Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

The sheep breed for this podcast was new to me, after all my years of reviewing.  The Gulf Coast Native was raised long ago for it's tolerance to the conditions of the deep US south regions.  But it lost it's favored position, and is now on the critical list of sheep breeds.  The group 52 weeks of sheep included it this year in it's list to study.  I purchased my fiber sample from Herie7 in  the Etsy store. I also spend some time talking about washing fleeces that are very dirty.  Beside the dish detergent Dawn which is readily available, I review Namaste Farms washing products from Natalie Redding.  It is available from the Woolery here.

This podcast is a review of spinning the fibers from two Welsh sheep breeds.  The Black Welsh Mountain is commonly known in the US, but it considered a conservation breed, due to it's small number of animals.  The Welsh mountain sheep is white, and not raised much in the US.  I had reviewed the BWM breed in several previous podcasts, so I will provide links to those. Episode 62 is a review of the breed's fiber Episode 64 is an interview with a BWM breeder Oogie McGuire.  Her ranch is call Desert Weyr and she is still selling the BWM fiber and yarns and is now part of the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em program. Because of my participation in the fleece study group 52 Weeks of Sheep, I discovered the other Welsh Mountain sheep, with white fleece.  I got a sampling of UK fiber for both the BWM and the Welsh Mountain from Wychwood Spinner and talk about both in the podcast.  The fleece of Welsh mountain that I purchased at a fiber fair is unfortunately unidentified as to the vendor so I can not give a link to that at thi

This is another short breed review podcast.  The East Fresian fiber I spun was a lovely brown color and very easy to spin in roving. There is a short information portion included at the end for a breed of hair sheep called Barbados Blackbelly.  Unfortunately I have not been able to get a fiber sample yet for this Shave 'Em to Save 'Em passport breed.  But the group 52 weeks of sheep had it on the list for week 8, which is part of this podcast timing.  If I ever have the chance to spin some of the fiber, I will review it again.

This is the first of a series of sheep breed fleece reviews.  Today's episode is about the Cheviot sheep.  I was able to spin sample from two different families of this sheep, the Classic Cheviot from the US farm Yucca Farm.  I was not able to find a web link for them on Google. The Brecknock Hill Cheviot sample came from Wychwood Spinner. It was part of a Welsh Experience sampler pack. I previously reviewed this breed in Episode 8 of this podcast, if you would like to listen to that also.

Today's podcast includes an interview with Deborah Niemann, who has the wonderful job of working for the Livestock Conservancy organization.  In our interview, she shares all the details of the next two year program to introduce spinners and fiber artists to the 22 rare and recovering breeds of sheep through the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em program.  I recently got the passport that is used to record whenever you use a fiber from one of these breeds and will be talking about working with these fibers in future pod casts. Here are some of the links for this podcast: Livestock Conservancy SESE program Teaching videos for sheep breeders of rare wools Woolhalla Tunis a provider of SESE breeds fiber Incredible Edible use of waste fleece for mulching Finally I will be renewing my efforts to remind my listeners about the Spinners' Journal I have for sale, by periodical posting a promo pod cast.  If you are interested now, you can find it on Lulu.com here  

One of my year long projects is being a part of the FaceBook group called 52 Weeks of Sheep.  Each week we study a different breed of fiber producing animals, mostly sheep.  In this podcast I talk about the last month of those studies, and go into detail on two new to me breeds.  Both are French in origin, the Bleu du Maine and the Charollais.  One thing I failed to mention in the podcast was after spinning the Charollais fiber, I used for the first time a small sampler loom.  It is a fun way to sample texture or colors one would see if the yarns are to be used weaving.  It's final product size is a perfect mug rug. My fiber that I used to spin these breeds came from Wychwood Spinner.   Another breed was the BFL. The photo shows a Blue Faced Leicester skein I spun from top purchased from Hilltop Cloud. The group also studied Cheviot.  I did a breed review in Episode 8, if you want to listen to it again.  Likewise Episode 45 is my previous review of the breed Coopworth.  I was not able to obtain any of this fi

Happy New Year! 2020 oh my.  I start out this podcast with a yarnspinnerstales, about seeing life with perfect vision. And speaking of new, Santa brought a brand new mic set up for the YST studio.  It meant a new learning curve, and I think the sound will improve more as I work with it, but all in all I am happy with it. Over the next two years, I am going to revisit and redo my rare breed sample files.  It has always been a passion of mine to find and spin as many breeds of sheep as I can.  I have found a group on Face Book called 52 weeks of sheep who have the same passion.  Each week there is a new breed to study and hopefully have fiber to spin.  This week's breed was one I had never heard about, Bleu de Maine.  I love the blue black faces of these sheep and have included the photo for this podcast. Here's the links promised in the podcast: The designer of the mystery shawl I am currently knitting with my handspun is Lyrical Knits.  The yarn I am using was an experiment to dye the tertiary colors. I talk

The book Spinning Wool beyond the Basics is by Anne Field.  This podcast is a review of the book. There are two editions of this book.  The first, published in 2010 by Trafalgar Square Publishing is shown here on Ebay.  Google book link is here. The second edition was published by A & C Black Publishers.  It seems to be the same book and information, although I have not seen an actual copy of the book yet.  It is shown in this link at Alibris. I talk about her differentiating between four ways to spin, woolen, semi woolen, worsted, and semi worsted.  The preparation of the fiber and the actual way it is spun, determines which type of yarn you are spinning.

