This blog is dedicated to my Aunt Yvonne.
My favourite crafting is my knitting and here I share my ideas, projects, pitfalls and successes.
Vancouver, Canada
Happiest New Year to Everyone! I hope this finds you happy, healthy & looking forward to the year ahead. I have had a couple of quieter weeks here at Casa de Welford – and much needed as well.
Live Stream: Tuesday, January 2nd @ 10am Pacific / 12noon Central / 1pm Eastern / 6pm GMT
Welcoming 2024 Post here: Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs information
In the show today …
Spindling
100 Days of Spindle Spinning – Started on Dec 1st, Keeping track in my Instagram highlights/stories here, working through lots of rolags! #100daysofspindling
Crafty Jaks Boutique BFL Gradient Set – · 11 colours, into the blending board, adding clear firestar {Ravelry Page here}
SKEINED!
SweetGeorgia BFL ‘Wistmas’ – Prepping fibre with handcards, pulling through diz; 2 braids to prep – spin each in 1/4s, ply; Majacraft Suzie – lower ratio for lighter, loftier yarn – not so high twist in the singles {Ravelry Project Page here}; total 770 yards / 230 grams
Jingle All the Way! – unlabelled white fibre (? BFL) with jingle bells threaded onto 10/2 cotton {Ravelry Project Page here}
Sometimes I look back at the year of making that I accomplished and think, “That’s it?!” and then I remember how many things I have on my full-to-overflowing plate. It makes me rethink my initial reaction and instead react with, “Wow.”
While I didn’t make tons and tons of yarn, or knit tons and tons of sweaters (as I’ve done in the past), or wove off incredible amounts of yardage, I did manage to create a lot of things to brought me a lot of joy in the creation process. That’s what matters to me the most. A few of the things I have made, I was really surprised at how much I liked the finished object and other things, not so much. Here is a run-down on all the things I finished in 2023, with the exception of my Attune shawl – I didn’t finish it but I included it in my grid because I spent an incredible amount of time on it and I will finish it in 2024.
The major skeins that I created in 2023 included the above – I’m only missing on of my Jingle All the Way yarns (here, if you’re interested). From top left to bottom right: Vancouver Island Ryeland, Westcoast Colour BFL+Silk, Kainuum Harmaas (Finn), SweetGeorgia Yarns combination spin (Polwarth+Silk), Bramble Ridge BFL, Kingdom Fleece & Fiberworks DorsetxColumbia (ongoing corespun spin), Crafty Jaks Boutique Sari Silk + O. Polworth, Jingle All the Way textured yarn (corespun), SweetGeorgia Yarns BFL. That’s a lot of spinning in one year considering that overall I really struggled to get onto my wheels this year. The Crafty Jaks Sari Silk + O. Polwarth yarn was 100% supported spindle spun.
Year of Colour was the overarching theme for the Spinning Purls & teaching content over on Patreon. Rebecca spearheaded the content on The Wool Circle streams throughout the months. The momentuum of that study was incredible and seemed to just pick up as the year continued. I spun an unbelievable number of samples. This grid is only a small sample of that number of samples I spun, if you can believe it! There are sooo many more!
The above grid is many of my colour wheels I spun along with much of the community, from naturally dyed to acid dyed to desaturated to value scales to complements and so much more.
There was knitting throughout the year. Not as much as previous years and I slowly got my mojo back for knitting later in the year. A couple of sweater highlights this year were my Mini Mock Neck tanks for both Norah and myself (although she’s commandeered mine, too). I love my Mandolin by Amy Christoffers – that’s been worn a lot thus far.
I’ve ended up wearing my Trinigan a lot more than I initially thought I would and I still refer to it in my mind as “The Grape Jelly” but it’s grown A LOT on me … a lot. And of course, I continue to work on my Attune Shawl from our SPAKAL (spin and knit along) back in the summer. It will be finished sometime this year!
Another sweater highlight was the number of handspun sweaters – all but my Mandolin and Newspaper (pullover) were handspun or used handspun as the contrasting colour. This is a huge win! Also, three of the sweaters were from stash!
Lastly, weaving was done. Not as much as I would have liked and not as much yardage and I had hoped BUT it was done, it’s a win.
WEaving highlights – my handspun, hand-dyed Ms & Ws stole. I haven’t worn it yet this year due to the unseasonably warm weather but it’s lovely (bottom left of the grid). My favourite woven project this year was my Rustic Elegance towels from the Spring (bottom 2 photos, right side). I designed almost all of my projects from inspiration photos or existing designs but worked the maths myself. Two projects are on the looms at the moment but one will be done by New Years (because it’s a gift – middle of the grid, left photo with shuttle included). The theme of my weaving this year was definitely continuing to build my knowledge of blocks – namely, Overshot & Huck but with some modified Ms & Os and Summer & Winter thrown in.
