I have a live talk for you today! On Saturday, April 15th at 5 pm GMT+1 (world clock here) Christiane Seufferlein and I will chat live about working with local fibers, and you are invited!
It feels so good to finally be able to talk about this! Christiane and I have been planning this live talk for months now and we are both so happy it’s finally happening.
Under the theme local fibers we discuss how we started spinning in the first place, what our main focus is in our teaching and how we work to inspire our students to work with local fibers. There is a limited amount of seats in the course, so enroll now!
Christiane
I first heard about Christiane a couple of years ago when she started the Berta’s flax project. She has custody of a large amount of Austrian dowry chests filled with around 100 kilo processed flax each. The chests are between 80 and 120 years old. You can read more about Christiane and the Berta’s flax project here. At first Christiane used the flax in her teaching, but then she started to send stricks to spinners all over the world.
Christiane Seufferlein when I met her in Bad Ischl in Austria.
I hesitated for a couple of months, but then I couldn’t resist anymore and asked Christiane to send me a strick. Last summer as I went to Austria with my family I met up with Christiane and we had the loveliest afternoon. I also bought some more beautiful flax from her. We had so much to talk about and I keep our afternoon close to my heart. You can read more about our meeting here.
With Christiane’s passion for flax and stories and mine for wool we hope to make some magic for you. This live talk is very dear to us both and we hope you will join us!
Happy spinning!
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
It’s always a mixture of joy and sorrow to finish a project. Joy for the garment I can now wear and enjoy. Sorrow for the process that has come to an end. Still, the process is literally woven into the garment, keeping me warm and cozy. Today I present my finished Rose hip vest.
Last week I showed you the finished twill weave from my handspun singles yarns. Today I invite you to the rest of the journey of making the Rose hip vest. The name comes from the finull lamb Nypon (Rose hip), whose fleece become the weft in the project.
The Rose hip vest is finished!
The model
A while ago I stumbled upon an Instagram ad showing a vesty/shawly sort of garment. It was made out of three identical panels, two for the front and one for the back. There were holes in the side seams for the arms and the garment was reversible both inside out and upside down. I really liked the idea of the reversibility as well as the very simple model. And drape has always fascinated me. The construction of just three panels would be excellent for a hand woven cloth with minimum waste. This would be the perfect model for the weaving project I was planning.
Dimensions
As I calculated the width and length of the weave I had to consider of course the measurements I wanted for the garment, but also the reality of the meterage I had spun. My basis was the width of my shoulders and the length I wanted in both directions – waist length and knee-ish length. I had to fiddle a bit and compromize to fit the model into the meterage I had, but I worked it out good enough in the end. A little narrower than I had planned, but it would hopefully still work.
A simple construction of three identical panels, sewn together with a figure 8 stitch, and holes for the arms.
I decided to weave all the three panels in one length. The warp was nearly five meters long, longer than I had ever warped before. But with just a minor disaster it all worked out.
Minimum waste, maximum cloth
The construction with the three panels was a perfect way to minimize the waste, I didn’t need to cut any pieces off, just sew them together. Since I wanted the vest to be reversible I needed to finish it without a designated front or back, with seams that were neat and tidy.
A buttonhole stitch makes a neat edging.
The assembling would also have to be on a very strict cloth budget. Because of the measurements I had to sew it together with no hemming. I fringed the warp ends – perfect for a reversible garment – and used a figure 8 stitch for the side seams (which had double selvedge warp threads).
Seams
I used two seams in this garment: A figure 8 stitch for joining the panels together and a buttonhole stitch for front edges, armholes and side slits. All seams are sewn with thrums.
I joined the panels with a figure 8 stitch right at the edges of the selvedges. A buttonhole stitch finished the armholes. Weft dominated side facing.
I really liked joining the panels with the figure 8 stitch. There is something simple about it, just up through one side, down in the middle and up again through the other side. No hemming, just stitching right at the outermost warp threads of the selvedges. And it presents such a nice seam. It also hid some of my less fashionable weft edge loops.
Fringes, buttonhole stitch and figure 8 stitch. Warp dominated side facing.
I hadn’t planned on doing anything in particular with the raw edges, but I realized they would look more finished with some seam love. A buttonhole stitch with no ambition whatsoever to look neat or even. Just a simple edging to match the rather loose weave.
Reversible
With the unhemmed, unfolded seams and the fringe there is no right or wrong side on this garment. One side is warp-faced with the darker, shiny outercoat warp yarn dominating. The other weft-faced with the lighter, soft undercoat weft yarn dominating. I will probably wear it weft side in and warp side out, but I could wear it the other way. When the inside of the collar folds outward no wrong side shows.
