Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2018 i Spin-Off

When there’s something strange happening and your antique spinning wheel won’t spin yarn, who you gonna call? Bobbin Boy! Restoring vintage flyers! Crafting custom bobbins! We had to know more about these superheroes of the spinning world. Meet Alan and Milissa Dewey, the fiber-tool restoration duo behind Bobbin Boy. Alan, the world’s foremost restorer of antique chess sets, met Milissa, a historian, when she took an interest in game theory and game pieces. She and Alan clicked fairly quickly. After a transatlantic courtship, Alan decided to move to the United States, where they were wed. Several years ago, Milissa asked Alan to replicate some spinning wheel bobbins for her, as she was tired of reeling off the singles between bobbin-loads. He brought eleven bobbins back later that very day! Milissa…

COLUMBIA Developed: 1912–1918 Origins: Lincoln rams and Rambouillet ewes Sheep qualities: Adapted to western range; large size; adaptable to most conditions Grease fleece weight: 10–16 pounds (ewe) Wool qualities: Staple 3½"–5"; micron count 24–31 TARGHEE Developed: 1926–1951 Origins: Rambouillet, Lincoln, and Corriedale Sheep qualities: Finer wool than the Columbia; large size; fastmaturing ewes; good mothers Grease fleece weight: 10–14 pounds Wool qualities: Staple 3"–5"; micron count 21–25 POLYPAY Developed: 1968–1975 Origins: Finnsheep, Rambouillet, Targhee, and Dorset Sheep qualities: Prolific; adaptable; early puberty; can lamb more than once a year Grease fleece weight: 7–10 pounds Wool qualities: Staple 3"–5"; micron count 24–31…

A lot of people offer me their pet hair when I tell them that I spin. At first, I got annoyed, thinking that they didn’t really understand spinning. And let’s face it, I am a fiber snob. As I heard of people spinning hair from certain breeds of dog, I was curious but still not convinced. Then I came across Spirit, a beautiful, sweet white wolf mix whose hair is like what I imagine a cloud feels like. My curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to spin it! Luckily, Spirit’s owner happened to collect her hair and sent me home with a grocery bag full. FIBER PREPARATION I have wanted to weave a small piece on a tapestry loom, and I thought this might be the perfect…

CALIFORNIA VISTA ARTS FIBER FIESTA October 6 -7, 2018 ANTIQUE GAS & STEAM ENGINE MUSEUM Vista, CA www.vistafiberartsfiesta.com vistafiberartsfiesta@gmail.com 858-335-2004 A gathering of fiber artists: weavers, spinners, felters, knitters. Yarn and fiber, including raw wool, roving, exotic fibers, handspun yarn, hand dyed and hand painted yarns. Admission free, $5 parking. COLORADO SALIDA FIBER FESTIVAL September 8-9, 2018 RIVERSIDE PARK Salida, CO www.salidafiberfestival.com Get your fiber fix here! Great variety of vendors, demonstrations, activity tent, silent auction, local food and libations, special events including art exhibit. Join us for a Colorado getaway! IDAHO TRAILING OF THE SHEEP FESTIVAL October 10-14, 2018 Hailey, Ketchum, & Sun Valley, ID www.trailingofthesheep.org (208) 720-0585 Don’t miss our fabulous Wool Fest classes while meeting your fellow fiber lovers. Bring your family for the Best Sheep Festival in the country! INDIANA JAY…

Sheep need to be sheared at least once a year, or the overgrown wool may endanger the animal’s health. The United States faces a shortage of qualified sheep shearers for both small- and large-scale ranches, which makes training the next generation of sheep shearers a necessity. Colorado State University Morgan County Extension Office Livestock Agent Marlin Eisenach hosts sheep-shearing classes, which are sponsored by the Colorado Wool Growers Association. Marlin attended sheep-shearing school himself thirty-five years ago and has been involved with sheep-shearing schools for the past thirty years. Students attending the classes held in Fort Morgan, Colorado, learn the New Zealand method of shearing, the easiest method for both the shearer and the sheep. The most challenging aspects include holding the sheep while maintaining the ability to use your…

Cape Breton is nestled in the Atlantic Ocean at the northern end of Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. It is an island with a small population embedded in the rich cultural traditions of both the indigenous people and the settlers. Unama’ki (Cape Breton) is one of seven traditional districts of the indigenous Mi’kmaq, who were joined by Scottish immigrants in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Vibrant Celtic culture is evident everywhere, nurtured through the generations by waves of immigrants from the Hebrides. These settlers were later joined by other Scottish families who were forced to emigrate during the Highland Clearances, a time when landlords evicted tenants to allow consolidation of their land into large sheep farms. These waves of migrants formed strong communities that maintained…

Identify fiber destinations before finalizing travel plans. Begin with an Internet search. I found Freda Magill and the Wool Initiative website when I searched for “fleece of rare breeds.” “Fleece of rare breed sheep” yielded yet more results; using variations of your search words can reap unexpected places to visit. For general yarn shops, Planet Purl offers an international yarn shop directory by country and city as well as dictionaries of words and phrases to help you ask for what you want. Reach out in advance to verify whether visitors are welcome at specific times. Allow enough time. Don’t try to fit your fiber excursion into a couple of hours. Allow a day to get there, explore, shop, and enjoy the unexpected. Because travel on tiny roads and lanes moves…

