Thank you all for joining me for today’s episode! Just a reminder that you can find all of the show links here: www.woolneedleshands.com/show-links/march5

Omgoodness you are kidding! As I’m sitting like every Sunday watch this, I was so excited for whomever the winner was and I see my name pop up! I’m speechless, and so excited! The funny thing is, every since you posted about the fisherman wool, I have stalked my Joann’s and they never have it. Sending you an email now. Thank you so much!!

@1maryposa

Жыл бұрын

congratulations on the win!!

@valeriehowden471

Жыл бұрын

Congrats! Enjoy the sendoff

@HarobedKnits

Жыл бұрын

Congratulations, Markie! Enjoy that beautiful bag of goodness!

@jenniferrich5292

Жыл бұрын

Yay, Markie! I’m so happy for you🥳

@littlesammyf7380

Жыл бұрын

Congratulations Markie 🎉

I made my first aran sweater when I was 14. I'm 67 now. Back then, it was called a fisherman's sweater or Irish fisherman's knit sweater. I've been knitting since I was 7.

@mishkalarsoncreations

Жыл бұрын

Kindred spirit. I’m 62 and have been knitting since I was 4.

I've been spinning for several years. It's not my primary craft, so I am not very good at it, but I have learned a lot. First, ply the yarn. When you ply thick and thin yarn, the thick and thin areas tend to even themselves out somewhat. It will look better to you plied than in singles. Second, borrow or buy a copy of the book Yarnitecture: by Jillian Moreno. She explains things in there that will help you understand what happens to the fibers when you spin and ply them. It answered so many of my questions. I am looking forward to seeing more spun yarn! Congratulations on 35K subscribers. That is quite the milestone.

A couple of tips for spinning more consistently: pay attention to your staple length and aim to draft about half the total staple with each forward draw. As you get to the end of the staple, the fibers will naturally want to thin out, but if you keep to the middle of the staple, it's easier to maintain consistency. It also helps to strip the fiber down into thinner section and pre-draft a little to break up any areas that are wanting to stick together. As far as the over spinning, there could be a couple of things going on. First, don't be afraid to play with the tension on your brake band. You want to make sure you have enough take-up that yhe yarn is feeding smoothly onto the wheel without feeling like the yarn is going to be pulled our of your hands. Just make sure to use small adjustments. I have a Lendrum DT too, and even a tiny movement of the brake band peg can make a big difference. Second, if you find you are starting to get a curly-q, slow down or even stop your feet and give your hands a second to catch up. When you start out spinning with spindles, beginners use what's called the park and draft method, where you put some twist into the yarn, park the spindle under your arm, and draft out more fiber. Then you slide your hand up to let the twist in, and repeat the process. You can apply a similar practice at the wheel by slowing down your treadling when too much twist is building up in the yarn. As you build muscle memory, you'll be able to treadle more smoothly. Finally, twist wants to travel the path of least resistance. It will naturally build up in areas where the fibers are thinner, especially when you spin thick to thin. As you spin more consistent yarn, you'll find your twist evening out as well. I hope that all made sense. Good luck with your spinning! The more you spin, the easier it will get. Just keep at it!

@tinathebear

Жыл бұрын

This is really good advice! I agree that using the spinning wheel equivalent of park and draft would be helpful. Anytime you have too much twist (or a thick spot), stop treadling and draft to fix the issue. And remember that the twist likes to “escape” to the thin spots, so if your yarn is thick and thin, the thin sections will always have more twist. You are doing great!

