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Tog and þel

In October I bought an Icelandic fleece from Hulda at Uppspuni mini mill in Iceland. I decided to separate the coats – tog and þel – by hand, just to see what I could learn. And I did indeed learn.

If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see how I separate tog and þel by hand on the darker fleece in my December 2022 video postcard.

Two fleeces of Icelandic wool – one whole fleece in a lighter shade of grey and part of a darker one.

I asked Hulda to pick out a couple of ewe fleeces for me, with an interesting colour range somewhere along the grey scale. She found two beautiful fleeces, one lighter and one darker grey. I chose the lighter one and as much of the darker one that would work in a 2 kilo package. A few weeks later it landed at my doorstep – 1500 grams of the lighter grey and 500 grams of the darker.

Tog and þel

Icelandic wool has a dual coat with long and strong outercoat fibers and shorter, finer and softer undercoat fibers. Tog is Icelandic for the outercoat of Icelandic fleeces. I believe the word has the same origin as the Swedish word tagel (horse hair). The Icelandic undercoat is called þel [thel].

Separating

Usually when I want to separate undercoat and outercoat to spin separately I use a pair of combs. But I like to work close to the wool and I thought I’d try separating the two fiber types by hand on these beautiful Icelandic fleeces. An Icelandic spinner told me that her way of separating the fiber types was by hand.

So, this is how I separate the coats by hand:

  • The first step is easy – I pick a few locks by the tip ends. I bundle them up with the tip ends in one direction and the cut ends in the other.
  • On some parts of the darker fleece the cut ends are a little bundled up, so I lightly open up the cut ends to make the separation smoother.
  • I keep a firm grip in the tip ends and by lightly pulling and wiggling the cut ends, separate the two fiber types. I place the tog carefully in a paper bag with the tip end facing one direction and the cut ends another. I place the þel in another bag.
Lovely and freshly picked staples of Icelandic wool.

The fleeces Hulda has sent to me are of excellent quality. For that reason I knew that these were perfect candidates for separating by hand. In the beginning I had no particular reason for doing it this way, other than to explore and learn. But after having separated the whole 2 kilos of fleece by hand I now know the benefits of it and I will walk you through what I have learned.

Hello Wool

Usually I start a fleece exploration of a fleece by picking it, the whole fleece before I do anything else with it. With this Icelandic fleece I pick a few staples and separate them before I pick another few staples. Same steps but in a little different order. Regardless of the order of the steps. this is my first opportunity to get to know the fleece, and in its most natural form: From the washed fleece I pick out staple by staple and continue from there.

As I work with my hands through the wool I get to know it, I get to say hello to the wool and see what it has to teach me. As I separate tog and the I find two different colours.

Let’s stop right there for a minute. As I pick the tip end of a staple and gently pull it out of the mass of staples, free at the tip ends and holding on at the cut ends, I get the opportunity to get to know the wool from the very start. I get to see how long the fibers are, both outercoat and undercoat. I see crimp, colour and staple type. When I dig my hands into the fleece I feel the bounce and when I draft some fibers out of the cut end of a staple I get a feeling of how it will spin.

Picking and separating the locks by hand gives me a unique opportunity to make an inventory of the entire fleece and sort according to any parameter I fancy.

Colours

I knew there were different colours in the fleeces, but it wasn’t until I picked and separated the staples I saw where the colours really were. The lighter fleece was quite homogenous – light grey þel and about the same colour in the tog.

Soft þel from the darker fleece. The basket is a Ullkränku, a Gotland wool basket.

The darker fleece, however hid a whole range of grey from very light to pitch black that was revealed when I separated the coats. All the þel was silvery grey while the colour range was in the tog. So, my original plan to separate the tog and the þel had to be revised – I added a second dimension – colour – to my separation and sorted my bundles of tog into a range from light to dark.

The range of colours in the outercoat/tog fibers, with the largest quantity in the medium to dark grey range.

Had I separated the coats with combs from the start I may have ended up with a variegated top of outercoat fibers, but I wouldn’t have discovered the treasure of the actual colour range and the opportunity I would have had in sorting according to colour.

Response

As I pull the individual staple out of the carpet of staples I feel, right there between my hands, how the fibers relate to each other. But what does that mean, how the fibers relate to each other? Well, I’m talking about how the fibers separate from each other – do they let go of the grip easily and smoothly or do I have to struggle? Do the fibers agree with me or do they fight me? The way the fibers separate from each other is an indication of how they will behave later when I spin them.

