For the love of spinning
Reciprocity: from the Latin word reciprocus, meaning ‘moving backwards and forwards’. I buy wool, worth so much more and on a completely different scale than the money I paid for it. A gift from the sheep. I give back in the skill and love I invest in working with it from fleece to textile. When I see …
I spend a lot of my time with a fleece at the preparation stage. This is where I lay the foundation for the quality of the yarn. But sometimes I cut corners and skip steps. Sometimes I add an extra step or extra time to increase the quality or the experience of the spinning. Today …
These are troubled times. When my mind is racing and I need something to focus on I turn to nalbinding. Simple (but not easy), close and slow. Nalbinding gives me some peace of mind in a chaotic world. All you need to nalbind is a thumb, some yarn, a blunt needle and time. Yes, nalbinding …
Another year has passed, filled with spinning memories, like sweets in a bowl. Today I share my favourite wool moments from this year. This is 2021 wrapped up. As I have looked through my posts in preparation for this wrapping up of the year I have tried to cluster the posts. I have found a …
One of the most foundational techniques I use and teach in spinning is opening up the twist. To understand this myself I gave birth to what I call the Twist model a couple of years ago. This is one of the first things I teach students on my courses and I believe it helps them …
This week I have been rehearsing for tonight ‘s breed study webinar on Åsen wool. I felt a need to spin a nalbinding yarn from one of my Åsen fleeces. To be able to nalbind something to show you and on time I broke the rules, and I liked it. It’s happening tonight, dear readers, …
Åsen sheep is one of the ten Swedish conservation breeds. Today’s blog post and an upcoming breed study webinar are all about Åsen wool. This is my ninth breed study. Previous breed studies have been about Gotland wool, Gute wool, Dalapäls wool, Värmland wool, Jämtland wool, finull wool, rya wool and Klövsjö wool. The webinar …
2020 is over and a new year is waiting to be discovered in all its possibilities. To be able to plan my upcoming year I want to look back at what has happened fiber wise in the past year. If you have been following me for a while you can revisit 2020 with me. If …
A couple of years ago I made a pair of socks in nalbinding. I made them striped in two colours and fulled them for extra strength and durability. I have loved them and worn them a lot during the years, which has resulted in holes. Today it is mending time. Mending to reinforce Yesterday I …
I always bring some textile craft to work for coffee breaks and meetings. Usually knitting or nalbinding, but lately I have been spinning at work with a suspended spindle. The people around me have very different approaches to my spinning and I enjoy responding to people’s reactions. Spinning as a safe space Spinning is a …