Guess what? It’s only 23 days till SPRING!!! Let’s celebrate with a little giveaway, shall we?
Have you seen this book? A Fine Fleece is all about knitting with handspun yarns and it’s absolutely lovely. Whether you spin your own fiber or just appreciate the art and craft of handspun you will love this book. There are 26 projects in the book and photographs of each pattern knit up with handspun yarn and with commercial yarn, a great tool for understanding when and where to use handspun.
I am a sucker for beautiful handspun. Some of my favorite skeins are so beautiful that I haven’t ever bothered to knit with them. I just display them in a big bowl on our hearth. My friend Maggie, a.k.a. Little Grey Cat Designs, does some amazing things with texture and color. Here’s an example:
Shareholder Deb is an awesome spinner as well. Check out some of her photos in this raverly thread. Lisa, another shareholder and our very first advertiser on the new site just started a blog with pictures of some of our mohair locks. Do you have any pics of your handspun you’d like to share? Post them in our flickr group so we can all see what you’ve been working on.
Are you a spinner or do you aspire to be one? Is there something extra special about knitting a sweater made from yarn you spun yourself? Or do you find it hard enough to find enough time to knit without throwing spinning into the mix? Post your thought on handspinning in the comments on this post and you might just win your own copy of A Fine Fleece AND your choice of any Little GreyCat Designs handspun skein in our shop.
Entries close at Noon on Saturday, February 27th. One entry per person please. One winner will be chosen at random from all the eligible entries. The winner will be announced on this website on Saturday and must contact us within one week to claim their prize.
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Karl so wins the World’s Greatest Husband Award today!
I taught myself to knit this past summer, and then in the fall I gave spinning a try…. it was a bit more difficult than I had anticipated, but tons of fun. It’s fallen to the wayside lately…. there’s just always something else that *needs* to be done it seems. But this has been a great reminder to pick up the spindle again, thank you!
I learned spindle spinning at Rhinebeck last fall, but have not been doing much of it…I did like it, but just find myself knitting instead.
i hope that the deadline is saturday at noon, and not the 27th at noon, because i so want to enter! i love spinning – i started a little over a year ago but took a class this past fall, which helped improve my skills immensely. i recently finished a scarf for one of my sisters using my handspun and it’s one of my proudest projects – handspun yarn, first lace pattern – i even mastered estonian nupps! i’ll post pics in the flickr group.
I’ve only been spinning since last September, but find myself, more and more frequently, Googling fibers in lieu of yarns. I’m also reading more spinning blogs and books. I’m now reading The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning. And looking forward to Judith Mackenzie McCuin’s newest contribution to the craft.
I am the reluctant owner of a drop spindle and some fluff but try as I might I can’t put the two together and get yarn!
Love the wool!!!
I would love to try spinning my own wool and dying it as well. Since I use wool for doll hair it would make it easier to have colors and texture on hand that I would like to use. That said, I just don’t find the time to do it these days, but it is on my list of things I will try sooner or later.
I am not a spinner but sometimes when looking online I see fiber and think it might be nice to learn. I can’t imagine have the time taken away from my knitting though. I am going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival for the first time this year and some homespun is one of the things on my list to buy.
Working with handspun further reminds me of how important handmade goods are…
Viva Handmade!
I am very interested in spinning, yet I’m finding it extremely intimidating. I have a drop spindle, some roving, and a great instructional video that I found on youtube, so I have what I need but I keep putting it off.
Once in a while I open up the drawer that holds all the supplies and I tinker with starting but then the excuses start, “I don’t have a lot of time”, “how the heck am I going to keep the dog hair from being woven into the yarn?” “Drop spindle, you scare me. Your form is so simple yet the power you can yield is more than I can handle – stop mocking me!” It’s at that point I close the drawer and go knit sockies, or have a beer. One day I will muster up the courage, one day…
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I’ve been spinning off and on for a year, and was amazed how good I am with a drop spindle and how excited I am by my ability to make yarn. But it’s so hard to find a location conducive to both drop spinning and being entertained! I find myself wishing for a wheel, which, while less portable, is so much faster and looks like it gives more ability to just sit, chat, and spin. Anyway, I’d love a book with patterns for homespun, as I almost have enough to make something besides a mitten! Here’s hoping you meant Saturday the 28th.
I look at beautifully dyed roving on etsy sometimes. I do intend to spin eventually.
I just learned to handspin this January and I love it! I do not like having idle hands and I like having a variety of things to do to keep busy. Now I just need time to practice!
i’ve never “spun” before but would love to give it a try. other than that i love any kind of fiber! awesome giveaway!
i am a virgin at knitting handspun. i have purchased a spinning wheel this year, and have been taking my time getting to know the wheel and what i can get out of it.
i cant wait to knit something wonderful with my globs of handspun (and some of the fiber DOES look like globs!)
love your giveaways!