As I hold one end of the staple in one hand and the other end in the other hand and gently pull I feel the response from the fiber types between my hands. Even if I might not always have words to describe what it is I feel in the response, it is definitely information that my muscles remember and bring back to me as I prepare and spin the wool later on. So, to summarize:

  • As I separate the coats my hands get a feeling of how easily the fibers separate from each other. Is it smooth or do I need to struggle? After ten, fifteen, umpteen coat separations my hands know what to expect and how to behave to respond to the information from the wool
  • My hands also get to know the length of the fibers and the coats. After a number of separations they know how long the fibers are. As I later comb or card and then spin my hands already know by feel how long the fibers are and how to work with the wool. My hands also know what distance to keep from each other for a smooth spin.

Every time the fibers go through my hands I get the chance to learn from them, to allow my hands to navigate in the responses I get from the wool. My hands store the information and get a better understanding of how to work with the wool in the upcoming steps o the process.

Þel weft

I have separated both of the fleeces into tog, þel and colour and stored them in my wool storage. They will now have to wait their turn in the fleece queue. When that day comes I will card the þel and spin woolen. This way I will get a light, soft and warm yarn that I will use as weft yarn. If the almost white and the light grey have enough contrast I may play with the colours.

The þel fibers are longer than I expected, but still work beautifully in a rolag.

As I test card the þel I feel how long the fibers are, I’m not used to undercoat fibers of that length. But it cards sweetly and smoothly into a lovely rolag that is a joy to spin. The fibers aren’t as well separated as if I would have teased them, so I’ll have to figure something out when I get to that stage. Perhaps just willowing them is enough. And fun too!

Tog warp

I will comb the tog and spin worsted into a strong warp yarn. This yarn will be strong and shiny and I will use it as a warp yarn. With the tog I have an opportunity to use the colour range to make stripes.

Long tog fibers require dramatic combing choreography.

The tog fibers are very long! This means that I need to be very dramatic as I comb, making the movements large and bold to prevent the combed fibers to loop back on themselves and create tangles. I believe this warp will be a strong one.

The making of a sweet tog bird’s nest.

Test spin

Of course I test spun the preparations too. Nothing fancy, just a quick go with suspended spindles. I spun them in different directions – the tog clockwise and the þel counter-clockwise. I have learned that the threads marry each other in a weave this way. And I get to practice spinning in both directions.

Combed tog spun worsted and clockwise. Carded þel spun woolen and counter-clockwise.

The tog and the þel with their unique characteristics that were so closely intertwined on the hoof have been torn apart and put together in a new fashion to be useful for a new wearer. I hope I can create a textile that makes the fleece justice.

Sometimes I get all giddy thinking about all the treasures I have in my wool storage, all picked and ready to be recreated into something completely new. A treasure chest in my sofa bed. Who knew!

If you are a patron (or want to become one) you can see how I separate tog and þel by hand on the darker fleece in my December 2022 video postcard.

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.
  • My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
  • 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.
  • On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
  • You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
  • Follow me on Instagram.  I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
  • Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
  • In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
  • I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
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Rehackling flax

It’s been a while, but today I release a new video! This time I show you how I rehackle flax that has been stored for a while. In this case flax from the Berta’s flax project that has been stored since the 1940’s, but I would rehackle any flax that doesn’t come fresh off the hackles.

I actually shot a version of this video in the summer of 2021. But as the time went by, I realized that I had changed my methods here and there. The footage wasn’t the best either.

A video project within a process

I procrastinated for a year. Then I tried again this summer, 2022. I updated my methods and my phone, so I got better footage too. The summer went by and I changed some more methods. I procrastinated a little more. Then I realized that the changes were due to my process, and a process is always changing.

I spun flax all summer and learned a lot along the way. I changed techniques, tools and my understanding of the process, while developing and refining my methods. Here are some changes I have made since I shot the video:

  • I divide the stricks into even smaller bundles for more control and better quality in the hackling
  • I have a different way of dressing the distaff with the fanned fibers (see archive video below)
  • Even if I put my hand very gently on the hackle spikes to keep the flax on them, there is a risk of getting hurt if I’m not careful. I now place my index finger on top of the fibers just in front of the spikes to force the fibers to stay in the hackle without risking getting my hand hurt.
  • I now use a different spinning wheel, my Kromski Mazurka Henrietta (see image below)

So what I give you is a still image of my methods as they presented themselves in the process then and there, in the shape of a video. I have learned a lot since then and a video produced now would look different. I hope my learning process is to the benefit of yours.

