Today I have a new post for you on Substack: Hearts of slöjd. I reflect over the kind and heartfilled conversations that emerge among crafters crafting.
”Making in the company of other makers brings something unique to the surface from deep within the heart. The act of making something in a natural material that is both esthetically appealing, sustainably made and useful, is for me a sign of respect to the maker and the made. I believe being in our hands makes us a little humbler, a little kinder and a little more responsive to the world. I know it makes me a better me.”
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
This week my husband Dan took the last two photos for my upcoming book, Listen to the wool. Two days later I finished the last of the 20 chapters in the book. There is still lots left to do, but 130+ photos and 20 chapters are pinch-me-in-the-arm real.
In a Substack essay a few weeks ago I wrote about all that lies behind a photo – the people we meet and the experiences we have. There is so much to be grateful for that will never be shared with the world, at least not in the book. Today I share some of what has been going on behind the scenes of writing and photo shoots.
Lace curtains and nectarines
We have been taking photos for the book since last October. In the beginning mostly of sheep on road trips to sheep farms, but in the summer all the other photos. We rented a log cabin for ten days and took a lot of photos there. The surroundings offer lots of different settings and backgrounds. I was set on taking all the photos outdoors, and we succeded. Apart from one motif that was and should be indoors.
We went on six trips to take photos of different sheep breeds. Here Åsen and Brännö sheep. Look at that spotted ear!
The light in the Swedish summer is magical, even though the weather can be quite challenging sometimes. Dan prefers to take his photos in overcast weather – the contrast between light and shadow can get too sharp in the sun. So, on sunny days I have shielded the photo objects with cardboards, blankets and lace curtains. Wind may be a challenge too, the same curtains have been used as wind protection too. It takes some imagination to find these solutions at home and even more in rented cabins.
We took the car Ferry to the Roslag archipelago to take pictures of Brännö sheep.
We took some photos in a nearby national park where we like to hike. I wanted a photo of spinning and preparing wool on a rock in the forest and Dan was up for it. I saved an empty plastic trough for nectarines from the recycling bin, it was perfect for transporting prepared wool without squishing it in my backpack!
Backgrounds, clothes and hair
To have some variation in the photos we looked for different backgrounds. Trees, fields, barns and wooden floors worked perfect. Sometimes Dan wasn’t happy with a fence or a tree that would annoy in the picture, so we worked a lot with placing the photo objects higher. I have sat on a folding chair on top of a lounge chair and we have raised tables onto yoga blocks. I have carried spinning wheels around the photo locations a lot!
Photo by Dan WaltinPhoto by Dan WaltinI carried spinning wheels right and left, by castles and store houses (literally). The great wheel was surprisingly light.
I also wanted different clothes in the pictures I was in. Not out of vanity, but rather for the variation in the photos. Also in case Dan wasn’t satisfied with the contrast between the yarn and my top. I walked around with different sets of clothes and a few options of hair pins and scrunchies in my pockets to be able to quickly change. Anything for the arts!
Photo by Dan WaltinTrees and Fields are lovely backgrounds, and pins essential when wool meets wind.
At home we took a lot of photos on our balcony. It is large and convenient when it comes to carrying props around. We have a foldable photo studio that we have used a lot. It worked surprisingly well. In it we could angle the objects for a comfortable position for Dan and pin them up on various props for a variety of backgrounds.
Photo by Dan WaltinYoga blocks, bricks, tables, umbrellas and chairs – anything that will lead to a better picture.
Pins! I wanted to cut fabric for a sewing project at the cabin, so I brought the necessary fabrics and tools from home. And I am so grateful for the pins. Lots of wool has been pinned onto log cabin walls, cushions, fabrics and blankets to avoid wind disasters and cranky backs and knees.
Planning
I kept an image chart where I noted what images I wanted for the book and what the point of each image was. I had ideas of how I wanted the pictures to look. Mostly it worked, sometimes we found a better solution together, in some cases we ended up with an unplanned photo instead of the one I had prepared for. We abandoned only one of my ideas, since it would require a camera Dan didn’t have a access to, but the one we chose instead was an unplanned one, and a lot better.