@Andracrafts

Жыл бұрын

To build a little more on what GizmoFox and AmberCS said (great advice), don't be afraid to take it slow and actually break off your fiber and reattach if you're noticing a thin spot. It may seem fussy, but it's all practice. Another thing to consider is fiber type. Merino can be a fairly challenging fiber for a beginner. Try out some different ones and see if there are others that you have better results with. I totally jumped into the gorgeous braids of merino when I first started about 10 years ago, and it was difficult, but there's so much variety of fiber out there. BFL, Targhee, Cheviot, Corriedale might be some good and relatively accessible ones to try out. I had a good experience with Polwarth early on, but not everyone would agree with that recommendation. Paradise Fibers usually has a decent variety at reasonable prices; they also have a monthly fiber club that can be fun. Also look for local dyers or shepherds. Spinning "advents" can also be a great way to get introduced to new fibers. They're usually a small amount of fiber per day for a few days. I did the Valentine one from Nest Fiber Studio and it was a lot of fun. When you are first starting out, try to stay away from luxury and superwash fibers. Silk is slippery and requires a TON of twist to hold together. The superwash process removes the scales from wool so it can also be slippery. There is so much to learn in spinning. Enjoy the journey!

@eringladney2307

Жыл бұрын

@@Andracrafts I am a brand new spinner (about 6 weeks in) and had the same experience. I jumped in to a gorgeous braid and it was a real challenge. I then went to woolery and got a pound of their practice fiber and another pound of BFL from etsy and it has been a WORLD of difference. I went from fighting the fiber to getting a vague sense of what the goal is and feel better with my practice spin sessions now.

Also i should have added: plying will help! It will help even out the thick and thin, it will help stabilize the twist thats in your yarn. When you ply (in the opposite direction that you spun the single) it will balance the twist. It might not be perfect but it helps make "new spinner" yarn useable.

OMG - the collar is sooo Audrey Hepburn. Please, please, please write a pattern for the rest of us! Love your podcasts

@maxx6050

Жыл бұрын

Audrey H. for sure...

@southernyarnstories

Жыл бұрын

Want one too!!!

Hi Tayler. School of Sweet Georgia (Felica Lo Wong). $30 a month and watch the entire spinning course (several videos). Cancel anytime. I learned what I needed within the month. You can also watch any of the other fiber art’s videos. There are people to answer your questions and chat threads. I learned so much about spinning there. Your sweater looks great. Good job.

I find it's a lot easier to follow complicated stitch patterns if I color code them. I print out the charts and each specialty stitch gets a color. Once you do it a few times, the color becomes a visual cue to what you are doing. I hope this helps.

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Yes! I love the idea of color coding. Thank you Diana!

It looks like you have a number of viewers that spin. What a great resource. In case you have not seen it you might try watching Stitches and Starlight. Tashi does Q&A episodes and notes additional resources. She is fun to watch and knits with yarn she spins. The Franken sweater looks so cute and cozy!

Tie the skein in a couple of places. (don't twist it up - it should hang loose. Put it to soak in warm water and a little SOak, as you would with a knitted garment. After it is saturated, carefully lift them out. holding it at the top squeeze the extra water by squeezing with one hand all the way down (squeeze and release, don't run your hand down the hank. Finish by squeezing it in a towel. Hang it from a hook or a coat hanger. Use a spray bottle that is not too heavy, and use the squeeze top to hang it on to put a little tension on the yarn and let it dry. This will relax the yarn and allow the twist to even out to some extent. As youŕe spinning, check your tension. If there is not enough tension the yarn can be under spun If there is too much tension it will put too much twist in the yarn. The Ashford company has a series of great beginning spinning videos on its website. YOU have improved a lot on your second skein! It takes time to train your hands!

I'm late to the party, but that sweater is BEAUTIFUL! I love the neck, it's so graceful. 😍

Love how you did the neckline! Same for the body shaping! Well done - It's beautiful!

Constant Comment is one of favorites, reminds me of my grandma sweet memories.

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

It's such a gentle blend of spice and woodiness. I just love it. And it's so nice when you have a tea that reminds you of a special person. ❤️

What a beautiful Frankin-Sweater! 😊 love this podcast!

Go down a size. That's just genius! I had this problem with my WIP sweater, and I just redid the whole math. I don't do math. Thank you for saving me from just giving up doing other sweaters!

Hello from Michigan! Just wanted to compliment your Beautiful "Franken" sweater! I Love the natural colors of the yarn and the collar. What an exciting feeling you must have felt with putting it on for this video. Congratulations!

