You may appreciate this: An acquaintance had a barn FULL of raw fleeces, mostly Romney, in every shade possible. He was trying make room for more and had no use for them, so invited me to come take what I wanted (I don't remember if I paid or not). I walked into the barn, inhaled the sheepy smell, and looked around at clear bags of fleeces of all colors, piled up everywhere. I practically swooned. He said, "Oh, you're one of those." I asked what he meant, and he said, "I don't know what it is, but every time a spinner walks into this barn, they get that same weird look on their face." It's a look of ecstasy, I suppose.
I think i’s not just that weird look. When I recently was shown a selection of raw alpaca fleeces, my hands opened, and then my fingers curled. Ready to skirt. Ready to sort. Ready to pluck out guard hairs. And above all, ready to SPIN. And I’m a newbie, less than a year down the spinner.s rabbit hole. 😅
Growing up my family spent our summers on an island in Maine. We had a 150 sheep. My dad has made custom spinning wheels for over 40 years. My mom knitted me a sweater, when I was 8 from my favorite sheep Moe. It’s still called my Moe Sweater. He had only 3 legs. Crochet and knitting keeps my hand busy and calms my brain. I’m starting to spin again… I’m trying to regain my muscle memory. Thank you for this video. It’s wonderful.
My wife and I spun yarn from our sheep. We took turns carding and spinning during winter evenings. Chatting and drinking tea. She knitted me a heavy vest 30 years ago that I wear often. No store-bought clothing pleases me more.
I was feeling chilly last night so I wrapped up in a beautiful blue and white wool blanket that a friend I taught to weave twenty-five years ago made for me on an old loom of my mother's. One day while my friend was weaving, she told me that the act of weaving made her feel like she was stepping off the bank into a long wide river filled with the thoughts and dreams of all the weavers in the world who went before her. I think my blue and white blanket must be infused with some of those thoughts and dreams, including hers and my mother's.
Why did I start spinning? Poverty...i figured out it is cheaper to buy a raw fleece and do the work myself than to go to the store 60 miles away and buy synthetic yarn. Why do i continue to spin? Because I NEED to. My failing body and brain get exercise from the physical motion, the calculations of how big to spin the yarn to get the yardage I need for the project I want to make. I love that the waste from the cleaning of the wool goes into my garden and makes my plants grow. I love that the things I make go mostly to my granddaughters and friends so that they can have real wool stuff too. I love that the rugs I have made can get washed and sun dried and smell heavenly...and last more than 2 washings. I love that you and folks like you are here to teach me what i don't know. My biggest regret? That I can't send you a paycheck for all your hard work, information, joy, time, experience...because well, even small amounts of money just don't exist for me right now. Icelandic is my favorite wool to work with. I can't wait to see your Icelandic journey. Anyway, hugs, Happy Valentines day, and most of all thank you for what you do.
Through my spinning, weaving and knitting I feel a connection to the past. In 1992, I taught myself to spin. I felt that I belonged at a spinning wheel. Some of my mother's family worked in spinning and weaving mills in Scotland and New England. Her 2 aunt's were handkniters. It's in my blood. I find spinning calming.
THIS! It’s not especially practical, it’s not especially cost effective, but I love it. I love feeling like I’m preserving a skill that shouldn’t be lost. Things traditionally considered “woman’s work” like sewing, embroidery, weaving, are slipping away in modern society and I think we lose something when we lose those skills. Mainly an ability to do something for ourselves and not have it handed to us. Just because I sew doesn’t mean I want to hem your pants. You have access to needles, thread, and RUclips, so don’t look at me like I’ve asked you to walk on water. It’s been done for thousands of years so I’m pretty sure you can do it too.
That is so true! I feel like I'm wired to do such things, and it's incredibly satisfying to learn useful skills instead of wasting the urge to do something with my hands. As a child I had a period where I repeatedly winded up a ball of string. When I was done, I took the other end and started over again. Luckily I learned how to knit. Then (I guess when my dolls and their horses had enough blankets) I had periods where I just knitted endless strips. The urge got an outlet, but it's so much more satisfying when you learn to structure such urges into usefulness.
Well if it makes you feel a little better, I (as a man) got taught to sew and knit as a small kid. Mostly for uniform repairs and blankets and the like, but it grew into a love of fleeces. I taught myself to weave, started out spinning a few months back, learned to felt, and have been trying (and failing) to learn crochet. It's just so fascinating for me!
I saw someone spinning, and something inside me awoke as though a past life was coming through. I followed the feeling, and 5 years later, I'm still in love with it and can not see myself not doing it xx
This is a year old at this point but I just had to pop up and say The Omnivore's Dillemma is literally what brought me to considering spinning and trying to purchase sustainable yarn as much as possible too. Felt like that meme of Leo pointing at the TV when you held it up 😂
I rent farmland to some people and we have talked about the Fiber Side of things and it's true it's being forgotten about. This year on Breakfast on the Farm I plan to bring my spindle and some wool with me and spin it while near the Sheep where I can talk about it. I spin my own wool and fiber to support the Shepherds. I was washing wool with my friend who helped me washed it and she understands it and she wants to be part of it. I can't wait to read the book and I am glad you like the book I recommend.
My why might seem simple to some but is actually quite complex when you understand that I was adopted and didn’t learn my true heritage until I was in my mid-40’s. Once I learned that heritage, I felt a deep yearning to connect with my ancestors. Primarily of Irish decent, working with wool felt natural. Now, every time I sit in front of my wheel or grab a spindle or pick up a cake of my hand spun, I feel that connection.
I have to tell you this was one of the loveliest, most enjoyable videos I've watched in many years. And to answer your question I learned to spin last year so I could gift my husband a scarf and hat set made from the fluff I saved for many years from our Husky. She was his baby and she passed away at 15 years old. And I learned to knit 6 years ago because my daughter used to knit lovely things and when she had her baby girl she couldn't wait to teach her that beautiful craft. She died of cancer when her daughter was only two and I decided I was going to be the one to teach her so I learned everything off of RUclips videos. In fact you taught me a lot about how to spin as well. So now my granddaughter is eight years old and I just started teaching her how to knit and now she wants to learn how to spin as well and help make my husbands gift from our dog's yarn whom she loved as well . Thank you so much for all of your videos. You always brighten my day with your sunshiny spirit…
When I became homeless what I missed the most was the beautiful art (and squishy socks) I'd been surrounded with. But a friend gave me a bag of yarn and my espinner miraculously returned in a box with my school stuff. Every day I think about what's left behind! There's just so much to catch up.
I hope that you can regain your sense of security and surround yourself with all the art of your choosing again soon. Sometimes life really sucks and I'm sorry you are going through it. 💜💜💜
Let me start by saying I am an old soul. I feel like there is a being inside me from some long forgotten century that is scratching to get out. I have want to make my own yarn to find that connection. I garden and preserve food for much the same reason. I have always felt that we as a modern people have so many issues because we have lost the connection to our roots and our families. I loved this video so much
I wanted to learn how to spin for decades, it wasn't until a few years ago that I finally did it. An advid crafter for my entire life, I have learned many crafts, mostly self taught. From crochet to sewing to soap making & spinning. I have always been able to move to the next level. Although I would love to farm acres, I have turned my backyard into an itty-bitty farm. Of course, I have fiber animals. The only ones that can fit into my space are Angora Bunnies. Getting in contact with local farmers, I can source Icelandic wool, alpaca fleece & mix it with my angora fiber. Spinning is a multi sensory experience, I feel the fiber traveling through my fingers, I see it form into yarn as it winds onto the bobbin, the slight aroma, feeling the wood as I treadle & of course the slight sound as the wheel spins. With all that going on, I can ignore the unpleasant things that are happening around me. I know it's temporary, but it sure helps to get away from it for a few hours.
That blue fiber is beeeauuutiful! 💙 My brother had a similar response when he saw me knitting a sweater that I had spun yarn for...":o why?!" He couldn't believe all that work was just for enjoyment and not a side gig lol.
It is so refreshing and uplifting to know I’m not the only one who feels a strong desire to find connection through the art of making, and in the process,discover the wonders of living with intention. Slowing down and reconnecting with our deepest selves and with our human history. Thank you Jillian for everything you are doing to keep fiber arts and education alive. We need it now more than ever. ❤
I love the way you speak about spinning, I've found it hard to articulate these same ideas to people who ask me why I spin and hearing it from you is beautiful. Thank you
I learned that spinning was still a thing last summer. I didn't even know people still did this, or know really anything about it. I got my Turkish spindles and started small. I just got my first spinning wheel less than a month ago and already feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. It just fits and I really enjoy doing it. I'm not fast at all at knitting or crocheting, but I don't think it takes that long to spin up a bunch of fiber.
What a wonderful reverie. Thank you for this. We as modern people are so spoiled. It used to take a village to make clothing. My spinning guru loved to weave. (not my thing but...) She told me that it took 8 spinners to service one weaver. When people ask me what I make with my spinning, I tell them I make yarn. I love the quizzical looks I get to that answer. Thank you again for this lovely valentine to spinning. From a Louisiana spinner...
I started spinning as a young child. I read the Little House books from when I was still a toddler really, and one of those stories has a little girl learn to knit and spin, and I wanted to Do That. I could already crochet, because my mom taught me, but my parents agreed and got me a knitting and spinning kit that year for Christmas, and I've kept it up ever since, 20 years now. It's stimmy (I'm autistic and have ADD, and it's so soothing), and it always keeps me calm even through a currently crazy life.
