Spin to Knit: Tips for handspinning the yarn you want

Handspun: a podcast all about handspinning yarn, processing wool, knitting, owning a wool mill, farm life and everything in between.

To join the Zoom spin along on December 31st head to the Ewethful patreon community and become a member
https://www.patreon.com/EwethfulFiberMill

Pattern suggestions mentioned

Mittens: The World's Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits

Pattern is available using Fingering, DK, Worsted or Chunky weight yarns!

You'll need max 300 yards

Kerchief: Ritual Kerchief by Caitlin Hunter

You can use any size yarn for this pattern. Loads of bobble fun! 

280+ yards dependent on yarn weight and gauge

Beanie: Jason's Cashmere Hat by Melissa Thompson

Uses Aran weight yarn with some cables. 

You'll need 200 yards

To join the Ravelry discussion for the spin to knit along
https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ewethful-fiber-farm--mill/topics/4342433

To ask me a question
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdkoshX7grvAiOcNxwAlUqFskm-opVlE1h_L6jmdO-CvGX8kg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Free hand spinning resources - " Ewethful's Wool School"
https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/pages/wool-education

For details and to purchase the online course to  learn to handspin on wheel
https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/pages/lets-make-yarn-landing-page


For details and to purchase the online course to learn to spin longdraw
https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/products/2256545

Shop for Ewethful handspinning fibers
https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/collections

Affiliate link if would like to support me while buying from these companies

Woolery
https://woolery.com/?aff=352

Mission at Ewethful:
My mission at Ewethful Fiber Mill is to fill making hands with small batch American grown yarns and fibers. I strive to produce lightly processed products that maintain their character, have low environmental impact and tell the stories of the animals and shepherds from whence they came.

Find me at:

https://www.ewethfulfiberfarm.com/

Instagram
@ewethfulfiberfarm https://www.instagram.com/ewethfulfibermill/

Facebook
EwethfulFiberFarmandMill https://www.facebook.com/ewethfulfiberfarmandmill

