Popular Posts: What to Do with Fiber Slush

My favorite thing to do with fiber slush now is to wind it into .25 ounce balls, and use them to randomly blend colors at the wheel. I can’t get enough of those little babies. Originally posted in September 2018. Fiber slush is what I call all of the leftovers from spinning, the bits or lengths of unspun fiber that I can’t bring myself to just throw away. Using fiber slush is a great opportunity to just play with fiber. It’s not fiber I’ve bought with anything specific in mind, so what I use it for is to stretch my creative spinning and color muscles. I use it to make batts. Fiber slush is the ...

WWW: per filo e per segno; usable scraps; crafting a spark or blown away

scraps of tom bihn materials
Per filo e per segno (“By thread and by sign”) is a project to mark the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the first Italian UNESCO site, Valle Camonica, and aims to promote the tradition of knitting and crochet. Please note the webpages are in Italian. Hate waste? Love using scrap materials for your projects? Our friends at Tom Bihn have created a product page that lists currently available materials. Make your requests! Are you Blown Away by the first season of a reality competition for glass blowing artists on Netflix? Or do you prefer other formats to learn about artists such as Spark or Craft in ...

August is for Filling My Bucket and Revisiting Popular Posts

In August I’ve planned to do more making work and less writing work. I’ll be at my wheel, needles, and loom experimenting and just filling my self up with making. I’ll also be studying the statistics from the KnittyBlog. I’m looking for what posts were popular in 2017 and 2018, so I can give you more of that in upcoming posts. Here on the KnittyBlog on Spinning Tuesdays in August, I’m going to be reposting the four most popular posts of 2018, that aren’t giveaways. Those, by far, are our most popular posts! If you know what you’d like to see more of here on the blog, please ...

WWW: Hello, Crochet Friends; BT Lives in the Stitch; Antiracism Symbol Design Challenge

book cover for hello, crochet friends!
Crochet prodigy, Jonah Larson‘s new book, Hello, Crochet Friends! is out now. You can find information about the book tour at this facebook page. BT Lives in the Stitch is an entry in the PBS Online Film Festival. Watch to learn about this after school program at North Lawndale College Prep, a high school located on the south side of Chicago (USA). [via Kay & Kate] While not knitting related, there are many creatives in other disciplines who read this space: Antiracism Symbol Design Challenge Protest art always has been instrumental to the struggle for a more socially just future. From the clenched Black ...

Spinzilla Is No More

The news has been creeping out slowly, and if you’ve heard the rumor, it’s true. Spinzilla is no more. For a variety of reasons The National Needlework Association has decided to discontinue Spinzilla.  Here’s the official announcement from TNNA. I’ve participated many years, it’s always been fun to spin and just as fun to watch everyone else spin on the years I couldn’t squeeze it in. I do appreciate that TNNA recognized that it hasn’t been running as smoothly as it should. What will you and your spinners do instead of Spinzilla?         How is your Tour ...

www: heavy metal knitting champs; tapestry interpretation; letterbox print from lego

photo of participants of the heavy metal knitting champtionship on stage
Finland’s Heavy Metal Knitting Championship was a success with the five-person Giga Body Metal team clinching the title. Mark your calendars, the organizers announced they plan to repeat the event next summer. A Handwoven Tapestry Invites Interpretation Between the Threads Victoria Manganiello and Julian Goldman’s “Computer 1.0” is an installation inspired by the Jacquard loom and computer programming. photo by Katherine Ryals, courtesy the Museum of Arts and Design. [via Liz] You can browse many interesting patterns via the Present & Correct blog. How might you interpret them into ...

Latest Addition to My Spinning Kit: Light

Am I getting older or are the rooms we take classes in getting darker? Probably a little of both. The more I teach in rooms with few (or any) windows the more I crave light. Instead of complaining about it, I’ve decided to combat it with an addition to my spinning kit. A headlamp. So simple and easy. We have a bunch kicking around my house. We use them for camping. We’ve had them since the kids were little, they would wear them for various games of pretend and reading in bed. They are available lots of places, outdoor stores, on-line and the camping aisle of big box stores. I don’t leave it turned ...

WWW: Woolaid; Great London Yarn Crawl; Jaquard by Google

Woolaid: Merino Wool Bandages. ♥ (via Clara Parkes) This year’s Great London (UK) Yarn Crawl takes place on 1st – 8th September, 2019. It will take a different tactic: the week-long event will allow participants to choose their own routes and shop combinations, and to spread their visits over multiple days, extending the yarn-y celebration! Tickets are on sale now. Oma Space Studio, Chloe Bensahel, and Amor Muñoz have been selected to participate in the the Jacquard by Google and Google Arts & Culture residency program. Note it’s not a Jacquard loom, but Jacquard by Google, a new form of ...

Spinning at TNNA

Amy, Kate and I attended The National Needlework Association convention in Cleveland, Ohio a few weeks ago. This is the wholesale show where knitting shops go to buy for the fall season. I’m always on the lookout for spinning things. This year there seemed to be a little less spinning than in the past, but the show was smaller overall.       Of course, Schacht was there in full force, celebrating their 50th anniversary. I need to buy the 50th anniversary shuttle before they are all sold out! Ashford was there too. I saw lots of demos of their newer e-spinner. I’ve tried it and it’s ...

WWW: Maureen Rose of Taylor’s Buttons; Dangerously Close to Weaving exhibit; Super/Natural: Textiles of the Andes Exhibit

Nazca Fragment, Andes
Meet Maureen Rose the woman who runs London’s oldest button shop, Taylor’s Buttons (London, UK). “Every button tells a story and I have no idea how many there are in the shop. Some are more than 100 years old, but most I make to order. You send me the fabric – velvet, leather or whatever – and I’ll make you whatever you want. We used to do only small orders for tailors: two fronts and eight cuff buttons for a suit. Nowadays I do them by the hundred.” Photo of Maureen Rose by Sarah Ainslie Dangerously Close to Weaving Is a Proud Celebration of Textile Art The all-women exhibition is on ...
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