I started spinning in the fall of 2012, I was teaching early American History in my homeschool and wanted my children to get a better understanding of what it took for people to clothe themselves before the industrial revolution. I made a couple of spindles from to wheels and dowel rods and found a part of a fleece online and bought some handcards from the sister of a homeschool friend. This same lad had a loom and I bought it too. My daughter and I each have spinning wheels, spindles, fleece, top, dyes, looms, and a drum carder. I also have two electric spinners. We are so far down the rabbit hole, and loving it still.
Thank you so much for this video. I listened to it while I was weaving this morning (raise your hand if you too listened while weaving, knitting, crocheting, spinning, embroidering, or working on any other form of fiber that I may have missed…..✋🏻) . Not only are you inspirational, but you let others know that we are not alone in how we feel about the history of textiles and trying to keep this beautiful art form going.
I'm learning to write in English so here's my try: I'm deeply in love with you and your way of sharing knowledge and interests. Thank you and keep making our days happy ✨🥰❣️
Your little sheep is Oliver Twist ..of course. Spinning was therapeutic through the last 6yrs where I felt like I was being pulled apart, broken into little pieces. I visualized coming together and becoming strong as the alpaca fibers came together and plied together became strong, resilient. 34 yrs ago I taught myself to spin intending to knit my love a sweater... that is still undone, like the relationship. Remember the song "Cotton, the fabric of your life'? Its more like spinning, the meditation of uncertainty.
I got interested in spinning years ago when I read a tumblr post by someone I followed. They had bought silk moths to have an easy close source of silk to spin. It had never occurred to me that ppl still spun other than stereotypical European grandmas, or that one could make clothing from scratch beyond just knitting store bought yarn. I love being able to circumvent capitalist industries and doing things myself. But I hadn't done any level of fiber making to justify picking up spinning. Just some on and off crochet years apart. The idea of spinning lived in the back of my mind until last winter, when I finally got my first spindle. I still hadn't done much more crochet at that point, and had just started teaching myself to knit. I taught myself to spin a bit. Then I got too busy and dropped all my crafting for a long while. Then I found your channel. I picked it up again this winter, along with knitting, and am knitting a shawl with part store bought, part handspun yarn. I have 2 balls waiting to be plied now. I'm hoping it'll be my first finished knitting project and first project with handspun!
This is why i keep buying old tools and learning old crafts so that i have a choice in how i consume, essentially. ive mostly gotten the hang of knitting, crochet, naalbinding and embroidery so im working on lacemaking now. Besides, for me as a person with ADHD fiber crafts but also most kinds of crafts really lets me relax and be in the moment. One day my dream would be to live off of all these small things i can make, or by teaching others like you do. All the best from denmark :)
I commented on your instagram image as well, but I have realized that i left out a plethora of reasons why I spin. so on top of the reasons of I started to keep me from going spare during the great panini and a second gigantic lockdown, feeling a link beyond the grave to my mother who has been out of my life longer than she was ever in it (by a factor of almost double now) and to control the yarns i'm using, I have to now add that yes, i do spin to fidget. I can't imagine what its like to not have something in my hands while i'm watching things now. I also find that my wheel gives my legs a good workout. I love the smell of fleece and the connection I feel to the origins of my clothes. I feel proud to wear a sweater, even with all its flaws, that I made myself. I could wax poetic for as long as your Video Evie, but I won't.
Hey man, it’s cheaper than therapy 🙌🏼 that’s what I keep telling myself when I invest in a new project. I keep bouncing back and forth between knitting, sewing, hand sewing, and now spinning 😄🙌🏼
Thank you so much for sharing your passion. It was so poetic, and it looks like it touch my soul not only through screen but also through continents. I love spinning and crocheing and knitting cause my grandma use to do it. I don't remember that time but i deeply know that i reproduce her movements and i feel connect with her, her past, my past my mom's past. Maybe i'am a bit too emotionnal but it almost made me cry. I send you a lot of support and love from France
i finally got myself a spinning wheel last month and i've been binge watching your videos ever since. you have taught me so much, so thank you for everything!
This is soo relatable and very similar to my journey into fiber art and all the other arts. I also make my own paint from rocks, and use natural materials for all my art making. It makes such a difference to learn how things are made and where they came from and connects us to our roots and the earth! I could talk about these things all day but most people don't relate, it was soo nice to hear you talk about it. Also, your hair looks amazing! Love that color on you.
@@JillianEve I’ve used earth pigments to paint on fabric! You use soy milk as a binder. I’ve also done some natural dyeing and used the same materials as inks. Its soo much fun to use natural materials!
I so connect with your thoughts about going backwards in the process. Going from knitting/crocheting/quilting/weaving to spinning was natural. Your videos made spinning doable. Thinking now about growing flax. There is also love of history and archeology that I share with you. And thank you for recommending “Women’s Work” - great read!
I've never thought of growing flax, but years ago I watched a video about extracting fibre out of nettles, and I got very inspired by it. For me, that makes even more sense than growing flax, as nettles grow in abundance in my region (and in my garden!). Thus growing it requires no effort, I could go straight to harvesting.
@@CheapEngineerCrafts No, it was a man. It might have been this one: ruclips.net/video/DQ3ubWmfW_U/видео.html Anyway, thank you for pointing me to Sally Pointer! 🥰 I've watched a few of her videos now, and find them interesting. Is "hedge bother" to forage in other people's hedges? I guess I am lucky living in an area with lots of land where no one will mind if someone forages wild or semi-wild plants. Sometimes you can also be allowed (or even asked to come) into people's gardens to forage.
I can relate to this video on so many levels. I no longer feel alone and the seeing the response to video shows such a wonderful, vast community who feel the same. I can feel your, passion, care and enthusiasm and thank you for sharing this with us. It brings me great comfort xx
I'm honestly blown away right now to the response to this! I'm so amazed and grateful for this community. Thank you for watching and I'm so glad it brought you comfort. 😊🧶💜
I wonder if it's a product of reading the Omnivore's Dilemma. I, too, have been investigating a method of living more locally, and more sustainably. I've started learning to make my own clothes, my own blankets, rugs, produce my own foods. I feel the same, and I'm slowly working towards a type of more sustainable, local, living. And I picked up my first spindle recently too. :D
You're articulating so many reasons why people spin and I resonate with so many of them. The Omnivore's Dilemma spoke to me, too, and the meditative dimension of spinning really speaks to me, as well! Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I felt so much like your words were describing exactly how I feel when I spin, dye, knit, crochet or weave with my very own hand spun yarn. I still remember the first time I made something with my handspun, I felt connected to the yarn, it was like working with a 'warm fuzzy feeling' of contentment. Spinning from raw wool or other fibres, is like a quilter who takes perfectly good material, cuts it up into little tiny bits only to sew them all together again... (yes I do this also)... In this time we live in it most definitely doesn't appear practical, but it is most definitely an art form that needs to be preserved and shared.
I got into spindle spinning a few years ago. My neighbour had “lawnmower” alpacas. I asked what she did with the fleece. She answered that she used it as a WEED MAT in the garden. I bought a garbage bag full of her fleece for $20 and a year later I presented her with a pair of hand spun, dyed and knitted mittens. From her own alpacas. She was gobsmacked. I have not stopped since then. I love it. Especially the different dyes you can use. Great video, I feel where you are coming from 👍
Thank you so much for this! It is so wonderful. I haven't spun much in my past, but I plan to do more in the future, partially inspired by you. I do so many other crafts though, from weaving to crochet to gardening to blacksmithing to cooking and just about anything else you can think of. I do it because my parents did it. They were both very creative people. My father built the looms that he and I loomed on, a full size one for him and a child sized one for me. My mother made the best fitting clothes I've ever had in my life. They both had more skills and hobbies than you can think of, and their love for it rubbed off on me.
OMGoodness! I can relate so well to that moment when “something clicked”. I feel so connected with every project. There is just something about having a raw fleece and processing it from sheep to a garment. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, the process is so calming and spinning is like meditation for me. ❤
Oh yes! I remember once I crocheted a couple of curtains. They were small, but still, I used thin yarn, thin needle and it took me over a year. I realise even a lot of people making crafts are so impatient. They're sighing and moaning about "boring" parts of a garment. And many of such people didn't understand my joy over my project. "How do you bother? It takes so long!" Yes, and so what? I enjoyed it. I was almost sad, and had a minor "crisis" when I was done. What was I to do then? Life felt a bit empty for a little while. 😅
My very first introduction to spinning was through a book series I read in school, one of the characters learns how to spin (and later weave) and I was just fascinated by it! Fast forward a number of years and my bestie and I are video chatting while she spins...and I'm just...watching. She 3d printed a Turkish spindle for me and sent a bunch of different fibers to try, this is how I learned about my allergy to BFL...and the rest is history!
