When I count I automatically group the numbers in clusters of four – counting four steps and then another four in the staircase, four stitches in a pattern repeat, groups of four breaths in the cold bath. Also, usually four treadles at a time on the spinning wheel, as if I were spinning in common time. This yarn, though, wanted to be spun in triple time, a waltzing yarn.
I spin in triple time, treadling each wooly part through dancing hands
Trip-le-time, trip-le-time,
trailing wool, back and forth
One-two-three, four-five-six, gather twist,
seven-eight-nine, make the draw, arm's length back,
thirteen-fourteen-fifteen, yarn slides through
gather twist four-five-six.
fibers live, open up the twist,
finding space in the yarn, yield to the twist,
four-five-six, make the draw,
back and forth, leaning in to gather, back to draw the yarn, floating the twist, live in the fibers, between my hands, leaning forth again.
Icelandic wool separated, and the undercoat teased
Once sweet locks of Icelandic wool
pulled apart,
overcoat left, sparkling of charge
undercoat right, hair on end like the morning after
orderly piles, one for each
tease by hand
arched fibers stretched, layer by layer
Welcome air!
to breathe, to puff, and gently let go.
Card, tease and roll, in triple time.
A handful of wool
offered to the card
softly-softly brush,
one-two-three
transfer wool
four-five-six,
shape the roll
promising loft
carding a waltz.
Trip-le-time, trip-le-time,
swaying and dawning a promise of yarn
seven-eight-nine, pulse of the twist eager to rush through
How can't I see it, that dazzle of fibers?
ready to catch the yarn,
make the yarn,
strengthen, soften
to the tune of the waltz.
Trip-le-time, trip-le-time
swaying the waltz,
softly.
Gently.
Fiber and yarn, that sweet spot between,
free to glide,
free to twist,
stay in the space, conform to its shape
Once there, inviting the twist back in
to seal, to protect the strength,
to surrender to the yarn.
Bildtext
Four-five-six
make the draft,
shooting the fibers into its power,
still somewhat fiber, still somewhat yarn,
in limbo,
suspended between airy and dense,
between soft and strong.
Hands in conversation through the yarn,
the bubbling
of the fire
in the point of twist engagement,
a point that is no point,
but a context of in-betweenness,
neither rolag nor yarn,
yet both, and still none,
open and close,
until my hands feel the spot to settle in, allow the twist back,
to seal, to confirm, to conform
in a newborn yarn,
to land quietly, gently on the bobbin,
strand next to strand,
an arm's length from the rolag they were once part of,
yet a lifetime away,
a new shape, a new purpose.
Reading my words
makes me see
that I write
in clusters of three,
to the beat
and the sway
of a
tri-ple-time waltz.
Still somewhat fiber, still somewhat yarn.
Trip-le-time, trip-le-time,
the dance in the yarn
in my hands
in my mind,
in my words and my soul.
The echo of three
as the yarn moves through me,
rippling the sway through my sizzling skin,
leaving a smile in my face and a song in my heart.
Buonanotte fiorellino was the waltz that breathed through my mind as I spun the yarn and wrote this piece (you can see a waltzy spinning reel on my instagram. What is your favourite spinning beat?
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. So subscribe!
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.
How many times have you been asked that question, ”What’s it for?”. To me, it’s for love, for flow, for the connection between hands and mind, for the memory of the process.
A little ball of blue yarn, packed with adventures and so many tales to tell. It could never know what the world had in store for it. I am grateful for its gifts, for its stories and for the memories still vibrating in my hands.
Norwegian rains
It all started with white fleece from a Norwegian sheep. Long staples, showered with the misty mountain rains, lanolin pushed out to the tips. I picked it out among a flock of fleeces on a woolly journey many years ago.
A Norwegian sheep with solidified tips turned into the sweetest yarn.
The tips a while later – solidified and gunky. Fighting me, tangling, not allowing the combs through. I go for the flicker, gently open, break the solid grease and release, fibers fanning out into the air like branches in the autumn winds. Combing has turned into a creamy dream. Gone is the fighting, the struggle against the elements, here are only smooth fibers gliding gently into the dance of the combs. A bird’s nest of gentle shine and soft evenness, like a silken salon for the sweetest baby birds.
Drafting a dream
I spin and dance, hands in the wool, a dialogue back and forth. The fibers whisper to me, guide me through the draft. Hands softly mumbling, guided by the wool, listening to it, hearing its every whisper. Roll the thumb here, allow more fiber in there, stop, breathe and wait for the twist to settle. Let the fibers flow, glide past each other, keeping the rhythm, the smoothness, the ongoing process in my hands, the settling of the fibers into sweet yarn of mine.
Weaving with the trees
I weave a dream with a tree, the both of us tensing the warp, the movement of the up and down, talking to the tree, my partner in warp. Gently pulling away to tense, coming closer, inviting the slack, moving gently with the tree to allow the weft through the shed, the batten to beat, the cloth to take shape, grow and mature. Woven in the sweet shadow below the century-old linden tree, under its sprouting sticky light-green leaves in the pale May sun, brown leaves still covering the ground, the sky blue between diamond holes in the lace canopy.
Weaving with the trees in the early days of May.
Stitch by stitch I shape a bag, purposely planned, nothing wasted, nothing overflow. Just a strap and a body of sweet blue. A blue I always long for and against all expectations get just right this time. Kindly framing the natural sheepy white, soft and gently shining. A couple of stitches to assemble it all, roses in the belly, a pocket for heddles and sticks for other weaves, other trees.
Photo by Dan WaltinWeaving bag and straps for my singing heart.
I can’t leave the yarn, I can’t leave the weave. I need more and I keep weaving. Even slower now, a pick-up pattern, a camera strap for Dan who so generously shoots my crafting, the bag, the sheep and the wool. A camera guard in gratitude for his eye for beauty, light and angle, his art in my craft. White hearts winding down the strap of blue, pitch black rya to frame, thin bands to hold it together.
What’s it for?
My hands are cold on the keyboard, says Dan. I knit him a pair of mitts, tiny blue dots embraced by gentle grey. The blue ball is back, warming, embracing his hands. What are they for? they ask. Well for dancing across the keyboard as he types his brackets, darts and commands to turn the world around underneath his fingers.
Mittens for Dan and band for joy.