Ravelry group: Ewethful Fiber Farm & Mill


Blogging at http://www.beingewethful.com/

Transcript

0:01

Hello and welcome! I am Kim Biegler, owner of Ewethful Fiber Farm and Mill, and I am sitting here in the wool mill, a couple days after Christmas, getting ready to talk to you about a spin to knit along that we have coming up in the Ewethful community. And I'm going to talk a bit about that. We've got some pattern suggestions and things like that to get you going. And I'm going to give you some tips in case this sounds a little bit daunting. If you are a newer spinner or you don't use your hands fun that much in your making, I'll have some tips to help get you to the yarn that you want for the project you want. So let's dive in and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Okay. So. The spin to knit along, you could also crochet, you could also weave, whatever you decide to do, just share it with us, because we want to, we want to be there to help each other along and encourage each other. So, we're going to start this on December 31st, so coming up hot and fast. Some of the in person Ewethful community came up with this idea, that they wanted to do another Project along and we decided to add spinning into this one because well, this is a heavy spinning community. I've got here So we're going to start spinning. The goal is to start spinning on December 31st Which is just next week and you have until the end of February to finish That's a goal, right? Lots of us do best with goals, so let's goal it. Low key low key. So, don't feel stressed out about this. This is here as something fun and to encourage you and inspire you and get you using your hand spun yarn. Which so many hand spinners I know don't use their yarn very much, so let's do it. Okay, so we're going to start on December 31st, that's the goal. We, I am going to host a live Zoom. Spin along starting on that day. So New Year's Eve, probably in the evening or night, depending on where you are on the East or West coast. I will put up a link to that zoom in the Ewethful Patreon community. So I've talked about the community before you can go to the show notes, go to the link, and you can actually join as a free member for this. You don't have to put any money in. I do appreciate if you're doing any of the tiers that are paid cause they do help support all this, this content that I do. But for this purpose, you do not need to become a painting member. You can hit the become a free member and that's where I'm going to post the link to the zoom. So if you want to be extra inspired and be in a community and start spinning together, whether or not you come on screen, totally up to you, but you could still be there and just get spinning with us. So head to the link to the Ewethful Patreon community, become a member in whatever level you want, whether it's free or one of the other tiers, and then wait for the link. I will likely also start a Ravelry post where everybody can share a little bit there. So, okay, so we have picked out three patterns that we think are great. They're easier for beginners, but they also have a little bit of extra excitement in them. So I'm going to talk quickly about those and then we will go ahead and I'll give you some tips. So the three patterns we came up with, originally it was just going to be one pattern and then I got to thinking, well, because hand spun is so We all value our hands fun, right? So maybe we should have a couple different options so that somebody can knit something they really want to knit and not just something that they're knitting along because of the project. So, so we have three options for mittens. So if you've never knit mittens or you need more mittens like me, I might do the mittens. The world's simplest mittens. This is the pattern. It's by Tin Can Knits. You can find it on Ravelry or on their website. I believe it's a free pattern. And the nice thing about this pattern is you can do fingering, DK, worsted, or chunky weight yarn. So if you're not great at spinning to a specific yarn weight, Maybe this is a pattern for you. Okay, there's a kerchief. It's called Ritual Kerchief by Caitlin Hunter. For this, you can use just about any size yarn as well. There's a lot of bobbles, but it's just a smaller kerchief. So there's a lot of bobble fun. I think you can hold it with like a mohair too. And so that's an option and it looks like you need a minimum of about 280 yards. And then depending on yarn, weight, gauge, all those things, you may need a little more. So you can check that out also on Ravelry. Likely on her website as well. And there's also a beanie option, which is Jason's Cashmere Hat by Melissa Thompson. So this uses an Aran weight yarn. So not too, like, that's pretty easy to spin up, heavier weight. You'll need 200 yards. So that's the smallest yardage. And the heaviest weight yarn is in that cashmere hat, and it has got some cables in it, so if you've never done cables, this would be a great time. It's a gorgeous hat. Okay, so there's some of the patterns we come up with. If you are a crocheter, the only reason I don't have crochet patterns is that I didn't have anybody really to give me great crochet patterns, and I am not a crocheter. So, if you're going to crochet Please let me know what you're crocheting. Maybe in the Ravelry group is the best place to do that. And, or if you're weaving, let us know what you're doing. So, other people maybe will be inspired by what you're doing and give it a go. Alright. So, tips for getting the yarn you want for a project. So, I do knit a lot with my hand spun. I tend to be a spinner that spins the yarn first, and then finds a pattern that I think is appropriate for it. It just is less, I wouldn't say stressful, but there's less planning involved, right? I can just sit down, I can feel the fiber out, I can start spinning, and then when I'm done figure out what pattern I think is going to work best for the yarn that I spun. But, in this case, because we are doing a spin to knit along, we want to kind of try to get a yarn for one of the patterns, right? So, and matching your yarn to a pattern isn't always the easiest thing. If you are a knitter or a crocheter and you mix up the yarns you use. You know, if you're doing a pattern and it says to use this yarn and you use something else, you may have hit or miss on that. Then you add in this extra level of it being our hand spun and that's a whole new ballgame, right? So here are my tips for getting to or getting close to a yarn. that you want to use for a specific pattern. Keep in mind, don't judge your yarn harshly. If you have not knit with your yarn or crocheted with your yarn, we're just going to say knit because you all get the point. Whatever you're doing with your yarn, don't be too harsh on it. Because once you start working with it, you're going to be amazed by how much those inconsistencies will disappear in the finished item. And if anything, they're a little bit of character. And so don't be harsh on your yarn because it's going to be beautiful. It's going to be beautiful and you're going to be surprised and wonder why you didn't knit with more of it. So don't worry too much. I actually have gotten to the point now where when I look at commercially spun yarn in a project I don't like it as much as hands fun in a project because I think there's a lot more character to it, but that, that's just everybody's thing. So be kind about your hand spinning, give yourself grace. Okay. So fiber equivalent is one of the things that. I look at when I am trying to, if I've got a pattern and I am going to try to spin a yarn for it, the first thing I'll look at is the yarn that the designer suggested. And that's where I start. Okay. So they have suggested whatever weight, but for right now, I'm just looking at the content. So let's say it is a wool blend. I mean, if you look at it, you know, on Ravelry, you can look at the suggested yarns. You could look at what other people did too at their pictures and then go kind of close to that fiber content. So if it's a hundred percent wool, great, a hundred percent wool. I mean, wonderful if they give you the braid even better, but because that's going to kind of affect drape, but let's look. So, okay, it's a hundred percent wool. Great, you know where to start there. Sometimes