Your Franklin Sweater look so cozy. Very beautiful sweater

Your Frankensweater is so lovely! The sleeves are fitted but not too tight, the length is perfect, the decreases in the body are attractive, and that neckline is EVERYTHING! ❤️ Brava.

Hoy, oh boy, the frankestain sweater looks amazing. It looks confusing and warm….congrats. You will have no problem with the cable sweater….love to wAtch you. Thank you.

That Frankensweater is freaking gorgeous!!! Love the fact that it’s knit in affordable lion brand wool too! It rivals ANY bougie expensive wool yarn and I don’t know why but I just love that. I have all the appreciation for said bougie yarn, and dye and knit with the stuff, but like I said am still drawn to the appeal of a great less expensive option offered by brands like Lion and hobbii. Am currently knitting with lion brand Re-tweed and really liking it! Thanks for this fantastic episode, wrote a spinning friend and told her about those fantastic covers!!!

Your Frankensweater is beautiful. I love the collar.

I would get those twirls when I ply. Having a tension lazy kate was a game changer for playing.

Your Frankensweater is lovely! The collar design is quite clever and all yours. You should be proud of yourself. We're glad to be here to support & cheer you on!

Frankensweater is fabulous!! Looking forward to the newsletter with the details! Thank you for sharing your prices. ❤

All the questions you ask about your spinning are good ones, but I think your spinning is progressing beautifully. Trust yourself and practice, practice, practice. The over and under twisting will disappear as your experience increases. A good soak and those skeins will even out a bit. Lovely first skeins!!

Hi Tayler. Love the collar on that jumper. It is exactly the style I like. Can’t wait till you pop this pattern out. I also wanted to say that watching you persevere with Frankie (I nearly died when you said you cut it off!) has inspired me with a string bag I am working on. The pattern is not quite right so I am on my own fourth version/design. Normally I would just finish as per pattern and then never use it but seeing you overcome your struggles has inspired me to keep going. 😊

Love your sweater, it turned out so nice. Looks great on you. Good luck with your spinning and enjoy the process.

Beautiful sweater! Love your suggestion of adding suri to make wool more wearable.

I just love your spinning! Such progress from 1st skein to 2nd. Let me suggest that you divide some fiber in half, spin it onto 2 bobbins, and just ply it up. Then, WASH it , much as you block a sweater it makes an enormous difference in evening out the twist. Hang it dry with no weight at all. I bet you’ll like the results. Spinning for socks is a fabulous goal. One day you’ll spin for a sweater.🥰

Love the QR option, Tayler. Cheers and congrats on your sweater FO

😍Frankensweater🥰

So excited "its alive"....👍👍👏👏🎶🎵🎵 Will wait patiently for the pattern , looks so cozy & comfy .

Those singles are totally pliable, not sure the pictures of my weaving came through on email but they were in consistent and i plied them and it turned them into fab yarn for weaving. You are doing brilliantly. Love your sweater, enjoy your break

I think that plying would help your over-spun singles because you ply in the opposite direction. So I think you should definitely save those singles for when you're ready to try plying!

😂I'm feeling a bit of PTSD listening to your woes about setting up the cable patterns. I literally had to do the setup row for the front AND back panel 3 times each to get it right. But don't worry, the cables become quite easy to follow and remember and you can just look below to remember which way to cable each section. Lovely color!

Your most recent spun yarn (new hampshire) makes me think of a firepit, with sparks floating into the dark night. So you should probably make some firepit mitts out of it! 😊

Tension is key to consistency and practice.

Thank you Taylor !!!

Your sweater talk was interesting. I began knitting sweaters in pieces, and I jumped into cable work from the start because all the many types of cables intrigued me. Only now am I learning how to make top-down raglan sweaters 😄 Although I'm totally embracing the joy of not having to seam pieces together or deal with weaving in multiple ends, this method has been more daunting and seems more challenging than my entree into sweater making the other way. But I'm getting there! Thank you for sharing so much specific info as you process through your knits. Love your Frankensweater results.