In the book I describe the main breeds whose wool is used for spinning. I wanted to have all of these represented in at least one photo – of the breed itself or as wool in one of the steps from fleece to textiles. I had it all noted in my image chart. When I realized I had succeeded I was so pleased. Until someone mentioned a particular breed and I realized I had missed it. I contacted an owned of the breed and she quickly sent me a tuft of wool so I could include it in a photo.
Working together
We have had so much fun together! Dan is such a star when it comes to taking photos of my spinning and he knows what I want. I am the client and he the artist, while at the same time I am the artist too, and object in some of the shots. During the more still life style motifs (things not moving) I am his assistant and advisor while he lets me know what is possible.
“Are we working in the studio today, Darling?”. Photo by Dan Waltin
We have played a lot with angles, props, backgrounds and contrasts and always found the best solution together. I may have an idea of a picture and Dan know what is possible technically and artistically from his perspective and with the equipment and skills he has.
After the photo sessions we have sat down together to look through the images, narrow them down and pick a favourite for each shot. I tell Dan what is most important to focus on in each picture and he tells me what he wants to convey artistically. Just talking through the choices helps me a lot in deepening my understanding of what needs to be clear in the pictures.
Writing
Ever since I wrote my book proposal I have been writing before work on the 2–3 days a week I worked from home, plus on weekends. I took an extra long vacation this summer and have been writing between two and three hours every morning. In seven weeks I have written the last six chapters.
I have written a lot at home, but also out and about.
Some writing sessions have been smooth and exhilarating, others more towards exhausting. Words have flowed, got stuck, I have danced, meditated and walked through blocks and conundrums. The chapter summaries I wrote for my book proposal have been the backbone of the whole project. Every time I have finished a chapter, a sweet summary has been waiting for me with lots of links, ideas and stuff to elaborate. This has been, and is still, a beatiful ride.
Not everything worked smoothly all the time. Photo by Dan Waltin
I will keep editing and tweaking until my deadline on October 1st. After that I will hand my book baby to my publisher with trembling hands and await their verdict. I have no idea what will happen next, but I believe I am in good hands. I am very proud of this book!
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
Over seven months after my friend Cecilia and I won an auction for a walking wheel I finally get to see the wheel in person. Meet Beata Sophia!
Back in September I stumbled upon an online auction for a walking wheel. Those of you who are looking for one know they are hard to find and rarely complete and working. This one was, though.
Space for a wheel
One reason why the walking wheels are so hard to find is that they take up a lot of space, few people have room in their homes for one, and many wheels have been turned into firewood. I looked at the auction page, longed and sighed –I knew she wouldn’t be mine, we don’t have space for her.
I texted my friend Cecilia and showed her the rare find. Cecilia lives in the countryside and happens to have a storage house with lots of space. She is my second cousin and has an interest in genealogy and likes to save and store things from our family. Together we decided to bid for the wheel and keep it in her storage house if we won the auction. Her son has a van for his business that would be big enough to fit the wheel.
Cecilia carved a new hub pin and added a felted band for the wheel rim. Apart from that, the wheel was in excellent shape. She also added a waxed linen drive band and sew the join with a thinner waxed linen thread.
The opening bid was 300 Swedish kronor, about 26€/$28, an insult to the wheel. My pulse increased as it drew closer to the closing time of the auction. It turned out that there were no other bids. Cecilia and I were over the moon, and a couple of days later she and her son picked the wheel up.
A true beauty
Since then Cecilia has carved a new sprint where one was missing and added a beautiful fulled wool ribbon to wind across the wheel rim in Swedish walking wheel tradition. Together we decided to name her Beata Sophia, after an old foremother of ours, who is mentioned as a spinner in one of the documents Cecilia has saved. Her oil portrait hangs on the wall in Cecila’s home and she looks remarkably like Cecilia.
The spindle is wooden, something I haven’t seen before. The wheel tensioning construction is simple and elegant.
