The Aran yarn reference was a bit confusing so let me clarify. First, I said 8-ply when I meant 10-ply. In Australia 10-ply is commonly referred to as worsted and in the USA we might see heavy worsted as interchangeable with Aran. So just going by the label might be misleading. Ultimately it's not about the label, it's about how the yarn works up in the swatch. Happy spinning fiber friends!
Hi Evie, had fun today watching your swatch video. Yes I do swatch to make s something big like a sweater, but not for little gifts like a hat or mittens for a grandchild. I've been able to make sweaters so far and they all fit the men they were for. Little complaints like, what, no pockets? NO, because I know you'll dump keys or phones into them! I'm not very good at finishing details, but they turned out nice, attractive working cardigans . I got a little crazy and steeked the first one up the front and got away with it, but my husband loves it.
@@JillianEve i love your videos so much. as someone who is disabled ive always wanted to make my own tops so they fit. my dream is to spin and loom my own material for something like a scarf or something. hopefully one day ill manage to get a table loom and spinning wheel
Im a big girl. It takes a lot of yarn to make something to fit me. I’m spinning a merino/alpaca/silk blend that I’m carding. It’s taking forever. That said, by the time I get the nearly 2 pounds spun DK (ish) I will have changed my mind ten times about what kind of sweater I want. Even the color is up for grabs. So…. No, I spin then I decide.
1 minute in and will obviously be sticking around, but need to answer your "which comes first" question! For me, yarn/fiber comes first 99% of the time. I fall in love with colors, and feel, and dreams. I'm not saying it's the best way, or even a way that tends to generate finished projects - however, my stash is wonderfully full of tasty morsels that I enjoy diving into on their own merits.
@@JillianEve You're an excellent teacher. You're very good at explaining what you're doing, and why, and what you are feeling for, and why different approaches produce different results. It's as if you're talking to the fibers with your fingertips. I want to spin, now, too! Difficult - as I'm also that thing (that 'don't worry - they'll tell you' thing) but I have such a fondness for natural fibers. And I'm surrounded by the daggy bits that fell off sheep. They're just begging for a wash and dye! I might try spinning what I brush off the cat :) - God knows there's enough of it!
Generally I try to spin yarn to work with a pattern, except when I get inspired to make a yarn I’m not sure what I want to use for yet-I always find something! That’s the beauty of many Elizabeth Zimmerman instructions, you can just work with your own gauge
Since I began to get some control and consistency I began learning to "spin to knit", making all the choices considering fiber characteristics, warmth, durability drape........with an end project in mind. Then, I picked up a camel and silk pencil roving that I didn't know what to do with and I decided to try letting the fiber tell me what it wanted. It was not only a more relaxing process, but I believe it's the nicest yarn I've spun to date. At this point in my journey I am giving a great deal more consideration to , the nature and feel of the fiber I'm spinning, while still considering the yarn characteristics I want if there's a project in mind.
I'm knitting an Aran sweater in my clan name pattern. I didn't spin to knit at the start, I just wanted to knit my lovely yarn and the pattern appealed to me. I ran out of yarn though, as I knew I would, and so my subsequent yarn, I spun to knit. I'm on the last sleeve now and can't wait to wear my sweater. I'll get it finished, as hoped, before the colder weather sets in here in Italy!
I tend to just spinn something and then figure out what to do with it later. But I'm not really happy with that because it is hard to find the perfect project. But planning it first seems like a lot of work. Thanks for the video!
Super interesting. I am not a wheel spinner, and spin only on Turkish spindles. I have them in various sizes, the ones that are weighted on the outside of the arms are my favourites (from Woodemporium in the UK). There is not much information online for more advanced spindle spinners. This video is helping me work out how your explanations on whorl sizes on wheels correlate to my Turkish spindles. Some are heavier, some are lighter, some have longer arms, some have the weight more to the centre, some are weighted on the ends of the arms. Our winding is more to the centre with a high turtle, or more spread out in a flatter turtle, which will influence the speed of twist too. I would be so interested to hear your thoughts for more advanced spindle spinners, and how the more technical aspects of wheel spinning could help spindle spinners, even if they don't ever use a wheel. Thanks for your excellent videos!
Thank you, as a new spinner and more experienced knitter I have taken a lot of useful information from this video. I love the way you explain things, you are a great teacher.
I am just learning to spin, started about 2 months ago on an Ashford traditional I borrowed from the Guild. I haven't done a lot, all fingers and thumbs, but now have 2 skein's of wool I washed from fleece, flicked and put through the drum carder that is thick and thin all over the place, but I love it. I just got my e-spinner 3 today, so now want to see how I go with coordination. I don't understand anything about what to do to produce a specific yarn, but I love your videos because I know what's possible as I gain more experience. Thanks.
10 year knitter and new beginner spinner, here. I REALLY appreciate this video. I haven't finished spinning my first fiber yet, but Im enjoying learning - especially through your videos. Thank you
I am not a very intentional spinner. I tend to spin and see the resulting yarn's character and properties before deciding what to make with it. I am not very good at being consistent with my spinning, though, so I think my approach is much more chaos gremlin style.
I love the surrender to the wool. Also, I still consider myself a new spinner. This fall marks the beginning of my second year as a serious spinner, and while I know I have learned a ton during this past year, I don't feel confident replicating yarns yet. I'm still enjoying the process of learning new fibres(corriedale, BFL, Romney, alpaca, angora), new spinning preparations (art batt, rolag, braid, combed top) and how various drop spindle designs affect my personal spinning feel and enjoyment. I love a good chain ply, but I've experimented with singles and 2 ply as well. My most recent joy was spinning art rolags with various blended fibres (including silk!) to a consistent fingering weight chain-ply yarn! I'm loving knitting with it, but I definitely decided what to knit after I finished the spin. Also, I often knit shawls and cowls without a pattern. I know my own guage and my shapes, so I can knit and design as I go, which follows the surrender to the wool philosophy I have. Or, I guess, surrender to the fibre!