Ahhhh!!! The frankensweater is amazing!!!

Wow very very nice sweater!! Well done, Congrats!! 🐑

Yeah on your second skein of handspun!! Love your beautiful sweater 💖

My aha moment in spinning was learning to pre-draft the fibre. I just tease the braid open, after perhaps splitting it, and give it little tugs down the length (tugging just a little father apart than your staple length) to extend and open it up. It makes the drafting when spinning so much smoother and consistent. An extra step but totally worth the time.

Love the neckline on your frankinsweater

I love the collar on your sweater ❤

I love your Frankensweater! I want to make one for me! Thank you for your wonderful podcasts!

The neck line of the frankensweater is beautiful I will be stealing that idea!

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Louise!!

For over spinning you can move your drive band to your biggest whorl or even switch to a jumbo flyer if you have one. If it isn’t plied that could be the reason. Singles have lot of energy but when you spin the opposite direction when plying you lose some twist. If you feel like you under-twisted a single just spin it onto another bobbin while adding more twist. Your yarn looks beautiful!

Oh my gosh your sweater looks so great - yayyyy!!!😃😃😃

Hello! Your neckline technic is very interesting ! Love the idea and the final results! This is fabulous! 🥰

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Yasmine!

I had so much to say but got distracted when I heard my name 😂 I downloaded the Honeycomb Aran pattern. I’m new to cables but instantly fell in love with them. Praying the pieces part don’t intimidate me. Your spinning has improved quickly, awesome job! I am trying to teach myself how to use the drop spindle. We are not getting along at the moment so she’s in timeout 😂 Congratulations on finishing your Frankensweater! You rocked it!

@catherinecunningham7126

Жыл бұрын

Congratulations, Markie!!!!! 🎉🎉🎉

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Yay!!!! Markie! Congratulations! I'm so glad you commented right away. I can't wait to get this out to you. You're going to love this project bag (and the yarn is pretty amazing too). And thank you so much for your kind words about the Frankensweater and my skein of handspun. I'm loving the sweater and this new skein is encouraging for sure. I commend you for trying the drop spindle. My relationship with my spindle is tenuous at best...don't know if I'll be revisiting that any time soon. However I love seeing what others are creating with them! I saw your email, so I'll be in touch VERY soon. ❤️

@crafterqq

Жыл бұрын

Congrats on winning!!! My drop spindle has also been in timeout.

@jessicaneal8553

Жыл бұрын

My drop spindle has recently come out to play - been in storage for a couple years 😅 I finally finished the fibre I had been spinning for 5 years (it ended up in 6 hanks I think). I started with cotton balls, and doing lots of park and draft. Get some spin in the leader, park between my legs, draft up, add more twist, continue. The part I found hardest was keeping tension on my yarn while winding it on!

That’s a great looking collar. Look forward to your breakdown of your pattern for the frankenswester cute name

It looks gorgeous Tayler!

This is my first time watching your podcast. Loved it!

Love Love the Franken Sweater!!

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Paula! ❤️

I have a really good hack for cables. In the inbetween cable section usually purl or seed put a waste yarn to count rows. Look at this method Counting rows with waste yarn by Susan Rainey(skip first half) you will not make a mistake and cross on the wrong row.

I love that sweater too!!

Thanks as always for a great video!

Ah! Ahsoka Tano is my favorite character. I can't believe I didn't see her in the bag before. Love it!

Color in your cable patterns. This helps me to keep up with the different cable patterns.

Frankensweater is wonderful and looks so good on you! Love the podcast.

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Sherry! ❤️

I love your frankensweeter. It looks so good on you.

The sweater is amazing Tayler. The step by step “saga” was the best, thank you for sharing. Alway so much to be learned on your channel! Be well.