Origin unknown
We know nothing about the wheel. It came with no provenience and no marking or other clues to either origin, date or maker. Of the Swedish great wheels I have seen (more than five, less than ten), all have had a simpler look, with plain legs and spokes as opposed to ours with lots of turned details. The same goes for image googling at the Swedish Digital Museum – all the walking wheels have a more plain design. Ours is also the only one I have seen with a wooden spindle.
The original picture was painted by Pehr Hilleström, probably around 1775. The wheel looks very much like the one Cecilia and I have, apart from the number of spokes.
Cecilia did show me a black and white reproduction of an oil painting with one just like ours, though. From the interior and the dress I imagine a wheel like this would come from a fashionable home. It was painted by Pehr Hilleström around 1775. The painting portrays a spinner at Näs herrgård in Uppland, a couple of hours from both Cecilia and me.
We meet at last
I haven’t had time to visit Cecilia and Beata Sophia since before we won the auction, but last week I took the train to see them both. The day before, I carded a basketful of rolags to maximize the spinning time.
Going to a dear friend with a basket full of rolags, can you think of anything better?
The wheel is such a beauty. Ornamented, but not excessively so. Simple in its execution and very well preserved. It was a lovely summer day and we took the wheel outside and placed her on a yard in front of the rural community center. With the right camera angle (away from the dustbins) it seemed a fitting context. I started the first rolag and kept going. She was such a joy to spin with! A bit fussy and noisy, but still smooth to work with. I had to stop myself from spinning all the 49 rolags I had prepared.
I’m doing the walking wheel dance. Do take note of my pants that came straight off the sewing machine. The fabric is handwoven in China in the 1930’s–1970s.
A photo shoot
After a lovely lunch with Cecilia and her family underneath the apple tree, Dan came. He was there to take photos for my book. I want to take as many outdoor photos as possible, with natural light and surroundings. We got some lovely shots by the rural community center and another series in a long alleyway toward the church.
Dan and I have had lots of fun on our photo shoots!
All in all it was a beautiful day and a treasure to remember. I hope we can meet again soon, Cecilia, Beata Sophia and I.
If you have seen this type of walking wheel before, please tell me all about it! You can read more about my encounters with the walking wheel at Vallby open air museum here and here. A couple of years ago I made a video at Vallby with the walking wheel. It is available in English and Swedish.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
Today I have a new post for you on Substack: Unwritten, unread. This week I was in the archipelago with my husband for a photo shoot of Brännö sheep. It struck me that all the words that lie behind a book but never are written, carry the words that are. Read the whole post on Substack.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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 love weaving pillow cases. They are the perfect project for new techniques, especially for wobbly weavers like me. Today I share three new fulled pillow cases.
I have made three pillow cases before, all of which keep our backs comfy in the sofa. All of them have been firsts in some way, and they have taught me a lot about weaving, spinning for weaving, making proper joins and mending broken warp threads. Lots of broken warp threads.
The yarn in these three new ones, is commercial though. For no other reason than that I had the yarns. I bought a couple of kilos in different colours a few years ago at a final sale from a woman who was the first to import Shetland yarns to Sweden back in the 1980’s. I stored the skeins in my yarn cabinet and they were honestly mostly in the way.
Test weaves
When the idea of fulling weaves in a fulling mill took shape, my mind brought me back to the skeins stuffed in the cabinet. They were the perfect practice yarns for fulling. If I failed at the fulling process it wouldn’t be precious handspuns. I picked out three colours that contrasted enough against each other. To play with them I wove my three loose sett weaves with different dominating colours and different plaid patterns. The plan was to weave to full 50 x 50 centimeter pillow cases on my 60 centimeter rigid heddle loom, to match pillows we had in the sofa.
The three pillowcases unfulled to the left and fulled to the right.
All three weaves fulled beautifully in the mill. I confess I was secretly bothered that these weaves in commercial yarns fulled better than my handspuns.
A simple design
The weaves fulled just a bit too much for the dimensions I had planned for, so I bought three 40 x 40 centimeter inner pillows instead, filled with wool of course. I decided on a simple envelope construction – I folded the weaves off-center and folded the remaining piece again to form a pocket to slide the pillow in and close around it. The unfinished edge had been fulled in the mill, and I kept it raw for a simple design element.