I make blankets and items that dont have to turn out an accurate size. What I got from this was I wont shy away from bright colour floof to spin now. brilliant. Thankyou. Great videos for company thankyou
I am loving these colors! I loved them when you dyed them, and they’re so pretty spun and plied! A nice alternate term to “muddy” is “muted”. They both mean that the colors are going more neutral than vibrant, though “muddy” often means it’s going brown ish. It just means that all the primary colors are present and being mixed. And I love your suggestion to play with paint to see what the colors will do, because that’s exactly what I would suggest, too!! Hands-on color theory is the best for understanding it! As a beginner spinner, I don’t know what I do in regards to swatching and planning yarn for a project 😅
😂 I couldn't help but chuckle about yarn vs pattern. Before I started spinning my own yarn... I was doing either route. I'd see a pattern I like, but had to find a non-discontinued yarn to match the pattern. Or vise versa. Now that I can spin my own yarn... I'm still doing the same thing 😂 Bonus now is I can get closer to the yarn sizes that have been discontinued. I have to\ must swatch now that I spin my own yarn just to learn & grow cause I've been spinning for 3 years.
Very helpful video-thank you!! I have a big sack of fiber that I blended (Rambouillet and Romney) with the plan of knitting the Letho sweater. My swatches just weren’t hitting the mark and it’s just sitting there. I guess maybe the trick will be to turn the speed lower on my e-spinner. I’ve knit two sweaters with juniper moon stratus- a blown yarn. It was ultra bargain and I don’t regret getting it- but it is indeed hard to emphasize how different it is from a spun yarn. It creates a soft cuddly sweater (I live in mine) but the knitting experience is very weird It is so elastic- bizarre. Tension could be a big issue for many knitters. Joining new yarn is a real experience- it’s so bulky that it can show very easily, and normal joins don’t work because there are no plies to separate. I end up doing a modified Russian join- thread one strand and sew it down the “tunnel” of the other, and then vice versa, so that each end is inside the other tube. … Describing this process kinda shows how weird blown yarns are!!
I only swatch when there's a question of how it will come out after fulling the finished garment pieces. If I do, it becomes a patch pocket or gusset or whatever. I loathe wastage. Mostly I just keep ripping back and starting again until I get the right starting size. then I just build the object in 3d space as I knit, sew, weave, crochet, whatever. Currently there is a sweater on the pins, a tie and hat waiting to be fulled and blocked (washing to felt it just a little for better bloom and interlock) and two needle case covers finished embroidering. Before I finish the needle cases I want to patch my 70s pants that I put away when I got fat and ripped in the 90s and am thin enough to wear again. I also have to get back to my boiled wool pants to wear as cold weather arrives.
You're so wonderful. I love how your curiosity takes you deep into an experiment. I learn so much from you. My espinner just has a dial for tension, with no markings, so it's really difficult to be precise between different projects, but your efforts have given me a lot to think about.
I have one like that too. I think of it like the hour hand on a clock and that helps me make notes for my projects. This was spun at 2 o'clock, this was spun at 11 o'clock, etc...
Hi Eve, I have only swatched for a shawl I knitted for my sister. I spun the yarn with the shawl in mind but I was a beginner to spinning and it was my first shawl. The shawl came out good. It was a lace weight but, the yarn was not perfectly lace weight, it was thicker in some areas. shrug. I want to spin for a Cardigan just like you did in this video. So, I thank you for this video and for all your time involved. You must be a organized mother, wife and crafter. I am learning how it all takes a lot of time and organizing and thinking and planning. WOW!! Thanks again for all you do.
you think you're good at something because you're the best person around you....... I can spin very fine on a drop spindle and have recently learned to ply on it and i get loads of compliments because my fine spinning is very consistent. and then i watch things like this and remember i can't choose to spin thicker at the moment. This was a cool video
Thank you so much for this video! I can’t wait to try changing the whorls and swatching up some new yarn just to see the differences. Your videos are so encouraging and enjoyable!
I'm working on my second big handspun project, and my approach has been "figure out the fabric I want, then find the yarn type, then find/make the pattern." The first thing I did was a shawl using a suspended spindle, and I made it because I fell in love with some fiber pictures and then scrounged around for a shawl that could fit. (in retrospect, it didn't fit at all, but I learned a lot!) I've got a lot of random yarn hanging around, though, and it doesn't have a project to go with. I guess that's a consequence of being a newer spinner; I'm still building up my sense for how fibers behave when treated differently, and getting a sense for the different fleeces I have. I bet my approach will change once I've built up more intuitive knowledge about fibers and I can imagine how something will spin up before actually doing the spinning.
I spin for projects, chosen ahead of time. Then after the yarn is made I swatch and do math around the guage. But I started out only using non-superwash yarn and so often my yarn did not match superwash guage. As a mathy person I just did calculations to make it work by changing needles and sizes.
I've spun superwash and it is much more... I don't know how to describe it other than marshmallowy. Yes, the gauge is different with superwash. I 100% agree!
Yes, I have been switching for what I am making. I knit continental style and tight compared to the thrown style of knitting. Loved this video and the experiment. I plan on spinning this winter. Might try dying some gifted wool, it is white. My sheep Shetland and BFL. Black brown and white. Not sure if I got 1 steering from the Angora goat, if so, I'll play with that.
So clear! So much to learn! I can definitely translate all your work into Turkish spindle spinning!❤ Also I'm going to need some easter egg tablets, now.....soon... really now.