Warp and weft sides of the finished fabric.
I had planned to be able to wear it as a waist-length vest too, with a longer collar, as was shown in the vest I was inspired by in the first place. This didn’t look very good with my fabric, though. Due to the limited meterage I had to play with, my panels were narrower than the one I had been inspired by, and the long collar didn’t drape the way I wanted it to. Therefore I let that idea go and added the side slits in what I decided to be the bottom to accommodate for the narrow panels.
Welcome to the show!
More than a garment
I love the way the vest came out. My friend Cecilia burst out ”Wow!! How deliciously raw!” And yes, I do like that raw look of it. It has a soft drape that still feels very elegant. I feel embraced rather than suffocated and the vest isn’t too warm. I keep all the sides together and in order with a shawl pin underneath the collar.
I’m feeling very cozy in my Rose hip vesty-shawly garment.
So much time, skill and love is literally woven into this garment. It is so much more than a vest now. The fibers have gone through my hands hundreds of times through wool preparation, spinning, weaving and sewing. The process is in the garment, as are the thoughts that have gone through my mind during the process, all the podcasts I have listened to while weaving and all the mistakes I have made. Eventhough I may miss the process of making, all I have learned through the process keeps me warm when I wrap myself in the Rose hip vest.
And oh, the mittens are my own pattern, Heartwarming mitts, published in Spin-Off magazine fall 2019. The pattern seems to be free if you are a subscriber.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
Last week I finally finished a weave that I have been working on since Christmas – weaving twill on a rigid heddle loom does take time. Today I present my newly cut down twill weave.
If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see more of my twill weave and the cutting of the warp in my January and March 2023 video postcards.
Two medalists in the 2020 Swedish fleece championships are the foundation in this weaving project. Both the shepherdesses have received numerous medals in the championships over the years.
A seduction warp
The fleece I used for the warp yarn is a Swedish leicester/finull/Gotland mixbreed. It got the Wool guru’s seduction medal with the motivation from the founder of the prize, Alan Waller:
”I am seduced as if a fantasy drawing had become reality. A wool type of its own – that a fleece with such fine and soft fibers can exist in this enormous length! This kind of wool simply doesn’t exist […]. My spindle watches it with its single eye, wondering, longing, dreaming – what may become of this?” [my translation]
Long and soft staples of Swedish leicester/finull/Gotland lamb combed into bird’s nests.
The staples are indeed long – 18 centimeters – and the fibers unusually soft for such a length. The shine is remarkable and I couldn’t really stay away from the sweet locks when I got them in my hands.
I combed the locks, which was quite a task considering their length, and spun worsted into a singles warp yarn. Look at those bird’s nests, aiming for the sky like newly piped cream buns.
Nypon/Rose hip
The other fleece was a Swedish finull lamb’s fleece that won a silver medal in the finull category. The lamb is named Nypon, which means Rose hip. A sweet shine and playful crimp, the softest of soft fibers.
Soft and crimpy finull wool, teased and carded into rolags.
Finull was the first fleece I ever spun, so the sweet and crimpy staples feel like home to me. I teased the wool with a combing station, carded rolags and spun with an English longdraw into a woolen singles weft yarn.
In the dye pot
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a good dyer. Yet it doesn’t stop me from dyeing. I like warm colours, so usually I start by mixing equal parts blue, red and yellow to create a brown base. After that I add the colour I want. For the past few years I have had a teal period and I still do. I added a mix of three parts blue and one part yellow to the brown base and ended up with a colour I liked. I then dyed one warp bath with almost full colour saturation and one weft bath with a lot less, ending up with two shades of the same colour. Eventhough I had aimed for a slightly bluer shade and a higher contrast I still like the result.
Newly dyed balls of weaving yarn.
I had chained my skeins together to keep them in order in the dye bath, but forgot to loosen up the knots, so there are some spots with almost undyed yarn. This annoyed me of course, but looking at the finished weave I do like the perfectly imperfect colour variegation.
Singles
While almost almost all of my weaving projects with my handspun yarn has had singles weft yarn I have never woven with a singles warp, let alone a singles handspun warp yarn. With the very long fibers in the fleece I chose for the project I figured I might as well challenge myself to weave my very first singles warp. I knew it was a risk, but since I was going to weave a twill fabric I figured the setup would lead to less friction on the warp ends than a tabbe weave.