Buttons!
Even if the envelope solution did its job to hold the pillow in the case, I wanted a closure that was a little more secure, so I started looking at buttons. After some browsing for buttons in natural materials like bone, horn and wood, I found Maud Enerman who makes made-to-order wooden buttons. I sent her photos of my pillow cases and she was happy to make three sets of buttons, in juniper, plum and beech.
Wooden buttons in juniper left, beech center and plum right.
The buttons arrived this week and I read up on sewing buttonholes by hand and chose three different colours from my box of silk thread. To strengthen I tacked a small piece of cotton fabric to the back of both the buttonhole and the button. Cutting the hole was a bit scary, but neither buttonhole nor skin was injured.
My three pillowcases paired up with the bench I made for my husband a few years ago and the matching rya bench pad I wove to match it.
Not one of the nine buttonholes turned out without wonkiness, but I guess it’s a learning curve. I do love the result, though, and want to dive into the sea of pillows every time I see them. When my husband and I meet in the sofa every evening at 9 pm sharp to watch a series (Ripley at the moment), I grab one for the back, one for the neck and one just to cuddle with while I hold his hand.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
During the past year Dan and I have visited sheep owners to take photos of Swedish sheep breeds for my book, Listen to the Wool. Today I invite you into the forest for a photo shoot of a forest breed, Åsen sheep.
Dan and I go to see Milis and her 24 Åsen sheep. The breed used to be bundled with Gestrike, Helsinge, Värmland and Svärdsjö sheep as skogsfår, forest sheep, but since the end of the 20th century they are all considered individual breeds.
Into the forest we go
Milis keeps half of her Åsen flock in the forest a ten minute drive from her house. The forest belongs to Per who wants it grazed. When we get there we are struck by the openness of the forest – the understory and the forest floor are light and airy and the light magical.
Per takes the lead with a bucket full of bribes as we walk along paths the sheep have paved through the vegetation. Silently, as not to scare the sheep who become nearly wild during the summer, we wade through waist high fern and duck under hazel branches.
The Åsen sheep stand patiently while Dan gets some lovely photos of them.
After ten minutes into the forest we come to a hill with a collection of stones, rounder than the ones we have passed on the way and in all shades of grey. Curious black heads rise from between them, and we realize the stones are the sheep themselves. They see Per and know it means treats, but they also see Dan and stay, linger. Dan is used to lingering sheep by now and has his telephoto lens ready. They flaunt their clean and shiny fleeces and Dan gets beautiful shots despite the distance. When he has what he needs Per offers his bribes to the flock and they tumble around the bucket, toss it into the air and empty it in seconds. We walk back in silence, all I can hear is my heart tingling.
For the love of wool
Milis has decades of experience as a spinner and bought her sheep 24 years ago for the sake of their wool. She documents the wool meticulously and uses it all herself, mostly for weaving. That means the fleeces of 24 sheep twice a year. We talk about the treasure that her wool is, about all the work that is put into its quality. Milis and her husband have changed the way they feed the sheep during the winter, to keep the food out of the fleeces. When I look at the wall of baskets full of wool I see no sign of vegetation matter in the flora of greys. All I can see is the treasure her wool is and the love, skill and dedication she has put into it.
Singing the song of wool
Just as the other Swedish heritage breeds, wool from Åsen sheep can be very versatile, between flocks and individuals as well as over the body of the same sheep. The quality also differs between seasons and years. Usually they grow quite a lot of undercoat during the winter to keep the body warm. At the same time, the wool can be of lower quality due to pregnancies, but this year the sheep haven’t been served by the ram and all the nutrients have gone to the sheep themselves. This year’s spring shearing is spectacular with its abundance of airy undercoat, glistening with lanolin.
Raw sampels from four of Milis’ spring shorn Åsen sheep. She says these have a lot more undercoat than the autumn shorn wool.
I get to take samples from four fleeces and I treasure them like diamonds. As I write this piece, the sheepy smell fills the room and my heart with a song that only a spinner can hear.
Tack Milis!