You mean we're meant to actually use our hand-spun? 😜 I'm at the stage where I am attempting to spin for a project. I've been pretty successful with a 3-ply sock yarn, but haven't got to the knitting part yet, because I just started a test knit for a sweater 🤦🏻♀️ I also got some fibre specifically to spin for the variegated yarn in the Tesselated sweater, but have been a bit too busy to really think about that for now. That will definitely require some kind of experimentation!!
from Gerry- I usually just spin and then think of what I can do with it. If I have a large amount of the same fiber I do think about the project first. I know I will benefit from your video. Be blessed.
Since I just started spinning this year, I am more on the wavelength of spin first then find a pattern to use it. I did however attempt to duplicate a previously spun yarn as I found a project for some of my yarn, but didn’t have quite enough to complete it. I think it came out pretty close and I am in the process of working up the project now. This will be my second project created using handspun yarn. I made a scrunchie with my first skein and it turned out pretty well.
I've never heard of blown yarn before, how interesting! Your first skein came out so pretty, it's so cool to follow the fiber from being dyed, to spun, to knit! I can't wait to see hot it all looks!
Cold weather is coming where I live and I'm so excited to transition my craft space into a fiber arts studio! (I work on other hobbies during the summer.) I've got the spinning bug and your channel was the first one I wanted to revisit :-) I love the cardigan pattern! I'm going to add it to my make list. Thank you Jillian!
I’m not interested in learning to spin, but watching you share I learn so much about yarn. I’m a crocheter, an embroiderer and weaver. I so appreciate hand spun and you do an excellent job of teaching!
😍🥰😍 perfection. Thst blown yarn or chain tube or whatever it is, is such an absolute pain to use. Because it's a tube with loose fiber in it, you can't frog it at all. The fiber inside gets snagged sooooo so easy. It's also so light thst it's actually difficult to use(at least for me with crochet) I ordered a whole lot of one specific beautifffful blown yarn for a project but I just hated using it. I gave it to my friend who also crochets and she hated it too. Lol. It may work well as a weft or continuous weave maybe.
Yeah, I've heard a bunch of similar reports but I've had so many people ask me about it that I had to see what was up with it. It seems to be popping up everywhere lately. 🤔🤔🤔
@JillianEve yeah, it's a no from me! Haha. I seen bag o day crochet use the rainbow ice yarn and ordered some of it as well, and it's such a pain to use. I made my mom's chihuahua a sweater that she loves and I haven't touched it since. Never again. 😂🤣
I usually decide what I’m going to create whether it’s a poncho woven on the loom or a knit hat, and then dye the wool the color I want and spin the wool to the weight I need.
Is it just me or does anyone else think it's totally a better idea to invest in learning and creating all of this just for a new sweater that's so amazing❣️ Wish I had the space and time for yet another hobby 😂
I spin, wind the yarn into a ball and then.... IDK lol!!! I have so much yarn but haven't used it yet. My husband wants a sweater. I have never made a sweater. I am making him a sweater out of acrylic yarn that I don't care if I destroy and then I will make him a wool sweater with my yarn. Meanwhile... I make more yarn!!!
I’m curious how your spun swatches would have differed with a woolen vs worsted prepped fiber…as soon as you mentioned lofty and cozy I immediately thought of woolen prep…
Fitted and shorter tops hugging at the waist with a short pleated edge or frill, give shape to buxom bodies. Im not that well endowed unfortunately. Thanks for the tip on reducing twist so not to end up with ropey singles. My problem, to go back to spinning thicker "consistent" yarn.
I’m working hard on controlling the consistency of my yarn right now. I spin and then find a project because I can’t currently figure out how to keep the weight consistent 😅 I can make fingering weight ok, but anything else I have trouble with
I'm a fairly new spinner. I have been spinning to learn the different kinds of yarn textures. Therefore, I've been finding crochet patterns to use my yarn, according to the amount I've spun. Love your videos, I've learned a lot more watching you. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. ❤
I havent yet tried to spin for a pattern. Been spinning with a spindle since May, and I just gathered all my handspun together to knit one big blanket with! The colours are all over the place and so is the fabric, since you can clearly feel the difference between my earlier yarns and my more recent proudest spins - but i already love it. Ive learned so much and I cant wait to get even more knowledgeable in the future ❤ Thank you for starting me on this journey!
Oh, a wonderful and inspiring video, again Evie - thank you. I am one of those spinners who usually gets the urge to spin and then I feel the pressure of trying to decide what to make…often I weave my skeins - especially all the chunky textured yarns I make. However, I have several braids I bought a while back and I am going to do a combo spin for a knitted garment for myself … I will try my best to sample and swatch - this video will help me. I love how you explain what you’re thinking is and your amazing experience makes what you say so meaningful and trustworthy! Thank you so much 😊🙏
WOW you are truly amazing and such a good and informative and positive presence. I just started spinning a week ago and I'm totally obsessed. Watching what you do and hearing why you do it is so helpful. Thank you so much for all of these videos. I've been watching quite a few now😉
What fantastic timing on this video - thank you!! I've only been spinning for about 4.5 months, and everything I've done has either been 3- or 4-ply. I've mostly done fingering weight or lighter. Just this evening, I started my first project where I picked the pattern that I'm going to knit before I started spinning, my first two ply, and my first worsted weight (goal). This was so helpful!
❤❤❤ Just found your channel. I found your channel because of your hand spinning tutorials. I was originally just interested in how to spin wool from scratch for my Métis sash but found so much more! Now I have two learning drop spindles and a nicer one of hard wood, a whole bunch of corriedale, and thanks to you. Hay Hay Marceii
This was such a timely video for me as I am still figuring ratios, but desperate to start some new multicoloured fibre! How sensible to begin with a swatch! Thank you!