Little band, little, band, I need to braid you. Darts and arrows, blue on white, white on blue, winding down the band. What is it for? they ask. Well the band is only the reminder of the process that goes through my mind as I braid, over two under one, left to right, right to left, keep moving the strands across until the band reveals its pattern, keep moving the process in my mind.
Hands warmed by tea
Just a couple of balls left now, still usable though. A white for a seaweed hat, a blue for another, a bubbly sideways stripe.
Blue and white sideway stripes and white algae in stash busting hats.
Smaller and smaller, a short strand for reading the sweetest words, a kind reminder of where I finished the last sentence, hidden between the pages, keeping the words in order when I am not there to inhale their beauty. What’s it for? they ask. Well, for words to enter my heart and soul, for inspiration to flow and for hands to be warmed by tea.
A gentle strand of yarn serves as a book mark to keep the words neatly in order.
A ball of yarn is all that is left, a little blue ball, reminding me of its adventures through the Norwegian mountains, the rains, the flooded ballerina skirt wool before it landed in the twist into the yarn into the weave of my heart. What is it for? they ask. Well for love, for beauty and for the vibrating memory of a process, of creating the sweetest little blue ball of yarn.
The little blue ball of yarn reminds me of the process in my hands and my heart.
Inspiration
My friend Anna sent me this essay by Barbara Kingsolver that may be some of the most beautiful words I have read. It inspired this post, together with a skin thinning meditation by Beth Kempton.
Projects mentioned:
The wool journey where I bought the fleece from my wool friend Kia.
This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. So subscribe!
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.
Many readers have asked me about my cold baths. Today I give you a whole post straight from the tub. If you’re cold, grab a cuppa and come with me to the lake.
As some of you know, I take a cold baths in my lake every day of the year. The only times I skip the bath are when I’m ill or if I don’t have access to a lake. -18 °C hasn’t scared me. Only once have I skipped the bath due to harsh weather, a combination of -12 °C and strong wind.
Each day a new bath
The night has left a 10 centimeter cover of powder snow. Parents are leaving their kids at the kindergarten, dog walkers take their usual routes, joggers whoosh by, flustered in the cold air. I am curious about what the ice looks like today. You see, it’s always different, always new.
Every day a new bath. Left, January, around -5 °C. Center, mid-February, snowing, above 0 °C. Right, early March, newly snowed, temperature above 0 °C
Depending on temperature, downpour, clouds and humidity the ice can take endless shapes and textures. Yesterday, after a cold night, the ice in the hole was solid, dense and a challenge to break. As I arrive to the dock this morning and peak over the edge, I see the hole crowned with a humbly opaque lid. I can’t tell yet whether it is solid or mushy. Still, it is -6 °C and the possibilities are many. A starry night sky makes the ice stronger while a cloudy night may leave just a thin crust.
Cracking the lid in early January. Since I’m wearing my warmMoroccan High Atlas pants I assume the temperature is at least below -5 °C. If it’s below -10 °C I go down to the lake in the evening to break the lid again so it won’t be so hard to break the next morning.
I wait for my cold bath friends to arrive before I break the lid. I want them to see the beautiful hole too.
Descend
When they have admired the lid I skip down onto the thick ice and start poking the cover of the hole with the shovel. The cover is sort of a lightly frozen snowfall slush that yields softly under my poking. Carving out the lid along the edges is done in no time and I get to take the first dip. Dressed in socks, mittens, hat and bikini I descend the ladder with the anticipation of a child at an ice cream stand.
Early January cold bath. The world around me stops spinning when I am in the water. Only the movement of my breaths and the lake around me matter now. Hat pattern by Marie Amelie designs.
As my foot slides below the surface, the slush yields and invites me into its royal mushiness. A firework of bubbles instantly rises from underneath, covering my descending body with a thousand sparkles, tickling, tingling, fizzing. I giggle out loud as I settle in the ice throne, neck deep in the water, hands and feet on the rim, head comfortably leaned back against the softly cushioned edge. Last night’s snow has added to the height of the edge, and together with the deep slush I feel gently held in my winter tub. The metro moves across the bridge as I lift my gaze above the snowy edge.
Eight breaths
The thermometer is deeply frozen into the ice and I haven’t seen more than the string it is attached to since the new year. I have no reason to believe that the water has changed from the 0 °C it was back then.
Tranquil morning dips in January, February and April. The ice is new every day.
Eight slow breaths in the water, two minutes. That is what I allow myself in these temperatures. Body wants to breathe fast and furious, in panic, run away from the lion. Brain says ”Stay. Slow down, Inhale. Feel the embrace of the water. Put the world on hold. Exhale. Relax into the lake. Nobody will die.” I go with Brain and stay. Still, Body keeps persisting for the first seconds, then silences, muttering, and finally yields to the cold, allowing it to come.
Presence
I breathe. Water, ice and bubbles surface from deep below. The hole has been shaped by the meeting of ice and water. Feet and arms on the ledge like a slice of star fruit in a fizzling punch bowl, mittened hands softly touching the rim. Cold perforating my skin. I don’t know where my legs end and the water begins.
A morning bath in the rare December sun. The hat is my nalbound, fulled and embroidered.
Exhale. Steamy white smoke slowly billows out of my nostrils. Inhale. Air warms up in pirouettes in my nose cavity, warming up my whole body as it whirls through me to keep me safe. I am in my breath, yet I hear the floes softly tinkling in the water. I am in my body, yet I see another metro arch across the city bridge. I am in the lake, yet I feel the warmth from within. In stillness, yet in constant movement between my inside and outside worlds, my breath connecting me to the elements. My body smiles. I am here. I am strong.
The breath of Mother Lake
As I stretch my breaths I hear the sound of a ship breaking the ice in the middle of the bay. After a while I feel it – the water softly and slowly rising and falling inside the hole, like Mother Lake breathing. The waves from the ship have travelled 200 meters underneath the thick ice and play peekaboo in my morning bath.
A December dip in the delicious dawn.
Two minutes, eight breaths. I allow my legs to effortlessly sink and find the bottom of the ladder. As I climb up my skin is pounding red, from the edge of my socks up to my neck. I look back down at the hole and the covered lake all the way to the waking city on the other side. I whisper ”Thank you Lake. I’ll see you tomorrow”. And I will. Come day, come bath. Come what may.
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. So subscribe!
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.