Warping my twill weave. You can see how the warp yarn still has energy.
To prepare the yarns, especially the warp, for a life in a weave I wound them rather tightly around pebbles. I learned this from a video with Andean spinning and weaving. This method helps removing some of the energy in the singles. While it did help some, there was still enough energy left to get me into some trouble. When I dressed my loom the warp ends wound themselves around each other which gave me work to do every time I advanced the warp. I had to manually detangle every warp thread to be able to make the advance.
Twill weave
A rigid heddle loom can, in its original execution, only weave tabby. I have an addition that makes it possible to weave with a second heddle. With this I can weave things like double weave and two separate layers that are folded in one or two ends. With the two heddles, a heddle stick and an extra warp stick I can create the four shafts I need for a 3/1 twill. I have done this a couple of times before.
The homemade four shafts: Two rigid heddles, one warp stick and one heddle stick (screenshot from patron video).
While it does take time I love the method and, what’s more important, I understand it. A regular loom is way too complicated for me with all its possibilities. I do the other way around and start with a very simple loom and add on when I feel I have the skill to and/or deserve it. The fact that it is even possible to make a four shaft weave in a simple loom is just lovely!
Two sides
Now, back to the yarns I spun – one shiny and strong, the other soft and warm. With a 3/1 twill I can weave a fabric with one side that is warp dominated and the other weft dominated. This means that the warp dominated side is shiny, strong and weather resistant, just like the tips of a double coated fleece protecting the sheep against the rain. The weft dominated side in turn, is soft and warm similarly to how the undercoat protects the sheep against cold. I created a fabric that is for me what the fleeces once were to the sheep.
Weaving my twill weave in the local weaving room.
Since I dyed the weft and warp yarns in different shades, the weft facing side is slightly lighter than the warp facing side.
A finished fabric
After nearly hyper ventilating I managed to cut down the warp. And I really loved the result. The fabric has just the drape I was looking for and I love the difference in the warp and weft faced sides. There were lots of broken warp threads along the way, which I had anticipated. As always, my mistakes create a map of what I have learned, a map that is especially clear in a weaving project.
The warp is cut and teh weave released into the wild (screenshots from patron video).
Every inch of the yarn has been used. Just a couple of meters were left of the warp yarn after warping. I used those to rescue and join broken warp threads during the weaving. I used all the weft yarn down to the last centimeter. All that is left are the thrums. And I will find good use for them too.
The twill weave got even softer after washing, especially on the weft facing side, of course. A garment is finished and I will tell you all about it in an upcoming blog post.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
79 people entered the raffle, which would mean that you raised 395 USD. But 11 of you decided to donate more than the 5 USD ticket fee, so the total sum you raised is 443 USD! That is amazing and I can’t thank you enough. I emailed with Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez, founder of the organization and she asked me to thank you all for your generous donations.
The spindle case was the perfect container for the raffle tickets.
Now, for the winner in the raffle: My daughter helped me draw the winning name. The winner is
Susan P.
Congratulations Susan! I have contacted Susan but she hasn’t replied yet. Please get back to me so I can send you your prize!
The spinning community is built by such generous and kind souls and I am so happy to be part of it. You all help me become a better spinner. So once again, thank you for your generosity.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
My 50th birthday is coming up at the end of next month. Just like Pippi Longstocking gives gifts to her best friends I have decided to give a gift to one of you in this spindle case raffle. In return, you will give a gift to someone else.
In last week’s blog post I wrote a poem about an embroidery. Some of you might have guessed that a giveaway of some sort was coming up, and you were right. The richly embroidered spindle case is the prize in a raffle. There is only the one spindle case and only one happy winner.
Påsöm embroidery on needle punch felt and a hand woven band from my handspun yarn.
How to take part in the spindle case raffle
The raffle is over and the winner will be announced in an upcoming post.
Deadline for entering is March 16th at 4 pm CET (World clock here).
I will donate all the ticket payments to the Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, the CTTC in Peru when the raffle is over. The CTTC is a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. You are more than welcome to donate more than the ticket cost to support their causes, but you will still only get one ticket to the raffle. If you win you may need to pay an import tax or something similar.
Påsöm extravaganza for a sweet spindle case.
The spindle case
A few years ago I designed a spindle case that I now make (without the embroidery) and sell to students on my in-person courses . I do not sell these online. I did have a giveaway of three cases back in 2019, where the lucky winners lived in Sweden, Canada ant the U.S. This time I have only one spindle case, but it’s a pretty one.