Spinning has become the twin to my knitting obsession. I really love preparing the fiber to spin. I love the feel of the fiber and watching how it transforms from my simple actions of carding, drafting, and then spinning. As with knitting, there is always a new technique to try to keep it interesting too.
I just got a drop spindle, these week, woohoo. I’ve been dying to try it for so long. Unfortunately, now I’m a little intimidated to start, I don’t want to mess up the beautiful roving that I got too.
For now, I’m just looking at it & enjoying the thought of being able to try, when I get up the nerve. 
I yearn to spin. I decided to take my fiber conquest backwards and have mastered (somewhat) weaving. Now I need to spin, so I have my own handspuns to weave. After that who knows.
I am ordering a spindle and going to the MD Sheep and Wool Festival to buy a much loved spinning wheel. One that has a history of turning out fine yarn. One that feels just like my first loom. Well used but loved.
I yearn to spin.
I dare not learn how to spin to take away from the things that I still must knit! I love spun fiber!
Your post is quite timely, since I just bought my first wheel and my first spinning class is tomorrow! I’m so excited
I do love Handspun wools, they carry so much more character in them. I have a drop spindle, but I’ve used a wheel before and I find the spindle ineffective (I know that efficiency isn’t a concern for most people, but I just know I could get so much more done on a wheel! Instead of a scarf I could make a sweater!)
Reading your blog is one of the nice things about my days. You’re doing really good stuff!
I’ve been spinning for nearly a year, but have wanted to for decades. It’s brought me infinite satisfaction and wonderful new friends from coast to coast. We have a small spinning guild here in Central Mass (one of our members is a shareholder). We spin, dye, take lots of field trips, and are actively working on a fiber guide to Central Mass.
Speaking for myself, I’d rather spin. Forget about the knitting. So I’m accumulating lots of yarn, which I admire along with specialty yarns I can’t resist buying.
One of my ambitions is to become a specialty yarn knitter. Anybody know of local workshops?
I just started spinning on a spindle a few months ago. And I really love it but had to put it aside to do holiday knitting..I have a lot to learn but I can’t wait to knit with my own handspun.
Just read this post and wanted to say I just starting using a drop spindle and enjoy it. I am hoping to purchase a spinning wheel after I tried a friend’s wheel out. It is so relaxing and I have been told I was doing pretty good. So that is encouraging. We shall see. One little detail about the cut off time for entries, Did you mean Friday, the 27th or Saturday the 28th? I hope I made it in time. I’m sure having to write your book is making all the days blend into one another.
I have been spinning now for about 6 years. My favorite fibers are the finer ones (silk, alpaca, merino, buffalo down, camel down). I love being able to wear my end result clothing next to my skin and take great joy in explaining to people the difference between hard treated woolen clothing at a store and my lovely handspun items. I’ve even help addict a couple of people to spinning in the process. I love knitting lace and spinning a lace weight yarn has a tactile satisfaction that can wipe out even the worst day at the office. I just wish there were a few more hours in the day ….I know what I’d do with them.
Love my Ashford wheel, still learning to spin well though. Takes practice and time, that I don’t seem to have a lot of. I love to buy handmade/homemade fiber batts. Endless creations and combinations!!
I also started to spin and dye this year. I am in the process of spinning *8 lbs which I will dye and then knit. I am hoping to knit some wool rugs.
Glad you got to meet Cindy and you are coming to our Library. YEAH!!
I would love to learn to handspin. Something about getting to know how a fiber behaves and how it influences the final product is interesting to me. As much as I would love to add this to my list of hobbies I haven’t found the time yet. Adding to my yarn stash/collecting takes up enough time.
This looks great! thanks for the giveaway. My Mum LOVES to spin and I’ve been thinking lately I should really ask her to teach me. What a pleasant way to spend time with Mum : )
I just learned to spin (drop-spindle) a few weeks ago and I love it. I’m terrible at it, but it’s so much fun — and so satisfying when it’s all spun and plied! I haven’t tried to knit with it yet — that’s next…
I love the feel of hand spun yard, it is what I learned to knit with last summer.
I’m waiting until our addition is finished to pick up spinning, but my aunt used to have a sheep farm and has a spinning wheel she said I can borrow, and probably a bunch of fleece. I have hand-carded and spun bits here and there as a kid, but that was WAY pre-knitting. I am excited to learn and take it from sheep to shirt. How cool!
Back in the day before yarn came in so many spectacular colours, I decided to learn how to dye my own roving and learn how to spin it. Took the courses I needed, bought a spinning wheel and spun a little. My spinning wheel now sits on the other side of my studio crying out to be used. One day very soon I will grant it’s wish
I would love the book and yarn both. I’m just starting handspinning, with spindles only, for now. If I win the lottery, maybe a wheel??? I’ve never knit with or even handled well-done handspun yarn. It would be very educational to actually see what I should be aiming for, don’t you think?