This video came out at just the perfect time!! I've only just started feeling like I'm "good enough" at spinning to start spinning for sweaters, and I now feel a lot more prepared to attempt to make a yarn to match a pattern.
Your videos are so inspiring to me. I've just really started to spin and there's so much technical stuff to learn but you explain things in a way that's so helpful. I LOVE your green squishy yarn. You can definitely see the difference on screen and it's perfect for the project you've chosen. Thank you so much for all your content
I'm not much of a knitter, still trying to gain confidence for big projects. I tend to crochet more. So I spin and then my beautiful yarn sits and waits for me to figure out what to do with it! I do weave with it as well, so at least I use it for some things! I would prefer to have a project in mind and spin for the project, so hopefully one day I'll have the focus and time to do that. I really enjoyed your video and the explanations of how to compare to store bought yarn and your thoughts on duplicating yarn!
Most of the time I spin to what the fiber 'wants' to be just for the fun of it. But thus summer I followed your lead and spun for my Flax sweater. I used inexpensive Corriedale and spun 2 ply dk so that it will be durable. I teach and have dogs so there may be a lot of wear and tear on it. Not so soft and squooshy but very pretty and long lasting. So glad I was able to do it!
As usual, a great video! Thank you! A lot of the times, when I spin, I don’t really think about the project, and it starts to become a problem, because I spin a lot of different yarns colorwise, gauge and grist wise, and I don’t know what to with it, I have a lot of 4oz skeins that are so different from one another that they are sadly left unused.
so far in my spinning journey I have not got the confidence to choose a project and then design my yarn to fit the project. So I often do the other way around, with sometimes also just knitting whatever with what I spin just to see what happens. Interestingly so far I've not disappointed myself with a knit done that way
I usually don't swatch, but I did for my current project and it made a huge difference. The pattern called for much smaller needles than I am using all thanks to making swatches and getting my count figured out.
I’ve only been spinning for a couple years, so I tend to spin the fiber the way it wants to be spun and then find patterns afterwards. I do try to spin whatever amount I have into two equal skeins to give myself options. Eg I can knit a mitten from one ball and know I’ll have enough for a second without worrying about finding the halfway point of one large ball. Of course I’m also terrible at following patterns so I just tend to wing it 😅
Deviled eggs. I thought the devil part was the ingredients like mayo and mustard you use to make them. I grew up in the 50's in Nebraska. We made deviled ham the same way. I love your story!
The Aran yarn reference was a bit confusing so let me clarify. First, I said 8-ply when I meant 10-ply. In Australia 10-ply is commonly referred to as worsted and in the USA we might see heavy worsted as interchangeable with Aran. So just going by the label might be misleading. Ultimately it's not about the label, it's about how the yarn works up in the swatch. Happy spinning fiber friends!
In my brain I switched it from "ply" to "wpi", thinking of a "heavier worsted" like how I define aran weight in my head.
You're right! I bet I said 8 because I was in WPI mode!
I was just about to comment about this. Yes, I'm in the UK and 8ply is DK and Aran is 10ply 😊
Hi Evie, had fun today watching your swatch video. Yes I do swatch to make s something big like a sweater, but not for little gifts like a hat or mittens for a grandchild. I've been able to make sweaters so far and they all fit the men they were for. Little complaints like, what, no pockets? NO, because I know you'll dump keys or phones into them! I'm not very good at finishing details, but they turned out nice, attractive working cardigans . I got a little crazy and steeked the first one up the front and got away with it, but my husband loves it.
@@JillianEve i love your videos so much. as someone who is disabled ive always wanted to make my own tops so they fit. my dream is to spin and loom my own material for something like a scarf or something. hopefully one day ill manage to get a table loom and spinning wheel
I feel like I went from googling "spinning wheel" to a PhD in spinning in one video 😅 so much info and you're a phenomenal teacher!
Awesome! Thank you!
Im a big girl. It takes a lot of yarn to make something to fit me. I’m spinning a merino/alpaca/silk blend that I’m carding. It’s taking forever. That said, by the time I get the nearly 2 pounds spun DK (ish) I will have changed my mind ten times about what kind of sweater I want. Even the color is up for grabs. So…. No, I spin then I decide.
1 minute in and will obviously be sticking around, but need to answer your "which comes first" question! For me, yarn/fiber comes first 99% of the time. I fall in love with colors, and feel, and dreams. I'm not saying it's the best way, or even a way that tends to generate finished projects - however, my stash is wonderfully full of tasty morsels that I enjoy diving into on their own merits.
Can’t wait to see the finished sweater
I don’t spin but i freaking love your videos and energy. You’re so calming, i adore your history lessons you weave throughout… just so fascinating.
Thank you so much! I'm glad you are here! 🥰🥰🥰
Me too!!!❤
@@JillianEve You're an excellent teacher. You're very good at explaining what you're doing, and why, and what you are feeling for, and why different approaches produce different results. It's as if you're talking to the fibers with your fingertips. I want to spin, now, too! Difficult - as I'm also that thing (that 'don't worry - they'll tell you' thing) but I have such a fondness for natural fibers. And I'm surrounded by the daggy bits that fell off sheep. They're just begging for a wash and dye! I might try spinning what I brush off the cat :) - God knows there's enough of it!
I'm an intentional spinner. I found THE most beautiful sweater and have started spinning for it.
You are spinning while I am spinning. It’s very comforting. ❤️❤️❤️
Hi there spin buddy! 😊✨🧶
That necklace is fantastic, and the yarn came out so beautiful
Thanks!
