Today I give you a poem about the morning. It came to me when I took a morning walk in the forest with my husband this summer and realized how fresh the air is among the trees all through the day.
You can find me in several social media:
This blog is my main spinning channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
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.
Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
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.
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.
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.
An embroidery is the theme of today’s blog poem. Enjoy!
A petal, a bud, a leaf, a stem.
Stitch by stitch an image reveals itself,
one right next to another.
Colour, shape, structure, texture –
I build the image
that wants to come alive
on the felted rectangle that is my canvas.
I build the image that wants to come alive on the felted rectangle that is my canvas.
Enraptured by the simple motion of the needle
like a breath floating in and out of my chest.
I loose myself in the flow.
I pull the yarn through gently
until the newborn stitch lands snugly onto the felt,
spooning itself next to its sisters, only seconds older.
I pull the yarn through gently until the newborn stitch lands snugly onto the felt, spooning itself next to its sisters, only seconds older.
Down into the depths of the soft felt,
up like a sprout of new yarn.
Indeed, I'm planting the flowers I stitch.
For every stitch I add another layer –
the outline,
the stems,
the positions of the flowers.
Filling in any negative space
with colour,
structure
and pure plant power.
Filling in any negative space with colour, structure and pure plant power.
My yarn is rich and airy, the motifs overwhelming.
Flowing, compact,
gushing forcefully across the surface,
painting it with cushiony flowers
like paw prints in the snow from the cat next door.
Painting the surface with cushiony flowers like paw prints in the snow from the cat next door.
My stitches are for the fiber artists before me, beside me and after me.
As I paint my wool with flowers
people of the past flutter by like a whispering sigh,
showcasing their richly embroidered
cuffs, sleeves, suspenders and collars.
Something to flaunt on church Sundays –
a decorated mitten, a pompous skirt hem
flowing momentarily in a bench row.
Telling the story of who they were and where they came from.
All painted with the richness of the stitches.
Each execution a greeting from the artist and her skills.
My stitches are for the fiber artists before me, beside me and after me.
This embroidery is for someone I have never met.
Still I know them.
We may live close or far apart,
still I am connected to them,
stitch by stitch.
We are kindered spirits
through the love of wool.
The sisters next to each other, flowers that fill the space, leaves complementing and stalks holding together.
I want the receiver of my gift
to know the love in my stitches,
the sisters next to each other,
flowers that fill the space,
leaves complementing
and stalks holding together.
I want them to feel the vibrations in my hands
as I pull the needle through the felt,
the warmth in my soul
as I add the next stitch
and the next
in my gift.
You don’t want to miss next week’s blog post. That’s all I have to say about that.
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 missanything!
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.
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.
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.