Påsöm embroidery looks very good on a spindle case, don’t you think? The lining is a vintage 1950’s linen fabric by designer Viola Gråsten (shown underneath the spindle case to the right).
Here are the details:
The design of the spindle case is my own.
You can put one or two spindles in the case, perhaps some wool. In the bottom of the case is a loose circular piece of needle punch felt. You can remove this, put a spinning bowl (for supported spindle spinning) in the bottom and place the circular piece on top of it to protect spindle tip and bowl from scratches.
The needle punch felt comes from Ullkontoret and is made of Swedish wool.
The seams to assemble the spindle case are hand sewn by me with my handspun yarn from outercoat Rya wool.
The lining is a 1950’s vintage hand printed linen fabric by Swedish/Finnish designer Viola Gråsten.
The button comes from a cardigan that one of my Austrian grandmothers knit for me back in the -70’s.
The button loop is my handspun yarn from a skein I won a silver medal for in the Swedish spinning championships back in 2017.
I have woven the strap and lid band on a backstrap loom with an Andean style pick-up technique. I have spun the band yarn from hand teased Norwegian NKS wool on a Peruvian Pushka spindle and dyed it.
I planned and embroidered the spindle case, the lid and the lid brim, stitch by stitch.
A sweet dahlia at the base of the spindle case.
Please enter to support the CTTC in Peru and good luck in the spindle case raffle! Hopefully I will be able to announce the winner in next week’s blog post.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
An embroidery is the theme of today’s blog poem. Enjoy!
A petal, a bud, a leaf, a stem.
Stitch by stitch an image reveals itself,
one right next to another.
Colour, shape, structure, texture –
I build the image
that wants to come alive
on the felted rectangle that is my canvas.
I build the image that wants to come alive on the felted rectangle that is my canvas.
Enraptured by the simple motion of the needle
like a breath floating in and out of my chest.
I loose myself in the flow.
I pull the yarn through gently
until the newborn stitch lands snugly onto the felt,
spooning itself next to its sisters, only seconds older.
I pull the yarn through gently until the newborn stitch lands snugly onto the felt, spooning itself next to its sisters, only seconds older.
Down into the depths of the soft felt,
up like a sprout of new yarn.
Indeed, I'm planting the flowers I stitch.
For every stitch I add another layer –
the outline,
the stems,
the positions of the flowers.
Filling in any negative space
with colour,
structure
and pure plant power.
Filling in any negative space with colour, structure and pure plant power.
My yarn is rich and airy, the motifs overwhelming.
Flowing, compact,
gushing forcefully across the surface,
painting it with cushiony flowers
like paw prints in the snow from the cat next door.
Painting the surface with cushiony flowers like paw prints in the snow from the cat next door.
My stitches are for the fiber artists before me, beside me and after me.
As I paint my wool with flowers
people of the past flutter by like a whispering sigh,
showcasing their richly embroidered
cuffs, sleeves, suspenders and collars.
Something to flaunt on church Sundays –
a decorated mitten, a pompous skirt hem
flowing momentarily in a bench row.
Telling the story of who they were and where they came from.
All painted with the richness of the stitches.
Each execution a greeting from the artist and her skills.
My stitches are for the fiber artists before me, beside me and after me.
This embroidery is for someone I have never met.
Still I know them.
We may live close or far apart,
still I am connected to them,
stitch by stitch.
We are kindered spirits
through the love of wool.
The sisters next to each other, flowers that fill the space, leaves complementing and stalks holding together.
I want the receiver of my gift
to know the love in my stitches,
the sisters next to each other,
flowers that fill the space,
leaves complementing
and stalks holding together.
I want them to feel the vibrations in my hands
as I pull the needle through the felt,
the warmth in my soul
as I add the next stitch
and the next
in my gift.
You don’t want to miss next week’s blog post. That’s all I have to say about that.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
I am not a monogamous crafter. I always keep parallel projects. If they are too many I get stressed, but usually I see parallel projects as something positive. It gives me the opportunity to work creatively from pure curiosity rather than the drive to finish the project.
Current projects
I almost never work on only one project. To me there is a time, a place and a company for everyone of them. Here are some of my current textile projects:
Two two-end knitting sleeves I have been working on off and on since 2019. I usually knit these at work. I just shove one of the sleeves into my bike pannier on days when I work at the office.
A woven band to said jacket sleeves. Perfect for train rides or office coffee breaks. I weave on a backstrap loom, so I can just put the back end around my foot and tense the warp by stepping on the gas so to speak.
