Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

A Spinner's Journal, your own place to record all of the processes of the projects that turn fiber into yarn. I am a note taker, list maker by nature, and for all the years I've been spinning, those notes are on many different pieces of paper.  I found I still like to refer back to them, and decided I needed a better system for taking my notes.  And if I needed it, I bet other spinners do too.  So I created the Spinner's Journal and it's now finally available for sale. I've given some details about the journal in this short promo podcast.  Take a listen to see all the wonderful features of the journal. The journal is available here.   Or if you want to go to my blog yarnspinners dot blogspot dot com, you'll find a link button on the right hand side of the page. Music in today's promo is from Music Alley and is called Drowsie Maggie by Celtic Stone.

This month celebrates the fact that I have been doing this podcast for four years.  If you've listened since the beginning, THANK YOU!   If you just found me today, WELCOME! The best thing about podcasts is their longevity.  Oh some podcasts are very linked to current events and may outdate, but information about spinning is always fresh.  Someone is always just learning to spin, or dye fiber, or wash a fleece.  And if they look at my archives and the titles, they will probably find a podcast to help them with that process. If you are on Ravelry, a quick and easy way to see the topics of each podcast is to go to the yarnspinners spin in group. There is a sticky thread in the posts with the topics listed. The birthday music today is from Music Alley and includes: Team Smile and Nod with Happy Birthday you matter  Jason Silver with Happy Birthday and Mario Ajero with Happy Birthday Chopin Ballade

Fluffly, that's what woolen spinning is all about.  You spin from fluffy batts, and you spin a lofty yarn. The Yarnspinnerstales Spin In Ravelry group has been practicing this spinning technique this month.  I joined them and talk about my experiences spinning woolen on each of my wheels in this podcast.  I also give some suggestions to help you get going with this wonderful way of spinning. I also will be posting photos of what I spun for this challenge on my blog. I was in the mood for more music in today's podcast too, all with the theme of letting go, a very necessary technique when spinning woolen.  All music is from Music Alley with thank yous to these special musicians: Laura Clapp with Just Let Go LeRoots with Got to Let Go The Hosts with So Hard to let go To make my sample yarn, I decided to use sample batts from two of my Phat Fiber boxes.  These small batts were just the right size to practice the technique and came from the following vendors: The Critter Ranch  a super soft batt, no fiber content

I am talking again about the new Majacraft Aura wheel and my learning process as I've spun on it.  Although you may not have this specific wheel, you can listen and apply some of my ideas to any wheel that you would like to expand in your spinning skills. The second section discusses my crazy idea of putting beads in the yarn before I knit, and how I finally got that idea to work.  The photo here shows that yarn on the bobbin of the Aura. The music today is a bit different than normal as I recently discovered there are some techno tunes I really enjoy.  So I've included a techno interlude called Hestor is Amused by Johnjack.  If techno is really not your thing, the interludes are short and I give you a chance to turn the podcast off before the end song.  But I really urge you to listen, as I do like the song, Pas De Deux by Lee Negin.  All of today's music is from Music Alley with my extra thank you to Clare Dowling for my use of her Spinning Wheels as the podcasts intro music. Until later, happy spinning!

Today I decided to podcast to potential spinners, and entice them into the fold, so to speak.  So the podcast is all about taking that first step or two.  Before long you will be a spinner too. I also included a review of a very good magazine to start you on your way, Knit and Spin by Interweave Press.  Music in today's podcast is from Music Alley  The interlude is called Music for an unborn podcast and is by Michael van Laar  The closing song is by Cat Malojian Only You.  And a big thank you to Clare Dowling for her perfect song for the opening of all my podcasts, Spinning Wheel.

The Black Welsh Mountain sheep is the only naturally black wool and has been prized for that quality for hundreds of years.  Still being raised today, it's prized by handspinners and today's podcast talks to one of the very knowledgable breeders of this breed. Shown here in the photo with a cape made from her sheep's wonderful black wool, Oogie McGuire raises the sheep at her farm Desert Weyr.  She graciously let me interview her about raising this wonderful breed of sheep.