In looking forward to and reflecting 2024 I have created three intentions for myself. These will help me focus for the year ahead and in clearing off things that do not serve me.
Back in January last year I filled in a perfectly imperfect 2023 planner, by Beth Kempton. I had never done that before, but I challenged myself to do it. At the time I had just started to explore my own writing process, allowing myself to write wilder and more unrestrained. I had come to the conclusion that all writing is good and all writing leads to deeper writing. In my planer wrote that I wanted to focus on developing and exploring my writing during 2023. I listed three intentions for the year:
getting started on writing my book
create an online short lecture, and possibly a course
finish my knit sleeve jacket.
During the year I did create a short online lecture, Pick your fleece, plus the five-day challenge Flow. I also published an online course, Spindle spinning for beginners. I also finished the knit sleeve jacket I had worked on since 2019. But when it comes to the first bullet on the list, so much morse than I could ever imagine happened – I got myself a literary agent and a book deal with a U.S. publisher for my book Listen to the wool. You can read more about that here.
Intentions for 2024
Since I managed to fulfill my intentions for last year, and then some, I decided to repeat the challenge for 2024. These are my intentions for 2024:
Write, write and write some more
Follow a textile
Connect with fibery people.
Write
Since 2023 was so dramatic in terms of real-life adult things with deadlines and expectations regarding my book, I need to keep deadlines in 2024 too. I need to submit my manuscript on October 1st. So, naturally, writing will be one of my intentions for 2024. It would be anyway, though.
My upcoming book Listen to the wool is a high priority this year.
I have spent every morning since Christmas in my writing cave. Just the other day I finished one of the longest and most research heavy chapters. When I get back to work again on January 8th there will of course be less time to write, but I will still be able to write a few times a week.
My morning ritual, that includes a writing practice, will still be an important part of my day. I need a space for wild writing and for welcoming whatever wants to be written onto the page, not just the structure of my book. I do this with a pen and a journal. Writing on a computer has its charm, but crafting my words with my hand allows me to write less restrained and from a deeper place in my heart.
A solo writing retreat
Beth Kempton offers a virtual writing retreat that I have been curious about. I enrolled in the retreat and booked myself four nights at an Airbnb tiny house in a town just a three hour train ride from my home. The tiny house has large windows with a spectacular view over a lake. Those were actually my requirements when I browsed for accommodation – a tiny house, a spectacular view from my writing space and just steps away from a dip. I will have my retreat in the end of March, and the hosts promised to keep a hole in the ice open for me and my daily dips when I arrive. I am so looking forward to this and where it may lead me.
Write some more
I also enrolled in a live 7-week writing course in May and June. At the moment I have no idea if I can carve out the time to do it live, but if I don’t, I will just do it later, when the book manuscript has settled.
Follow a textile
I have lots of exciting fleeces in my fleece stash at the moment. As I have picked them I have got ideas of how they may want to be spun and with what kind of textile I want to make them shine. Some ideas involve knitting yarns for different sweater projects, others involve loose weaves to full in a fulling mill with my wool traveling club in May.
I’m weaving (with stashed commercial yarn in this picture) to full in a fulling mill.
I also have four meters of a seriously yummy linen/wool twill fabric for which I have an idea for a larger project.
Connect
As I read through the planner I had filled in for 2024, I saw that almost all of it were solo things – writing, enrolling in online courses, spinning and sewing. I am very much of an introvert, but all the more reason for me not to hide in a cave. I need to connect with people to stay connected to the world. And by connecting with people I mean one at a time with deep conversations in a nerdy subject.
Dan photographing a gute ram for the book on one of our sheep farm excursions.
As Dan and I have started taking photos for the book we have visited a number of sheep owners and their flocks to take pictures of Swedish sheep breeds. These trips have been so valuable, and Dan and I have talked a lot about how deeply the visits touched us and how much we learned. These meetings, I have realized, are such important parts of the book and of my understanding of wool and spinning. I want more of these connections, for myself as well as for the crispiness of the book.
I have said no to new course inquiries before the manuscript deadline, but I will be teaching my five-day course at Sätergläntan as I have for the past years. That is also a lovely opportunity to connect to fibery friends.
A commitment
In the winter writing retreat I am enrolled in, I got the assignment to make a commitment for the year to come. This is what I came up with:
Dear Writing,
thank you for being a solid rock in my life
for encouraging me to make space for words.
Thank you for making moving my pen so beautiful,
for giving me that tingling in my hands to shape lines into letters and words,
all the way back to when I was twelve
and wanted to style me p:s and r:s in the same
bobbin-lace shapes
as my dear aunt Harriet’s.
Thank you for opening the door to exploring inwards
where there is no limit beyond the sky.
Thank you for offering me a writer’s eye
who can see the stars in a piece of moss on a sunlit rock.
Thank you for serving me a soup of hot and nutrutious imagination
about things I could actually never have imagined
without your gentle support.
I will return your generosity by writing,
every day,
to writing wildly, softly,
sparkling and whispering.
I will commit to you
by reading others’ words to fill my writing belly,
by exploring my crafting process
with wool flowing through my hands and mind,
and by moving my body,
because I believe that moving the body helps moving the mind
out of stagnation and into new worlds and possibilities.
I will peek out from my writing cave once and again
by connecting to other spinners and wool people
to fill my crafting belly,
to being curious about those around me
and seeing others’ views than my own.
I will keep choosing writing,
listening to what wants to be written
and being kind to my writing life.
I am a writer and I will keep myself nourished
with words.
In that, my friends, you are my most important critics and I thank you for reading my words.
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 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 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.
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 time of year I like to take a look back at the blog posts (52 as it turns out) I have published and see where they have taken me. Come and join me, there is lots to read and dive in to.
Destashing
This blogging year has been a lot about destashing fleeces and handspun yarn. A full fleece queue where the fleeces are older than one year can be quite stressful, so I wrote about the ladies in waiting and what I planned to do with them. I also reflected over all the projects I had going. I do like to have parallel projects, but there were a bit too many at the time and I managed to destash some of them and also some of my knitting project.
A yoga top and seven hats all from destashed and/or ripped handspun yarns. The linen top to the right is made from commercial yarn I ripped from a top I knit back in 2014.
During the autumn I have knit several things with either destashed or ripped yarns:
Seven hats from stashed and ripped handspun yarns.
The Waiting for rain shawl swallowed a lot of my handspun stash.