Rehackling flax

In the video I rehackle flax that is around 80 years old. The flax comes from the Austrian Berta’s flax project and the flax stricks have been stored in a chest until just recently. While the flax was in amazing condition it was compressed and needed a little love. In fact, I would rehackle any flax that I didn’t get straight off the hackles.

I rehackle 80-ish year old Austrian flax from the Berta’s flax project.

You can read more about rehackling flax in this blog post and more about the Berta’s flax project here.

Time and air

Preparing fibers invites air in between the fibers. In some preparations a lot of air with the fibers willy-nilly, but still evenly distributed, like a carded preparation. In other preparations a little less air and the fibers parallel, but still evenly distributed, like a combed preparation. Fiber preparation thus evens out the space between the fibers by of course untangling them, but also by bringing air into the fiber mass.

Three comparisons: Old hackling and rough rehackling (left), rough rehackling and fine rehackling (middle) and fine rehackling and brushing (right)

Regardless of whether 80 years or one summer has passed since the original preparation took place, time has gone by. Time causes the fibers to compress, whether it’s protein or cellulose fibers, carded or combed preparation. The air that the preparation brought into the fibers has escaped, making the fiber mass more compact and possibly retangled, depending on how it has been stored.

Spot the difference

Spinning from an old preparation would thus possibly be more straining on both the spinner and the fibers and leave a yarn of lesser quality. If you compare an old and a new preparation you would probably feel a struggle while spinning the old preparation and a lightness while spinning the new.

Newly rehackled and brushed flax is just dreamy to work with.

The old preparation would probably pull out more fibers from the preparation than a new preparation would, making it more difficult to spin an even and/or fine yarn. The drafted fibers would probably also be bundled. More fibers would break, there would be more waste, shorter fibers and more strain in the body.

Listening to the flax

As I prepare the flax and spin it I get the chance to know it. If I just listen close enough the flax will tell me how it works and what I need to do to spin it into its most beautiful yarn. As I prepare the flax I get the chance to see the length of the fibers, the fineness and the condition of the retting and, when applicable, the quality of the first preparation.

Enormously long flax fibers from 80 year old Swedish flax. It has been industrially prepared, and stored in untwisted stricks, leaving lots of tangles.

The video I shot in 2021 (and never published) was with flax I had got from a friend. It was the same age as Berta’s flax, but grown and harvested in Sweden. The length of the flax was impressive. The flax had been prepared in flax mill the 1940’s and stored in untwisted stricks. The unorganized storing resulted in many tangles, a struggle in the rehackling, a lot of waste and a lower quality in the yarn.

My 2021 flax harvest was large, but underretted and resulted in a small yield of short (broken) fibers with lots of boon in it.

If the flax is underretted (like my 2021 flax sadly was) there will be more boon in it, the little pieces of cellulose that haven’t been properly removed because of the underretting, there will be more breakage and therefore more waste.

All is as it should be

I believe we learn from all experiences, even if they at the moment may seem wasted. From my 2021 underretted flax I learned to pay extra attention to the retting process. From rehackling the Swedish 80 year old flax last summer I learned how important the storing is. And from spinning the flax from the Berta’s flax project this year I learned what high quality flax and preparation feels and spins like and what I need to look out for. All my mistakes are opportunities to explore and learn. All is as it should be.

Flax experience and depth

I don’t have nearly as much experience spinning flax as I have spinning wool. But this and last summer have been flax summers and I have spun commercially prepared modern (Hungarian? Belgian?) flax, commercially prepared 80 year old Swedish flax and hand prepared 80 year old Austrian flax. During this brief time I have encountered several challenges and learned what they do in the yarn. I know now that rehackling is vital for the quality and yield of the yarn and for my physical health. I know I need to spend time on the distaff dressing, pulling out very thin layers in my fan (the only distaff dressing method I have explored so far) to distribute the fibers as evenly as I can.

An evenly prepared fan gives high hopes for a high quality yarn.

When I rehackle the yarn I get a feeling of what I need to do when I get to the distaff dressing and spinning stage. Every time the fibers go through my hands in the process I get information that I can use to create the best yarn I can.

Flower and root ends

One thing I got a little caught up in while editing the video was the flower end and the root end. In the video I tie the flower end to my waist as I create the fan. In a previous video I tied the root end to my waist. Tyeing the root end to the waist is what I had learned from a couple of books on flax preparation and spinning. I thought I was doing it the same way this year as I did in the older video, but apparently I wasn’t.

A freshly dressed distaff with what I believe to be mainly flower ends at the top.