Thank you for the Superchat! It means so much to see support for my work. Happy spinning, fiber friend! 💜💜💜
Generally I try to spin yarn to work with a pattern, except when I get inspired to make a yarn I’m not sure what I want to use for yet-I always find something! That’s the beauty of many Elizabeth Zimmerman instructions, you can just work with your own gauge
You make learning new things fun
Since I began to get some control and consistency I began learning to "spin to knit", making all the choices considering fiber characteristics, warmth, durability drape........with an end project in mind. Then, I picked up a camel and silk pencil roving that I didn't know what to do with and I decided to try letting the fiber tell me what it wanted. It was not only a more relaxing process, but I believe it's the nicest yarn I've spun to date. At this point in my journey I am giving a great deal more consideration to , the nature and feel of the fiber I'm spinning, while still considering the yarn characteristics I want if there's a project in mind.
It's such a great experience to do things both ways! The camel and silk sounds lovely. 🐫🦋🧶
Happy knitting!
Watching while I spin my Shetland. On Turkish spindle.❤
That was VERY INFORMATIVE! It was amazing to see and feel the difference between the 2 spun swatches….Im excited to see that Sweater Knit Up! 💪🏻
I promise to give updates when I get it done! 🧶💜🐑✨
I've heard that steaming your roving before spinning it can make it super lofty in the finished yarn!
It can especially if it is straight from the mill and not hand dyed. ✨🧶😊
@@JillianEve Oh that makes a ton of sense!
Wife and I do the opposite! I spin and then find patterns. Wif spins to gauge!
What do they say? Opposites attract? 💜💜💜🤣
Your content is exactly what I’ve been looking for! It’s educational, entertaining, and relaxing. I’ll be binging all your videos today. Thank you ❤
I'm knitting an Aran sweater in my clan name pattern. I didn't spin to knit at the start, I just wanted to knit my lovely yarn and the pattern appealed to me. I ran out of yarn though, as I knew I would, and so my subsequent yarn, I spun to knit.
I'm on the last sleeve now and can't wait to wear my sweater. I'll get it finished, as hoped, before the colder weather sets in here in Italy!
That sounds like an awesome project!
@@JillianEve I've enjoyed every second of it!🙂
This was such a pleasant video. Your voice is soothing while still energetic, which makes your videos really pleasant!
😊😊😊🥰🥰🥰
I tend to just spinn something and then figure out what to do with it later. But I'm not really happy with that because it is hard to find the perfect project. But planning it first seems like a lot of work. Thanks for the video!
Super interesting. I am not a wheel spinner, and spin only on Turkish spindles. I have them in various sizes, the ones that are weighted on the outside of the arms are my favourites (from Woodemporium in the UK). There is not much information online for more advanced spindle spinners. This video is helping me work out how your explanations on whorl sizes on wheels correlate to my Turkish spindles. Some are heavier, some are lighter, some have longer arms, some have the weight more to the centre, some are weighted on the ends of the arms. Our winding is more to the centre with a high turtle, or more spread out in a flatter turtle, which will influence the speed of twist too. I would be so interested to hear your thoughts for more advanced spindle spinners, and how the more technical aspects of wheel spinning could help spindle spinners, even if they don't ever use a wheel. Thanks for your excellent videos!
Thank you, as a new spinner and more experienced knitter I have taken a lot of useful information from this video. I love the way you explain things, you are a great teacher.
I am just learning to spin, started about 2 months ago on an Ashford traditional I borrowed from the Guild. I haven't done a lot, all fingers and thumbs, but now have 2 skein's of wool I washed from fleece, flicked and put through the drum carder that is thick and thin all over the place, but I love it. I just got my e-spinner 3 today, so now want to see how I go with coordination. I don't understand anything about what to do to produce a specific yarn, but I love your videos because I know what's possible as I gain more experience. Thanks.
Happy spinning fiber friend! I'm glad to share my experience. 😊✨🧶
10 year knitter and new beginner spinner, here. I REALLY appreciate this video. I haven't finished spinning my first fiber yet, but Im enjoying learning - especially through your videos. Thank you
not made a sweater with my hand spun yet , made shawls , mits and hats so far
I am not a very intentional spinner. I tend to spin and see the resulting yarn's character and properties before deciding what to make with it. I am not very good at being consistent with my spinning, though, so I think my approach is much more chaos gremlin style.
I tend to devide the whole yzrfn length in two, spin the bobbins and then ply together, keeps the colours separated
Yes, that's a great way to manage the colors. 💜😊🧶✨
I love the surrender to the wool. Also, I still consider myself a new spinner. This fall marks the beginning of my second year as a serious spinner, and while I know I have learned a ton during this past year, I don't feel confident replicating yarns yet. I'm still enjoying the process of learning new fibres(corriedale, BFL, Romney, alpaca, angora), new spinning preparations (art batt, rolag, braid, combed top) and how various drop spindle designs affect my personal spinning feel and enjoyment. I love a good chain ply, but I've experimented with singles and 2 ply as well. My most recent joy was spinning art rolags with various blended fibres (including silk!) to a consistent fingering weight chain-ply yarn! I'm loving knitting with it, but I definitely decided what to knit after I finished the spin. Also, I often knit shawls and cowls without a pattern. I know my own guage and my shapes, so I can knit and design as I go, which follows the surrender to the wool philosophy I have. Or, I guess, surrender to the fibre!
That's a lovely process. 💜🧶✨
"Melded" or "blended" instead of muddy, maybe?
Also, I'm super enjoying the spinning wheel halo in this camera/room set up, LOL
😇😇😇
I make blankets and items that dont have to turn out an accurate size. What I got from this was I wont shy away from bright colour floof to spin now. brilliant. Thankyou. Great videos for company thankyou
“Fiber friends” always makes me smile so big 😄
Ooo! I am knitting this cardigan again right now. The shoulder shaping is EVERYTHING. You'll love it! Great pattern!
