Tabla de contenidos para Spring 2025 en Spin-Off

I don’t know about you, but when I am perusing an online shop or fiber-fest booth filled with gorgeous tops, batts, or braids, it can be hard to choose. I arrive looking to purchase one or two colors and end up craving a dozen hues that together are greater than the sum of their parts—a colorway. I’ve always loved the term colorway. It describes a curated palette of colors, but the word feels dynamic. It echoes the movement of our eyes as we absorb a palette, flitting from one color to the next. Just look at the stunning hand-painted fiber on the cover, created by Kim Russo of Kim Dyes Yarn. What color do you see first, second, and so on? The colorway becomes a path, and I love that it…

I joined the staff of Spin Off in the summer of 2021. That fall, I attended my very first SOAR event in Boulder, Colorado, at a peaceful venue that was nestled up against the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I didn’t know much about SOAR at the time, but I was able to drop in to a few classrooms to observe what was being taught by names I was by that time familiar with: Maggie Casey, Judith MacKenzie, Galina Khmeleva, to name a few. The small classes felt like such a personal experience. There was camaraderie among the students, who were bonding over their shared love of the fiber arts. There was an ease to the conversations with the instructors. In 2023, I helped out with the SOAR event in Loveland, Colorado,…

What better way to prove how wearable subtle marls can be than by wearing them close to our face? Worked in stockinette stitch and sporting a bit of a slouch, this hat shows off handspun yarns and subtly celebrates our colorplay. The hat is worked on the finer side to create drape, accentuate optical mixing, and celebrate the complexity of yarns that incorporate plies of different colors. SPINNING NOTES I spun the yarn for this hat from a single braid of hand-dyed, extrafine Merino with a few added bits of fiber. The colorway ranged from dark blue, through teal and green, to a brassy-grassy color. I split the braid by color into three piles—one for each singles—and then processed the fiber into rolags on a blending board. The first singles…

I confess that I haven’t done much spinning lately thanks to a thumb injury likely caused by, you guessed it, spinning! Resting my thumb has been tricky, and predrafting my fiber has become essential. As is so often the case, the work-arounds I used gave me the opportunity to think differently about technique and pushed me out of my default spinning patterns. For this pillow, I created two skeins of thick-and-thin handspun yarn. One is a marled yarn that show-cases subtle shifts between light and dark shades of purple, and the other is a gradient yarn that fades from white into gray and then into a dark brown that is almost black. I alternated the yarns at the end of every other row of the project to create stripes. The…

Maker: Kim Russo of Kim Dyes Yarn Where to find them: kimdyesyarn.com Fiber: Petrichor on fine Merino top Editor’s Note: We loved the petrichor colorway from Kim Dyes Yarn so much that we put it on the cover of this issue. Here, Kim tells us what inspired her to develop this new colorway. There was a stretch this past summer where it was so very dry. We’d had so little rain that our town was asking us to limit our water usage. The grass along the sidewalks looked crispy and brown during my morning walks with the family dog, Duncan. Then, finally, one morning Duncan and I stepped outside and we smelled it together. It was raining, and the distinct earthy scent of petrichor was in the air. I mused…

Lalitha Alwan is a recent graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Chennai, India, where she focused on knitwear design and sustainable fashion. As part of her graduate design collection, Lalitha created a series of handspun, handknitted garments, inspired by the beauty of natural jaspers intertwined with the artistry of handspun yarns. We are excited to share her work with you. —Editors How long have you been spinning? Did someone teach you to spin, or did you learn on your own? I began spinning in January 2023 for my handspun and handknitted design collection. I love handknitting and working with my hands in general, and when I was presented with an opportunity to take my knitting to the next level, I was overjoyed. The fact that I…

1 Experience the magic of hand-prepped fiber with the redesigned Majacraft hackle, available in single- or double-row options. The polished stainless steel tines are sharp enough to do the job well, yet blunt enough to be easy to handle. Both options come with a wooden pin cover for storage and nonslip clamps. majacraft.co.nz 2 Prep your own top with this handy key-chain diz from Katrinkles. Select from the 1.5-, 3-, or 5-millimeter opening for exactly the right size top. Visit the website to see a diz style that includes a ruler! katrinkles.com 3 Ready to experiment with fiber and color? Bits and bobbles from Nickel Madigan allow you to order small amounts of a wide range of fun fibers to taste test. Himalayan nettle is just one of the fun…

Pattern and designer Tetris Pullover by Julia Farwell-Clay. Fiber Handpainted braids in Bluefaced Leicester (BFL), BFL/silk, Merino, and Merino/Cashmere. Wheel system Lendrum, double treadle, scotch tension. Ratio 8:1. Drafting method Worsted with short-forward draw. Singles direction Z-twist. Singles wraps per inch 29. Ply wraps per inch 14–18. Total yardage 1,969 yards. Yards per pound 1,060. Yarn classification/weight DK. Yardage used 1,300 yards (includes about 120 yards for sampling). Needles Size 6 (4 mm), size 7 (4.5 mm), and size 6 (4 mm) 16" circular. Gauge 20 sts × 30 rows = 4". Finished size 44". I have been spinning off and on for about 25 years. I watched a woman demonstrating spinning at an old settler’s cabin at the YMCA of the Rockies, and I knew I wanted to spin. At that time,…