This podcast continues from episode 164, for Oct 2019.  I talk about a few problems I had to solve during the Spin Together, with my wheel and spinning.  The strange title of this podcast. is all about a major reorganization I did of my fiber. The 100 year shawl along I mention, can be found as a group on Facebook.  That is also true of the other group I am in called 52 Weeks of Sheep. One of the breeds this group recently studied was Babydoll Southdown, and I talk some in the podcast about this breed's information. The fiber fair I went to and talk about in this podcast has a web page here, if you want to plan to go next October. My wonderful door prize at the fiber fair, came from Rock and String Creations.

So much happening on the spinning front for me this month, that I needed two podcasts to talk about it all.  So this is the first one, and Episode 165 will continue with more spinning goodness. As promised, some links to people mentioned in the podcast: A lovely squishy package arrived at my house one day full of Baby Doll South down fiber.  It was processed and mixed with lovely mohair and a tiny bit of nylon.  The ewe's name is Lily and was white.  The ram's name is Ray, and is a lovely silver gray.   This fiber is from Teresa at SpinHistory.com Wooly Knob Fiber Mill, is only on FaceBook, search for them there. Fall Apart Farm, McArthur, Ohio has purebreed registered Icelandic sheep.  They also can be found on Face  Dream Weaver Fiber Arts where I met Kathy at the Wool Gathering  and bought a lovely turkish spindle. Alpaca Pines Fiber and Mill is the source of the beautiful alpaca I spun during Spin Together.  They are in Illinois. The Spin Together Group on Facebook is now a good choice for replacing Spinz

This podcast is very different and so you have a choice. There is a library based video website called Kanopy.  I found a very interesting video on spinning throughout the world.  I wanted other spinners to see it too, but they may not have access unless their library card (and their library system) grants access to Kanopy.  The reason I do not include a link here, is because it is best to access it from your library's website.   So first, if you have a current library card,go to their website and look for Kanopy, click through to it and  set up a free account. Then search and watch the video World Spinning Techniques.  If you do watch the video, you really do not need to listen to the podcast.  If you can not access the video, then there is a detailed, albeit,verbal description from when I watched the video. Or do both, I would love to have you listen in to my reactions to all the amazing things I saw in the video. The picture connected with this podcast has just slight relevance, it is three sample skeins o

I was able to do so much during this Tour de Fleece, it took two podcasts to tell you all about it.  See the previous podcast for part one of this two part series. The first fiber I talk about spinning is called Fake Cashmere, due to it softness.  It is however, 100% nylon.  I bought my fiber from a dyer whose business is Jazz Turtle.   It seems most people like to spin this fiber blended with other fibers, but I enjoyed spinning it on it's own.  Another source for the fiber is Paradise Fibers The next fiber I worked with was a dyed merino silk batt in the colors purple and green.  Listen as I explain how I made color sequencing work for the 2 ply yarn. On the TdF challenge day, I got out the book charka, not something I have much skill with. I was able to set it up and spin some single on it for my challenge. I spent many days during the Tdf dyeing fiber, both in locks and in big pots full of fiber.  I had the amazing once in a life time experience of dyeing a color I will never be able to repeat, calico lo

This is the first of a two part podcast, because I had so many projects to tell you about for the Tour de Fleece. In this podcast I talk about spinning cotton sliver on the Majacraft Aura, not a very traditional way to spin cotton.  My challenge day project was finally achieving those beautiful tight rolags on my blending board. I also completed two skeins.  The first was a dyed polworth from Yarn Hollow The second skein was a gray Horned Dorset fiber, which I got from Dyed in the Wool.  I talk a little about the breed too. I suggest checking out Hilltop Cloud, to get an idea of the type of rolags I was making on the blending board, but when I checked the website they are not currently in stock.  A quick search of Etsy brought up these, and these.    

Here is the first of the book review only podcasts I mentioned in a previous podcast.  After years of podcasting, I realized that the book reviews will be easier to find if in their own individual podcast. This podcast reviews the book Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert by Connie Delaney.   Links to possible sources for this book can be found on Abe Books Also seen listed on Ebay here In both cases, the exact listings may no longer be available, but it serves for you to see the book and description, and know how to search for it in those websites. One last link is to the fiber I talk about in the review, kenaf.  The Wiki page for it is here.