I discussed this with a couple of flax friends, and it turns out that in most cases it doesn’t really matter what end you start with when you spin the yarn. It is important to keep track of the root ends and keep them even as you harvest, dry, rehackle the flax. This is to get as little waste as possible through the different steps of the process. But for the spinning it doesn’t really matter. I like to be consistent through in my yarn, aiming towards keeping all the root ends in the same direction throughout the yarn, but it doesn’t seem necessary at all. And unless I haven’t processed it all myself there is no way of making sure which end is where.

A distaff in a thousand dresses

I dress my distaff with a fan as in the video. This is the only way I have explored. But in Sweden there are several other methods that other flax spinners are way better at than me, and in other parts of Europe still more. This is a very interesting topic that I would love to explore more. Marie Ekstedt Bjersing shows a couple of methods she uses in this video (in Swedish).

Since I shot the video I have started dressing my distaff a little tighter. In my experience this keeps the fibers better organized.

Here is an interesting method that Christiane Seufferlein, the head of the Berta’s flax, showed me. And in this video the spinner prepares a fan in the most beautiful way. She also dresses the distaff with the flax tighter, a method that I have been exploring since after I shot my video.

In the summertime

There is still so much to learn and explore. Next summer my sweet wheel Henrietta and I will be out on the terrace again, diving deeper into flax preparation, rehackling and spinning. I still have lots of flax from the Berta’s flax project, but I also plan to spin my own flax for the very first time. I expect to learn a lot from that too.

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.
  • My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
  • 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.
  • On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
  • You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
  • Follow me on Instagram.  I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
  • Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
  • In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
  • I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
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Flax brain

This week I have worked multidimensionally with flax. I have spun Austrian flax harvested and processed before 1900, knit my handspun yarn from 80 year old Austrian flax, hackled my own flax from 2020 och 2021 and monitored my 2022 flax. Have a peak in my current flax brain!

When I teach spinning (wool) I like to start from the beginning, preparing the fibers. As we go along in the class, I encourage my students to look at the previous step for trouble shooting – can I change something in the carding to solve problems in my spinning? When I have trouble getting my rolags even, will I find the solution in the teasing?

The other day I read a quote that stuck to me. It said: “Creative activity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.” (Arthur Koestler). As I work with the yarn, learning about its properties and the technique I teach myself to improvements on current, previous and following steps. And I would add the material as my teacher too.

The flax brain

I’m not nearly as experienced in flax processing and spinning as I am with wool and I only sow, harvest and process my flax once a year. But this week I have been in the flax on quite a deep level and in many dimensions. Those of you who follow me on Instagram may have seen my Daily flax theme in my stories, where I post one flax related picture or video each day.

I have had a flax brain this summer.

Searching for pictures and/or contexts where I can take a picture of something flax related has switched on my flax brain. What is it that I do and why? Can I make improvements in one step to ease the next? What can I learn from one step that may change how I do things in a previous step?

Knitting my handspun flax

As I wrote in a previous post, I have started knitting with flax yarn that I have spun from 80 year old Austrian flax from the Berta’s flax project. By knitting with the yarn I understand how my style of knitting influences the yarn.

Knitting with my handspun flax makes me reflect over and better understand how I need to spin it.

In this case, with a Z-plied yarn I take off some of the (already low) twist, which results in two singles almost parallel on the needles. This means that I need to add twist when I ply to compensate for the twist I take off when I knit. This way there is sort of a communication between steps in the process via me, a communication between the teacher and the pupil.

Rehackling and brushing pre-1900 flax

As I rehackle and brush the pre-1900 flax from the Berta’s flax project I see what really high quality is. I see how fine the fibers are, how little boon that is left (even if it differs between the three batches of Austrian flax I have, all are very clean) and how much time, skill and effort that has been put into the preparation of the flax.

After rehackling my old flax I brush it with a hog hair flax brush.

Without that knowledge I would probably not understand how my own hackled flax should look like. Without the fresh experience of spinning yarn from flax of high quality I would not have the organic connection between the steps of the process.

Creating a fan and dressing the distaff

As I create a fan and and dress the distaff my flax brain is turned on. Since I made the previous distaff dressing and spun it quite recently I have a fresh understanding of how important a thoroughly prepared fan is for the flow of the spinning.

I’m spreading my rehackled and brushed flax out into a fan to dress my distaff.

For this distaff dressing I spent a lot of time creating the fan, making sure all the layers were very thin and evenly spread. And I did notice the difference from the last distaff dressing – the fibers came out into the drafting zone more effortlessly and evenly. Instant feedback between steps in the process is truly satisfying.