Overall, this was an awesome year of making and while it’s easy to say it wasn’t enough, it really was enough. More than enough. A lot, actually. All good things, as my friend Lisa would say.
Is there something you created this past year that you are really proud of? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
First, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season has left you feeling excited for the year ahead after a lovely rest. We had a lovely holiday season here at Casa del Welford and enjoyed a lot of really quality family time, which exactly what we needed after a packed Fall season.
The overarching theme of the next two years will be Sarah Anderson’s The Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs. We will be tackling the book in regular increments – see the syllabus attached – with regular releases of content (Spinning Purls) from myself that touch on key points from within the book. There will be about 2-4 of these per month, depending on the topic.
There are a few ways to engage in the next couple of years of content from watching on the sidelines to joining a study group. Let me tell you about them and remember, you can change your mind at any time, and bump up or down on Patreon by editing your pledge!
If you just want the Spinning Purls releases, which will focus on key aspects of the book, you can join The Coffee Circle ($3/month). There’s no group to sign up for or anything outside of sharing within the community here on Ravelry, joining us in the Live Streams and receiving the Spinning Purls vlogs throughout each month.
Chatter about our deep dive into the book will occur in a Ravelry thread, and a dedicated Slack channel (#year-of-yarn-2024) for discussion and sharing. To join only the Slack channel and receive the Spinning Purls vlogs, join The Spinning Circle ($5/month). I’ve included a screenshot of what Slack looks like so you get the gist. You download the app to your phone or tablet, I send you an email invite and you can watch a how-to video I created here to learn more.
Lastly, if you would like a deeper dive into the content covered in Sarah’s book, then you can consider joining The Wool Circle ($10/month) or for even more, Spinning Staples ($35/month).
The Wool Circle is a SECOND show that airs twice/month, hosted by Rebecca Osborn, and I send out the links through Patreon and Slack the day before. Rebecca covers information that is pertinent to her learning jounrey, as well as those in the community. There is a 7-day free trial associated with The Wool Circle so that you can try it before committing! For a list of previous episodes that you would have access to once you sign up, check here.
Spinning Staples meets twice/month @ 12noon Pacific on Wednesday afternoons. Rebecca will be guiding everyone through a deeper dive of the book. Think of The Wool Circle as the course lecture and Spinning Staples as the time with the Teacher’s Assistant in University.
I hope you will consider one of these tiers to be the place for you as we engage in this big book study!
Key Points:
1. To receive only the Spinning Purls vlogs dripped throughout each month for the next 2-months, join The Coffee Circle,
2. To engage in community on a deeper level, jump into the ‘grassroots’ Zoom groups & receive the Spinning Purls vlogs, join The Spinning Circle,
3. Everything above PLUS learning from Rebecca as she takes you through her learning journey, sampling & education, join The Wool Circle, and finally,
4. Again, everything above PLUS a dedicated study group associated with the book, join Spinning Staples, which means twice monthly on Zoom.
Find the syllabus that Rebecca and I will be working from throughout the year here. It is very detailed but it gives you an idea of what we are thinking about as we go forward! This is a working document and will change overtime. One of the ideas that you will find in the syllabus is Tracks: You can engage with the book however you want, at whatever depth you want. However, if you find structure helpful, Rebecca has made suggestions for how you can participate in this study with your own spinning. In the syllabus, there is much more detail about each track!
Track 1: Samples
Make a selection of samples for your own learning and records.
Track 2: Single Project
Dig deeper into some aspects of these chapters with a larger project over several months.
Track 3: Choose Your Own Adventure
Rebecca has included a schedule with the “assignments” area blank, so you can make your own plan, or skip the planning and use that page to record your explorations as you follow your own path.
For some, who crave structure, one of these tracks will offer a great opportunity for you to learn and deepen your spinning practice. Others will want to follow along and watch from the sidelines while they work on other things! Whatever feels correct for you, we welcome you!
Have a wonderful holiday season – Happy New Year once again! Comment below with questions as they come up – if you’re wondering, so are others!
Recent Tutorial on how to use Ravelry & Slack – requests were made for help!
Ketchup & Pickles for November 2023 here (December coming later this week!)
CoreSpinAlong
* wrapping up at the end of this month! *
In October, Rebecca and I sat down with Crystal Hesser to come together with a textured-yarn spin-along to finish the year. Share your photos, your favourite corespun projects you’ve made and just HAVE FUN! Let’s make a bunch of corespun yarn to celebrate all things textured yarns!
Use the tag #corespinalong for sharing your projects. More information is here.
I hope you enjoy this ALONG with us – even if you just spin a little bit to give the technique a try, I encourage you to do so! Click here to listen.
Spindling
100 Days of Spindle Spinning – Started on Dec 1st, Keeping track in my Instagram highlights/stories here, working through lots of rolags!