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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 taught a five-day course in spindle spinning at Sätergläntan Institute of sloyd and craft. Today I invite you to a peek at A Spindle a Day 5!
For the past year I have turned down every request for teaching to focus my energy on writing my book, Listen to the wool. The five-day course at Sätergläntan is the exception, and I have looking forward to it immensely.
Words and more words
The two to three days a week when I work from my home office I have been writing before work, from 6.30 am to 7, plus a couple of hours on the weekend. In May I started a seven-week writing course that demanded even more of my time, but was incredibly nourishing for my writing. Our son moved into his own apartment and our daughter graduated from upper secondary school and the spring has been busy to say the least. I haven’t had the time or the energy to spin for the past few months.
It always feels good to be back at Sätergläntan, but perhaps especially this year. The magazine room where I’m weaving has the most beautiful light in the morning just before breakfast.
Coming to Sätergläntan to teach has been the spinning reward after months of not spinning. The course wouldn’t be without writing, though. The chapter that was next in line was a very good match for teaching – a section where I talk about the importance of talking, of using spinning vocabulary and of referring back to the terms we have established during the course.
The progression of rolag making! And some beautifully and blissfully spun yarns at the top.
When the students were practicing I made notes of their questions, their struggles and successes and how I could meet them where they are. There was so much to reflect over in the classroom. And it was such a treat to get to teach again, be among other spinners and to hold the tools in my hands. I had spent so much time spinning in my head for the book and felt truly nourished in the company of spinners and spindles.
A Spindle a Day
The course is an immersion in wool preparation and spindles, we focus on one spindle type a day for four days – suspended, supported, in-hand and floor spindles, and prepare all the wool we spin with combs and cards. Every new day builds on the previous days in every aspect except for the specific technique of the spindle type for the day. By the fourth spindle they don’t really need much introduction, they know all the parts by now and just need to translate them to a different model.
On the fifth day the students get to do a wool tasting, where they get to explore five different wools for fifteen minutes each, with combs, cards, hands and spindles, all individually and in silence. The very last thing we do before we go back home is a spinning meditation, which usually is very appreciated. This year was no exception.
Photo session on day 4: Supported spindles
The five students formed a tight-knit group and I had the chance to give them proper individual feedback, something I value highly when I teach. Every student has their own context, way of learning and skill level and I want to be able to meet them where they are.
Five sweet souls
I always get a little nervous to start the course. By now I know my curriculum and how I can sharpen my teaching. What I don’t know is who the students are, how they learn and how they work as a group. Usually everything turns out wonderfully, but there is alway that tension before we have settled in the classroom an in the group. We had a lovely mix of people this year – an archaeologist, a teacher, a pharmacist, a librarian and a musician. They all brought their experience, their curiosity and their warmth to class and turned the week into such a sweet time.
Day 1: Suspended spindle and day 3: in-hand spindle. Note the instructions drawn on the hand in the right picture: Spin counter-clockwise with the left (v) hand (and clockwise with the right).
I always learn heaps when I teach, but this time I learned a little extra. One of the students was from Germany and I got to practice my spinning vocabulary in German. A little wonky at first, but it was nice to give the student some rest from taking in everything in Swedish. I also learned a lot about adapting my teaching and my classroom to individual circumstances. Everyone doesn’t learn the same way and everyone doesn’t have the same conditions in the classroom. I am grateful for being reminded of that. They might need adaptations in light, sound or in what tools they can use, or just take a nap to recharge. This is all good and I get to cooperate with them to create the best context for them to learn and explore from where they are.
Book progress
The chapter is almost finished and after that I have only five more to write. Dan and I are renting a cabin right between the two biggest lakes in Sweden and we will spend a lot of the time taking photos for the book. It suddenly feels so real. I have seen the book in my mind for so long, with pictures taken here in the vast landscape, and now we are here. Smack in the middle of the real thing it all feels strangely unreal. But oh, so good.