One of the ways my mom and I often spent time together was by going shopping. We loved (still love but it's harder to shop together with her living out of state) going yarn stores and oohing and ahhing over the hand dyed and hand spun skeins especially. Going back another generation, my maternal grandmother was a newly married 16-year-old when the depression hit, so my mom and her siblings were always raised with "You can make that" whenever they wanted to buy certain items of clothing while shopping. I know my mom loves seeing me take joy in spinning and she appreciates the hand-spun yarn I gift her with from time to time, but I also feel like my Nana in spirit is proud of me. Now when I go to those yarn stores and admire the hand-spun and hand-dyed yarns, the first thing I think is "I can make that'. XD
Such a lovely video💕 There are so many feelings you have as an artist that are like those of the shepherdess...the peace and nourishment, the patience of growing a fleece for a full year before shearing, the joy of seeing something beautiful created. Thank you!😊
I’ve been wanting to start spinning yarn for these reasons and you’ve really helped me make that final push!!! The more I’ve gotten into crafting and fibre arts the more I’ve felt dissatisfied with how harmful and how disconnected I am from it and it’s good to hear that spinning can help with that thank you :33
I learned to spin because I wanted to know how textiles came to be. I learned a whole lot of what you spoke about in this video. I find spinning connects me, not only with the past, but with some if my contemporaries. People are interested, sometimes because they look upon me as an a wee bit of an oddity, sometimes with a kind of envy. I’m amazed at how many young people are interested in textiles, in cordage (I know only the theoretical side of cordage), and ancillary crafts. I take every opportunity to spread the knowledge. Currently I’m spinning fleece from a Cheviot ram called Roy the Boy. Please believe me, there’s a lot of fleece on a Cheviot ram. I love your enthusiasm for the craft(s) and look forward to more videos.
I love spinning because it’s very relaxing and productive at the same time. I have PTSD, and I go through times in my life where I have such low energy that I can barely function. Sometimes knitting, crocheting, and spinning is all I have energy for. And I know when I do it, I’m being productive with my time. When my mental health doesn’t send me down a black hole, I’m able to create beautiful art yarns and amazing projects that make my happy to look at with all their textures and colors!
I'm watching your videos while I work on an art project for my Occupational Therapy Assistant program. Occupational therapy believes at its core that people are happier and healthier when they engage in meaningful occupations, which can be anything from getting dressed in the morning to playing with your children... or in our case, crafting! You do such an amazing job of making the crafts you participate in more accessible by sharing them with us all. Thank you!!
I love to spin yarn from local fiber and aim for one handspun sweater per year. It has turned me into a bit of a yarn snob, though, as I find a lot of commercial yarns just don't have the character or life that I get from my handspun (which is far from perfect!). I prefer raw fleece to commercially combed top because I love to take it from greasy lock right through to final product, whether I dye it or not. It may take a long time to go from fleece to FO, but I love every phase of the journey, so it just means more joy when I get to be part of all the steps.
I've always been curious about spinning. My family worked in the cotton mills so I knew about the modern machinery that created the cloth, and my great grandmother was a seamstress. Than I went to our local hostefest and I saw a demonstration of the loom and spinning, as a gentleman was combing the rabbits for the fur for the yarn. By this point I was an avid knitter. All of this has been a journey and it is so much fun.😉
You were recommended in a yarn group for people interested in spinning, and I can say I’ve never had a better recommendation. You are enchanting! Your passion is clear and infectious, so much so that I’m off to go visit my local spinning guilds display and ask some questions about getting involved
I’m just getting into spinning yarn and I love just learning about the process and where my yarn comes from! I look forward to making fun projects out of the yarn eventually too!
I love this video! I have been on the same page for years. I have dabbled in fiber and have raised sheep for awhile. This year I am moving I to making things out of my sheep's wool. Really been enjoying your videos
So right on. I love the garden to table, sheep to yarn to.. whatever, deer hide to boot or mitt. I love the start from the beginning right to the end product, it is very satisfying.
It's remarkable how many similarities I noticed between your spinning journey and mine, and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that! I started working at Joann Fabrics about a year ago, and being surrounded by so much fabric and yarn really made me want to understand where it came from and how it was made. I started noticing just how much was labeled "acrylic," or "polyester," or a dozen other fancy ways to avoid saying "plastic." It was disheartening, and it motivated me to try to make my own materials from sustainable sources. The only problem? It is HOTTT where I live, so wool isn't ideal. The good news is I recently learned I live in the perfect climate to grow flax! I'm planning on planting a small patch and making my own linen from scratch, and I'm beyond excited to get started. Thank you for being such a wonderful resource and inspiration in my spinning journey!
Best video I’ve watched on yt for a very long time. WOW. Thank you. I spin because of how it feels, because of how it slows my experience and it’s primal nature.
i really appreciate you having accurate closed captions on your videos. it might help more people who can only watch videos with closed captions to find your videos by putting “[CC]” at the end of your titles so people know you put in the extra effort to make them accessible. either way, thanks so much. i really enjoy your videos ♥︎
I’ve missed you for a long while. As you may remember I suffer from chronic illness but last Christmas I don’t know what happened, I was really ill and I thought my heart was going to burst! I’m still being treated and tested but feeling better than I did. You give me inspiration to get to my wheel again. I’ve got to take it slowly to begin with but watching your videos brings me joy. Happy Spinning with your new project, I suppose you have started so I’m going to look now. ❤
Fibrecrafts and textiles is something I am very new to, but your message on being connected is something that my family and I have been trying to do for years. Twice now we have raised our own meat chickens and while sad, is weirdly enough a fulfilling thing. They taste far better than any bird you buy in the grocery store and they are the same breed. You know that they had a good life and got to be chickens and they ate good food and got to run around and forage and it shows. We have other chickens for egg laying and as pets and the eggs that they give us are also better than store bought. I recently started working at a sheep dairy and the milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream is so good! It's so satisfying when you can look at a meal and say, "This came from Shadow!" or "Phyllis made this!" There is no feeling like knowing where all your stuff comes from and learning to appreciate the lives and the sacrifices of others around you.
Spinning on the wheel or the spindle is so calming for me.There is so much to learn about fiber.while doing a spinning demo I had a little five year old girl want to try.She was so anxious to try she said for me to get out of the chair so she could spin,her Mother was so embarrassed,but I understood her enthusiasm.i,m betting she talked her mother into getting a spinning wheel by Christmas !
I'm like you Evie...I had a hunger for 'something'... feeling growing concern that we, as a society, have outsourced our essentials for life. I started with growing veg in amongst my flowers in our (then) tiny front yard. I brought my daughters up to be able to pop out and pick food that we could eat that night. I quickly went to spinning when I happened upon an antique spinning wheel. This was before the internet and learning via an old dusty book from the library was hard and slow! Skip forward almost 30 years and now we have 5 acres, I have 6 fleece from my own sheep (waiting to be processed!) We grow and preserve a decent amount of food and I have that satisfied, content feeling that has been growing since watching my first seedlings come up through the compost. We aren't self sufficient, but we are doing our part and we are as organic as possible. My prayers are that what used to be called 'womens work' back in the day as an insult will be held as a badge of honour as time passes ❤️🙏
A thousand times YES! Every reason you gave for spinning is why I also took up the spindle again a few years ago, after a hiatus of three decades! The first prompt was, like yourself, after growing my own food and buying slow food for years, I began to rid my life and home of the single use plastic that is destroying our planet. I trawled my wardrobe to weed out the plastic derived clothes and now aim to buy only natural products that will biodegrade, and this drew me back to when I first spun fleece years ago. It was time to get back to that reconnection.
My mother taught me how to knit. But spinning came into my life just a few years ago although I wanted to learn how to spin since I was a child. Now I can't imagine my life without spinning. Spinning has given me new friendships.
as someone new to yarn crafting and not (yet) a spinner, but the community and the meditation is great! I got it into for something to do while on the clock at work. I cant be on my phone to set a good example for students, but I need something to move and make. As someone with a basis in traditional and digital mediums, my go to is harder to bring with. I can't sit on a bus and break out a whole computer and a drawing tablet since an ipad is too expensive. its much easier to stop and stuff it in my bag after a 20 minute ride and i dont have to wait for it to dry like paint. It has helped me slow down and take time for me since moving out. im so happy to have this community
I come from a long line of Lancashire weavers on my mums side and scottish spinners and knitters on my dads side. I feel like textiles are in my DNA. Last year i went to shetland wool week. It was amazing to go somewhere, where spinning and knitting every day is still the "norm". It felt like coming home despite it still being in the same country as i live.
I am embarking on this journey myself, learning to spin and weave, sew and knit and crochet and nalbinding, basket weaving, and we hope to buy a land and start our own homestead one day. I dream to one day be able to afford the equipment such as a spinning wheel, a floor loom, and even the equipment to grow and process my own flax. I want know where our food comes from, where our clothes come from, our blankets, our baskets, and to know what’s in them. I dream of finally one day growing or sheering the fiber that I will spin, weave into fabric, cut and sew into garments. I have a long way to go, for practicing these skills and investing in the time and money, but I love it so far
I fell in love with spinning this past fall! I decided to weave a tapestry from handspun wool and tasked myself with spinning like 2.5lbs of yarn in about a week! While there was kind of a time crunch, I felt so at peace once I found my rhythm. I jokingly say I aged about 5 years that week because I was able to reflect on a lot of things in my life and make some new realizations. Spinning is now my meditation!
Thank you so much for the videos you have made, for nearly a week I have been bedridden with a crippling earache (I think my other symptoms are reducing just not yet the earache). I have been a yarn crafter for most of my life and had many many wonderful teachers. A couple of days ago a friend sent my your video and it was a God send as I found it was one of the few ways I had of distracting myself....thanks to you I put on your videos, put my earbud in my good ear and am nearly finished myown basic design singlet. You are such a God Send. Thank you
Thankyou, this video got me really remembering- thinking about my mom. She taught me to sew when I aas very young. Ahe loved fabrics, color, design & she was so creative. Im not a spinner yet. I somehow waa sent your videos & I think it was for a reason. 💖🧶🐑🦙💫🧵
I don't spin (yet), but I'm working on a MASSIVE crochet project right now (not the first one tbh) and frankly for me the draws have been a combination of a feeling of closeness to my ancestors (not just my grandmother who first exposed me to the concept but also whomever taught her and whomever taught that person and also (mostly) women ad infinitum back to the days of yore knitting, crocheting, nalbinding, spinning, weaving and so on), and the slow fashion angle. Being able to literally make your own clothes is so fulfilling.