I am loving these colors! I loved them when you dyed them, and they’re so pretty spun and plied! A nice alternate term to “muddy” is “muted”. They both mean that the colors are going more neutral than vibrant, though “muddy” often means it’s going brown ish. It just means that all the primary colors are present and being mixed. And I love your suggestion to play with paint to see what the colors will do, because that’s exactly what I would suggest, too!! Hands-on color theory is the best for understanding it!
As a beginner spinner, I don’t know what I do in regards to swatching and planning yarn for a project 😅
Yep, hands on color theory is what we are doing every time we spin hand painted roving isn't it? 😊✨🎨🖌🧶💜
Love that orangy blue swatch 😍 ow that green one too 😍
You are such a natural for YouTubing. I’m sure you are a great teacher.
😂 I couldn't help but chuckle about yarn vs pattern. Before I started spinning my own yarn... I was doing either route. I'd see a pattern I like, but had to find a non-discontinued yarn to match the pattern. Or vise versa. Now that I can spin my own yarn... I'm still doing the same thing 😂 Bonus now is I can get closer to the yarn sizes that have been discontinued. I have to\ must swatch now that I spin my own yarn just to learn & grow cause I've been spinning for 3 years.
First we play with the yarn, then we play with the needles. Seems like my life's motto.
☺️🧶💖
I’ve been spinning about a year so still pretty inexperienced, but I have learned so much from you. Thank you. 🖤🖤🖤
I’m just getting into spinning and I am SO glad to have come across your channel! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us! ❤
❤good video❤
Very helpful video-thank you!! I have a big sack of fiber that I blended (Rambouillet and Romney) with the plan of knitting the Letho sweater. My swatches just weren’t hitting the mark and it’s just sitting there. I guess maybe the trick will be to turn the speed lower on my e-spinner.
I’ve knit two sweaters with juniper moon stratus- a blown yarn. It was ultra bargain and I don’t regret getting it- but it is indeed hard to emphasize how different it is from a spun yarn. It creates a soft cuddly sweater (I live in mine) but the knitting experience is very weird It is so elastic- bizarre. Tension could be a big issue for many knitters. Joining new yarn is a real experience- it’s so bulky that it can show very easily, and normal joins don’t work because there are no plies to separate. I end up doing a modified Russian join- thread one strand and sew it down the “tunnel” of the other, and then vice versa, so that each end is inside the other tube. … Describing this process kinda shows how weird blown yarns are!!
This sweater is gonna be one of a kind, I'm sure of it 😊
I only swatch when there's a question of how it will come out after fulling the finished garment pieces. If I do, it becomes a patch pocket or gusset or whatever. I loathe wastage. Mostly I just keep ripping back and starting again until I get the right starting size. then I just build the object in 3d space as I knit, sew, weave, crochet, whatever. Currently there is a sweater on the pins, a tie and hat waiting to be fulled and blocked (washing to felt it just a little for better bloom and interlock) and two needle case covers finished embroidering. Before I finish the needle cases I want to patch my 70s pants that I put away when I got fat and ripped in the 90s and am thin enough to wear again. I also have to get back to my boiled wool pants to wear as cold weather arrives.
I love the idea of swatch pockets! I have a little box of swatches that I've dreamed of making a quilt from some day.
You're so wonderful. I love how your curiosity takes you deep into an experiment. I learn so much from you. My espinner just has a dial for tension, with no markings, so it's really difficult to be precise between different projects, but your efforts have given me a lot to think about.
I have one like that too. I think of it like the hour hand on a clock and that helps me make notes for my projects. This was spun at 2 o'clock, this was spun at 11 o'clock, etc...
Hi Eve, I have only swatched for a shawl I knitted for my sister. I spun the yarn with the shawl in mind but I was a beginner to spinning and it was my first shawl. The shawl came out good. It was a lace weight but, the yarn was not perfectly lace weight, it was thicker in some areas. shrug. I want to spin for a Cardigan just like you did in this video. So, I thank you for this video and for all your time involved. You must be a organized mother, wife and crafter. I am learning how it all takes a lot of time and organizing and thinking and planning. WOW!! Thanks again for all you do.
Thanks for your cotrection, i was confused by the aran discussion, as I come from nz!
I'm sure I was thinking 8 WPI and it came out 8 ply. Oops! 🫣
you think you're good at something because you're the best person around you....... I can spin very fine on a drop spindle and have recently learned to ply on it and i get loads of compliments because my fine spinning is very consistent. and then i watch things like this and remember i can't choose to spin thicker at the moment. This was a cool video
Thank you so much for this video! I can’t wait to try changing the whorls and swatching up some new yarn just to see the differences. Your videos are so encouraging and enjoyable!
I'm working on my second big handspun project, and my approach has been "figure out the fabric I want, then find the yarn type, then find/make the pattern." The first thing I did was a shawl using a suspended spindle, and I made it because I fell in love with some fiber pictures and then scrounged around for a shawl that could fit. (in retrospect, it didn't fit at all, but I learned a lot!) I've got a lot of random yarn hanging around, though, and it doesn't have a project to go with. I guess that's a consequence of being a newer spinner; I'm still building up my sense for how fibers behave when treated differently, and getting a sense for the different fleeces I have. I bet my approach will change once I've built up more intuitive knowledge about fibers and I can imagine how something will spin up before actually doing the spinning.
I spin for projects, chosen ahead of time. Then after the yarn is made I swatch and do math around the guage. But I started out only using non-superwash yarn and so often my yarn did not match superwash guage. As a mathy person I just did calculations to make it work by changing needles and sizes.
