Drop Spinning Through Brazil - Sao Paulo

Sunday, May 18, 2025

A quick stop in Sao Paulo where we walked through Avenue Paulista and the botanical gardens. Then the million-hour flight back! ...and some drop spinning to finish up at home.

Drop Spinning Through Brazil - Iguazu Falls

Sunday, May 11, 2025

From Rio de Janeiro we headed to Iguazu Falls to view a gigantic waterfall from both the Brazil and the Argentina sides. Somehow, we ended with a pool day which resulted in shopping, reading, and drop spinning! And loooots of caipirinhas!

Drop Spinning Through Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

Sunday, May 4, 2025

After the work conference in Recife I met up with a friend in Rio de Janeiro. We saw the whole sit, plus went on a boat tour. Not the most time for drop-spinning this Three Waters Farms' BFL-silk roving, but still more time on airplanes! Brazil is a large country.

Drop Spinning Through Brazil - Recife

Sunday, April 27, 2025

'Turns out it takes a VERY long time to get to Brazil from the East Coast USA So I brought my new PrintUrThings 3D-printed drop spindle and some Three Waters Farms' BFL-Silk roving, and got going! The work conference was in Recife at a beachfront locale which was just luuuurvely.

A Hands-On Sheep-to-Shawl Display

Sunday, October 27, 2024

It was quite the process to plan out this Sheep-to-Shawl touchable display for demonstrations, festivals, etc. that would show each step of the process of making yarn. I wanted something that could be easily packed up, so we ended up with snapped-on items, various loops and grommets to make things hang-able, and carefully cut-out braces to hold in explanatory cards. Also whipped out a Cricut Maker 3 for the first time to make the yarn-themed letters! The 'R' has a yarnball in it, the 'P' has a sheep head, and the 'A' has two little knit stitches.

I'm quite proud of this one!

Spinning: A Fractal Sock Yarn

Sunday, September 29, 2024

My first fractal yarn and my first sock spin! This is a Superwash Merino-Nylon blend from That Fiber Bish. There's 411 yards of the large 4-2-1 fractal skein, 104yds of the 4-2-2 fractal, and 29 yards of some very shoddy chain-ply.

For fractal yarn, you split the roving into varying amounts to get varied color changes through the yarn. In this case, the 4-2-1 is three ply, so you divide the roving into thirds. The '1' is just one of those thirds. The '2' means you split one of the thirds in half and spun end-to-end. And the '4' implies you split the remaining third into quarters, and spun those four back-to-back-to-back. Color changing variety!

Spinning: Blue BFL-Silk

Sunday, September 1, 2024

I needed a project for Spin Together this past February, so I dragged this BFL-Silk roving out of stash and put it to use!

I bought 8oz from Biltmore Wool Barn from the MA Sheep and Woolcraft 2022 fair. Ended up with 1113 pre-washed yards! 2-ply.

Spinning: MOAR Bulky Chiengora-Merino Yarn for the Cardigan

Sunday, July 21, 2024

For the dog-yarn cardigan I actually ran out of yarn quite a few times, and had to make more from scratch! It's quite the process to have to make more yarn, but it's so very unique, there's no other way.

Sewing a Spinning Wheel Cover

Sunday, March 10, 2024

I've been randomly swathing my spinning wheels in this lovely JoAnn Fabrics pre-quilted fabric for a couple years now, to keep the dust and cats out. 'Seemed like high time to make the cover a little more formal. Now it looks like I have a little floral torso sitting in the craft room, lol.

Having the little head piece on top makes the wheel easier to move while still covered, as the mother-of-all is easier to see and grab. I've been debating making a ripstop carrying bag for awhile, but realized I don't travel with my wheels that often, so a nicer cover for when they sit at home makes a lot more sense.

I improvised by measuring the widest portion of each dimension, rounded up, and added an inch for seam allowance. This approach has made the cover reverseible, so I don't have to always have the wider end covering the wheel. Not sure how I feel about it. Sewed with a 3/8" seam allowance, and finished the raw edges with a zigzag stitch. Bottom edge is finished with bias binding from leftover quilting cotton.