What a joyful video! My spinning journey is tied up with emotions and family history and memories, but also new and special friendships. Even my wheel which was a "thank you" gift recently from a friend I have been supporting turned out to have a direct link to my childhood.
I've learned so much about spinning from your videos but especially appreciated this one. That figure of 60+ items of clothing a year is staggering - mostly because there's almost no reason anyone would need to buy that many items of clothing in a year, and as many of us probably know the fashion industry is an overwhelming producer of waste and a lot of clothing is never bought, just straight to the landfill. Another reason I love knitting (and spinning) beyond the sheer enjoyment is that I produce things which are meant to last, things that I or the people I make them for can wear for years or even decades to come if mended on occasion. Again, really appreciated this video and hearing about your journey and philosophy. Thanks for what you do!
I really appreciate this video. While I have only started to spin, I had this feeling years ago. I worked in a factory that produced nylon yarn when Inwas in school, and it really got me thinking - everything comes from SOMEWHERE. Someone has to make everything we have. I was recently doing some historical costuming and it got me thinking about it again so I went to our lathe and made a spindle. My ultimate goal is to make a piece of clothing completely by hand (including all the tools I can reasonably fabricate). It has become something of a meditation on how precious the things material we take for granted are.
It had never really occurred to me to one day maybe get into spinning until I read the Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce in middle school. One of the characters uses a drop spindle to help with performing her type of magic. I had never heard of a drop spindle, and it has always kind of stuck with me. I still haven't started spinning because I'm a big knitter and have way too many projects on the list for right now, but I really hope to get going sometime this year. Watching your videos has made spinning seem more possible and accessible for me, who doesn't have a ton of time or money to dive off the deep end for this craft, but just want to nibble for now.
I loved this! One sweater a year…you have NO idea how much this released me from my own toxic productivity messages swirling in my head about how “little” I produce!! I looooove what I do. Why…WHY…am I internalizing and judging myself using capitalist, extractive values?! I buy very little commercial clothing now and am trying to build up my collection of valued, personalized, hand made clothing pieces and yes, it’s not quick. However, the process is joyful in its own right so I need to stop dampening that joy by applying standards that don’t align with me and my making. Thank you for this amazing gift.❤
I’ve been a self-taught crocheter for 20 years. Moving to the country and having a garden made me want to try making my own yarn as well. I have a spindle I’ve had a love/hate relationship with for a few years and just recently acquired a pipy Wendy and that has really clicked with me. Your videos have been so helpful. I get the same calming energy spinning (poorly but I’m working on it) as I did throwing pots in college.
When you look at plastics, you can think about the contribution of the very distant dinosaurs and maybe feel connected to times before man! 😂 this was a great video, thank you for your time!
I have been both aware of where food and fabric come from, and curious of how fabric was made since childhood. We visited Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge Massachusetts many times. It is an historic working village and farm set up to be from the 1800s, with a grist mill and a carding mill. They have 2 kinds of carding machines, one for batts, and one just for rolags. They also have many spinning wheels and looms. And a good size flock of sheep as close to the original breeds brought over as possible. I have dreamed of working there for many decades now! Hopefully some day, somewhere.
I spin mostly angora rabbit because sheep are not a good animal for my current home but I have gotten some awesome wool by doing fiber swaps. One of my sisters got some angora goats and sometimes we trade our animal fibers. There is something so amazing about making yarn, it’s stabilizing and helps me not worry about if commercial yarn and cloth were not available for any reason. My husband likes helping me fix any problems I have with my rabbits, sometimes I think he likes them as much or more than I do.
Evie I just loved this video!! All of those reasons are why I’m learning spinning. I have alpacas and I want they’re fleeces to have value. I teared up when you named those sheep from whom you got the fleeces. It just shows a small amount of respect for creatures that share this world with us. Thanks Evie x
Why spin? Why weave? Why knit? Why crochet? You can just go out and buy (yarn, clothing… etc). Yes, you can go out and buy something ready-made. But the yarn and the pieces you make serve more purposes than their utilitarian use. Spinning, knitting, weaving and crochet for most of us who do it serve as a hobby, a stress-release, something we get energy from and replenish ourselves with. The fact that what we do as a hobby yields something useful is an added bonus. An item that was handcrafted has added value. A sweater quickly grabbed off the rack will probably not make us as upset if it gets damaged or lost as something we spent hours on making. We treasure those items and it’s not just because of the time investment. Those hours also encompass a lot of thoughts we milled over during the making of it. We can do a lot of healing during those hours. They keep us sane. A lot of memories and life events can happen while we are working on a project. My ‘main’ craft is lace knitting. I rarely ever sell my pieces. I don’t own many because they end up being given away to people I love for very special reasons. They in turn treasure those pieces. I remember crying for hours when a blanket my grandmother pieced together with yarn scraps and painstakingly crocheted to keep herself warm at night got irreparably damaged. It was mostly cheap acrylic yarn, the colours weren’t pretty, but it was grandma’s, it was HER. My mother treasures my first ever ‘nice’ lace shawl that I gave her one year for Christmas. My sister equally treasures the one I made for her. I’m just starting my journey into spinning and I hope that by the time my daughter finishes college (she’s starting this fall) I’ll be able to spin enough laceweight yarn to knit her a lace wedding shawl when she starts her journey into fully fledged life as an adult. It doesn’t matter if she ever gets married or not. I just want to be able to give her a piece that is elegant, beautiful, delicate, and not just hand-knitted but also hand-spun. If I ever get grandkids it would be nice to be able to give baby blankets that aren’t just hand-knitted or crocheted, but hand spun. Something you can hardly find anymore. For that same reason I make my own fruit wines and meads. I forage the fruit, get honey from a beekeeper, develop my recipe, let time and the knowledge my grandmother handed down to me (yes, she taught me to make mead too) do their thing. My dog needs to be walked, might as well forage along the way. Home brewing doesn’t need a lot of hands-on time, most of it is waiting. But it connects you to the contents of the bottle. In a similar manner, crafting and therefore spinning, connects you to the end result. Spinning or any other craft isn’t practical, usually not about savings or money. It’s more often than not about connection and about the journey. At least, that’s my take on it.
I’ve been spinning for around 10 years. The last few years I’ve not spun as I should. The other day I got my spinning wheel out (Rumple) and begun again. My first spindle was a lot like the your first one. My first yarn I spun was not good but hey I made it. I just found your channel and truly love it.
I spin yarn, I knit, I crochet. I love to make useful, wearable things with my hands. Holding a finished product that I made from scratch gives me such pride and pleasure, like nothing else. Making clothes at the slow pace that humankind used to do for thousands of years is a grounding experience in this fast world we live in. Thank you, Evie, for sharing your story! Much love!❤
You may appreciate this: An acquaintance had a barn FULL of raw fleeces, mostly Romney, in every shade possible. He was trying make room for more and had no use for them, so invited me to come take what I wanted (I don't remember if I paid or not). I walked into the barn, inhaled the sheepy smell, and looked around at clear bags of fleeces of all colors, piled up everywhere. I practically swooned. He said, "Oh, you're one of those." I asked what he meant, and he said, "I don't know what it is, but every time a spinner walks into this barn, they get that same weird look on their face." It's a look of ecstasy, I suppose.
In this comment section right now, I think we are all "one of those." Love it!!! ☺️🧶💜
@@JillianEve oh yeah! I just got here, and I LOVE it!!! 🤩
I think i’s not just that weird look. When I recently was shown a selection of raw alpaca fleeces, my hands opened, and then my fingers curled. Ready to skirt. Ready to sort. Ready to pluck out guard hairs. And above all, ready to SPIN.
And I’m a newbie, less than a year down the spinner.s rabbit hole. 😅
Growing up my family spent our summers on an island in Maine. We had a 150 sheep. My dad has made custom spinning wheels for over 40 years. My mom knitted me a sweater, when I was 8 from my favorite sheep Moe. It’s still called my Moe Sweater. He had only 3 legs. Crochet and knitting keeps my hand busy and calms my brain. I’m starting to spin again… I’m trying to regain my muscle memory. Thank you for this video. It’s wonderful.
I loved reading this!
My wife and I spun yarn from our sheep. We took turns carding and spinning during winter evenings. Chatting and drinking tea. She knitted me a heavy vest 30 years ago that I wear often. No store-bought clothing pleases me more.
Wowww what beautiful stories!!! It is my dream to take care of sheeps and spin my own yarn.
Does your dad still make wheels? I'd love to see some of his work!
I was feeling chilly last night so I wrapped up in a beautiful blue and white wool blanket that a friend I taught to weave twenty-five years ago made for me on an old loom of my mother's. One day while my friend was weaving, she told me that the act of weaving made her feel like she was stepping off the bank into a long wide river filled with the thoughts and dreams of all the weavers in the world who went before her. I think my blue and white blanket must be infused with some of those thoughts and dreams, including hers and my mother's.
Beautiful! 😊🧶💙🤍
Did I go down a whole RUclips rabbit hole at 4:00 in the morning just to find that comment 🥰🥰 the universe is cool like that
@@victoriajones1575 Just keep floating down that river!