Spinning a lock of wool is the traditional way to get a very thin yarn.  That is because you can pull a small number of fibers out of the lock, and give the drafting zone a very thin prep of fiber.  In this podcast I review how each of five different breeds of sheep's locks spun and how I made my decision whether to continue to prep the fiber for spinning by lock washing. The five breeds discussed are Cormo/Border Leicester, Corriedale, Romney, Cormo and an unknown ewe lambs fleece. This is one time a video is worth many podcast words, so I have posted a video showing me spinning from the lock on Youtube.  You can find it here. There's a second part to the podcast, discussing spinning from the fold.  This technique is often used with angora, and I've discussed why and how to spin from the fold. Interlude music is by Kevin Wood, and is called 'Twilight of Hope" The closing song is by Lisa Redford and is called "Hope Never Dies" Both can be found on the podsafe music network.

Two rare sheep breeds and their fleeces are reviewed in this podcast, the Black Welsh Mountain sheep, and the Clun Forest.  The lovely sheep photo shown here are those Clun Forest sheep. Thanks to Ken and Oogie at Desert Weyr  for their breeding of Black Welsh Mountain sheep.  Oogie was an internet aquaintance and part of the rare breeds exchange I did many years ago.  She provided the samples of fiber from this breed that I talk about in the podcast. The book by Deborah Robson The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, is shown here on Amazon. Music in today's podcast is from Music Alley  Thank you to Wren Ross for the very appropiate It Had to Be Ewe. The closing song is by Marina Tihvinskaya and is called Celtic Song, but is not what you expect at all!  Enjoy!  Marina writes: "please let your listeners know that my website is www.marinatihvinskaya.net and the name of the album is My Favourite Dependence." Until later, happy spinning!

It only happens now and then in a spinner's life, the decision to buy a spinning wheel.  I had that chance last month, and am now the happy owner of a Majacraft Aura.  I talk about my story of finding the wheel, and what I have learned in the few weeks of owning it. A big thank you to Clare Dowling for her Spinning Song, that I've used for the pod cast's opening for all these years. The closing music for today's podcast is by William Saunders and is called Chasing Daylight. If you'd like to join us in the spinning technique spin along, go to Ravelry, search for the group Yarnspinnerstales spin in, and find the specific threads for each month's technique.  With done a single study, lock spinning, and spinning from the fold.

We spin singles all the time, but seldom use them that way. If you think about it though, if you can learn to spin singles that behave well enough to work with, how much better you plied yarns would be!  That was the idea behind the spin along study in the group on Ravelry for yarnspinnerstales.  So for the month of March we all tried four different study exercises with spinning singles.  In the first part of this podcast I talk about my experiences as well as some of the other spinner's comments. For the second part of the pod cast I talk about a DVD that shows all the ways to use the Russian paddle combs made by Andrew Forsyth at Woolcombs The music today is by the artist Blake found at Music Alley (Podsafe music network).

How to decide whether to comb or card a fleece once it is washed, is the topic of today's podcast.  I also do a hands on recording of the packet process I use to wash wool locks and then review the results of that project.In the closing I invite listeners to join the Ravelry group for Yarnspinnerstales, for our first spin along.  In March we are going to investigate spinning singles and knitting with the yarn.Music in today's podcast is from Music Alley.Interlude music is by George Winston and is called Be My Valentine Charlie BrownThe closing song is by Vanessa Peters and Ice Cream on Mondays  and is titled, The Maybe Love SongUntil later, happy spinning!

Fibers combs all are designed to give the spinner lovely top to spin.  But with such a wide variety of type of combs available to the spinner, how does one decide which is right for them?  That is the question I talk about in this podcast, discussing things I know from experience, and from internet research. One interesting webpost I discovered was about a person's attempt to recreat an old Icelandic comb, which was probably used both from human and animal hair.  That site can be found here. Several web sources to purchase combs are: Forsyth Combs Woodland Woolworks Susan's Fiber Shop The music today is from Music Alley The interlude is by Blake  and is called The Hungarian Love Song The closing song is by Debbie Cunningham  and is the jazz classic, My Funny Valentine   Until later, happy spinning!

This unusual and pointy looking object really is a useful tool for blending.  On the hackle is both merino top and dyed angora, being blended into a wonderful top.  In the podcast I talk about the process for using this tool.   I decided not to make a video, even though with this tool it is very helpful to see someone using it.  I made this decision because there are already several good ones by other fiber artists on YouTube.  I recommend Bluemtnhandcrafts videos.  The first of three is here.   The music in this podcast is from Music Alley formerly the Podsafe music network.  The interlude music is by The Rev Jimmie Bratcher and is called Grammy's House.   The closing song is Over Coffee and Tea by The Simple Carnival.   Until later, happy spinning!