A four meter weave in the weaving room. I usually spend an hour or two on Saturday and Sunday mornings with the weave.
Carding and spinning two-ply woolen yarn from Swedish finull wool.
Spinning a two-end knitting yarn on a supported spindle. Whenever I need that gentle flow.
A secret embroidery project. When I know what to add next.
Picking a fleece. When my hands want to dive into a fleece.
A shawl in my handspun linen yarn. It’s been a while since I worked on this, I have prioritized wool for warming my lap when knitting. But spring is in the air and I think it might be time soon!
Three parallel projects – a woven band, a twill weave in the weaving room and a pair of two-end knitted jacket sleeves.
They are all of different techniques, difficulty level, gadget intensity, concentration levels and sizes. I can pick one suitable project for any crafting friendly occasion. My mood, the situation or the company can also steer me to one project rather than another.
Notebooks for morning reflections (left) and for whatever wants to be written (right).
Just as I spin and/or create with textiles every day I write every day, crafting words and paragraphs. Of course I also have several ongoing writing projects, all with their own contexts. I write by hand in a notebook every morning, in the afternoon in another notebook, on my computer before work on home office days and in the evenings blogging on my laptop.
Curiosity
I never work on a project because I feel the need to finish it, or at least that is my goal. I work on a project because I’m curious about it. It needs and deserves my curiosity, I want to give the best of me to the projects I work with. They are too important to rush through. If I can’t find the curiosity right now I leave the project for a while, allowing it to simmer until I’m ready for it again.
Sometimes I procrastinate to actively avoid finishing something. A project that has been part of my life for so long can be hard to let go of. Once I have finished it it will turn into something else, something more static than the project that I created every day between my hands. This concept is not far from when I read a book. Who knows what the characters will be up to if I finish the last page and leave them unattended?
My two-end knitted jacket sleeves, shot in Visby, Gotland, in 2019 (left) and the same sleeves this week, at an equality breakfast lecture at work (right).
Sometimes a project lies unattended for a long time. That doesn’t mean I have forgotten about it. I just need some inspiration from elsewhere to find that curiosity again. Perhaps I learn something new that will bring a fresh persepective on the technique or to my approach to it.
The forever sleeves
My two-end knitted sleeves is one such project. I started spinning the dalapäls yarn on a supported spindle in 2019 and started knitting. As I reached above the elbow I realized I needed to rip a substantial part up to alter the size, which was moderately fun. For some reason I forgot about the sleeves for quite a while. When I reconnected with them again I needed to alter them back. Just recently I caught up to the clean and un-frogged yarn and I realized that I needed to spin some more yarn. In November I visited my friend Lena who has Dalapäls sheep and I got a bag of the perfect wool for the last skeins for the sleeves.
Experience
I am a person of many ideas. Ideas are new in the world need some extra love and care. The projects will still be there, but the ideas need tending to to grow up and ripen. Not all ideas reach full maturation, though. But that doesn’t mean they are wasted. Quite the opposite, every blah idea can be the source of a brilliant idea that I do pursue. I need to kneed the blah and let it marinate to see where it can bring me. Sometimes I don’t see it right away, but sooner or later I understand the purpose of it and how it can help me move forwards.
Parallel inputs
Sometimes I work with parallel inputs – I knit while attending a conference to focus better on what is being said. I listen to music to enhance the experience of whatever craft I am working on at the moment. Sometimes I tease wool with my combing station while watching a series. Usually a costume drama from the early 19th century for some odd reason. They work very well together.
Parallel inputs. Teasing Swedish finull wool with Austen.
Sometimes a new idea comes during yoga asana practice, during my morning reflection journalling or during spinning. There are common denominators here – a creative activity usually gives birth to an idea involving another creative activity. The veins of creativity flow in mysterious ways. And I love it.
I write what wants to be written, spin what wants to be spun and turn to the project that I am the most curious about right now.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
In the classroom I want to find each student’s way of learning. I want them to flourish and feel that they have achieved something when the course is over.
If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see more of the course and the surroundings in my February 2023 video postcard.
Last Friday I took the train six and a half hours north of Stockholm. I ended up smack in the middle of Sweden, in the city of Östersund. Since Östersund is on Sami land it also has a Sami name – Staare, meaning city. I spent most of the train ride weaving and blogging. It ended up in sort of a train weaving poem you can read in last week’s blog post One more beat.