Spinning pre-1900 Austrian flax

Even if the 80 year old flax was in very high quality, the pre-1900 flax was exceptional, with next to no boon at all. I see what even the smallest proportion of boon remnants do for the spinning flow and the softness of the resulting yarn. The more boon the less fluent the spinning and the coarser the yarn.

I’m spinning, plying and making a skein of my Austrian flax.

Spinning this flax has been a joy and a journey back to pre-1900 Austria. As the flax has been going through my hands, so has my thoughts about all the people who have been involved in the preparation of this high quality flax and the significance it had for the people of that place and time.

Preparing my 2020 and 2021 flax

Preparing my own flax helps me understand what retting does in all the processes: An underrated flax will create more waste, more work, coarser yarn, more tangles and less flow in the spinning process.

I broke my 2020 and 2021 flax harvests in October and scutched it this week. The 2021 harvest (left) was a large one with long fibers.

The sentence above is very sensible. I always tell my students that their mistakes are a map of what they have learned and I usually embrace my mistakes. I do that with my underretted flax too, but I can’t help but shed a tear too.

The large 2021 flax harvest was heavily reduced due to underretting. The longest fibers (but not so long after the brutal hackling) to the left, shorter in the middle. To the right is the short bundles of rehackled tow.

The 2021 flax harvest was large, the largest I have ever had, and with very long fibers (see picture of broken flax above). But it was all underretted. There was so much waste, both in amount and length. Even with the large amount of waste I still see a lot of boon and I know it will cause problems when I spin it and in the resulting yarn.

The hackled 2020 flax was modest but resulted in very fine fibers.

My 2020 harvest was very modest and of very different lengths, none of which was very impressive. Still, it resulted in very fine fibers of an almost silvery colour. And a high yield.

Rehackling the tow

I did take the opportunity to rehackle my large pile of newly produced tow, though. I have saved all my tow through the years, but without having done anything with it. Because of the underretted 2021 harvest, the strick of rehackled tow turned out to be the thickest strick.

Harvesting my 2022 flax

As I harvest my flax I have the chance to do what I can to make a high quality preparation. I begin by investigating the flax to find the best day to harvest. I was planning to harvest this week, but as it started raining I didn’t want to risk molding in a damp bundle. So due to the rain there is no picture of my harvested 2022 flax here.

I’m a little afraid of going to the allotment to check on the flax. What if the rain (and wind) has felled the plants?

Henrietta

This week I bought a spinning wheel and I now have three. It was all done quite spontaneously. I have been spinning my flax with my makeshift umbrella stand and carved stick sort of distaff. My sitting position in relation to the distaff hasn’t been ideal for my body.

The ad for the wheel turned up at a very convenient time. My friend Anna was selling her pre-production Kromski Mazurka that she in turn had bough from a spinner in Germany. Anna lives in Gothenburg and I was going there by car for my aunt’s funeral. My destination, the car and the sweet wheel all fell into place.

The wheel had a flax distaff and was quite petite. Anna came to the hotel where I was staying and brought the wheel. I tested the wheel in the lobby (always a joy to make spinning wheel transactions in hotel lobbies) and decided she would come home with me.

I am getting to know my new wheel Henrietta, a pre-production Kromski Mazurka. Since the distaff is too short (and too close to the flyer hooks) I hold it in my hand. I hope to get my wood turner to make me a taller distaff.

I am calling the wheel Henrietta, which is the name of one of my Austrian great-grandmothers (one of my other wheels is named Berta after my Swedish great-grandmother). My aunt was in turn named Harriet after Henrietta. If I remember it correctly, my aunt Harriet dreamed of being called Henrietta.

I have spun with Henrietta for a day or so and we are slowly getting to know each other. She is such a sweet wheel to work with! She is very easy to carry which is a big plus since I like to bring her out to the balcony to spin my flax. The distaff is too short (long flax gets tangled into the flyer hooks), so for the moment I hold it in my hand and draft from there. I hope I can get my wood turner to make me a taller distaff.

Today may be the day I harvest my 2022 flax. I have high hopes for the retting this year.

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.
  • My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to missanything!
  • 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.
  • On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons is an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. Shooting and editing a 3 minute video takes about 5 hours. Writing a blog post around 3. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
  • You are also welcome to make one-off donations on my Ko-fi page.
  • Follow me on Instagram.  I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
  • Read the new book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
  • In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
  • I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.