Crafty Jaks Boutique BFL Gradient Set – · 11 colours, into the blending board, adding clear firestar {Ravelry Page here}
Spinning
SweetGeorgia BFL ‘Wistmas’ – Prepping fibre with handcards, pulling through diz; 2 braids to prep – spin each in 1/4s, ply; Majacraft Suzie – lower ratio for lighter, loftier yarn – not so high twist in the singles {Ravelry Project Page here}
Skeined!
CraftyJaks Boutique Organic Polwarth, Tussah & Sari Silk – Support spindle spun; lovely rolags – pre-drafting to lengthen out the fibres since there are so many per rolag! Too much to deal with while spinning; ripping off a chunk and dealing with that and repeat; 500+ yards of yarn, 4-ply {Ravelry Project Page here}
In October, Rebecca and I sat down with Crystal Hesser to come together with a textured-yarn spin-along to finish the year. Share your photos, your favourite corespun projects you’ve made and just HAVE FUN! Let’s make a bunch of corespun yarn to celebrate all things textured yarns!
Use the tag #corespinalong for sharing your projects. More information is here.
I hope you enjoy this ALONG with us – even if you just spin a little bit to give the technique a try, I encourage you to do so! Click here to listen.
Spinning
Kingdom Fleece & Fiberworks Columbia X Dorset – 6oz ‘flat’ & 6oz ‘sparkle’ – Majacraft Suzie Pro 4:1 {Ravelry Project Page here}
Knitting
Trinigan by Andrea Mowry – Gathering Yarns Haynes Creek Heathers DK; Combo Spin handspun – Three Waters Farm with unlabelled fibre; 3.5mm/4.00mm (US 6 & 7) needles {Ravelry Project Page here}
Finished Objects (FO’s)
Total Brioche by Matt Akers – Romney/Icelandic Cross, 2.75mm/US 3 needles, in the round {Ravelry Project Page here}
Community Participation
As always, thank you to those who share in the community, uploading photos and thoughts about what you are working on! I appreciate it – it’s my pleasure to be able to share!
Today. On Wool n’ Spinning Radio. Rebecca and I sat down to reflect on the year, 2023. We started with a reflection on the highlights and standouts from the year. We talk about unexpected challenges, namely for Rachel throughout the year. Next, we talk about the community. There were some memorable interactions that really resonated with us as we interacted with you guys throughout the year.
Rebecca asked about some behind-the-scenes insights about how Rachel manages the Live Stream and some lessons they’ve learned throughout the year. We talk about how we’ve grown during the year and how we’ve changed our views and perspectives on certain things.
Looking forward, we talk about some of our goals and aspirations for the coming year, as well as talk about some of the things we have coming. More on that coming soon!
I hope you enjoy our conversation. Have a wonderful month!
Welcome to another episode of Wool n’ Spinning Radio – I am so pleased to be able to produce these episodes with Rebecca (@rebbiejaye). Rebecca took the lead on this month’s episode, which was really fun for me as I was able to sit back and participate in a different way than I normally do – what a pleasure!
To help ground the conversation, here are some of the ‘primer’ questions that Rebecca asked us to think about to prepare for recording. If it speaks to you, particularly if you are a journaller yourself, I would encourage you to write these down or use them as prompts to help you in your journey:
1. Some background: can you talk about how you feel generally about the October/November season? How has this year in particular been affecting your energy levels?
2. This year I think what’s different for me is that I’m really expecting the change. Not dreading it, just trying to be really aware. How has this year met/not met your expectations? Surprised you?
3. Sometimes our hobbies help us, and sometimes they get the better of us! Have you experienced crafting overwhelm this fall? Or have you been able to lay it aside when you need to?
4. How does your making change when you get tired or sick? Are there things that happen differently? Does being tired or sick feed your creativity in any way?
These questions really helped to guide our conversation around fatigue, making and energy. We also talk about Polyvagal Theory, which is the concept that the vagus nerve has a role to play in regulating our emotions, social connection and fear responses. There is much research still to be done on the subject and much has not been substantiated by neuroscience. The basic tenent is the following:
Sympathetic State/Fight or Flight/Stress – feeling threatened, stress, perception of danger, ‘doing’ state, seeking safety, go-go-go
Doral Ventral State/Freeze/Paralysis – numbing out, immobilization, lack of coping
I hope this is helpful to ground the conversation when Rebecca asks me to elaborate on Polyvagal Theory; and remember that it is a theory, something to think about, and there is much to learn/read about if you are curious to do so!
You can access the back-catalogue of Radio episodes here, if you would like to listen to more episodes like this one. As well, taking a moment to like, subscribe & rate/review the Radio show helps get it out there to other potential listeners!
Share your thoughts below, especially if you’d like to share some of your own journal responses, or in #podcastchat on Slack for community members.
If you would like to be a guest on Wool n’ Spinning Radio, you can reach out to Rachel {at} welfordpurls {dot} com.
Until next month, I hope you are able to carve out some self-love. Tell us what you are going to do to LOVE YOURSELF this month – comment below.
