developed some patterns especially for use with handspun yarn. I haven't tried them but that might be something worth looking into. It also depends upon how knobbly your yarn is, if it's highly textured you might be better avoiding things like Aran work, but if it's reasonably consistent you've got more options. Again, your choice is also going to depend upon what colour of fibre you spun, was it plain, or was it a bit of a mix of natural sheep (or goat or alpaca or whatever) colours, or was it dyed? If dyed, was it monochrome or multi-coloured?
Loved the top you are wearing. Is the pattern available?
Yes! The pattern is called Laia and designed by Isabel Kraemer 💗
Do you bring in Kromski wheels?
We don’t unfortunately have Kromski looms. We work with Schacht and Ashford, for the most part. I have a Lendrum Saxony, myself, but they can be quite hard to get now.