A huge thank you to C, K, J, G and U! And to Björn Peck for providing spindles for the course and for the students to buy.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
Do you have a wise woman in your heart? Tell me about her if you do! If not, you are welcome to borrow mine. On Substack you can read (and hear me read) the enchanting story of the Queen of Haberdashia.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
Today I offer you another essay-style text on Substack: I want to believe. It was sparked by a conversation I had with a student a few years ago at a spinning course, and led me deep into the forest.
For the past seven weeks I have taken a writing course for Beth Kempton, River of words. We started at the source of the river and week by week wrote ourselves out to the sea. I have taken several of Beth’s courses and she always delivers the juciest courses. This one has been spectacular. Through the meanderings of the course I have grown as a writer and found a writing voice outside of my comfort zone that I really like. I will keep exploring writing on my Substack and you are welcome to join me there. I will keep writing on this blog, but I will alternate between the platforms.
My book Listen to the wool is coming along fine, I finished Chapter 14 (out of 20) just this week. I’m going to Sätergläntan to teach next week and I hope to get some writing inspiration from teaching and from my students. I can’t wait!
Today’s Substack post is the final invitation from the course and I am now ready to let the words take me to the sea.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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 summer I did lots of flower pounding with cosmos, coreopsis and purple pincushion flowers for a pinafore dress I had planned. I sew the dress a couple of weeks ago to wear for my daughter’s graduation.
Several things came upon me for this dress to happen. First, I had somewhat of a dyeing and printing frenzy last year, with lots of fresh leaf indigo dyeing and flower pounding. Second, I found an intreaguing modular dress that I wanted to make. I put the two together and made me a pinafore dress with pounded flowers on the yoke and skirt borders.
Tataki zome: Flower pounding
To learn more about the Japanese indigo I planted last year I took lots of courses, both online and in person. The Dogwood Dyer has lots of online courses in most things indigo and natural dyeing, as well as botanical prints. She shared all her favourite cosmos types for tataki zome, or flower pounding, and I planted them.
Cosmos Rubenza is on the pounding table today and it results in a periwinkle print.
As soon as a bud opened I was there with my snips and kidnapped the flower to my project. Pounding them onto fabric was lots of fun and I giggled like a school girl at the beautiful colours that emerged on my swatches.
Enter pinafore dress
A textile artist I follow on Instagram, Anna Sjösvärd showed a pinafore dress she had made, inspired by a tutorial from another Instagram profile. It was the simplest model, basically two aprons joined at the shoulders and tied at the back and the front. The result was a lovely dress with a snug wrapped bodice and flouncy skirt. I decided to make one for myself, and combine it with my need to pound innocent flowers onto fabric.
I cut the yoke and skirt border and pounded away all summer – cosmos flowers of all colours, orange coreopsis and rich purple pincushion flowers. To save flower material and to create some depth in the prints I pounded the flowers between the pieces. This way one piece got the back and the other got the front of the print.
Sewing
There weren’t many pieces for this dress. Two skirt pieces, one for the back and one for the front. A front and a back bodice piece, divided above the bust for the flower prints. Two bands to tie the back apron to the front and finally a handwoven band for the tie of the front apron at the back.
A handwoven linen band and some hand stitching and I’m almost done!
Since I had cut and zigzaged the pieces during the summer, all that was left when I came back to the dress this spring was the montage of the pieces. I did the joining seams on my 17 kilo Husqvarna 2000 from the 1960’s that I got for my 21st birthday, and the hems by hand. The skirt was just two 150 centimeter wide rectangles that I added running gathers to to fit the bodice parts.
One apron in front tied in the back, one in the back tied in the front. And voilá, a dress!
The last thing I did was to add bust darts. The sides of the bodice flared and I couldn’t live with that. I did them daringly off the cuff. A little wonky, but quite pleasing and still better than before.
Photo by Isak WaltinFront, flair and back. And the perfectly fitting bag.
I wore the dress on my daughter’s graduation and I felt very comfortable in it. The antique linen shift comes from the Berta’s flax project and it was perfect underneath the dress. I used a clutch from Onni design as a tie-on pocket.
So, the first child all grown up, at the university and in his own apartment and the second ready to meet the post-school-system world. Now what?
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
Myyoutube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
Read the 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.
I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
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.
