Spinning on a great wheel is the ultimate test of competence in hand spinning. Unless you can spin long draw it is not possible to use a great wheel effectively. Spinning is done with the left hand while the right hand turns the wheel. The spinner walks backwards drawing out long lengths of singles thread […]
My first pupil from Japan has earned her Long Draw Spinner rosette after only two lessons. A tremendous achievement for a pupil whose first lesson took place just three weeks ago. She has also made the felted fox who My first pupil from Japan has earned her Long draw Spinner Rosette after only two lessons. A tremendous achievement […]
Spinning lessons make happy smiles as well as sumptuous yarn as this photo of my happy pupil shows. She is holding her first spinning which turned out much better than she expected – as I find it always does! First spinning is very important as it is the benchmark upon which to assess progress. Lesson […]
Successful spinning lessons are a great joy to me. Another promising pupil is my neighbour who has her own sheep – she learned to spin on her first lesson. Like all my pupils, she learned to spin on Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) prepared tops. I always start beginners off on BFL as it is the […]
Dyeing fleece, an essential technical and creative skill, along with fibre choice, colour skills, spinning technique and yarn architecture, is a basic element of yarn design and a sure way to lift the spirits! Dyeing is with Ashford Dye and the technique is called rainbow dyeing and described in the book. The curly fleece is […]
Long draw spinning – is this a world’s first? Not the world’s first long draw spinner of course – there are probably fewer living today than there were in the medieval times. Question: is this the world’s first ‘Long draw spinner, Spinning on a Wheel made by her Grandfather’? It is certainly the first time […]
Beginner’s spinning ‘First spinning is very special – it is the measure of future improvement – but it is difficult to imagine a more satisfying outcome of your first spinning than this lovely hat in blue faced Leicester fleece in its natural colours. It is only a few weeks since Angie inherited her spinning wheel from […]
Andean plying is a really useful technique I learned from Kate at my Ashford workshop. She made it so easy I teach it to beginner drop spindlers at their first lesson – it only takes me one lesson to teach long draw on a drop spindle! You can learn all about twist and Andean plying at my next […]
Dyeing and spinning silk workshop had an interesting event when a candidate who had never spun before spun this silk and an Ashford traditional wheel. She watched the demonstration about how to spin a long worsted draw – yes, a long worsted draw, not two inches but a satisfying long arms length worsted draw! – and […]
Gotland pullover – pupil news from Jane who completed this cosy pullover for her husband. Jane learned to weave this time last year and subsequently learned to spin – so she has not been spinning for a year yet. What an achievement! It was prepared with hand carders and spun on her Ashford traditional.
This is a BIG THANK YOU to you all at Summer School! Val and I found these beautiful feathers in one of my fields = inspiration! We acquired a Jacob fleece at the Summer School and I had an intro to flick carding at Knuston Hall, so my half of the Jacob got flick carded […]
Summer school on Thursday was about structure in spinning and weaving. We made boucle yarn, and did lots of weaving on knitters looms.
Great wheel at Fibre East. See my new great wheel on my stand in the Cotswold tent. I am now teaching long draw on the great wheel in my studio: £37.50 for 1.5 hours includes easy to spin fibre and instruction on how to ply straight from the spindle so spinners go home with at […]
Art Yarn: What is it? is a question I’m often asked, followed by ‘What do you do with it? Over the next few months I hope to answer these questions in a practical way at my Tuesday Workshops. We know art yarn when we see it, but to define art yarn we need an understanding of what we […]
Woolly socks day this coming Saturday at Loddington LE7 9XE. Wear your woolly socks and join the photoshoot, bring your knitting, spinning, weaving or craft and treat yourself to some quality time with like minded people – and join the sock parade! You don’t have to be an expert – most people are just learning and you […]
Off to Navajo country. Gillian loaded her four dogs into her pick-up truck early in the morning and headed off to Winslow to meet Carol who will be bringing the Churro fleece – she took these fantastic pictures on the way
Churro fleece is new to me. I was given a small sample of this fabulous fibre by Judith, one of my SpinningSchool ladies who had visited the Navajo reservation in the States earlier this year. I told my friend Gillian who lives in Phoenix, Arizona about it – she did a bit of research…as you do…and found […]
Long draw on a drop spindle was Mary’s challenge at Woolly Day. If you want to learn how to do this then the latest edition of Yarnmaker tells you how. Mary did very well with her new 70m Ashford spindle – she came with her Grandma who is spinning on her great aunts’ wheel. I […]
Another lady was awarded a Long Draw Spinner rosette yesterday – that is five this month! She made a two hour drive with her Golding wheel called Bob. It is a really crafted work – just beautiful to touch, let alone spin on. Not often anyone learns so quickly but three ladies have done so this […]