My handspun stash is considerably smaller and even I feel lighter. I also have new ideas about how to use the remaining skeins. During the autumn I have bought lots of new fleeces, though, contrary to my plan of fleece moderacy. I do blame the book, though, I want to be able to show as many Swedish breeds as possible in it.
The vest that went viral
In April something unlikely happened. I had woven a twill vest in my local Vävstuga (weaving room). After having blogged about the finished vest I published a reel of me showing it. After a couple of weeks the reel went viral, and after a month it has over 3 million views. I went from 4500 followers to 32000.
The vest that went viral.
It’s totally insane and I was overwhelmed during the craziest weeks. I feel I haven’t earned a following of that size, but most of them have stayed and they are all welcome to the community.
One of my most massive projects ever is the knit sleeve jacket. I started spinning the yarn for it in 2019 and I finished it in June this year.
The knit sleeve jacket is finally finished!
The jacket features five different techniques:
the yarn that I spun on a supported spindle from teased locks of dalapäls wooland Z-plied
the sleeves that I two-end knit between 2019 and early 2023
the bodice that I hand-sew from commercial high quality broadcloth
a band I wove on a backstrap loom
Påsöm embroidery on the sleeves.
My knit sleeve jacket goes very well with the midsummer light, a tie-on pocket and a suspended spindle.
I have learned so much in this project, not the least from ripping the sleeves a couple of times and having to spin more yarn with a new fleece when I ran out of the first batch.
Blue
A lot of my time this summer has beed dedicated to my indigo experiments. I grew two kinds of woad and two kinds of Japanese indigo and dove deep into their care and into fresh leaf dyeing and pigment extraction.
Under the theme of blue I have done some fresh leaf pounding and ice bath dyeing (left) and extracted indigo powder (right). I got a wide spectrum of colours from my fresh leaf experiments (center).
Sometimes my words flow freely and wildly and I end up with a piece written in more of a poetic style. I put Taiko drum music in my ears and let the words lead the way. I love writing this way I learn a lot from it.
I wrote some poetic style posts about a woven band, the sea and the breath of wool.
Here are some blog posts written in this spirit:
In One more beat I weave on the train and submerge myself in the beat of the tracks, the taiko drums and on the weave against the fell.
If wool could talk is an experiment where I allow a few fleeces to introduce themselves.
To the sea is a piece totally unrelated to wool, but in the same spirit.
A breath of wool came to me after I had handled fleece that had been freshly shorn off sheep that I had cuddled just before the shearing.
In Pick me three fleeces pin me down onto the couch and hijack my blog.
In The journey of words and wool I reflect over the process of writing and spinning, that occur before the words land on the page and the fibers adjust in the twist.
Do you have a favourite?
Summer flax
In the summer I like to spin flax in the shadow on our balcony. And, of course, tend to my tiny flax patches in the community garden allotment. I did start in the spring, though, by hackling last year’s harvest. In the summer I finally finished the linen shawl I started last summer. I spun the yarn from 120 year old Austrian flax from the Berta’s flax project.
The linen shawl is finally finished.
I have grown flax in a tiny patch since 2014, but never spun it. This summer I spun all the harvests, some so small that I bundled them together, some large enough for a skein of their own.
Usually I dew ret my harvest in the autumn. This year, though, I tried water retting it in a kiddy pool. And, since I managed to underret it again, I reflected over flax yield.
Meeting fibery friends
This year I have met fibery friends from near and far and cherished every moment. In August I first met Christiane Seufferlein, initiator of the Berta’s flax project. She was on a European tour and we spent a whole day together in the former Viking city of Birka. Back in April Christiane and I also did a live webinar together.
JoshMeeting Christiane (left) and Irene (right, photo by Josh Waggener) were such special moments.
Just a couple of weeks later I met Irene Waggener, author, knitter and independent researcher. She lives in Yerevan, Armenia at the moment, but she was taking a course in Copenhagen and I decided to take the train down to Malmö and meet her there. We spent a day in the park and the hours flew by. I was so glad I had decided to make the trip and that she wanted to meet me. I hope we can meet again soon.
Boel (to the left on the left photo, by Kristin Jelsa) and me, Kristin and Anna with Boel’s parents’ flock of Gotland sheep.
In September it was time for the annual wool journey with my wool traveling club. This time we met at Boel’s house and spent the days weaving, knitting and chatting.
Meetings like these mean so much. Spending time with a fiber friend, merging my wool experience with theirs is such a gift. I hope to be able to do more of this in 2024.
Spinning wheels, antique cards and new socks are themes for blog posts during the year.
Thank you sweet readers for staying with me. I learn so much from your questions and I cherish your comments. Thank you for making me a better spinner and writer.
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 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 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.
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.
Three fleeces crawled out of their paperbags that had been strewn out in the corners of the living room for quite a while, pinned me down on the couch and hijacked my blog. This is what they wrote.
Doris the Gestrike sheep
I’m Doris the gestrike sheep. Feel my soft staples, they are not your regular gestrike fleece. No, my staples are curly-wurly-crimpy, they shine like the inner sky of a seashell, softly, kindly, with a twirl right at the tip end. I have skipped about in the pastures, brushing sweetly against the grass in the late autumn sun until shearing day.
I’m Doris the gestrike sheep and I truly enjoy getting picked. Reply to Wicked Rolags!
Pick me, pick my staples, mindfully, and you will feel my glide, my length and my give. Yes, I will give – give you the sweetest rolags once you shape my fibers into spinnable rolls of heaven. Pick me and you will learn my secrets, see what I can do, how I work in movement, in stillness. Close your eyes and feel who I am, follow my lead, search for my deepest secrets and I will guide you along the way. Listen, listen to my whispers and go with my flow. When I have your attention, when you feel my most subtle vibe, you will know how to make me sparkle and reflect that seashell shine.
Glorious gute
I’m the gute glory! It took me two weeks to get here, I was bundled up and rolled into a paper bag with meter after meter of transparent tape rolled around me. It really itched! I looked like a yarn ball, and nobody paid me any attention. When I finally got to my destination and had a hot bath, I was thrown into a dark drum, spun around for ages and came out felted. The brutality! I am deeply humiliated. My cut ends are all stuck together in a tight carpet.
I’m your favourite gute fleece! Know that I’m full of surprises with my oh-so-soft undercoat fibers and quirky kemp.