Why did I start spinning? Poverty...i figured out it is cheaper to buy a raw fleece and do the work myself than to go to the store 60 miles away and buy synthetic yarn. Why do i continue to spin? Because I NEED to. My failing body and brain get exercise from the physical motion, the calculations of how big to spin the yarn to get the yardage I need for the project I want to make. I love that the waste from the cleaning of the wool goes into my garden and makes my plants grow. I love that the things I make go mostly to my granddaughters and friends so that they can have real wool stuff too. I love that the rugs I have made can get washed and sun dried and smell heavenly...and last more than 2 washings. I love that you and folks like you are here to teach me what i don't know. My biggest regret? That I can't send you a paycheck for all your hard work, information, joy, time, experience...because well, even small amounts of money just don't exist for me right now. Icelandic is my favorite wool to work with. I can't wait to see your Icelandic journey. Anyway, hugs, Happy Valentines day, and most of all thank you for what you do.
Your beautiful comment is a perfect 'thank you'. Hugs to you too and happy spinning! 💜🧶😊
Through my spinning, weaving and knitting I feel a connection to the past. In 1992, I taught myself to spin. I felt that I belonged at a spinning wheel. Some of my mother's family worked in spinning and weaving mills in Scotland and New England. Her 2 aunt's were handkniters. It's in my blood. I find spinning calming.
THIS! It’s not especially practical, it’s not especially cost effective, but I love it. I love feeling like I’m preserving a skill that shouldn’t be lost. Things traditionally considered “woman’s work” like sewing, embroidery, weaving, are slipping away in modern society and I think we lose something when we lose those skills. Mainly an ability to do something for ourselves and not have it handed to us. Just because I sew doesn’t mean I want to hem your pants. You have access to needles, thread, and RUclips, so don’t look at me like I’ve asked you to walk on water. It’s been done for thousands of years so I’m pretty sure you can do it too.
Our skills are precious and valuable. 😊🧶💜
That is so true! I feel like I'm wired to do such things, and it's incredibly satisfying to learn useful skills instead of wasting the urge to do something with my hands.
As a child I had a period where I repeatedly winded up a ball of string. When I was done, I took the other end and started over again. Luckily I learned how to knit. Then (I guess when my dolls and their horses had enough blankets) I had periods where I just knitted endless strips. The urge got an outlet, but it's so much more satisfying when you learn to structure such urges into usefulness.
Well if it makes you feel a little better, I (as a man) got taught to sew and knit as a small kid. Mostly for uniform repairs and blankets and the like, but it grew into a love of fleeces. I taught myself to weave, started out spinning a few months back, learned to felt, and have been trying (and failing) to learn crochet. It's just so fascinating for me!
Thank you men in general for building the houses and homes that we live in and so many other man-things which help all our lives.
I saw someone spinning, and something inside me awoke as though a past life was coming through. I followed the feeling, and 5 years later, I'm still in love with it and can not see myself not doing it xx
Yes! 💜🧶😊
This is a year old at this point but I just had to pop up and say The Omnivore's Dillemma is literally what brought me to considering spinning and trying to purchase sustainable yarn as much as possible too. Felt like that meme of Leo pointing at the TV when you held it up 😂
I rent farmland to some people and we have talked about the Fiber Side of things and it's true it's being forgotten about. This year on Breakfast on the Farm I plan to bring my spindle and some wool with me and spin it while near the Sheep where I can talk about it. I spin my own wool and fiber to support the Shepherds. I was washing wool with my friend who helped me washed it and she understands it and she wants to be part of it. I can't wait to read the book and I am glad you like the book I recommend.
First, I have to say that Breakfast on the Farm sounds amazing! Secondly, yes, bring your spindle and spread the fiber joy! 😊🧶💜
My why might seem simple to some but is actually quite complex when you understand that I was adopted and didn’t learn my true heritage until I was in my mid-40’s. Once I learned that heritage, I felt a deep yearning to connect with my ancestors. Primarily of Irish decent, working with wool felt natural. Now, every time I sit in front of my wheel or grab a spindle or pick up a cake of my hand spun, I feel that connection.
I have to tell you this was one of the loveliest, most enjoyable videos I've watched in many years. And to answer your question I learned to spin last year so I could gift my husband a scarf and hat set made from the fluff I saved for many years from our Husky. She was his baby and she passed away at 15 years old. And I learned to knit 6 years ago because my daughter used to knit lovely things and when she had her baby girl she couldn't wait to teach her that beautiful craft. She died of cancer when her daughter was only two and I decided I was going to be the one to teach her so I learned everything off of RUclips videos. In fact you taught me a lot about how to spin as well. So now my granddaughter is eight years old and I just started teaching her how to knit and now she wants to learn how to spin as well and help make my husbands gift from our dog's yarn whom she loved as well . Thank you so much for all of your videos. You always brighten my day with your sunshiny spirit…
This is such a beautiful way of honoring your daughter's legacy ❤
When I became homeless what I missed the most was the beautiful art (and squishy socks) I'd been surrounded with. But a friend gave me a bag of yarn and my espinner miraculously returned in a box with my school stuff. Every day I think about what's left behind! There's just so much to catch up.
I hope that you can regain your sense of security and surround yourself with all the art of your choosing again soon. Sometimes life really sucks and I'm sorry you are going through it. 💜💜💜
Let me start by saying I am an old soul. I feel like there is a being inside me from some long forgotten century that is scratching to get out. I have want to make my own yarn to find that connection. I garden and preserve food for much the same reason. I have always felt that we as a modern people have so many issues because we have lost the connection to our roots and our families. I loved this video so much
I wanted to learn how to spin for decades, it wasn't until a few years ago that I finally did it. An advid crafter for my entire life, I have learned many crafts, mostly self taught. From crochet to sewing to soap making & spinning. I have always been able to move to the next level. Although I would love to farm acres, I have turned my backyard into an itty-bitty farm. Of course, I have fiber animals. The only ones that can fit into my space are Angora Bunnies. Getting in contact with local farmers, I can source Icelandic wool, alpaca fleece & mix it with my angora fiber. Spinning is a multi sensory experience, I feel the fiber traveling through my fingers, I see it form into yarn as it winds onto the bobbin, the slight aroma, feeling the wood as I treadle & of course the slight sound as the wheel spins. With all that going on, I can ignore the unpleasant things that are happening around me. I know it's temporary, but it sure helps to get away from it for a few hours.
Yes, all those things! 🐰😊🧶💜
Wonderful and so very relatable description!
What a wonderful comment
That blue fiber is beeeauuutiful! 💙
My brother had a similar response when he saw me knitting a sweater that I had spun yarn for...":o why?!" He couldn't believe all that work was just for enjoyment and not a side gig lol.
We are so trained to think of the hustle aren't we? 💜🧶😊
It is so refreshing and uplifting to know I’m not the only one who feels a strong desire to find connection through the art of making, and in the process,discover the wonders of living with intention. Slowing down and reconnecting with our deepest selves and with our human history. Thank you Jillian for everything you are doing to keep fiber arts and education alive. We need it now more than ever. ❤
I love the way you speak about spinning, I've found it hard to articulate these same ideas to people who ask me why I spin and hearing it from you is beautiful. Thank you
You are so welcome! 😊🧶💜
Ditto ❤
I learned that spinning was still a thing last summer. I didn't even know people still did this, or know really anything about it. I got my Turkish spindles and started small. I just got my first spinning wheel less than a month ago and already feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. It just fits and I really enjoy doing it. I'm not fast at all at knitting or crocheting, but I don't think it takes that long to spin up a bunch of fiber.
I loved “Braiding Sweetgrass” and all of Michael Poland’s books! It was lovely to find out that they were important to you too.
What a wonderful reverie. Thank you for this. We as modern people are so spoiled. It used to take a village to make clothing. My spinning guru loved to weave. (not my thing but...) She told me that it took 8 spinners to service one weaver. When people ask me what I make with my spinning, I tell them I make yarn. I love the quizzical looks I get to that answer. Thank you again for this lovely valentine to spinning. From a Louisiana spinner...
Hi Louisiana spinner! 💜🧶😊
I love spinning on my spindles, so calming.
I started spinning as a young child. I read the Little House books from when I was still a toddler really, and one of those stories has a little girl learn to knit and spin, and I wanted to Do That. I could already crochet, because my mom taught me, but my parents agreed and got me a knitting and spinning kit that year for Christmas, and I've kept it up ever since, 20 years now. It's stimmy (I'm autistic and have ADD, and it's so soothing), and it always keeps me calm even through a currently crazy life.
Thank you.
I've been in a rough place and haven't touched my wheel or loom in months. This helped remind me why I create.
I hope you rediscover joy in your crafting. I'm sorry you've been in a rough place, so I mean it the most when I say...
Happy spinning! 😊🧶💜
@JillianEve thank you 💕
I'm already back in the studio! Tackling an intimidating project; double-width weaving.
I started spinning in the fall of 2012, I was teaching early American History in my homeschool and wanted my children to get a better understanding of what it took for people to clothe themselves before the industrial revolution. I made a couple of spindles from to wheels and dowel rods and found a part of a fleece online and bought some handcards from the sister of a homeschool friend. This same lad had a loom and I bought it too. My daughter and I each have spinning wheels, spindles, fleece, top, dyes, looms, and a drum carder. I also have two electric spinners. We are so far down the rabbit hole, and loving it still.