In this last podcast on working with color in your spinning, I take the fiber I dyed in the six tertiary colors and discuss how to blend and spin them for a shawl.  There are many options, and I must admit I have not made my final decision.  But I certainly had a good time exploring the possible comibinations and found some lovely multicolored yarns along the way. I did take some photos along the way, and will have those posted on my blog Yarnspinners.  The photo here is just one of those, showing the fiber blended from two sets of three different colors. The first part of this podcast is actually reviews of the two books I have used as references for this project.  First is Color in Spinning, by Deb Menz.  The second book is Dyeing to Knit, by Elaine Eskesen. Music in the podcast is from the podsafe music network (Music Alley).  The interlude music is by Gokul Salvadi and is titled Color Blindness.  The closing song, (indulge me for my love of the blues) is by Doug Macleod and is called Sheep of Different Co

Talking about color turned into such a long conversation for my daughter and I that we had to make it into two podcasts.  Here is part two of that discussion.  For many years I just picked a dyed fiber because I loved the colors, spun it, and wondered what the yarn would look like when I was done.  Now armed with some of the tools found with the color wheel, I have a better chance of not only knowing what will result, but maybe changing something to make it look more like I want. The photo on the posts for episodes 54-55 is a yarn spun by my daughter (photo used with her permission).  In the podcast she explains how she was able to keep the nice stretch of contrasting colors.  Those contrasts were very aptly named for the Shel Silverstein poem, HugOWar. Since our conversations were so long, there was not much music in these two podcasts.  Instead I used the music of Clare Dowling, who's Spinning Wheel song has been the theme song for this podcast over three years. A big thank you to Clare for sharing this so

Color is one thing spinners seem to either love or hate.  This podcast is the first part of a conversation between my daughter and I on color theory and how spinners can apply those theories to the vibrant fibers they spin.

Talking and spinning can go hand in hand, even if it's via microphone for me and an mp3 player for you. I do a recap of the last few months, including a wrap up of the Tour de Fleece spinning, and entering skeins into the state fair.  And speaking of state fairs, this podcast has captured some of the stars of the barns, as I stroll along and look at the sheep.  I ran into a new breed for me Dorper Sheep, take a look! There's a yarnspinnerstale too, on creativity. Along inbetween is some good music from the podsafe music network A short interlude comes from Tim Foley with Monkeyshine, called Back Porch. And keeping with the porch theme, My Back Porch is by Brian McRae In the podcast I mention a blog, Hyperbole and a Half, and I want to make sure others can find it and enjoy it as much as I did!

The last part of the three part fiber dyeing series discusses my experiences with using walnut leaves (and mordants) to produce the lovely colors shown in this photo.  I also talk about making and using the 'quick' version of an indigo dyepot, a totally magical dyeing experience, since the fiber comes out of the pot one color and turns blue as it sits in the air. I also spend a bit of time talking about just how fiber feels after it's been dyed and dried, how not to felt it, and how to get it back in shape for spinning. Music in today's podcast is from the podsafe music network  The interlude music is called Living Color by Doug Astrop The closing song is So Color Me by Tenth Hour Calling Thanks to all my wonderful listeners for your comments, suggestions and questions! Until later....happy spinning.  

Part 2 of the three part series on dyeing discusses dyeing wool with acid dyes to a specific color.  I challenged myself to try and create the color wheels tertiary colors with dyes, and found some failures and successes along the way.  Listen in as I talk all about all of that experience. Music for today's podcast continues with the theme of color and is from the podsafe music network. The interlude music is by Psykosoul  and is called Coloring Outside the Lines. The closing song is by Matthew Ebel  and is called Every Color.   Enjoy and happy dyeing!

Part one of a three part series on dyeing fiber.  Listen in as I explore the saran wrap method of putting color on just part of your fiber.  Shown here in the photo is a Cotswold roving, gray in color with russet and purple dyes applied with the method. And since dyeing is of course all about color, today's music has the theme of color.  The music is from the Podsafe Music network and includes these musicians: Eric Strom with Oh the Colors Marie Crehan with the hauntingly lovely Orange & blue A thank you to these musicians for sharing these songs for podcasters, if you loved the music, please check out their other songs and support them.