I’m not done in yet, though, I will be picked, I will be freed from the felted slippers and allowed air between my fibers. You see, I have many to choose from! I offer many a kemp quirk, in both black and white. They keep my staples open and upright. They are excellent travelers, they will spred through the living room like the rustling leaves when you open the front door on a windy September day.
Will you look at my glorious vanilla shine!
Some of them will stay in my fleece, but most of them will fall out and leave sweet pockets of air between the softest fibers you can ever imagine. The colour of vanilla at the tips, smooth like velvet, I tell you. Rustic grey at the bottom, strong and sturdy. As you pick me you will see what I can do for you. You already found out I can felt into a beautiful structure that will withstand wind and rain, just like I could before I was shorn off that sweet gute lamb.
Rya as dark as the night sky
Do you see the length of my fibers? On and on they go, from the solid cut ends to the tips with the sweet lamb’s curls. No, don’t play with them, it tickles! I’m black as the night, what were you thinking there, really? You know you can’t see to spin black!
I’m your rya diva! Come, let’s admire my long and shiny staples together.
But don’t you worry, I’ll help you. Just close your eyes and feel my sweet undercoat, soft and fine, enjoy the length of my strong and shiny outercoat. I will give you so many options to play with, to dive in to, to get utterly and senselessly wild with. Perhaps blend it all together, perhaps spin one soft and warm, one strong and shiny. Do explore! But pick me first, get to know me deeply, lean in and let me guide you to my strengths, my gifts, my spirit. Lean in some more as you pick me, staple by staple, feeling all my wealth, my treasures and my soul. Meet me in my core and spin from your heart.
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 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 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.
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 haven’t been very interested in antique cards before, I have bought modern cards because I have thought they were of the best quality. Recently though, I have become very interested in antique cards and the gifts they bring.
When I was teaching at Sätergläntan this summer I met Ingrid. She wasn’t in my course, but she was a spinner and we talked about spinning when we met at breaks and meals. Many years ago, it must have been in the 1980’s, she had written some sort of report on old Swedish hand cards. She had met the last card maker in Sweden and even learned the craft herself from him. She still had cards left that she had made herself, with leather pads and all.
Diagonal teeth
Ingrid told me that the best cards have the teeth placed diagonally across the carding pad. That way more teeth would catch on to each fiber and card it more thoroughly. Most of the cards that had been made in the region of Västergötland she had researched were made this way.
All the antique cards I bought have the teeth placed diagonally.
I was amazed at this detail and went home and looked at my own antique cards. I did have two pairs with leather pads. They were tucked away somewhere because I thought modern cards were better. When found them in an old and dusty box and picked them out into the light I saw that one of the pairs had their teeth placed diagonally. The leather pads were neatly fastened with tacks.
Waves in the carding dance
With this new knowledge, my antique cards had suddenly turned into something valuable. I tried them and they carded like butter. Smooth and silent from all the years of work, with the teeth following my movements like waves on the ocean, like a dance in the choreography of the wool. With a smile in my heart I put my modern cards in the dusty drawer.
The wool dances across the carding pad.
Antique card frenzy
A couple of weeks ago I got into some sort of antique card frenzy and started looking for antique cards on Swedish ebay. I had a few terms for the cards to pass. I wanted them to
have leather pads in reasonable condition
be tacked onto the handles
have the teeth – preferably without rust – placed diagonally on the pads.
My five pairs of antique cards.
To my surprise I found a few that matched my terms. I placed bids on (clearing my throat) four pairs. For each pair the final price went up a little more. I probably annoyed the other buyers by taking home all the pairs. But I wanted to explore the properties of different models and makers of antique cards.
Size
Two of the pairs are of approximately the same size and proportions as the modern cards I have. Two are a bit longer. Too long for me actually. I realized I like the pads to be just a few centimeters longer than my hand. That way I can use my flat hand as I tuck the end in when I shape the rolag. With a longer card my had won’t reach the whole length of the rolag. I did not know this before I started this collection of antique cards.
Weight
When I investigated my antique cards I weighed them. It turned out that the two cards in each pair were different. Of course it can be the artistic expression of a craftsperson working with natural material, but still, all of the pairs? In three of the pairs the difference was only 10–15 grams, but in one pair the difference was 40 grams.
The SB cards weigh 200 and 215 grams, the MHS 201 and 210 and the J.A. Bodvar in Gullered 218 and 258 grams.
I wonder if the difference in weight has a purpose. Perhaps the heavier card is supposed to be the stationary card and the lighter the moving? I have no idea, but it’s intriguing, isn’t it?
A setback
The other day I skipped along to the package delivery to pick up my latest auction find. I didn’t have time to open it at the time, but a couple of days later I did. To prepare for the photo shoot for this blog post, I dressed them with teased wool and started to card.
The expression of disgust as I see the carding pad rise and crumble in my hands. I think the technical term is eeouww.
After just a couple of strokes the carding pad started to crumble and lift from the card, inside the frame. It tore like liquorice. Several teeth rose and ended up in the jumble of wool and carding pad carcass. It was a sorry sight.
A sad, sad card carcass.
I looked at the ebay add. It said ”Fine antique cards. Work just as well today”. Well, it turned out that they didn’t. I contacted the seller and asked for a refund. She said I should have counted with it when I bought them antique. I replied that I assumed that she had tried them since she wrote in the add that they worked. She didn’t budge, but I persisted. I suggested we could split the cost. After a while she did pay me back half of the cost and we wished each other a nice weekend. Of course I knew I could get cards in bad quality, but in my naïveté I thought she had tested them with a description like that.
Carders and makers
Some of the cards have the names of the maker printed, burned or labeled on on one or both of the cards. I wonder who they were, SB, MHS and J.A. Bodvar in Gullered. Did they card themselves or did they just make the cards? When and where did they live? Whose hands have held the cards before me, and softened the edges of the handles? Have the cards been handed down in generations?
A sweet rolag of Fjällnäs wool made with my favourite antique cards.
My heart sings when I hold the softened handles. It’s like I hold the hands of the spinners who have used them before me.
Results?
My favourite pair so far is actually still the pair I happened to have at home. I think I bought them on a flea market a few years ago, and actually in the area (Västergötland) where Ingrid had made her research. The area was rich in card making tradition and had produced the highest quality cards. You can see a card maker at work in Rånnaväg in Västergötland in this video.