I've spun superwash and it is much more... I don't know how to describe it other than marshmallowy. Yes, the gauge is different with superwash. I 100% agree!
Yes, I have been switching for what I am making. I knit continental style and tight compared to the thrown style of knitting. Loved this video and the experiment. I plan on spinning this winter. Might try dying some gifted wool, it is white. My sheep Shetland and BFL. Black brown and white. Not sure if I got 1 steering from the Angora goat, if so, I'll play with that.
How rewarding to work with your own fibers! 🧶✨🐑
So clear! So much to learn! I can definitely translate all your work into Turkish spindle spinning!❤ Also I'm going to need some easter egg tablets, now.....soon... really now.
You mean we're meant to actually use our hand-spun? 😜 I'm at the stage where I am attempting to spin for a project. I've been pretty successful with a 3-ply sock yarn, but haven't got to the knitting part yet, because I just started a test knit for a sweater 🤦🏻♀️
I also got some fibre specifically to spin for the variegated yarn in the Tesselated sweater, but have been a bit too busy to really think about that for now. That will definitely require some kind of experimentation!!
from Gerry- I usually just spin and then think of what I can do with it. If I have a large amount of the same fiber I do think about the project first. I know I will benefit from your video. Be blessed.
Happy spinning Gerry! 🧶😊🐑💜
Since I just started spinning this year, I am more on the wavelength of spin first then find a pattern to use it. I did however attempt to duplicate a previously spun yarn as I found a project for some of my yarn, but didn’t have quite enough to complete it. I think it came out pretty close and I am in the process of working up the project now. This will be my second project created using handspun yarn. I made a scrunchie with my first skein and it turned out pretty well.
I've never heard of blown yarn before, how interesting! Your first skein came out so pretty, it's so cool to follow the fiber from being dyed, to spun, to knit! I can't wait to see hot it all looks!
Cold weather is coming where I live and I'm so excited to transition my craft space into a fiber arts studio! (I work on other hobbies during the summer.) I've got the spinning bug and your channel was the first one I wanted to revisit :-) I love the cardigan pattern! I'm going to add it to my make list. Thank you Jillian!
I’m not interested in learning to spin, but watching you share I learn so much about yarn. I’m a crocheter, an embroiderer and weaver. I so appreciate hand spun and you do an excellent job of teaching!
I am knitting a cardigan with Bernat Plentiful! It’s considered chunky, but its 300g and almost 1000 yards! The halo is enormous. 😂
😍🥰😍 perfection.
Thst blown yarn or chain tube or whatever it is, is such an absolute pain to use. Because it's a tube with loose fiber in it, you can't frog it at all. The fiber inside gets snagged sooooo so easy. It's also so light thst it's actually difficult to use(at least for me with crochet)
I ordered a whole lot of one specific beautifffful blown yarn for a project but I just hated using it. I gave it to my friend who also crochets and she hated it too. Lol. It may work well as a weft or continuous weave maybe.
Maybe you could give it a little spin on your spinning wheel and make a single yarn or even ply 2 singles...
Yeah, I've heard a bunch of similar reports but I've had so many people ask me about it that I had to see what was up with it. It seems to be popping up everywhere lately. 🤔🤔🤔
@JillianEve yeah, it's a no from me! Haha. I seen bag o day crochet use the rainbow ice yarn and ordered some of it as well, and it's such a pain to use. I made my mom's chihuahua a sweater that she loves and I haven't touched it since. Never again. 😂🤣
Very informative and inspirational. Well done
I usually decide what I’m going to create whether it’s a poncho woven on the loom or a knit hat, and then dye the wool the color I want and spin the wool to the weight I need.
Is it just me or does anyone else think it's totally a better idea to invest in learning and creating all of this just for a new sweater that's so amazing❣️ Wish I had the space and time for yet another hobby 😂
I spin, wind the yarn into a ball and then.... IDK lol!!! I have so much yarn but haven't used it yet. My husband wants a sweater. I have never made a sweater. I am making him a sweater out of acrylic yarn that I don't care if I destroy and then I will make him a wool sweater with my yarn. Meanwhile... I make more yarn!!!
Sometimes I like to just spin to spin also. There's no wrong way to spin if you are enjoying the process. 😊✨🧶
I’m curious how your spun swatches would have differed with a woolen vs worsted prepped fiber…as soon as you mentioned lofty and cozy I immediately thought of woolen prep…
Super Gorgeous Spin! 🤩
Thank you 😁
Very pretty yarn
I found you from Cinnamon Stitches video yesterday where she gave you a shoutout
Fitted and shorter tops hugging at the waist with a short pleated edge or frill, give shape to buxom bodies. Im not that well endowed unfortunately. Thanks for the tip on reducing twist so not to end up with ropey singles. My problem, to go back to spinning thicker "consistent" yarn.
I'm just learning how to spin using a drip spindle. Love watching your videos, I'm learning so much!!😊
I’m working hard on controlling the consistency of my yarn right now. I spin and then find a project because I can’t currently figure out how to keep the weight consistent 😅 I can make fingering weight ok, but anything else I have trouble with
I'm a fairly new spinner. I have been spinning to learn the different kinds of yarn textures. Therefore, I've been finding crochet patterns to use my yarn, according to the amount I've spun. Love your videos, I've learned a lot more watching you. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. ❤
Yarn textures are such fun!
I havent yet tried to spin for a pattern. Been spinning with a spindle since May, and I just gathered all my handspun together to knit one big blanket with! The colours are all over the place and so is the fabric, since you can clearly feel the difference between my earlier yarns and my more recent proudest spins - but i already love it. Ive learned so much and I cant wait to get even more knowledgeable in the future ❤
Thank you for starting me on this journey!