Thank you so much for this video. I listened to it while I was weaving this morning (raise your hand if you too listened while weaving, knitting, crocheting, spinning, embroidering, or working on any other form of fiber that I may have missed…..✋🏻) . Not only are you inspirational, but you let others know that we are not alone in how we feel about the history of textiles and trying to keep this beautiful art form going.
I just love how well you put the connections we feel emotionally to fibercraft into words. Such a fantastic video. Can’t wait to see your projects!
I'm learning to write in English so here's my try: I'm deeply in love with you and your way of sharing knowledge and interests. Thank you and keep making our days happy ✨🥰❣️
Your little sheep is Oliver Twist ..of course. Spinning was therapeutic through the last 6yrs where I felt like I was being pulled apart, broken into little pieces. I visualized coming together and becoming strong as the alpaca fibers came together and plied together became strong, resilient. 34 yrs ago I taught myself to spin intending to knit my love a sweater... that is still undone, like the relationship. Remember the song "Cotton, the fabric of your life'? Its more like spinning, the meditation of uncertainty.
I'm going to be VERY popular when the SHTF. So will you!! I'm 75-90% done on two different sweaters, lol!
I got interested in spinning years ago when I read a tumblr post by someone I followed. They had bought silk moths to have an easy close source of silk to spin. It had never occurred to me that ppl still spun other than stereotypical European grandmas, or that one could make clothing from scratch beyond just knitting store bought yarn. I love being able to circumvent capitalist industries and doing things myself. But I hadn't done any level of fiber making to justify picking up spinning. Just some on and off crochet years apart.
The idea of spinning lived in the back of my mind until last winter, when I finally got my first spindle. I still hadn't done much more crochet at that point, and had just started teaching myself to knit. I taught myself to spin a bit. Then I got too busy and dropped all my crafting for a long while.
Then I found your channel. I picked it up again this winter, along with knitting, and am knitting a shawl with part store bought, part handspun yarn. I have 2 balls waiting to be plied now. I'm hoping it'll be my first finished knitting project and first project with handspun!
You thought me how to drop spin. Last summer I spun my own sheep’s (Baabaaraa) full fleece. I am grateful for your upbeat presence in my life. 😊
Yay! Happy spinning! 💜🧶😊
This is why i keep buying old tools and learning old crafts so that i have a choice in how i consume, essentially. ive mostly gotten the hang of knitting, crochet, naalbinding and embroidery so im working on lacemaking now. Besides, for me as a person with ADHD fiber crafts but also most kinds of crafts really lets me relax and be in the moment. One day my dream would be to live off of all these small things i can make, or by teaching others like you do. All the best from denmark :)
I commented on your instagram image as well, but I have realized that i left out a plethora of reasons why I spin. so on top of the reasons of I started to keep me from going spare during the great panini and a second gigantic lockdown, feeling a link beyond the grave to my mother who has been out of my life longer than she was ever in it (by a factor of almost double now) and to control the yarns i'm using, I have to now add that yes, i do spin to fidget. I can't imagine what its like to not have something in my hands while i'm watching things now. I also find that my wheel gives my legs a good workout. I love the smell of fleece and the connection I feel to the origins of my clothes. I feel proud to wear a sweater, even with all its flaws, that I made myself. I could wax poetic for as long as your Video Evie, but I won't.
Hey man, it’s cheaper than therapy 🙌🏼 that’s what I keep telling myself when I invest in a new project. I keep bouncing back and forth between knitting, sewing, hand sewing, and now spinning 😄🙌🏼
Thank you so much for sharing your passion. It was so poetic, and it looks like it touch my soul not only through screen but also through continents. I love spinning and crocheing and knitting cause my grandma use to do it. I don't remember that time but i deeply know that i reproduce her movements and i feel connect with her, her past, my past my mom's past.
Maybe i'am a bit too emotionnal but it almost made me cry.
I send you a lot of support and love from France
i finally got myself a spinning wheel last month and i've been binge watching your videos ever since. you have taught me so much, so thank you for everything!
You are so welcome! Happy spinning! 😊🧶💜
This is soo relatable and very similar to my journey into fiber art and all the other arts. I also make my own paint from rocks, and use natural materials for all my art making. It makes such a difference to learn how things are made and where they came from and connects us to our roots and the earth! I could talk about these things all day but most people don't relate, it was soo nice to hear you talk about it.
Also, your hair looks amazing! Love that color on you.
I'm so intrigued by natural paint pigments even though I don't paint. I agree, it makes such a difference to know where things come from! 😊🧶💜
@@JillianEve I’ve used earth pigments to paint on fabric! You use soy milk as a binder. I’ve also done some natural dyeing and used the same materials as inks. Its soo much fun to use natural materials!
I so connect with your thoughts about going backwards in the process. Going from knitting/crocheting/quilting/weaving to spinning was natural. Your videos made spinning doable. Thinking now about growing flax. There is also love of history and archeology that I share with you. And thank you for recommending “Women’s Work” - great read!
I've never thought of growing flax, but years ago I watched a video about extracting fibre out of nettles, and I got very inspired by it. For me, that makes even more sense than growing flax, as nettles grow in abundance in my region (and in my garden!). Thus growing it requires no effort, I could go straight to harvesting.
@@rajoba7981 was that a Sally Pointer video? I wish I could ‘hedge bother’ but not possible in Boston!
@@CheapEngineerCrafts No, it was a man. It might have been this one: ruclips.net/video/DQ3ubWmfW_U/видео.html
Anyway, thank you for pointing me to Sally Pointer! 🥰 I've watched a few of her videos now, and find them interesting.
Is "hedge bother" to forage in other people's hedges?
I guess I am lucky living in an area with lots of land where no one will mind if someone forages wild or semi-wild plants. Sometimes you can also be allowed (or even asked to come) into people's gardens to forage.
"The Omnivore's Dilemma" is one of the best books I've ever read. ❤ I appreciated your explanation of how you came to spinning.
I can relate to this video on so many levels. I no longer feel alone and the seeing the response to video shows such a wonderful, vast community who feel the same. I can feel your, passion, care and enthusiasm and thank you for sharing this with us. It brings me great comfort xx
I'm honestly blown away right now to the response to this! I'm so amazed and grateful for this community. Thank you for watching and I'm so glad it brought you comfort. 😊🧶💜
What a beautiful talk, I came for the spinning and stayed for the wisdom,
So glad i found you!
I wonder if it's a product of reading the Omnivore's Dilemma. I, too, have been investigating a method of living more locally, and more sustainably. I've started learning to make my own clothes, my own blankets, rugs, produce my own foods. I feel the same, and I'm slowly working towards a type of more sustainable, local, living.
And I picked up my first spindle recently too. :D
Happy spinning! 😊🧶💜
You're articulating so many reasons why people spin and I resonate with so many of them. The Omnivore's Dilemma spoke to me, too, and the meditative dimension of spinning really speaks to me, as well! Thank you!
You are so welcome! 😊🧶💜
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I felt so much like your words were describing exactly how I feel when I spin, dye, knit, crochet or weave with my very own hand spun yarn. I still remember the first time I made something with my handspun, I felt connected to the yarn, it was like working with a 'warm fuzzy feeling' of contentment.
Spinning from raw wool or other fibres, is like a quilter who takes perfectly good material, cuts it up into little tiny bits only to sew them all together again... (yes I do this also)... In this time we live in it most definitely doesn't appear practical, but it is most definitely an art form that needs to be preserved and shared.
I got into spindle spinning a few years ago. My neighbour had “lawnmower” alpacas. I asked what she did with the fleece. She answered that she used it as a WEED MAT in the garden. I bought a garbage bag full of her fleece for $20 and a year later I presented her with a pair of hand spun, dyed and knitted mittens. From her own alpacas. She was gobsmacked. I have not stopped since then. I love it. Especially the different dyes you can use. Great video, I feel where you are coming from 👍
Thank you so much for this! It is so wonderful. I haven't spun much in my past, but I plan to do more in the future, partially inspired by you. I do so many other crafts though, from weaving to crochet to gardening to blacksmithing to cooking and just about anything else you can think of. I do it because my parents did it. They were both very creative people. My father built the looms that he and I loomed on, a full size one for him and a child sized one for me. My mother made the best fitting clothes I've ever had in my life. They both had more skills and hobbies than you can think of, and their love for it rubbed off on me.
That's such a beautiful heritage to have from your parents! 😊🧶💜
OMGoodness! I can relate so well to that moment when “something clicked”. I feel so connected with every project. There is just something about having a raw fleece and processing it from sheep to a garment. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, the process is so calming and spinning is like meditation for me. ❤
It's such a wonderful moment when things click like that. 😊🧶💜
Oh yes! I remember once I crocheted a couple of curtains. They were small, but still, I used thin yarn, thin needle and it took me over a year. I realise even a lot of people making crafts are so impatient. They're sighing and moaning about "boring" parts of a garment. And many of such people didn't understand my joy over my project. "How do you bother? It takes so long!"
Yes, and so what? I enjoyed it. I was almost sad, and had a minor "crisis" when I was done. What was I to do then? Life felt a bit empty for a little while. 😅
My very first introduction to spinning was through a book series I read in school, one of the characters learns how to spin (and later weave) and I was just fascinated by it! Fast forward a number of years and my bestie and I are video chatting while she spins...and I'm just...watching. She 3d printed a Turkish spindle for me and sent a bunch of different fibers to try, this is how I learned about my allergy to BFL...and the rest is history!