My favourite cards were the ones I already had at home. They weigh 186 and 201 grams.
Eventhough I had my favourite cards in that old and dusty box all along, I didn’t realize it until I talked to Ingrid and later compared them to the other ones. Just by investigating all the pairs I learned a lot and found a lot of new questions and reasons to keep exploring.
Happy carding!
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 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 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.
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 spent the past weekend in Malmö in southern Sweden. The goal of the journey was meeting Irene Waggener, author, knitter and independent researcher.
”I will be in Copenhagen in August”, said Irene a few weeks ago. She is currently living in Yerevan, Armenia. ”Do you know any yarn shops there?” ”No, I don’t”, said I, “but I can take the train down from Stockholm and we can meet in Malmö!”. ”Yay”!! said both of us. And so we met.
On the train to Malmö to meet Irene Waggener, I read her book Keepers of the sheep.
Irene Waggener is the author of the beautiful book Keepers of the sheep –knitting inMorocco’s High Atlas and beyond. You can read my review of the book here. I have admired her work for a few years now. Two years ago I knit a pair of High Atlas pants, sirwal, that used to be traditional in the the Moroccan High Atlas and that she interprets in the book. They were typically knit by male shepherds from yarn spindle spun by their wives and worn for sheepherding and snow shoveling in the cold season. I use mine for going down to the lake for my daily bath when the air temperature goes below -6 °C.
Meeting pants
I met Irene and her husband Josh in the castle garden in Malmö. Both of us had brought our sirwal pants for them to meet too. Hers knit by spindle spun Moroccan yarn, mine knit with my spindle spun Swedish Gestrike wool yarn.
Our sirwal pants finally meet! Mine to the left, Irene’s to the right. Photo by Josh Waggener.
The pants look very similar, but there are also differences. I spun and knit mine tighter to fight off the cold of the Swedish winter. The white wool in her pants is somewhat reddish from the High Atlas soil. My black stripes are fading towards the hips. I knit them from the first and second fleece from the same sheep, Gunvor, and her black spots had faded with age. Both of our pants have traces of the pastures where the sheep have grazed. While the wools come from quite different lines of sheep, both the fleeces are strong and sturdy with both soft undercoat, long and strong outercoat and quirky kemp.
Spindles, spindles, spindles!
Irene also brought spindles – one floor supported High Atlas spindle, izdi, one floor supported Middle Atlas spindle, maghzal, and one suspended Armenian spindle, ilik. The Armenian spindle was a gift to me, a precious one. I brought hand carded batts from Swedish Gestrike sheep to try the spindles with. In my Instagram highlights you can see me spin with all three spindles.
High Atlas izdi
The High Atlas spindle is the one the yarn for the pants would have been spun with (and that the yarn in Irene’s pants was spun with). The spinner sits on the ground or floor. The spindle rests on the floor and sometimes in a bowl and is flicked with the fingers of the spinning hand. Irene had published Instagram videos with Moroccan spinners spinning on these spindles back when she lived in the area, and I had saved all of them. On the train to Malmö I studied them to be able to spin on the izdi with some amount of grace and dignity.
I’m spinning on the ground supported High Atlas izdi spindle. Photo by Irene Waggener.
The High Atlas spindle is simple – a wooden shaft and, in this case, a whorl cut out from a car tyre. This type of spindle is traditionally spun with hand carded batts. The spinner inserts the twist into the whole length of the batt before making the draft. I love spinning this way, feeling the yarn do its magic as I move my hands in different directions, aligning the fibers softly in the twist with a draw that reaches between my outstretched arms. The High Atlas spindle typically spins fine high twist sock yarns and bulky low twist rug yarns.
Out of the three spindles I got to try, this was my favorite. The spindle was very simple in its execution and in the requirements to use it, yet it is operated with an advanced technique. In Irene’s videos there is also one showing a very special plying technique. The spinner pushes the spindle tip with a flat spinning hand outwards against the arm of the fiber hand. I didn’t have time to try it, though. The technique reminds me of the plying technique used for Andean pushka spindles.
Middle Atlas maghzal
The Middle Atlas spindle was hand carved from one piece of wood, with a belly instead of a whorl. It is supported on the ground, and rolled with a flat hand against the outer thigh of the spinner, who sits on the floor or ground. I believe this type of spindle was primarily used for bulkier yarns for rugs.
The Middle Atlas spindle is rolled against the thigh when the spinner is sitting on the floor or ground. Photo by Irene Waggener.
The wool for the Middle Atlas spindle would have been carded into rolags. I had only my batts with me, so the yarn I spun was a bit on the fine side, but it worked.
Armenian ilik
The Armenian top whorl spindle is also very simple in its construction. A long shaft and a whorl that looks a little like a door knob. This one is very sweet in its wonkiness and with its worm holes.
The Armenian spindle came home with me on the train. Photo by Irene Waggener.
The Armenian spindle is spun suspended and the twist inserted by rolling the shaft against the thigh of the standing or sitting spinner. This spindle is used for different types of yarn for both weaving and knitting.
Traditional spindles
I have one antique French in-hand spindle, one antique Turkish cross-arm spindle, two Andean suspended pushkas and one Peruvian suspended chaj-chaj spindle. These are traditional in different parts of the world, and still used in traditional textile communities. All the other spindles I have are modern, western made hobby spindles, some of them very luxurious. The traditional spindles were made with simple means and for production spinning, some of these very well worn, wonky and with little worm holes.
Don’t get me wrong – I love all my modern spindles. Holding the traditional spindles is something completely different, though, in the extra layer they add. Smooth in my hand, with the shaft echoing the skilled hands that had once flicked it. I felt so grateful to Irene for bringing them and to the spinners who had flicked them before me. My hands are there now too, together with theirs, in the magic of spinning.
Unfinished conversations
And we talked, the three of us. With ease and dedication we talked bout spinning, writing, knitting. World politics, pandemics and spiked bike tyres. About everything and anything. I loved every second of it.
And we talked. Photo by Josh Waggener.
Suddenly, the magic was broken and I had to go back to the train station. There was still so much more I wanted to talk about. If it hadn’t been for a working day coming up I would gladly have postponed my train ride back home. The three and a half hours we spent together were over way too soon. But we will continue the conversation the next time we meet.
