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.
During the autumn I have knit several things with either destashed or ripped yarns:
- the Seguin top from commercial linen yarn
- a yoga top from stashed handspun Icelandic yarn
- A shawl from stashed and ripped handspun yarn
- Seven hats from stashed and ripped handspun yarns.
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.
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.
Birthday raffle
Later in April I turned 50. I decided to host a birthday raffle and donate the earnings to the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco (CTTC). I made an embroidered spindle case for the raffle and 79 people raised 395 USD! I still don’t know if the winner ever got the prize, though, I haven’t heard from her.
The knit sleeve jacket
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 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.
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.
I have written a number of posts about my blue dreams, the fox that dug up the woad patch, my first ever fresh leaf dyeing experiments, the story of Ms Klein (who woke up one morning thrown over a hedgerow), dyeing with the few plants I had left of my Chinese woad, making an ice bath, showcasing all my fresh leaf dyed handspun silk samples and extracting indigo pigment.
Words flowing
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.
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.
- Stitch by stitch and Stitches and garden beds are sweet reflections from the embroidery needle.
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
Creating yarn
Miscellaneous spinning posts were a presentation of my spinning wheels, a guide to spinning on the road, a presentation of my year in wool. I also presented a pair of new Moroccan High Atlas socks and my collection of antique hand cards.
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!
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- I have a facebook page where 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.