Östersund/Staare at dawn
As soon as I had found the hotel I dumped my luggage and went out hunting for a hole in the ice for the next two days’ morning baths. I did find it. Saturday morning, 7 am, I took a 20 minute walk in -8° C through the empty high street. Flanked with two story wooden buildnings from the turn of the last century it meandered itself along the lake. I crossed a pedestrian’s bridge across the lake to Frösön island and the jetty with the bathing ladders. They all had neatly organized holes in the ice and I enjoeyd the shy and quiet dawn from the bubble tub. The ice sang and my heart tingled by the thought of my sweet morning adventure and kept tingling all the way back to the hotel.
Early morning ice bath in -8 °C in Östersund/Staare.
Ullforum Yarns and Barns
The aim of the journey was to teach a beginner’s class in suspended spindle spinning. The local spinners had specifically asked for me, hence the long journey. One of the organizers, Karin, was sweet enough to pick me up at the hotel and drive me to the venue 20 minutes outside the town centre.
Lake Storsjön and the Oviksfjällen mountains from the Ullforum spinning mill.
The spinning course was held at Ullforum spinning Mill and the Yarns & Barns yarn shop, all housed in a large barn on a hill with a breathtaking view of lake Storsjön and the Oviksfjällen mountains. As I opened the barn door the smell of wool and fleece greeted me with a warm embrace. This was a place of wool. I have taught in dull and soulless premises. Even if the group of students always is sweet, the environment does matter. The Ullforum spinning mill was one of the loveliest venues I have ever taught at.
Inside Yarns & Barns yarn shop at the Ullforum spinning mill.
The owner Ingela Fredell was there as a host and she also joined the class. She told us about the mill, its stories, the people in it and showed us the machines and a lot more than three bags full of Swedish wool.
In the classroom
When I come to a new group of students I am always nervous at first. I obsess for a bit about whether they will like my perspective and my way of teaching, whether I will be able to teach them something and whether they will enjoy the course. But quite quickly I make myself at home as a teacher and enjoy all the activity around me.
Welcome to class!
I generally start with an introduction and some theory before we dive into teasing and carding the wool. I try to talk about why we do things rather than about dos and dont’s and how it “should” be done. With the whys available it’s easier to understand why things go wrong.
Sitting in a circle
In the classroom I always arrange the chairs in a circle, like the spinning bubble we will all enter mentally once the initial chatter settles. In the circle we are all facing each other, nothing blocking our view. I want to have an undisturbed connection between us. I want the ability to move within the circle to be available to the students. To be able to see the students’ activities properly I squat or sit on the floor in front of them. In the close circular setting we can have a conversation about whatever they are focusing on. Without tables the students can come closer to each other and listen to individual tutoring and conversations should they choose to. The circle makes it easier for the students to learn from each other and to take part of each others’ challenges and successes.
A conversation
As the initial buzz has faded I look around the room to see where I can be of service. The students have closed the door to their own spinning room, a personal bubble within the group bubble. Every expression is a signal I can pick up and react to, the beginning of a conversation. A frown about an uneven rolag, a sigh about not remembering what to do next, a bewildered look about which card to transfer the wool to. I may see a struggled combing in the corner of my eye or a spindle that keeps falling to the ground. A movement, a gaze, a pattern that I respond to. I see a tense shoulder and ask if it is more comfortable to rest the card in the lap. I see an over charged comb and a grimased face and ask them to see what happens if they rest the card in the lap.
One of my best party tricks is to ask the students to place their rolags in chronological order in the floor in front of them to see the progression.
Even if the students don’t always ask me questions directly I pick up on the signals. I ask them what they need or if they know what caused their struggle. Some welcome the support, others need to work it out in solitude before they are ready to invite me into the conversation.
Moving from park and draft to continuous spinning in a flash. This student and shepherdess had never spun before the course. Look at her sweet white rolags on the floor!
After six years of teaching spinning, I have a big bank of teaching experiences. By now I know some of the most common mistakes, questions, challenges and struggles for students, beginners and advanced alike. I know how to address issues. I reuse the previous deposits in the bank and refine my approach to them to create a learning situation. And I always learn more.
Learning styles
Every student has a different way of learning and prefered way of taking on a new challenge. I want to find each student’s learning style and guide them in the best way for them. Some ask a lot of questions, some are quiet. But I try to look at their body language to see beyond the verbal questions.
Teaching in the right environment makes a big difference.
I want to guide the students to find the answers themselves. When someone asks a question I often ask one in return. Can you explore this? Test your theory? See what works for you? If a student is struggling I ask them to take a step back and see if they can find the cause in an earlier step. Did you tease the wool properly? Have you charged the card with a proper amount of wool? Did you tuck in the edge of your rolag in to make it more compact?