On the train back home
On the train back home I did my best to process our time together, all the things we talked about, everything I learned from both Irene and Josh, all the laughter, and spending time in the beautiful castle garden. As I browsed through all the photos and videos they both were so kind to take with my camera, my heart tingled. It was a wonder that we did get to meet – Irene living in Armenia and me not flying don’t give the best odds for meeting. But we did, and I will cherish our day together. I’m so glad I came and that we managed to synch our calendars. Thank you for everything, Irene! I hope to see you again soon. My pants send their love to yours.
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 miss anything!
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.
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.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.
Today I give you an essay, something that wanted to be written after a walk down to the sea. There is no textile connection in this post.
Asana and ants
Tuesday morninyg yoga asana practice, 6 am. I stand in downward facing dog, hips in the air, feet and hands on the floor, creating a triangular shape with my body. Upside down I look back at the garden fence behind me. I see something moving on top of the lower horizontal board of the fence, something shiny. I realize they are ants, scurrying along the board edge between the two neighbouring lawns. From a slit in the fence the ants are lit by the morning sun from behind. It creates a sweet backlight halo on their bodies. I smile and continue my practice. Every time in downward dog I see them again, still scurrying along the board, still with that soft backlight.
Ants scurrying back and forth between neighbouring lawns.
A couple of ants find their way up my feet. I can feel them, but let them be. They are welcome to join my movement. Perhaps they enjoy the flight as I lift my feet into new asanas.
Rituals and adventures
I am on vacation with my family on the east coast of southern Sweden. In this new place I need to find new ways and spaces to go through my morning ritual. The space I choose to roll out my yoga mat is a narrow stretch of wooden floor decking just outside the front door to the Airbnb flat we are renting. As I go through my practice I find new spots to rest my gaze in balancing poses. A crack in a brick, a twig on a board.
After some reading, freewriting and breakfast I pack a bag and start the half-hour walk to the sea. I smile as I walk through the little town, passing tightly spaced houses bound together with patches of roses, lavender and hollyhock. Not many people are out, just a few dog owners and bikers, silently rolling past me. We nod and say good morning, as morning people tend to do.
Eventhough I am in a new place, this is still my morning ritual. I still do the same things as I do at home. I practice my yoga asana, read a few pages squatting on the floor, write whatever wants to be written and go down to the waterfront. Only in a new town with new surroundings and different waters. At the same time I explore a place through those same rituals and feel a little adventurous in my search of how to marry my habitual pattern to spaces new to me.
Straight ahead
I come to a footbridge that stretches across a stream, binding the town and a summer cottage area together. Near the southern end bramble branches peek through the fence spaces. I wonder if the town citizens will pick the berries once they ripen in a couple of weeks.
Brambles nestling their way between the fence posts.
I pass a parking space with a single bread truck, hatch closed. A right and a left turn, then south. A straight and narrow paved road is my guide, edged by cottages of all shapes and sizes, wedged in between tall pines. As I squint at the pines I realize they could be strands of grass in a lawn and I one of those ants on the edge of the fence board.
The road feels soft beneath my shoes. Mindfully I place one foot in front of the other. The movement is slow but solidly forward, I can barely feel the moving of my center of gravity. After a while I hear it – first a swish and later a roar, from the sea. The salty smell becomes increasingly noticeable. In the corner of another parking space, white sand has run down onto the pavement. With two steps forwards and one step back I climb the dune, bare feet sinking deep into their own tracks.
The door to the sea
In one single moment the dusky pine forest cracks open and reveals the sea, vast and open. As I cross the ridge, the bright, yet subtle colours hit me to a degree that I nearly need to take a step back. Yet, I stand and take in the majestic sight, inhaling it with all my senses.
The magic gate to the sea.
The endless sea spreads out like a blanket in front of me, rhythmically rolling its flaired edge to the beach. Somewhere in the other end of that blanket is Lithuania. The sand is soft and warm underneath my feet, but not too hot yet. My feet sink down and the sand yields to my step.
A dip
I get changed and walk slowly out into the sea. The waves meet me, greet me and present a new medium for my body to explore. The water is cold, perhaps 13 °C. The further I walk, the more powerful are the waves. At waist depth I stop, place my feet wide to prepare to meet and receive the striking forces. I stand and breathe, let the sea breathe me through its rolling rhythm. I smell the brackish water and allow it and my senses to have their way with me. All I can do is surrender to the moment.
The power of the sea. To the right, the gate back to the pine forest.
After a few minutes I walk back slowly toward the beach. As I reach it I turn around, thank the sea for having me, get dressed and exit through the magic door at the ridge of the dune.
Lucky ducks who don’t need to remove the sand from their feet.
I spend several minutes trying, in vain of course, to remove the sand from feet and shoes. Is that even possible?
Sourdough surprise
As I walk back along the paved road the view is new. Not only because of the reversed direction of my path, but through the new experiences and sensations that have enriched it. I walk lighter, brighter, humbler and with new tingles in mind and body.
8:15. The bread hatch is open and three people have formed a line outside the truck. I buy four sourdough rolls to bring home to my family. As I walk back to the flat I feel the warmth of the rolls through the paper bag.
The bread truck is open (left)! We have taken a foot photo on every vacation since our very first, back in 1992 (right).
On the following morning walks to the sea I am accompanied by my family. When we get back home to Stockholm I smile at the sand still in my shoes.
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 miss anything!
I have a facebook pagewhere I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
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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.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
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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 have a long vacation and I will be traveling with my family. One important part of packing is of course crafting projects. A student recently asked me how I plan for for spinning on the road. Here is an extended answer to her question.
One favourite spinning technique for traveling is supported spindle spinning. In fact, I started to learn how to spin on a supported spindle after my husband and I had decided to stop flying, for climate reasons. I was looking for a craft that would be practical for the long train ride to Austria, and supported spindle spinning was my answer. And look where it got me! I published a short video of me spinning on the train, and continued to create videos. Just a couple of months later someone asked me if I could teach the technique, and that is how I started teaching spinning.
Favourites
In the post I will talk about how I prepare for spinning and crafting on the road, but first I will give you some of my favourite techniques:
supported spindle spinning
suspended spindle spinning
band weaving on a backstrap loom
different kinds of braiding
nalbinding
two-end knitting
other small sized knitting
And if there is room
portable spinning wheel.