It's that time of year, and the tents are up and the vendors hopeful as the cycle of yearly fiber fairs continue.  I mention in the podcast my 'blue sky' dream of hitting them nationwide some year.  A van full of fiber to sell, and be replaced by purchases, sounds just right! The photo for this podcast shows the Pegosa alpaca fiber I am currently spinning by the lock on my Roberta. There are lots of links for the podcast, for everyone that I mentioned, be sure to check out the webpages. The Woolery, which you can find at fiber fairs and their storefront. Dyed in the Wool.  I owe Sandy Ferguson an apology for not mentioning in the podcast, her as an owner of this business too! The Alien Encounter sock pattern can be found on Ravelry, here. The Stoltman Family farm only has a FaceBook page, here. Ohio Valley Natural Fibers is the fiber processing mill I talk about. Yarn Geek Fibers has this page of dyed yarn and fibers for sale. Punkin Patch is Equinox Farm home of the crazy sheep lady.  There's a good blog on

I realize that is an unusual subtitle for a postcast.  I recently had a total knee replacement surgery, and for the first 15 minutes or so of this podcast, I do talk about how the healing process delayed my spinning and fiber work for several weeks. But once the spinning wheels got going again, I had two WIP to talk about, the Pegosa alpaca project was continued and I finished spinning two fibers I had used for a project back in Sept. a babydoll Southdown and a Polworth. As promised I did one book review at the end of this podcast.  It is Creative Spinning, a creative combination of two authors, Alison Daykin and Jane Deane. The Polworth fiber I spun is from MohairandMore.   The episode of this podcast where I review the breed Babydoll Southdown is here, episode 37. Please see a separate non podcast page on the blog for a listing of episodes of this podcast that contain book reviews.  That way I can list the episode number, and the book title, and keep it updated. Photo shown with this episode is of the sout

It's official!  I have joined the ranks of retirees.  Now it is time to 'spend' my stash, or as I have decided to call it, my retirement 'fund'. We start this with a very large blanket of alpaca fiber from an alpaca named Pegosa.  The first pound is washed, but not completely processed as I am using it to test various processing methods.  This podcast talks about combing with handheld combs, and the yarn that I spun from that top. Needless to say there will be plenty more to podcast about Pegosa's fiber in the next few months.  However I have talked about alpaca in past podcasts too.  If you are interested, here is a list of episodes with links: Episode 35  Washing alpaca Episode 101  Machine washing alpaca Episode 102  Spinning alpaca Episode 108  Dyeing alpaca Episode 123 Alpaca in the dyepots One other spinning project completed since the last podcast was fiber from Homestead Hobbyist, a lovely polworth/silk blend.  

Happy New Year!  It is always full of thoughts and plans for the spinning projects ahead.  In today's podcast I talk about maintaining watch on the drafting zone to make your yarn more intentional. Watching the drafting zone will help you break out of making the same WPI yarn all the time to making art yarns that feature thick and thin singles.  All of this is the topic of this podcast. I have done previous podcasts on drafting if you care to find those and listen to them.  Just click on the links to go to them.  Episode 26 (woolen and worsted spinning) episode 40 (spinning intentional yarn) and episode 67 (woolen spinning). Links to things I also mention in the podcast are: Book of Days, something I came across while looking up distaff day. Fellviewfibres The source of the punis I spun, made from wool and silk. The videos I viewed while researching spinning thick and thin can be found on Youtube by searching the topic.  

Links to vendors mentioned in the podcast: Stitches events in general Atlanta Ga event May 30-June 2 2019 Stitches United is on that page too. Youghiogheny Yarns Keri Fosbrink dyer Fiberlady bamboo fiber Buffalo Wool Co Buffalo wool yarn and fiber Franklin Habit Shirsty Cat Designs Merino silk fiber 2 Guys Yarn Company Soak Flatter spray Lost City knits Denise Bell  Applecross Highland shawl Ravelry pattern Knitted Knockers knitbahpurl Stevenbe Vintage Lace book by Gladys Amedro The video blogger I mentioned is Quayln Stark and he blogs on youtube.  The stitches midwest podcast can be found here I talk about a fiber processor  but failed to mention the name. The farm business is called Alpaca Pines and their website can be found here. There was a what I called a wood ball winder that I was unable to find online to show you. I have found out since that this item has another use, which is to hold the ball of yarn wound on to it as you knit. So the concept for it I think is to wind the yarn on it from a skein

In this discussion of what I did during the 2018 Tour de Fleece, I talk about the wool breed Zwartbles, spinning buffalo fiber on a drop spindle and finally a very rare breed of wool, Dor Galen. The buffalo fiber was included in the Clouds of Luxury from the Etsy store Sericin The Dor Galen fiber was purchased at a fiber festival several years ago from Sandy Ferguson's Dyed in the Wool    Dor Galen is no longer available, the horned dorset at the bottom of the above linked page is probably a good close substitute.