Author: @jillianmoreno

Jillian is the​ author of the best-selling spinning book Yarnitecture. She is the editor​ of Knittyspin and Developmental Editor for PLY and PLY Books. She kinda loves this spinning thing and wants everyone who spins to love it too, so she teaches and writes a lot. She knits, weaves, and stitches and tries to do as much of it as she can with handspun yarn. She's always cooking up all kinds of exciting and creative things combining fiber arts. She likes her mysteries British, her walks woodsy, and to spend as much time as she can laughing. Spy on her on her website jillianmoreno.com

Royal Wedding Winners

Congratulations to Carolyn and Jen winners of the  Fyberspates Royal Wedding shawl kit! You can order your own kit here. As a special bonus offer for Knitty readers, anyone that buys Royal Wedding lace yarn gets a 15% discount voucher for their next Fyberspates purchase. The yarn retails for £25 per 100g hank, and the pattern for £3.

Spinning Tuesdays: Merino and Clun Forest

This week’s entries in my spin along with Deb Robson’s lists are Merino and Clun Forest. I know that Merino isn’t next on the spinning list, but I’m waiting for some Southdown (yay!) so I skipped ahead. Merino has a reputation among spinners. They either  love it or don’t. I will admit to loving it, and also admit that Merino is the Diva of fibers, touchy and can be difficult to work with, but it completely worth it. My merino was gooey and sticky, with little to no VM. It took 3 good soaks with Power Scour to get it spinnably clean. Even in it’s prewashed state it was soft and ...

Indigo Moon Winner

Our winner of 1 skein of Indigo Moon Ultimate Sock Yarn is Pilaar. Congratulations and happy knitting to you!   If you didn’t win, but still want Indigo Moon yarn. Don’t forget  Trish Moon has given us a special discount to share with you: 10% off through April 30, 2011, if you mention KnittyBlog when you place your order.

Spinning Tuesdays: Cotswold and Black Welsh Mountain

I’ve decided how to spin Deb Robson’s Must Spin Lists. I’m tackling it in order – one fiber from the Animal Fiber list and one breed from the Rare and Endangered list. Neat and tidy, no? First up Cotswold: I tend to shy away from longwools because they’re long fibers which means the dreaded (for me) worsted spinning. I barely washed the fiber in Power Scour and was pleased at how easily it cleaned, and how happy those locks were after a bath, bouncy and shiny. I combed the fiber and yes, spun it worsted. I spun it a little thick-ish (14 WPI). It was fairly easy to spin worsted, though I ...

It’s Monday – We Need a Giveaway!

When I woke up this Monday morning and looked out the window I saw 2 inches of snow, in April. I decided right then the Knittyblog world needs a giveaway. What goodness do we have for you today? 1 skein of Indigo Moon Ultimate Sock Yarn 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon color: Gabriola Green 430yds/100gm 28sts-32rows/4″ on US 3 (2.25-3.25mm) Can’t wait to see if you’re the lucky winner and want yarn right now? Trish Moon has given us a special discount to share with you: 10% off through April 30, 2011, if you mention KnittyBlog when you place your order. Here’s how to win: leave a comment to this post by ...

Obsession Thursday: Audio Books

I listen to a lot of audio books. I still love being read to. I listen when I knit and spin —  it helps to focus me on my work. I listen when I do laundry or clean the house – it’s my version of Calgon, Take Me Away. I listen when I can’t sleep or wake up restless;  it’s a great way to have company at 3 am. I know a lot of other knitters and spinners listen to audio books too, so Amy and I decided to share what we’re listening to and like. Every few weeks one of us will post our thoughts on an audio book or two. Clara and Mr Tiffany by Susan Vreeland, $45 Clara Driscoll heads up the women’s ...

Spinning Tuesday: Wow, that’s a lot of fiber to spin

I gathered together most of the fibers I want to spin for my Deb Robson Top Fibers project and well that’s a lot of fiber. I was feeling a bit panicky as I lay it all on the floor to shoot a picture, but as a started really touching the fibers, and yes smelling them, I got excited all over again. That’s a big pile of learning. I got the raw fibers on both lists (just one selection where there were multiples) from The Spinning Loft and the prepped fibers from Spirit Trail Fiberworks. I feel it’s important to spin some of both, fiber that I prep myself always spins just a little smoother for me than ...

Spinning Tuesday: Inspired by Deborah Robson

I have been inspired by Deborah Robson. First, I took a Rare Breeds class from her at The Spinning Loft. Then, I watched her DVD set Handspinning Rare Wools.   Then, I read an advance of her soon to be published book with Carol Ekarius, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook: More than 200 Fibers, from Animal to Spun Yarn. With every encounter, in person or virtually, I was uplifted and nearly overwhelmed by her expertise and passion for her subject, particularly rare and endangered sheep. I became inspired, obsessed really, with the idea of spinning a wider variety of fiber. Exposing my spinning and brain to breeds ...

Spinning Tuesday: More Marled Swatches

Last week I got my spin on with multi colored fibers plied with naturals, creating a variety of marled yarns. This week I knit them. Come take a peek: First up Spunky Eclectic colorway Diesel. Here are the yarns: And the swatches: I love all four of these – each natural brings out something different in the original fiber. I would be happy spinning and knitting a whole sweater out of any one of them. Yum. Now Fiberstory. The yarns: The swatches: I feel exactly the opposite about these swatches. None of them do it for me, the yarns didn’t either. I think the brown is ok, but the rest seem to take away from ...

Spinning Tuesday: More marling with color and naturals

I couldn’t keep my mind and hands off of the marling this week. I doubled the number of naturals tried, I couldn’t help myself. That means this week we have yarn to look at; swatches will come next week. I spun the other three fibers with four different naturals, instead of just the two I used for Briar Rose. Let’s see what they look like First up Abstract Fibers. Here it is nestled in the circle of fiber. That green is fantastic but will it contrast too much? As plies I used (from left) oatmeal, light/dark brown stripe, middle brown and dark brown. I really love how it looks with the dark brown and ...
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