Important factors for spinning on the road
There are several things I consider as I pack for spinning on the road:
how much luggage space I have
how I travel
having a variety of techniques
portability
where I’m going.
This year we’re going on two trips – a week in a log cabin where we will be taking day hikes in a nearby national park, and five days in an Airbnb apartment near the beach.
Luggage space
When I plan what crafts to bring on a journey one important thing is the kind of bags I will be packing in – suitcase, soft bag, backpack or a combination? The sturdiness or squishiness will determine what I can bring and what will be wiser to leave at home.
A small band weave and a 10 gram cross-arm spindle takes up no space at all.
If I travel with a backpack I make sure I don’t bring things that can break or that can injure me. I don’t bring combs or cards on a backpack journey, but a supported spindle is a good companion, as well as small backstrap weaving projects. Smaller knitting projects will usually work fine. Perhaps a suspended spindle if I plan to walk and spin.
If I pack in a suitcase I may bring things like combs, they will be easier to pack in a hard bag than a squishy one. In a suitcase I would also be able to bring fleece in a vacuum bag. If I go by car I bring a basket for various tools if there is room.
The journey
The journey itself is also a factor that plays in. Can I spin on the journey? I don’t craft in the car since I easily get car sick if I need to focus on the project. But a train ride is perfect for crafting!
Crafting on the train
When I travel I prefer to do so by train. Knitting is of course a good option, preferably not a stranded colourwork, though, since there are too many potentially loose items to keep an eye on. Supported spindle spinning will always be a favourite.
When I weave bands on tre train I fasten the warp between my waist and the coat hanger on the back of the seat in front of me (left). If there is no coat hanger, I loop the far end of the warp around my foot, either with the leg straight or propped onto my other knee.
Lately I have also come to love to weave bands on the train. It doesn’t take up much luggage space, none at all, really. Weaving is also quite unexpected and can be quite the conversation starter. I also like the image of the band getting longer the further I go along the rails.
I usually fasten the warp between my waist and the coat hook in the back of the seat in front of me. From my experience with European rail companies, though, I know that not all have coat hangers. In fact, I think I have only seen them on the Swedish railway companies. But do not fret, fastening the warp with a loop around a foot works just fine. In the beginning I make the loop with the warp itself, and toward the end I use something like the torn off hem of an old sheet.
I’m weaving a linen band on a recent train ride.
Before many train rides I have warped for a band without a specific purpose, but the truth is, there is always room for another band! When planning the travel crafting for this summer I realized that I needed a band to tie the inner ends of a linen pinafore dress that I am planning. And so I had the perfect reason to warp for a sweet linen band.
A variety of techniques
When I pack my crafting for a journey I usually like to bring a variety of techniques, at least if I will be gone for more than just a few days. The techniques can vary for the mental variation, but also to avoid getting strained from doing only one craft.
In two-end knitting (left) the yarn won’t roll away since it is secured with a knot. It is knit with a circular needle (or dpns) and is quite slow. Nalbinding is done with a blunt needle only, and the technique is also slow. Both perfect for traveling, both sitting and walking.
I also consider where the craft may be suitable. For instance, I may bring a small band weaving project for sitting down, a two-end knitting project or nalbinding for sitting or walking, and a suspended spindle for standing, sitting or walking.
Portability
I want a travel project to be easy to grab and go. If possible, I want it to fit easily in a bag, both for the journey and for the stay. I don’t want it to be too flimsy or have too many loose parts. A stranded colourwork knitting is not my first option, neither is a large sweater or a lace shawl. I also wouldn’t pick a sewing or embroidery project. There are just too many needles and threads that can get lost.
A bronze-age braid from leftover handspun yarn from my linen shawl.
I also don’t want the project to end before I get back home, I don’t want to risk being empty-handed. Nalbinding and two-end knitting are perfect travel companions. They are both quite small and compact and I don’t run the risk of finishing them since both techniques are very slow.
Where to?
The destination can be important in choosing projects too. Will I be in a city, in the countryside or in the forest? What will I be doing once we get to our destination? A good project for a city may be knitting and a coutryside craft may be a suspended spindle for example. And there are lots of trees to weave with in the forest.
Forest, city or countryside? I choose my crafting projects depending on the destination. Left and right photos by Dan Waltin.
As you may realize, planning projects for a journey is something I truly enjoy. And, secretly, sometimes I may plan a journey depending on the craft I want to hang out with.
What about fiber?
The student who asked me about spinning on the road was more specific than I have described so far: She wanted to know how I pack fiber. She knew I don’t spin from commercially prepared wool and wondered if I pack wool preparation tools or if I process the wool before I leave. Well, that depends. If I go by car and stay for more than a few days I may bring combs or cards. Or just a flicker if I want to spin from lightly teased locks. Otherwise I may process my fiber before we leave and store it in a sturdy box. I do this usually the day before we leave – wool preparation is fresh produce and will go bad after a time. How fast depends on how the preparation has been stored and handled and how prone the wool is to felting.
Examples
So, my husband and I just came back from a trip to a rented log cabin in the countryside. We drove in a rental car that was supposed to be quite small, since our children decided to stay home, but we got a huge car instead. So I flung my travel wheel in and a pair of combs together with a bag of wool.
For a week in a log cabin we had room for my travel wheel in the for some reason giant rental car. I also brought a pair of combs. I used the wool waste as self-felting cushioning in my socks for a few hikes in a nearby national park.
To be on the safe side I also prepared a backstrap loom with a small band, a twelve-strand linen braid, a supported spindle and a 10 gram cross-armed spindle. I spun a silk yarn on both spindles. Now, I just wrote that I don’t use commercially prepared fiber, but this silk top was something I bought many years ago and was there for me to use.
For an upcoming train ride I am bringing a small band weaving (commercial yarn). These pictures are from when we waited for the rental car to charge. I do not recommend this sitting position for a moving car. Photo to the right by Dan waltin. Please admire the camera setup.
Some of these things I prepared for both this trip and an upcoming train journey, especially the weave and the braid. But I did weave for a bit in the parked car while we were waiting for it to charge. So for the train ride I will bring two small project bags – one with the band weave and the braid and the other one with the two silk spinning projects. I will have plenty to do!
Here is a video I shot a few years ago when we took the train to Austria, featuring lots of travel projects.
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 miss anything!
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.
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.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.