it could be a wool alpaca. And the difference there is going to be that the alpaca is going to change that yarn slightly, right? Depending on how much alpaca is in there, you may get a yarn that is drapier. Then just a hundred percent wool, which might be more springy. So fiber content is something that I look at first and I try to get roughly around where that pattern suggestion is so that your finished garment looks like what you want it to look like. So if you were going to knit a hundred percent wool shawl with a hundred percent alpaca yarn, There's a very good chance the drape of that shawl is going to be drastically different from the wool one So just keep that in mind That's the first place I look at is what is the fiber content of the yarn that the designer is using? Because if I want that product to look like that the finished product I should probably try to find a fiber content equivalent Okay, second is to spin the yarn to fit the project as best you can Okay, this is never going to be perfect or maybe it is maybe you're the perfect You spinner and knitter. But if you aren't, like so many of us, what I mean by spin to fit the project is, so if we look at the three patterns I just said, if you wanted to do, say the beanie, which has some cabling in it, I'm going to look at the fiber content. Okay. I didn't look at it at all, but let's just say it's a hundred percent wool. So I've got a hundred percent wool I'm going to use to spin, but it's got some cabling. So the cables are going to show up more crisply If you spin your yarn short forward versus I'm going to use long draw because the, when you spin short forward, the yarn is a little bit tighter. There's less air in between the yarn. So it's less poofy basically. Right? And so if you want to get really super crisp cables, you probably would want to spin short forward versus long draw. Now, if we looked at the kerchief, the ritual kerchief, I believe a lot of people, I think it says you can hold it with mohair. People were talking about saying, Holding that with an o hair which means you're going to have a bit more right that mohair is gonna give that Halo II fluffy look to it So you could get away much easier in the kerchief was spinning a long draw because it's already veering towards fluffy when you add that more here and so if you have a long draw a Fluffier yarn for that kerchief pattern. It's going to fit that project a little bit better than Maybe maybe maybe not As far as short forward, but in that case, I think you can get away more with a fluffier yarn versus where in a cabled pattern doing a short forward. Or just adding more twist to your long draw would be another option. So just looking at what does this pattern look like and how is the yarn I make going to affect if there's patterns? If there's lace work anything like that if there's really detailed intricate work Sometimes short forward will work better or like I said if you are spinning long draw Which I do a lot maybe hold on to the yarn for another second So you get some extra twist in there and then it won't be quite so floofy It won't have quite as much air in it or you could even run your fingers down the yarn As it's spinning a lot of times, you know, i'll pull back I'll draft backwards when i'm spinning long draw and then i'll run my fingers down that yarn That's already spun and that does compact some of that air out of there So there are some things you can think about like that But spinning to fit the project is going to make your finished project looked a little bit closer To what it should look like you could also throw that out the window spin However, you want to spin and just start knitting That's fine too. These are all just tips that you can use or not use. Okay, so my last one is, and this will kind of have a couple places, and I should say in the spin to fit project spin to fit your project, that you should make sure to take into account that you're going to spin, so if you're spinning, if you're going to try to spin to a specific weight, let's say you're going to spin to a DK weight, and you want to do a two ply. So you're doing your first single, you've done some plybacks, you feel like, okay, I think I'm on the right gauge. Don't forget about the bloom in that yarn because you are going to finish spinning your yarn You're gonna soak it and depending on the fiber content You may get a lot of bloom or you may get a little bit of bloom that could throw off your finished weight So ideally you would maybe spin a tiny sample Soak it, or steam it, and get an idea of what that bloom is going to look like because that is going to change the weight of your yarn. If you don't want to put that much effort into it, just be aware. Like, if you're spinning for a DK and you look at your two samples and you think, and your two singles and you think I've got it. You may want to spin just a little bit thinner because you know there's going to be a bloom once you soak it. So again, that's spinning to fit the project, right? But two of these patterns you could spin, aim for a DK, get a worsted, and you're going to be fine because some of them, some of these patterns, it doesn't really matter. So just depends how much you want to challenge yourself in this. Okay. So my last tip was spinning to get the yarn you want is to make sure to Soak. To knit yourself a swatch and soak it. So, you are going to spin your yarn. Maybe or maybe not, you're going to do a little teeny sample to see what the bloom is like. But after you've spun and plied your yarn, if you're plying, you're definitely going to soak it so that you get the full bloom before you knit that swatch, right? If you soak after the swatch, your bloom is going to be all sorts of crazy. So, finish spinning your yarn. Soak your yarn, dry your yarn, maybe knit a small swatch. You all, I am not a swatcher either. But, if you really want to do a great job of knitting with your own hands on, which is very different than knitting with commercial yarn, I would recommend doing a swatch. Especially, here's what I'm gonna say. You could probably get away with it more with the kerchief, without doing a swatch. And you could proooobably wing it okay with the mittens, because like a little bit of big mittens, not the worst thing. The beanie, we've all knitted beanie in the wrong size, right? It's too floppy, it's too this, it's too that. So, I would highly recommend, after you soak and dry that finished yarn, that you do a swatch, and then you soak it again, right? And let it dry, and then you know you're going to be on the right track. So. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but you know what? We're all hand spinners. So we're all taking the slow road to this anyway. So there's no reason to rush it through too many of the steps unless you'll never finish and then skip whatever step you need to skip. Okay. So I hope that helps looking for the fiber equivalent, like what is actually in the fibers in these yarns so that they're similar spinning to fit the project. Right. And then finally doing some swatching and some soaking. So, I hope that helps, and I hope you will join us in this spin to knit, crochet, weave, make, along. Like I said, head to the Ewethful Patreon community, you can become a free member to still get the Zoom invite, and come spin. It will be later in the day, on the 31st, because I actually have an appointment earlier in the day, too. But, also, lots of us are trying to stay up until the ball drops, maybe wherever you are, and so I thought, if ever there was a night where I could get multiple ghosts To be up later. This would be the night on new year's eve. So come join us And if you can't get there, then there will be a rivalry group post in the Ewethful community where you can jump in and and talk to everybody So thank you so much for joining me. I hope this inspires some of you to either join this spin along or maybe even just to start knitting or Using your hand spun yarn because it's so valuable and wonderful But if it just sits in a bin or in a bag and never gets used Then it becomes less valuable, right? So, use what you're making and come join us for the fun. Okay, everybody, thank you so much. Have a wonderful rest of your week and weekend and Happy New Year if I don't get to see you somewhere. Thank you so much.