One of the first things we learned in my beginners spinning class was to practice treadling without fiber and practice treadling very very slowly and stopping and starting smoothly. We have a tendency to treadle too fast. This can over twist yarn too quickly. If you can treadle slowly you can take a few minutes to adjust the tension the twist the speed, etc. and really get in the flow you will find your twist being more even. Just go slowly. I think once you get better at spinning in general you can speed spin to get the yarn finished faster but until it becomes second nature you have to go really slowly (which is hard)!

That cabled aran sweater has been on my knit list. And I am knitting a textured sweater with that same color Patons worsted wool and love it! I really like Patons wool as an affordable wool

You’re just so positive and honest and lovely. Thank you for all the work you put in.

Finding out that someone has experienced as you had three fall starts, and making one of your sweaters, makes me feel so much better! I just restarted for a fourth time a sweater for my son, and was feeling like I am too novice to even be attempting the cable work that goes into this one. So far so good tho!! 🤞🏽

Hi Taylor, I’m also a beginning spinner and my advice as a newbie is to first check your staple length, and note what it is. then practice counting your treadles in between drafts. Treadle, Treadle, Treadle, Draft, Treadle, Treadle Treadle Draft. So once you have a rhythm and have a bit of yarn, check the twist and adjust how much/fast you treadle. Now focus on being consistent with that rhythm of treading and drafting not beyond your staple length so you get the twist you want with this particular spin. Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on this one thing. Check your twist regularly because its easy to start treadling faster without knowing and then you get too much twist and you get the curlies. Hope this makes sense. Looking forward to seeing what you create!😊

@niamhfoa3291

Жыл бұрын

I'm a beginning spinner too and I totally agree with Irma. It helped me so much to "count" treadles and drafts to spin more consistently and to get an understanding for the rhythm of foot and hands :) This changed so much for me. Plying those singles evens out a lot of inconsistencies. I was so happy when I plyed my first singles. Before they looked very inconsistent but after plying so much better. I was very pleased with my results after plying, so my advice from newbie to newbie is to give this a try, if you're aiming for those beautiful balanced yarns too :) Your yarn looks beautiful and those fibers are very pretty 🥰

Hi, Tayler! Great job on the Frankensweater!! I also have an affinity for Lion’s Brand Fisherman’s wool and my tip for you is to wait for one of those insane sales from Michael’s or JoAnn’s and buy a boatload of the neutral and then custom dye it! I have 2 skeins I just dyed in olive to make a project. If I can get skeins for less than $10, I feel like I am beating the cost odds. Great work on the cables, as well. I like a U shaped cable hook. It just seems more secure. Lastly, you can add a strand of mohair/silk, or lace weight silk with your single sock yarn to give it more strength. I knit single socks for myself, but my husband only gets Paton’s (btw, it is pronounced with a long ā, like Payton’s) Croy because he is so tough on them. Lastly, I am just finishing the book Unraveled, by Peggy Orenstein about how, during the pandemic, she sheared, prepped, dyed a fleece and knit, as she called it, The World’s Ugliest Sweater. As she was learning to spin, her instructor told her to hang on to hang onto those first thick and thin skeins because after she got good, it would be very difficult to replicate them and they would be coveted as Art Yarn! So you have created Art!! Thanks so much for your wonderful podcast, it brings me so much joy! And after visiting Las Vegas last week and getting snowed on, I see why you need the woolens!

#sendoff your techie tutorials with the QR code and Instagram picker are so cool to learn about!

Love the sweater.

I enjoy watching your videos. I'm fairly new to knitting. I reside also in Nevada. Thanks Patti

Always enjoy your podcast. Always learn something and or am inspired to try something new. Thank you! #sendoff

Oh man. The Frankensweater in all its glory!!

Love your channel. Thank you so much

Your Frankensweater looks so good on you! Such a wonderful timeless piece that will never go out of style! 😊

Like everyone else, I just love your Frankensweater. So worth the effort. It looks just great on you.

The thinner parts get more of the twist so that's why you are getting the pig tails. When you get more consistent, then the twist will match throughout.