When working with color, we often spin from dyed braids. They’re beautiful, convenient, and fun! Unfortunately, these fluffy beauties can sometimes become compacted—whether it’s a delicate fiber that has felted slightly during the dyeing process, compacted during shipping, or sat at the bottom of the stash for too long, it’s something that has happened to many of us. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to revive a compacted braid. We’ve ordered them from least intrusive to most intrusive to the braid’s structure. Whether you start at the top and work your way down, or discover your new favorite method somewhere in the middle, there’s no right or wrong approach, as long as you’re happy with your results! Steam helps fibers relax. The braid will bloom and become easier…

When I first took up spinning in 2011, I was living in a tiny city-center apartment with nowhere to scour fleece and no budget to splash out on hand-dyed braids of fiber. I was delighted to discover that my local yarn shop sold a selection of multicolored blended tops to feed my new hobby. They came in every shade imaginable, from muted pastels to all the bold shades of the rainbow—sometimes all together in a single blend—but many of my early experiences with this form of fiber preparation were distinctly underwhelming. Far from showcasing their intense hues, I discovered that, when spun, those colors would blend, often creating a muddy, sludgy tone. Sometimes, those skeins of “mud” were quite pleasing, revealing a riot of color when viewed up close, while…

I first saw Ouessant sheep in The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius. I was fascinated by the tiny stature of the sheep and their deep black wool. I spent several years researching these little creatures and their long, yet obscure, history. What I discovered was a fascinating glimpse into island life that was practically a matriarchy. And one of the results of this women-led society was the development of the Ouessant sheep. Sourcing Ouessant wool took several years, but eventually, I discovered that Ouessants had become relatively popular in England. I was able to order both washed fleece and carded roving from a seller on Etsy UK. I loved working with that wool. The Ouessant landed firmly in my top five sheep-that-I-will-someday-keep list. Ouessants do…

As a dye-focused fiber artist, I ponder ways to incorporate all of my knowledge to create appealing designs and color palettes from start to finish. We all have our own personal palettes. Some of us love the bright jewel tones of acid dyes, while for others, it’s the nuanced hues of natural dyes. Or maybe you prefer to employ the sheep themselves as “dye artists.” I find that most people have an awareness of color aesthetics, despite how often people claim to lack this skill. A slight change in hue can be the difference between a purchase and a skein missing the chance to find a home. What if we had the ability to darken hues that we might consider too pastel or subdue overly vibrant shades into more muted, complex…

Every year, our local spinner’s guild, the Wasatch Woolpack, has a dye exchange. Each person dyes 2 pounds of wool fiber, splits it into 1-ounce bundles, and then exchanges it with the other members of the guild. The purpose is to encourage guild members to try something new and to dye wool. Our theme for 2017 was “My Flower Garden,” so most of the dyed wool was in colors inspired by flowers and gardens. I dyed my 2 pounds, exchanged it, and took home 2 pounds of 1-ounce samples of dyed fiber. Some of it I spun right away; some of it sat in my stash for a few years. Many spinners like to use a drumcarder or handcards to blend fibers together and create gorgeous batts or rolags for spinning.…

Save Your Braids Sometimes braids need more than a little fluffing before spinning. Check out our roundup of prep options for compacted combed tops.  LT.Media/Compacted-Braids A Natural Haven Listen to the podcast to learn how natural dyer Kenya Miles balances farming, teaching, community building, and her own artwork.  LT.Media/Miles Knit a Twilight Fade Pillow Not a crocheter? Spin Off Editor Kate Larson shows you how to adapt the pattern for knitting.  LT.Media/Knit-Fade Master Fractal Spinning Spin Off subscribers can learn more about Becks’s inspiration by reading Janel Laidman’s original article that started the fractal spinning craze.  LT.Media/Fractal Dive into Color Want to learn more about color? Find a suggested reading and watch list for dipping into color theory and dyeing your own fiber.  LT.Media/Color-Books Find more articles, patterns, tutorials, podcasts,…

FOR MANY FIBER ARTISTS, color is at once irresistible and enigmatic. We all know our favorite colors, but when it comes down to selecting new colors, we often find ourselves flummoxed. While well-intentioned, elementary school color theory—with its focus on red, blue, and yellow primaries—sets us up to fail. These “crayon colors” are oversimplified and often yield frustrating results in color-blending experiments. Why? In mediums such as fiber, red is a secondary color—a blend of magenta with a drop of yellow. When you try to add this to blue, you don’t get violet, but a muddy brown. Current color theory has magenta, yellow, and cyan as primary colors, sometimes referred to as printers’ primaries. Think of the ink packs you load into your printer at home. From these primaries, with…

WHAT DOES IT MEAN to approach fiber craft as an artistic pursuit? When centering work around your own life, what should you focus on? How can you “listen” to the landscape? In Textile Creativity Through Nature, Jeanette Appleton tackles these questions and more, guiding the reader through the creation of a fiber-art–focused practice. To be clear, this is not a how-to book. Appleton provides copious examples of her work and sketches, but she isn’t teaching readers how to create these pieces. Instead, Appleton’s book reminded me of a guided walk with a friend, a way to look at my own work and try new things. Appleton groups her art, research, and inspiration around chapter themes, including maps and sketch-books, intentional use of lines, secondhand fabrics, cutting and repairing, and more.…