Added value
My goal with the course is for every student to feel that they have achieved something. I want them to be able to walk out the classroom door with some added value, something more than just a lovely weekend, something to build upon when they get back home. In skills, understanding and flow I want them to cherish the progressions they have made, to understand more about how wool behaves and what they can do to trouble shoot the process. I want them to feel proud.
Look at how casually this student makes a shank hank!
I want them to be able to find the answers themselves and challenge themselves rather than worry about what “the teacher said”. A ground to stand on and explore from. During the class I gave them a few mental tools. I want them to be able to use them in several ways and understand why they do it and when.
Bursting the bubble
When the course is over we gather in the circle for some final reflections of what we have learned, what has been challenging and what we are proud of. This is one of my favourite moments of any course, a time for my heart to sing the song of the progress and growth of the students that I have had the pleasure of guiding.
Ingela, the owner of the mill showed us this luscious Klövsjö wool with outercoat a mile long. Believe it or not, but this fleece is raw, straight off the hoof.
As we put the chairs back in the traditional classroom seating we burst the spinning bubble. It’s time to go home and bring the contents of that bubble into the day-to-day spinning in their own environment and keep exploring.
Thank you Östersund/Staare, Ullforum and sweet students for inviting me!
And oh, my next course is En slända om dagen (A spindle a day) at Sätergläntan this summer with a few spots left.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
Essentials pulled out of my luggage –
water bottle,
books,
a drawstring bag filled with magic.
Taiko drums in my ears.
My body greets the familiar rocking,
the beat of the tracks.
Trees are rushing by.
I am in motion.
A sweet band in the colours of fruit drops.
As I open the magic bag
my fingers tingle,
giddy from anticipation.
I can weave at last.
A six hour train ride
captured in a sweet band
in the colours of fruit drops,
the kind your granny would keep
in a chrystal bowl
for special occasions only.
A stick dressed in linen heddles spread across the knife tracks like a ruffled skirt.
I tie a string around my waist,
band lock holding the band in place.
A whiff of juniper floats by.
Coat hook on the seat in front of me
secures the warp in the other end.
My loom is simple –
two hand carved sticks,
cherry I think,
control the shed.
A third stick, maple perhaps,
dressed in linen heddles
spread across the knife tracks
like a ruffled skirt.
Lean back to tense and plop the shed open, forward to slack and switch.
Lean back to tense and
plop the shed open,
forward to slack
and switch.
If I listen I hear the song of the weave.
A frrt to open the shed
and welcome the pink butterflied weft,
a sound reminding me of
the first butterfly of spring,
fluttering its wings
to welcome the sun.
Tkk tkk
as the shed sticks keep track of the beat
in synch with the taiko drums.
If I listen I hear the song of the weave.
I lift the heddle stick
and pull the weft through.
Tighten the selvedge,
and tug
until I feel the warp threads
in place,
side by side,
covering the weft
with fruit drop stripes.
Leaning backwards
I make the beat.
Another row added to the fell
another beat toward a band.
The warp threads side by side, covering the weft with fruit drop stripes.
I keep the weaving dance
as the weave sings its weaving song,
trees moving south
as I go north
to snow covered ground.
I beat the weft to the
beat of the drums,
the beat of the train.
The beat of my heart.
The motion of the train in my body,
my body as the loom
moving with the breath of the weave,
the up and down of the shed.
I don't know
where the motion begins
or ends.
A dance,
a song,
a journey
and a beat.
Just one more beat.
One more beat.
Just one more beat.
7.27 pm
track 3.
I exit carriage 2
in a new town,
the echo of the beat
still rocking my body.
Drawstring bag closed,
ready to add some more magic
to the ride back home.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
Whenever I want to weave something bigger than a band I take my rigid heddle loom down to the local vävstuga. A vävstuga is a local weaving room, but also so much more.
If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see more of the vävstuga where I weave in my March 2022, June 2022 and January 2023 video postcards.
Vävstuga – the local weaving room
Väv means weave and stuga means cottage. A vävstuga is a space, not necessarily a cottage, where members can come and weave, sort of a local a weaving room. Back when people were weaving for their household needs or for textile manufacturers many homes had their own looms. With the Industrial Revolution moving weaving to the textile industries, private looms were less common. Local weaving rooms started emerging in Sweden in the 1950’s.
A vävstuga with six floor looms and lots of tools and material. My rigid heddle loom to the left.