Nothing compares with loving and caring for a flock of sheep through the year on your farm, only to be rewarded on shearing day with their generous gifts of bags filled with warm, hefty, beautifully scented fleeces. Owning your own flock of sheep for wool is very gratifying. I feel a deep connection to a ewe after washing, handcarding, spinning, and then knitting her wool. I view each ewe as special. I appreciate her unique fiber characteristics, whether it be the striking color, silky handle, manageable length, or lively crimp, and I look forward each year to the opportunity to work with her fleece. It is a dream life to be the steward of a handspinner’s flock. However, there is a lot of work and planning before you get to…

The spindle is one of humanity’s oldest tools, with the oldest spindle whorls in existence dating back to Neolithic times. Early humans figured out that a weighted stick could allow them to join short plant or animal fibers into longer ones, opening up a world of ropes, textiles, and even mathematics. (The ancient Incas used an elaborate system of knotted cords, known as quipu, to record market, calendrical, and even census data.) The spindle helped catapult humanity forward in invention and innovation, all while maintaining its same basic structure: a stick, usually with an added weight for longer and more efficient spin. Flash forward to the twenty-first century, and we can buy spindles in all colors, woods, and styles. Most modern spindle designs derive from early, even ancient, designs from…

Tell us about your day job. I groom dogs and cats in standard breed clips as well as unique, creative styles. I bring out a pet’s personality through its haircut! Some like it short and sassy, some prefer long and luxurious, but all require an understanding of how hair and fur work. I get to play with all kinds of animals while also building close relationships with them and their families. How did you become a spinner? My formal education was in fine art, specifically sculpture, so I’ve always been drawn to activities that utilize my hands. I learned how to knit as a teenager. I began to encounter people who made their own yarn, and I took a basic spinning class at my local yarn store about seven years…

The hackle is a most undervalued tool. It has so many possibilities, yet it so often sits, lonely, waiting for its chance to shine. You can use a hackle in a traditional way, to aid in the combing process when making top, or more creatively for color or texture effects. Like combs, a hackle has rows of tines. A single row is good for coarse fibers or creative uses such as mixed fibers; double-row hackles are good for f ine f ibers. LOADING THE HACKLE You can use a hackle to create a length of top much longer than you could diz from a set of combs. Most of us think of combing a fleece into top by pulling small nests of fiber off a pair of combs one at…

The blizzard of 1989 roared down the high plains of Idaho in February. Despite the minus-25-degree weather and the howling wind that made it feel like 50 below at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station’s feedlot, Ella Ybarlucea had lambs to save. The sheep there were fresh off their winter range, many of them pregnant ewes. Even the yearling rams were years’ worth of work and breeding and worrying and record keeping on the hoof—a future at the mercy of the cold and wind. Julian Ybarlucea, Ella’s late husband, was out in the weather on a road grader, keeping the path around the wagon-wheel-shaped lot cleared so that tractors could deliver feed to the perimeter of the wheel. “He called me on the radio and said, ‘I think you had better…

My interest in learning about the wool produced by sheep breeds native to my country comes not only from my love for fibers but from my belief that preserving genetic diversity and understanding local resources is of great importance for our future. Unfortunately, when I wanted to know more about these breeds and their specific wool, I found no systematized or up-to-date information that could guide me. This void became even more obvious when I noticed that information about different types of wool all around the world was abundant and easy to get. How could it be that I could more easily learn about a sheep that lives in a foreign country, thousands of kilometers away, than about the ones that have inhabited my territory for centuries? In 2015, together…

Spinners love fiber and we love our pets; some like to combine those two loves into one project. Spinning dog hair is a long tradition that includes the Northwest’s now-extinct wool dogs. The term “chiengora” (from “chien,” the French word for dog, and “angora,” the term for some goat and rabbit fiber) is often used when dog hair crosses the threshold from nuisance shedding to desirable fiber. We asked our readers to share their favorite projects (along with portraits of their furry friends). "I have enjoyed creating my own yarns for several years now, mostly with different types of wools. This last year, I fell in love with the Jersey Wooly rabbit breed (in the Angora family). I have a small black/gray one I named Jersey and a medium plump…

IOWA C&M ACRES FIBER MILL & ALPACAS Maxwell, IA www.cmacres.com cmacres@cmacres.com (515) 387-8607 Custom processing of most fiber types into yarns, roving, batts, felted sheets and cored yarn. Dyeing available. Weaving services available for rugs, scarves, blankets and fabric. MINNESOTA RACH-AL-PACA FIBER PROCESSING Hastings, MN www.rachalpacafarm.com rachalpacafarm@aol.com (651) 485-7916 10 years processing your fibers into beautiful yarns & rovings. Small lots our specialty. We quickly process llama, alpaca, wool, mohair & angora fibers into batts, felts, roving, and yarns. NEW HAMPSHIRE HARRISVILLE DESIGNS, INC. Harrisville, NH www.harrisville.com info@harrisville.com (603) 827-3333 Manufacturers of 6 complete lines of Fine Natural Yarns, and carded fleece in 64 heathered colors. We also make Floor Looms, Equipment, and Children’s Fiber Products including Potholder Kits and Loops. We hold 3–5 day workshops from February– November, with nationally and internationally…