And it's finally here: the blog post about my advent #handspinning 🥳
theaidea.com/blog/lessons...
(The website is still a work in progress - that's actually the idea behind it)
Almost there. Thumbnail created and my reflection on advent handspinning written. I just need to finish some details and style my website a bit. I'm looking forward to being done with it 😃
To this day I’m still surprised every time by how much longer things take than expected.
Slightly oversized and snuggly for me. I very much prefer comfort. 🙂
I haven‘t heard of the book yet, but checking your website it looks very interesting. I guess I‘ve just found another weaving technique to explore, thanks a lot!
This looks stunning!
It‘s certainly not the easiest task to create such designs (let alone to actually weave them on a “simple“ loom, i.e. with picking up).
May I ask how you created the draft? Did you use a specific programme, do it by hand, or just go straight to the loom?
It looks amazing! 🤩
Do you know if it is structurally the same as Jacquard based on twills?
A white cart with three levels. The top one is covered with a bamboo lid, while the bottom ones are filled with bags from the World of Wool fibre advent calendar.
I’ve been on a break from fibre arts since finishing the advent handspinning journey. I’m taking some time to organise my thoughts and develop my creative workflows for my future adventures. I’m also writing a blog post about my advent spinning experience and creating a thumbnail for it. 😊
So true 😄
I like different textures of the sheep 🤩 It looks great!
This looks very nice! I think that the diamond pattern ties different colours together really well.
I see what you mean, thank you for the tip! I'll see what I can do since the yarns vary quite a bit, with WPI ranging from 9 to 19.
Thanks so much!!! ☺️
I‘m not yet sure what I‘ll do with them, but most likely I‘ll use most of them for weaving. I was thinking about overshot or inlay with commercial yarn to let the handspun yarn stand out.
I just wish that I could tolerate more than just a few of them.
Overhead view of 25 hanks of handspun yarn in various colours, from soft neutrals to brighter tones, arranged in a 5×5 half-drop grid on a wooden table.
It‘s so nice to see all 25 World of Wool advent spins at once 😊 #handspinning
You can be really proud of yourself! It takes courage to put yourself out there like this, and you did an amazing job. 😉
Thanks!
I was afraid that it would turn out muddy because of so many colours and plies.
A hank of marbled red, green, gold, and silver handspun yarn on a wooden table. Beside it is a lit scented candle in an opaque white glass jar with a golden rim, decorated with gold stars and Christmas motifs, and labelled “EIN DUFTENDES WEIHNACHTEN erleben”.
For the 25th and final World of Wool advent spin, I went for a wild combination of opposing, Hawser, and cable plying — because why not? 😆
The design and colours gave the final 4-ply yarn a lovely rustic, rich look.
#handspinning
Thanks! 😊
A hank of natural brown-to-cream handspun yarn on a wooden table. Beside it is a lit, sky-blue scented candle in a glass jar labelled with the number 24 from another advent calendar. The rim of the jar is decorated with glitter.
I’m so proud of the 24th World of Wool advent spin 😊
It’s a chained crepe yarn, and I challenged myself to spin the second singles thicker than the one being chain-plied. It turned out perfect, so soft and lofty, and I wouldn’t change a thing.
#handspinning #spinsky
Yes, I added some extra twist by plying on a smaller whorl than I would normally use.
I usually slightly overply intermediate steps. I still need to experiment a bit with the technicalities to see what works best.
A hank of minty green handspun yarn with glittery stellina on a wooden table. Beside it is a lit, teal scented candle in a glass jar labelled with the number 23 from another advent calendar.
The next experiment was what I call an opposing crepe yarn. 😁
For the 23rd WoW advent spin, I spun the first two singles in the opposite direction to get an opposing 2-ply, which I then plied with a third singles to get a balanced 3-ply yarn. I'm very happy with how the yarn feels.
#handspinning
This is so stunning! I wish I could spin cotton that well one day. I also like how the colours blend together, it’s a wonderful piece.
A hank of red, white, and green marbled handspun yarn on a wooden table. Next to it is a lit white scented candle in a glass jar labelled with the number 22, from another advent calendar.
I was deep in yarn design experimentation mode before I started the 22nd World of Wool advent spin. I’d realised there were not enough advent spins left for all of my ideas — oops 😬
So it was the perfect time for the first opposing 3-ply yarn in these lovely colours.
#handspinning
It looks gorgeous, though! 🤩
I started spinning from the fold when the short forward drafting of commercially combed fiber blends became too painful. It gets easier with time and now it’s my go to for spinning combed blended fibers.
A hank of soft pink handspun yarn with orange undertones and chunks of white fiber on a wooden table. Next to it is a lit, light beige scented candle in a glass jar labeled with the number 21, from another advent calendar.
I was quite intimidated by the 21st WoW advent spin due to the chunks of sari silk. So, logically, I challenged myself even more by making my first singles yarn 😁 I felted it slightly during wet finishing (another first!), and I’m very satisfied with the result.
#handspinning
Usually, you balance it by plying it with another hawser ply (or by plying it back on itself). You start with two pairs of Z-spun singles. Each pair is first plied together with Z-twist, and then those two plies are finally plied together in the S direction. The result is a balanced 4-ply yarn.
Thank you! 😊
I feel like I'm going down a rabbit hole with them, honestly.
The Hawser plying is simply plying two singles in the same direction as they were spun. And it's a funny plying technique. I found it well described in The Spinner's Book of Yarn Designs by Sarah Anderson.
A hank of purple handspun yarn with bursts of blue and white on a wooden table. Beside it is a lit dark purple scented candle in a glass jar labeled with the number 20, from another advent calendar.
It was time to go back to experimenting! For the 20th advent spin, I went for a crepe yarn with a twist: instead of a standard 2-ply, I Hawser-plied the first two singles.
The yarn turned out beautiful — very soft and surprisingly thin. I was really pleased with this #handspinning experience. 🤩
A hank of natural brown-to-cream handspun yarn on a wooden table. Next to it is a lit dark purple scented candle in a glass jar labeled with the number 19 from another advent calendar.
For the 19th WoW advent spin, I wanted something simple, so I took a break from experimenting with yarn designs and went with a 3-ply yarn. What I love about this spin is how it kept me distracted and helped me organize my thoughts, even though the fiber composition wasn’t my favorite.
#handspinning
A hank of gray handspun yarn with a violet undertone on a wooden table. Next to it is a lit teal scented candle in a glass jar labeled with the number 18, from another advent calendar.
The 18th WoW advent fiber with cashgora was incredibly soft. I wanted to make a crepe yarn by first plying two woolen-spun singles and then adding a worsted-spun single. I didn’t want too many leftovers, so the planning was quite a challenge! It turned into a really fun experiment.
#handspinning