It’s difficult to tell how many weaving rooms there are in Sweden, but in a bachelor’s thesis about the vävstuga I read that there there are at least 900 throughout Sweden, probably a lot more.
My local vävstuga
In my area of around 1000 households in six housing associations there are two weaving rooms, both equipped with five or six floor looms plus weaving tools and material. The weaving rooms were planned when the area was built in the mid -80’s and the looms were paid for by the housing associations. I pay an annual fee of around $40 plus any material I use (which I don’t since I use my handspun yarns only). This is where I went when I first wanted to learn to weave.
The 2023 spring weaving has begun in my local vävstuga.
Every season the members come together to plan what to weave on each loom. Everyone gets a slot in the weaving queue for their desired project. I started out like that too, but quite quickly realized that the system didn’t work for me. Since basically all members are senior citizens they weave during the day and get quite a lot done. I only have a couple of hours on the weekend. Also, I wanted to weave my handspun yarns. So I bought a rigid heddle loom. Whenever I have a weaving project I bring it to the vävstuga.
You can see a previous project I wove in the vävstuga here.
A whisper from way back when
My vävstuga is screaming of the -80’s, in every wall colour, flooring, interior decoration and the looms. Even the weaving patterns the members use are from the -80’s.
A narrower floor loom where I once wove a towel or two.
Before we moved to our town house we lived in a flat just like the vävstuga. The preschool where our children went half a lifetime ago lies in the vävstuga building. About eight years ago, when my then twelve year old son came in to the vävstuga for the first time he stopped the second he passed the threshold. In a single breath he relived all the smells of the apartment where he had lived the first six years of his life and of the preschool. He decided to treat the vävstuga as sort of a sacred place, where he didn’t allow himself to use his mobile phone. He wanted to savour the air and the memories that came rushing over him.
A twill thrill
My current project is a twill weave in my handspun yarn. “Twill?”, you may say. “On a rigid heddle loom?”. Yes, twill on a rigid heddle loom. A rigid heddle loom is originally a two shaft loom, but with a double heddle, a shed stick and a heddle stick I am able to create a four shaft weave. It is quite fiddly and takes a lot of time, but it works. I have always been a bit intimidated by large floor looms with numerous possibilities that I will never understand. My rigid heddle loom is simple enough for me to get a grip of and expand when I need to. So fiddly and time consuming twill it is.
It’s a slow process and takes both patience and hair spray, but I’m in no hurry.
I’m weaving with handspun singles in both warp and weft. It’s definitely a thriller, the warp gets very fuzzy. After having consulted my weaving friend Maria I spray it with hair spray after every advance. It works surprisingly well.
A map of what I have learned
Just a few warp threads have broken so far and I know by now how to fix them, almost without panicking. I remember one of my first weaves where about 30 warp threads broke. I did panic, but I also realized that I just had to fix them. Until then I had spent so much time, love and dedication on spindle spinning all the yarn and I just couldn’t just let it go to waste.
A map of what I have learned.
This is my approach to every weaving experiment I tangle myself into. As I say to my students: My mistakes are a map of what I have learned. And it’s quite evident in my weaving. It is the bumpiest, prettiest and most endearing map.
I’m almost half-way on my weave and there is a whole spectrum of challenges and potential disasters ahead. But I will finish and all will be well. I’ll write a separate post when I’m done, telling you all about the wool, the spinning, weaving and finished project.
Hello Weavy!
When I skip down to the weaving room and open the door I say “Hej Vävis!” (roughly translated to “Hello Weavy!”), my heart tingling with weaving anticipation. The vävstuga is a place where I get to spend time with my weave and see it grow centimeter by centimeter, a place where I get to create with no other projects or tasks calling for my attention, a place where I get to learn.
I’m weaving twill in the vävstuga on my sweet rigid heddle loom.
Time does seem to have stopped in the vävstuga. Yet, all I can hear is the sound of the beater adding row after row to the fell and the ticking of the wall clock. Usually I get to the vävstuga in the morning before the other members come. I relish in the silence, the liberating lack of clutter, things to be done. In the vävstuga I allow my thoughts to come and go, like the shuttle stick moving through the sheds. Like a breath moving between my inner and outer worlds.
When I turn the light off I pet my weave, thank it and take my leave with a “Hejdå Vävis!”. The weave and the weaving vibrate in my heart and hands as I walk back home.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write posts about spinning, but also where I explain a bit more about videos I release. Sometimes I make videos that are on the blog only. Subscribe or make an rss feed to be sure not to miss any posts.
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden!by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