I don’t spin (just knit) but i adore your videos. Great storyteller, cover history, economics, ecosystems… fascinating stuff
One of the ways my mom and I often spent time together was by going shopping. We loved (still love but it's harder to shop together with her living out of state) going yarn stores and oohing and ahhing over the hand dyed and hand spun skeins especially.
Going back another generation, my maternal grandmother was a newly married 16-year-old when the depression hit, so my mom and her siblings were always raised with "You can make that" whenever they wanted to buy certain items of clothing while shopping.
I know my mom loves seeing me take joy in spinning and she appreciates the hand-spun yarn I gift her with from time to time, but I also feel like my Nana in spirit is proud of me. Now when I go to those yarn stores and admire the hand-spun and hand-dyed yarns, the first thing I think is "I can make that'. XD
Oh yes! 💜🧶😊
Such a lovely video💕 There are so many feelings you have as an artist that are like those of the shepherdess...the peace and nourishment, the patience of growing a fleece for a full year before shearing, the joy of seeing something beautiful created. Thank you!😊
Thank you so much Connie, and thank Lily too. She's a star! 🐑💜🥰
I just love your sweater. Would you mind letting me know what the pattern is please?
Such a beautiful comment! 💕
Arboreal by Jennifer Steingass 😊🧶💜
@@JillianEve 💕thank you 💕
I’ve been wanting to start spinning yarn for these reasons and you’ve really helped me make that final push!!! The more I’ve gotten into crafting and fibre arts the more I’ve felt dissatisfied with how harmful and how disconnected I am from it and it’s good to hear that spinning can help with that thank you :33
I spin, knit, and weave for my over all mental health. It can relax my stress, satisfy my need to problem solve, & give a boost to my self-esteem.
I don't spin yarn, but I relate to a lot of the vitally important things that you said in this video. Extremely well articulated.
I learned to spin because I wanted to know how textiles came to be. I learned a whole lot of what you spoke about in this video. I find spinning connects me, not only with the past, but with some if my contemporaries. People are interested, sometimes because they look upon me as an a wee bit of an oddity, sometimes with a kind of envy. I’m amazed at how many young people are interested in textiles, in cordage (I know only the theoretical side of cordage), and ancillary crafts. I take every opportunity to spread the knowledge. Currently I’m spinning fleece from a Cheviot ram called Roy the Boy. Please believe me, there’s a lot of fleece on a Cheviot ram. I love your enthusiasm for the craft(s) and look forward to more videos.
I love spinning because it’s very relaxing and productive at the same time. I have PTSD, and I go through times in my life where I have such low energy that I can barely function. Sometimes knitting, crocheting, and spinning is all I have energy for. And I know when I do it, I’m being productive with my time.
When my mental health doesn’t send me down a black hole, I’m able to create beautiful art yarns and amazing projects that make my happy to look at with all their textures and colors!
I was so moved watching this video, especially the fact that you know the sheep that your wool came from. Thank you.
I'm watching your videos while I work on an art project for my Occupational Therapy Assistant program. Occupational therapy believes at its core that people are happier and healthier when they engage in meaningful occupations, which can be anything from getting dressed in the morning to playing with your children... or in our case, crafting! You do such an amazing job of making the crafts you participate in more accessible by sharing them with us all. Thank you!!
I love to spin yarn from local fiber and aim for one handspun sweater per year. It has turned me into a bit of a yarn snob, though, as I find a lot of commercial yarns just don't have the character or life that I get from my handspun (which is far from perfect!). I prefer raw fleece to commercially combed top because I love to take it from greasy lock right through to final product, whether I dye it or not. It may take a long time to go from fleece to FO, but I love every phase of the journey, so it just means more joy when I get to be part of all the steps.
I've always been curious about spinning. My family worked in the cotton mills so I knew about the modern machinery that created the cloth, and my great grandmother was a seamstress. Than I went to our local hostefest and I saw a demonstration of the loom and spinning, as a gentleman was combing the rabbits for the fur for the yarn. By this point I was an avid knitter. All of this has been a journey and it is so much fun.😉
So much fun! 😊🧶💜
You were recommended in a yarn group for people interested in spinning, and I can say I’ve never had a better recommendation.
You are enchanting! Your passion is clear and infectious, so much so that I’m off to go visit my local spinning guilds display and ask some questions about getting involved
I’m just getting into spinning yarn and I love just learning about the process and where my yarn comes from! I look forward to making fun projects out of the yarn eventually too!
You will have amazing projects, I'm sure of it! Happy spinning! 😊🧶💜
I love this video! I have been on the same page for years. I have dabbled in fiber and have raised sheep for awhile. This year I am moving I to making things out of my sheep's wool. Really been enjoying your videos
So right on. I love the garden to table, sheep to yarn to.. whatever, deer hide to boot or mitt. I love the start from the beginning right to the end product, it is very satisfying.
So satisfying! 😊🧶💜
Your words brought tears to my eyes.
this story is so heartwarming and so right. It is about connection. Thank you so much.
You are so welcome! 💜🧶😊
It's remarkable how many similarities I noticed between your spinning journey and mine, and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that! I started working at Joann Fabrics about a year ago, and being surrounded by so much fabric and yarn really made me want to understand where it came from and how it was made. I started noticing just how much was labeled "acrylic," or "polyester," or a dozen other fancy ways to avoid saying "plastic." It was disheartening, and it motivated me to try to make my own materials from sustainable sources.
The only problem? It is HOTTT where I live, so wool isn't ideal. The good news is I recently learned I live in the perfect climate to grow flax! I'm planning on planting a small patch and making my own linen from scratch, and I'm beyond excited to get started.
Thank you for being such a wonderful resource and inspiration in my spinning journey!
Best video I’ve watched on yt for a very long time. WOW. Thank you. I spin because of how it feels, because of how it slows my experience and it’s primal nature.
i really appreciate you having accurate closed captions on your videos. it might help more people who can only watch videos with closed captions to find your videos by putting “[CC]” at the end of your titles so people know you put in the extra effort to make them accessible. either way, thanks so much. i really enjoy your videos ♥︎
I’ve missed you for a long while. As you may remember I suffer from chronic illness but last Christmas I don’t know what happened, I was really ill and I thought my heart was going to burst! I’m still being treated and tested but feeling better than I did. You give me inspiration to get to my wheel again. I’ve got to take it slowly to begin with but watching your videos brings me joy. Happy Spinning with your new project, I suppose you have started so I’m going to look now. ❤
Fibrecrafts and textiles is something I am very new to, but your message on being connected is something that my family and I have been trying to do for years. Twice now we have raised our own meat chickens and while sad, is weirdly enough a fulfilling thing. They taste far better than any bird you buy in the grocery store and they are the same breed. You know that they had a good life and got to be chickens and they ate good food and got to run around and forage and it shows. We have other chickens for egg laying and as pets and the eggs that they give us are also better than store bought. I recently started working at a sheep dairy and the milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream is so good! It's so satisfying when you can look at a meal and say, "This came from Shadow!" or "Phyllis made this!" There is no feeling like knowing where all your stuff comes from and learning to appreciate the lives and the sacrifices of others around you.
Spinning on the wheel or the spindle is so calming for me.There is so much to learn about fiber.while doing a spinning demo I had a little five year old girl want to try.She was so anxious to try she said for me to get out of the chair so she could spin,her Mother was so embarrassed,but I understood her enthusiasm.i,m betting she talked her mother into getting a spinning wheel by Christmas !
I'm like you Evie...I had a hunger for 'something'... feeling growing concern that we, as a society, have outsourced our essentials for life.
I started with growing veg in amongst my flowers in our (then) tiny front yard.
I brought my daughters up to be able to pop out and pick food that we could eat that night.
I quickly went to spinning when I happened upon an antique spinning wheel. This was before the internet and learning via an old dusty book from the library was hard and slow!
Skip forward almost 30 years and now we have 5 acres, I have 6 fleece from my own sheep (waiting to be processed!) We grow and preserve a decent amount of food and I have that satisfied, content feeling that has been growing since watching my first seedlings come up through the compost.
We aren't self sufficient, but we are doing our part and we are as organic as possible.
My prayers are that what used to be called 'womens work' back in the day as an insult will be held as a badge of honour as time passes ❤️🙏
A thousand times YES! Every reason you gave for spinning is why I also took up the spindle again a few years ago, after a hiatus of three decades! The first prompt was, like yourself, after growing my own food and buying slow food for years, I began to rid my life and home of the single use plastic that is destroying our planet. I trawled my wardrobe to weed out the plastic derived clothes and now aim to buy only natural products that will biodegrade, and this drew me back to when I first spun fleece years ago. It was time to get back to that reconnection.
My mother taught me how to knit. But spinning came into my life just a few years ago although I wanted to learn how to spin since I was a child. Now I can't imagine my life without spinning. Spinning has given me new friendships.
as someone new to yarn crafting and not (yet) a spinner, but the community and the meditation is great! I got it into for something to do while on the clock at work. I cant be on my phone to set a good example for students, but I need something to move and make. As someone with a basis in traditional and digital mediums, my go to is harder to bring with. I can't sit on a bus and break out a whole computer and a drawing tablet since an ipad is too expensive. its much easier to stop and stuff it in my bag after a 20 minute ride and i dont have to wait for it to dry like paint. It has helped me slow down and take time for me since moving out. im so happy to have this community
I come from a long line of Lancashire weavers on my mums side and scottish spinners and knitters on my dads side. I feel like textiles are in my DNA.