That is awesome!
I just started spinning end of April this year. So I am spinning and my spin yarn is going to be a C2C blanket so I can see my progress
Love that idea!
Oh, a wonderful and inspiring video, again Evie - thank you. I am one of those spinners who usually gets the urge to spin and then I feel the pressure of trying to decide what to make…often I weave my skeins - especially all the chunky textured yarns I make. However, I have several braids I bought a while back and I am going to do a combo spin for a knitted garment for myself … I will try my best to sample and swatch - this video will help me. I love how you explain what you’re thinking is and your amazing experience makes what you say so meaningful and trustworthy! Thank you so much 😊🙏
WOW you are truly amazing and such a good and informative and positive presence. I just started spinning a week ago and I'm totally obsessed. Watching what you do and hearing why you do it is so helpful. Thank you so much for all of these videos. I've been watching quite a few now😉
Thank you Jillian! This video helps me immensely ❤
Awesome! Happy spinning!
What fantastic timing on this video - thank you!! I've only been spinning for about 4.5 months, and everything I've done has either been 3- or 4-ply. I've mostly done fingering weight or lighter. Just this evening, I started my first project where I picked the pattern that I'm going to knit before I started spinning, my first two ply, and my first worsted weight (goal). This was so helpful!
Glad it helped! Happy spinning!
That yarn is so pretty🥰 you’re sweater is gonna look beautiful💕
❤❤❤ Just found your channel. I found your channel because of your hand spinning tutorials. I was originally just interested in how to spin wool from scratch for my Métis sash but found so much more! Now I have two learning drop spindles and a nicer one of hard wood, a whole bunch of corriedale, and thanks to you. Hay Hay Marceii
I'm so glad you are here fiber friend! 😊💜🐑
This was such a timely video for me as I am still figuring ratios, but desperate to start some new multicoloured fibre! How sensible to begin with a swatch! Thank you!
This was a fabulous video! I have tried drop spindle spinning, and the bit where you showed drafting was so helpful to my brain!
Im using bamboo acrylic now. The one I finished is 50/50 wool acrylic. It's a very forgiving pattern/ fit.
One of your most helpful videos!! Now I have a better idea of how to approach my next sweater spin. 😊
I am always so surprised by the fabric multicolored fiber makes, just love both of your swatches. Can't wait to see your knit.❤
This video came out at just the perfect time!! I've only just started feeling like I'm "good enough" at spinning to start spinning for sweaters, and I now feel a lot more prepared to attempt to make a yarn to match a pattern.
Your videos are so inspiring to me. I've just really started to spin and there's so much technical stuff to learn but you explain things in a way that's so helpful. I LOVE your green squishy yarn. You can definitely see the difference on screen and it's perfect for the project you've chosen. Thank you so much for all your content
You are so welcome! Happy spinning! 😊💜🧶
I'm not much of a knitter, still trying to gain confidence for big projects. I tend to crochet more. So I spin and then my beautiful yarn sits and waits for me to figure out what to do with it! I do weave with it as well, so at least I use it for some things! I would prefer to have a project in mind and spin for the project, so hopefully one day I'll have the focus and time to do that. I really enjoyed your video and the explanations of how to compare to store bought yarn and your thoughts on duplicating yarn!
You will get there if you want to, just go for the knitting projects! (But crochet is lovely too!) 💜😊🧶
Most of the time I spin to what the fiber 'wants' to be just for the fun of it. But thus summer I followed your lead and spun for my Flax sweater. I used inexpensive Corriedale and spun 2 ply dk so that it will be durable. I teach and have dogs so there may be a lot of wear and tear on it. Not so soft and squooshy but very pretty and long lasting. So glad I was able to do it!
I am not yet skilled enough to spin intentionally. So I spin and let the fiber do its thing and pick a pattern when I know what I have in the end.
That's a perfect way to start and I still do that too. Happy spinning! 😊🧶✨
As usual, a great video! Thank you! A lot of the times, when I spin, I don’t really think about the project, and it starts to become a problem, because I spin a lot of different yarns colorwise, gauge and grist wise, and I don’t know what to with it, I have a lot of 4oz skeins that are so different from one another that they are sadly left unused.
so far in my spinning journey I have not got the confidence to choose a project and then design my yarn to fit the project. So I often do the other way around, with sometimes also just knitting whatever with what I spin just to see what happens. Interestingly so far I've not disappointed myself with a knit done that way
omg the spun yarn looks so pretty! I love it! I knew it was going to look awesome when you dyed it but wow!
Thank you!! 😊
I have been waiting to see what you were going to do with this! 😊
Always learn so much from your videos. I have recently learnt the hard way regarding swatching. I now swatch.
I think everyone who consistently swatches has _that_ story. The one that made them say, "I will always swatch from now on." 🙈🙈🙈✨🧶
I usually don't swatch, but I did for my current project and it made a huge difference. The pattern called for much smaller needles than I am using all thanks to making swatches and getting my count figured out.
The difference is real! 💜
I’ve only been spinning for a couple years, so I tend to spin the fiber the way it wants to be spun and then find patterns afterwards. I do try to spin whatever amount I have into two equal skeins to give myself options. Eg I can knit a mitten from one ball and know I’ll have enough for a second without worrying about finding the halfway point of one large ball. Of course I’m also terrible at following patterns so I just tend to wing it 😅
I almost definitely spin the yarn first and then let it tell me what it wants to be. Other way round and I struggle to spin the right weight
Deviled eggs. I thought the devil part was the ingredients like mayo and mustard you use to make them. I grew up in the 50's in Nebraska. We made deviled ham the same way. I love your story!