Love watching your spinning progress- I can't believe you have 2 skeins already! I don't yet have a wheel but have done some spindle spinning and I found that with practice my consistency gets better- my first ball of plied yarn was a disaster, but the 2nd ball was definitely getting closer to something resembling yarn. I took a couple classes through Sweet Georgia and that helped. I think the little pigtails are from being over-spun. Keep going, I'm sure your 3rd and 4th skeins will keep getting more and more consistent.

I'm sitting here in South Carolina drinking my Lovely Thai Tea and your sweater just looks so cozy and comfy. I think I need to get some of that yarn and make myself a sweater. I have never finished a sweater by hand. I made one on a knitting machine which was nice and I have started many. Never finished any. lol.

I want to spin just so I can sink my feet into those treadle covers!!

It looks so cozy !

Your Frankensweater is lovely! It looks so comfy. For spinning have you thought about signing up for online classes at School of Sweet Georgia? It’s totally worth it to watch the beginning spinning classes.

Love how your sweater turned out. Hope you’ll be writing it up as a pattern 🤞🏻🤞🏻

I would totally have to knit with those skeins if I’d spun them myself! I don’t know what I’d knit or how it would turn out but I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge ;)

Hoping to help with my input on your spinning questions. Overtwisting - this will stop the more you practice but for now I'd suggest that if you notice it just as you've done it, stop your wheel and draft behind the pigtail it creates and let the extra twist into that section, do this until the pigtail eases. Stopping the wheel just means your not adding any more twist while you're dealing with that!! Undertwisting - is harder to help with, it's just a thing you need to learn what it looks like so you can allow more twist into the single before you let it on the bobbin. If you find a treadle speed and drafting rhythm that works, just by doing ply back tests (pulling your single from the bobbin and letting it twist on itself). You'll know if you need to be letting more twist in before you let it on if you keep checking this. If it struggles to twist back on itself, you need more twist. If it is really tight then you need less twist. Hope this makes some kind of sense, it's hard to explain without showing. Please ply your yarn, some of the extra twist in your singles will be removed when you ply because you ply in the opposite direction, which removes singles twist. A balanced singles is SO HARD.

Your sweater is gorgeous!

The Frankensweater lives! Love it! Well done! Thank you for sharing the thought process and all the little details.

The sweater looks great. Can't wait to see the next one.

I think you should try plying, you will find your over twist curley parts will even out. Wool n Spinning -Rachel smith is an amazing community for all things spinning related, as well as school of sweet Georgia too

I love your finished franky sweater

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Tracy!

I got into drinking Constant Companion tea from your podcast and it’s become a favorite!!

@WOOLNEEDLESHANDS

Жыл бұрын

That's a throwback reference for sure. You are a devoted fan and I love that. Thank you Liz! ❤️

I enjoy all your podcasts Taylor. I have been following the 'frankensweater saga', it's lovely! I am currently knitting Lakes Pullover by Ozetta in the exact yarn. Fisherman's yarn is a heavier weight than the pattern recommended and I did not want to change needle size so I sized down one size. So far so good. I am loving the pattern process and it comes with great tutorials.

The neckline doubled with the extra ribbing is beautiful. 👏

Your sweater is great! Really lovely piece that fits you perfectly.

I love your Fisherman's sweater. I would like to make one for myself. Just need to afford the wool. LOL.

These podcasts are getting very efficient, glad there's one space for all the links! Also again, congrats on finishing the sweater! Must be such a relief. One lady at my church invited me to see her close friend who has a gigantic stash of yarn that's typically used for weaving shawls. Was able to snag a tote bag full of nice yarn she will never use but I will. Now I have to think which yarn(s) to use for my next pair of socks. Almost done with my current sock wip!

Taylor the sweater is so beautiful. Inlove how it fits you!!! The collar/neckline is beautiful!!! And a special congratulations 🎉 to your winner🥰🥰🥰

Oh and plying fixes a world of issues. Because you go opposite directions. That fixes a lot of the coils. Then after you fly and you set it by soaking that helps a lot too. If you ply you will see it even a lot.