Last year i went to shetland wool week. It was amazing to go somewhere, where spinning and knitting every day is still the "norm". It felt like coming home despite it still being in the same country as i live.
I am embarking on this journey myself, learning to spin and weave, sew and knit and crochet and nalbinding, basket weaving, and we hope to buy a land and start our own homestead one day.
I dream to one day be able to afford the equipment such as a spinning wheel, a floor loom, and even the equipment to grow and process my own flax.
I want know where our food comes from, where our clothes come from, our blankets, our baskets, and to know what’s in them.
I dream of finally one day growing or sheering the fiber that I will spin, weave into fabric, cut and sew into garments.
I have a long way to go, for practicing these skills and investing in the time and money, but I love it so far
I fell in love with spinning this past fall! I decided to weave a tapestry from handspun wool and tasked myself with spinning like 2.5lbs of yarn in about a week! While there was kind of a time crunch, I felt so at peace once I found my rhythm. I jokingly say I aged about 5 years that week because I was able to reflect on a lot of things in my life and make some new realizations. Spinning is now my meditation!
Thank you so much for the videos you have made, for nearly a week I have been bedridden with a crippling earache (I think my other symptoms are reducing just not yet the earache). I have been a yarn crafter for most of my life and had many many wonderful teachers.
A couple of days ago a friend sent my your video and it was a God send as I found it was one of the few ways I had of distracting myself....thanks to you I put on your videos, put my earbud in my good ear and am nearly finished myown basic design singlet.
You are such a God Send. Thank you
Thankyou, this video got me really remembering- thinking about my mom. She taught me to sew when I aas very young. Ahe loved fabrics, color, design & she was so creative. Im not a spinner yet. I somehow waa sent your videos & I think it was for a reason. 💖🧶🐑🦙💫🧵
I don't spin (yet), but I'm working on a MASSIVE crochet project right now (not the first one tbh) and frankly for me the draws have been a combination of a feeling of closeness to my ancestors (not just my grandmother who first exposed me to the concept but also whomever taught her and whomever taught that person and also (mostly) women ad infinitum back to the days of yore knitting, crocheting, nalbinding, spinning, weaving and so on), and the slow fashion angle. Being able to literally make your own clothes is so fulfilling.
What a joyful video! My spinning journey is tied up with emotions and family history and memories, but also new and special friendships. Even my wheel which was a "thank you" gift recently from a friend I have been supporting turned out to have a direct link to my childhood.
I've learned so much about spinning from your videos but especially appreciated this one. That figure of 60+ items of clothing a year is staggering - mostly because there's almost no reason anyone would need to buy that many items of clothing in a year, and as many of us probably know the fashion industry is an overwhelming producer of waste and a lot of clothing is never bought, just straight to the landfill. Another reason I love knitting (and spinning) beyond the sheer enjoyment is that I produce things which are meant to last, things that I or the people I make them for can wear for years or even decades to come if mended on occasion. Again, really appreciated this video and hearing about your journey and philosophy. Thanks for what you do!
I really appreciate this video. While I have only started to spin, I had this feeling years ago. I worked in a factory that produced nylon yarn when Inwas in school, and it really got me thinking - everything comes from SOMEWHERE. Someone has to make everything we have. I was recently doing some historical costuming and it got me thinking about it again so I went to our lathe and made a spindle. My ultimate goal is to make a piece of clothing completely by hand (including all the tools I can reasonably fabricate). It has become something of a meditation on how precious the things material we take for granted are.
Beautifully said, and exactly how I feel about connection to past family.
It had never really occurred to me to one day maybe get into spinning until I read the Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce in middle school. One of the characters uses a drop spindle to help with performing her type of magic. I had never heard of a drop spindle, and it has always kind of stuck with me. I still haven't started spinning because I'm a big knitter and have way too many projects on the list for right now, but I really hope to get going sometime this year. Watching your videos has made spinning seem more possible and accessible for me, who doesn't have a ton of time or money to dive off the deep end for this craft, but just want to nibble for now.
My local yarn shop is doing a kids drop spindle class next week and my 10yo is taking it because she loves Circle of Magic!
Thanks! You put into words what I am thinking!
I loved this! One sweater a year…you have NO idea how much this released me from my own toxic productivity messages swirling in my head about how “little” I produce!! I looooove what I do. Why…WHY…am I internalizing and judging myself using capitalist, extractive values?! I buy very little commercial clothing now and am trying to build up my collection of valued, personalized, hand made clothing pieces and yes, it’s not quick. However, the process is joyful in its own right so I need to stop dampening that joy by applying standards that don’t align with me and my making. Thank you for this amazing gift.❤
I relate to this so much. I don't spin, yet, but I knit for the same reasons
I’ve been a self-taught crocheter for 20 years. Moving to the country and having a garden made me want to try making my own yarn as well. I have a spindle I’ve had a love/hate relationship with for a few years and just recently acquired a pipy Wendy and that has really clicked with me. Your videos have been so helpful. I get the same calming energy spinning (poorly but I’m working on it) as I did throwing pots in college.
When you look at plastics, you can think about the contribution of the very distant dinosaurs and maybe feel connected to times before man! 😂 this was a great video, thank you for your time!
I have been both aware of where food and fabric come from, and curious of how fabric was made since childhood. We visited Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge Massachusetts many times. It is an historic working village and farm set up to be from the 1800s, with a grist mill and a carding mill. They have 2 kinds of carding machines, one for batts, and one just for rolags. They also have many spinning wheels and looms. And a good size flock of sheep as close to the original breeds brought over as possible. I have dreamed of working there for many decades now! Hopefully some day, somewhere.
Hopefully some day! What a wonderful way to learn about history! 😊🧶💜
I spin mostly angora rabbit because sheep are not a good animal for my current home but I have gotten some awesome wool by doing fiber swaps. One of my sisters got some angora goats and sometimes we trade our animal fibers. There is something so amazing about making yarn, it’s stabilizing and helps me not worry about if commercial yarn and cloth were not available for any reason. My husband likes helping me fix any problems I have with my rabbits, sometimes I think he likes them as much or more than I do.
I don't spin, but this video convinced me to give it a try! Excellent discussion of knowing the origins of our creature comforts.
Glad you enjoyed it! Happy spinning! 💜🧶😊
Evie I just loved this video!! All of those reasons are why I’m learning spinning. I have alpacas and I want they’re fleeces to have value. I teared up when you named those sheep from whom you got the fleeces. It just shows a small amount of respect for creatures that share this world with us. Thanks Evie x
Why spin? Why weave? Why knit? Why crochet? You can just go out and buy (yarn, clothing… etc).
Yes, you can go out and buy something ready-made. But the yarn and the pieces you make serve more purposes than their utilitarian use.
Spinning, knitting, weaving and crochet for most of us who do it serve as a hobby, a stress-release, something we get energy from and replenish ourselves with. The fact that what we do as a hobby yields something useful is an added bonus.
An item that was handcrafted has added value. A sweater quickly grabbed off the rack will probably not make us as upset if it gets damaged or lost as something we spent hours on making. We treasure those items and it’s not just because of the time investment. Those hours also encompass a lot of thoughts we milled over during the making of it. We can do a lot of healing during those hours. They keep us sane. A lot of memories and life events can happen while we are working on a project.
My ‘main’ craft is lace knitting. I rarely ever sell my pieces. I don’t own many because they end up being given away to people I love for very special reasons. They in turn treasure those pieces. I remember crying for hours when a blanket my grandmother pieced together with yarn scraps and painstakingly crocheted to keep herself warm at night got irreparably damaged. It was mostly cheap acrylic yarn, the colours weren’t pretty, but it was grandma’s, it was HER. My mother treasures my first ever ‘nice’ lace shawl that I gave her one year for Christmas. My sister equally treasures the one I made for her.
I’m just starting my journey into spinning and I hope that by the time my daughter finishes college (she’s starting this fall) I’ll be able to spin enough laceweight yarn to knit her a lace wedding shawl when she starts her journey into fully fledged life as an adult. It doesn’t matter if she ever gets married or not. I just want to be able to give her a piece that is elegant, beautiful, delicate, and not just hand-knitted but also hand-spun. If I ever get grandkids it would be nice to be able to give baby blankets that aren’t just hand-knitted or crocheted, but hand spun. Something you can hardly find anymore.
For that same reason I make my own fruit wines and meads. I forage the fruit, get honey from a beekeeper, develop my recipe, let time and the knowledge my grandmother handed down to me (yes, she taught me to make mead too) do their thing. My dog needs to be walked, might as well forage along the way. Home brewing doesn’t need a lot of hands-on time, most of it is waiting. But it connects you to the contents of the bottle. In a similar manner, crafting and therefore spinning, connects you to the end result.
Spinning or any other craft isn’t practical, usually not about savings or money. It’s more often than not about connection and about the journey. At least, that’s my take on it.
I’ve been spinning for around 10 years. The last few years I’ve not spun as I should. The other day I got my spinning wheel out (Rumple) and begun again. My first spindle was a lot like the your first one. My first yarn I spun was not good but hey I made it. I just found your channel and truly love it.
I spin yarn, I knit, I crochet. I love to make useful, wearable things with my hands. Holding a finished product that I made from scratch gives me such pride and pleasure, like nothing else. Making clothes at the slow pace that humankind used to do for thousands of years is a grounding experience in this fast world we live in.
Thank you, Evie, for sharing your story! Much love!❤