Spinning, even just with spindle, is addictive.
Ooooohhh!!!! Please, please, please!!!! I have this book out from the library right now, and it’s overdue. I want to make the fylingdales or flyingdales cardi
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fylingdales-cardigan
and after pouring over the book for a month I am convinced I want to “make yarn”!!! I always thought of it as cutting into my knitting time, but no, maybe it is just another way to immerse myself in fiber!!!
I never thought I would try spinning, but I can’t stop thinking about it now!
I started using roving for felting and really enjoy working with it. I haven’t had a chance to really try it yet though. However, I’ve been spending too much time (and money) and Stitches this week and I’m seeing some many beautiful hand spun yarns. I want that book!! : )
I started spinning a little over a year ago and have fallen in love. It is so relaxing and there is such a beauty to handspun yarns.
I am sure that at some time in my life I will learn to spin. I have been trying to resist because I know it will take away from knitting time. However, I do think it would be a pretty amazing skill to have and I’d like to be able to create something out of my own handspun. For now, I would be delighted to make something out of the handspun pictured on this post. Beautiful!
So I am interested in spinning–really, I am. DH bought me a drop spindle and a good amount of yummy roving to learn with for Christmas. But unlike most other things, I was not able to IMMEDIATELY PICK THIS UP SIMPLY FROM PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS. So what happened? The beautiful roving and spindle have been dormant in the cedar chest since about 12/31/08. I’m sure I’ll pick it back up and try again, but I’m already disheartened and happy as a knitter/crocheter… This could inspire my motivation again!
First, came one little orphaned lamb. I enjoyed her so much, learning to spin her fleece just seemed a natural progression. Now there are many sheep and I can’t imagine my life without them or spinning (and there’s nothing like the feeling of wearing something you have knitted from your own handspun, from a sheep you have raised and nutured).
i do aspire to be a spinner
i have a bunch of dog hair from my fine children that i’d love to know how to spin so i can make something with what i have left of them…
the two i have hair/fur from are gone in physical form…
so yeah…
spin spin spin
maybe i win….
xo
rona
I have been teaching myself to spin, though I don’t get to do it as often as I’d like. I fell down the slippery slope pretty quickly, from swearing I had no interest to spindle to wheel. Such is life.
I love the idea of spinning, the uniqueness of handspun yarn, the ancient history of the craft, the new dimension of creativity that it would add to a knitter’s creations. But I have two small children, a small house, and a small budget, so I’ve never seriously considered getting into it as a hobby myself. That’s a “maybe in twenty years when my kids are grown” kind of interest. But knitting with someone else’s gorgeous handspun? I would be ALL about that.
To tell truth, I like spinning better than knitting. I think that for me it is because spinning is so right-brain. I don’t have to count or remember where I am in a pattern, I can just take a a gimish of fibers and through spinning magic, a yarn is born. I can spin and lose track of time and never have to remember where in the pattern I am. For a while, I aspired to spin an absolutely even yarn, but then I realized that the better my spinning was, the less it looked like homespun and that those imperfections were what gave it texture and that nature was talking through my fingers and telling me to let the wool be what it wanted to be, lumps and all. But the ladies in my spinning/knitting group have been encouraging me to expand my horizons and so currently I am working on a knit-then-felted hat that I hope will turn out okay (I guess if it doesn’t felt into a usable hat, it will still make a nice cat bed). I have always started with raw wool. To me there is something almost spiritual about taking this jumble of fibers that nature gives us and turning it into something clean and organized and useful.
Spinning is the last thing to learn, I have resisted it, but am getting closer and closer to wanting to have a go. I need 36 hrs in a day though!
Someday, I would love to spin, but at this point in time I can barely find the time to knit.
I’m very interested in handspun and knitting with handspun, but I think I need some motivation. I’ve seen gorgeous blankets made from handspun that are awesome, but I think I need to start out with something smaller, like a hat, to figure it out. I also recently bought a drop spindle, but again, the thought of spinning a huge amount of yarn is a little scary.
I love hand spun so much that I can’t stop buying it, but I never want to ruin it by knitting with it. I put it in pottery bowls around the house so I can look and touch as frequently as needed.
Last year a friend gifted me a fleece that has been sitting in a bag ever since. This year’s goal is to spin it into my own homespun yarn. I am awaiting the arrival of my carders and then will take it from there. I just found out about your farm and live close to the Hudson Valley Farm, I think my daughter would love to visit with all the animals.
I just got my first spinning wheel this year for Christmas. After having wanted to spin since I was 11 (30 years!!!) I have utterly fallen in head first. It is meditation, calm, serenity, gratification, passion, compulsion, obsession, and satisfaction like I have never found before. I love everything from the scent of the wool to the rhythm of the wheel to the touch of the finished yarn.
Can there be anything more perfect in the world?
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