In this podcast, I talk about what I learned about cotton and spinning cotton in a class at SAFF this year. I also had the chance to do some fiber and fleece shopping, and talk about that experience. I mentioned that I would list the four currently grown species of cotton plants and their details. Gossypium hirsutum Known as upland cotton and nativ…

A short podcast talking about the last five skeins in the yarn wash up, and my recent spinning. I mention fiber from a Phatt fiber box, they can be found here. The other fiber I have been spinning awhile is from Hobby Lobby. I finally looked it up online and can provide a link. I am spinning Yarn Bee Showstopper in the Winter Solstice colorway.…

After I spin a skein of yarn, it needs to be washed. I put this off until I have enough to take several days of washing. I also talk about doing a burn test on fiber to determine the fiber content. One was a very big surprise! The flow chart I was using for this burn test can be found here. My pack of luxury fibers contained white angora and it is …

This podcast is for the week of Sept 5th, and talks about prepping cormo fiber for the dyepot, and spinning a merino silk bamboo blend. I also refer to two past podcasts so here are the links: Episode 38 talks about buying a fleece. Episode 39 talks about buying non wool fibers and how to store all fibers. Also the ghost story that I wrote is at th…

A catch up podcast talking about Stashdash, the state fair and a black and white Shetland fleece. Stashdash is a challenge created by the podcast TheKnitGirlls. The young spinner I mention in the state fair has grown up and now has her own fiber business at Cedar Ridge Fiber Farm. If you would like to see the daily streams I did during Tour de Flee…

Just a brief note to fill those of you that haven't heard of my Mom's illness. I have to stop the podcast for awhile, as I spend time with her.

A tiny but perfectly acceptable spinning wheel is being 3D printed by Dreaming Robots. I have the smaller version called the Nano and I talk about it in this podcast. I purchased it at the Hoosier Hill fiber fair at the booth for Susan's fiber shop. I referenced the book Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos. This is just one source for the book.…

The podcasts will have a new format starting with this one. The good news is they will be more frequent, and the maybe or maybe not bad news is they will be shorter. For years I have been using this podcast to teach many things about the spinning of yarn. Those are available on the website by checking under archives. There is even listings of the e…

Podcasting for me is on the back burner at this time. I plan to return with the Tour de Fleece in July 2021.

Last podcast of 2020 and maybe the last breed reviews I do for awhile. It is time to move forward into other areas of spinning and the new year seems a good time to start. The breeds reviewed today are Llanowag and Lleyn. The fiber was part of a Welsh breed study pack from Wychwood Spinners This podcast was created from the audio of a livestream I …

In the last two podcasts, for some reason I said the livestreams were archived on Facebook, which is not true. I didn't even catch it as I was editing. Instead of the tedious process of edit and releasing the episodes, I decided to record this separate little audio. The livestreams originate on Twitch.TV under Yarnspinnerstales The videos will stay…

The Hebridean sheep have long dual coated wool in various colors. I used my study to not only spin the fiber but to show on live stream how to separate the two coats. The fiber was purchased from Wychwood Spinner Etsy shop. A short video on Twitch.tv show how to pull for long tog from the short thel using this fiber.…

First up in the podcast is a report on my study of the Lonk Sheep Breed. It's short so I went on to talk about all the spinning projects I have currently going that involve the Merino Breed. Later, I will do a more complete breed study for that breed. Finally, I talk about the second Tour de Fleece that ran from Aug 26th to Sept 20th, and what I sp…

In this unusual year, even the Tour de Fleece was affected. The Tour de France did not run in July as usual, but was celebrated on Ravelry anyway. Then when the Tour did ride in Sept, we did it again. This podcast is about what I spun and learned during the first Tour. I also included the breed review for Yak fiber, since spinning it was one of my …

The Coopworth Sheep breed is a relatively new breed, as sheep breeds go. The sample I worked with was from a lamb and contained long lovely locks. I cover in this podcast how to wash and spin locks, and the specifics of this sampling. Information on the Breed is from the Fleece and Fiber Source Book. Another book I mention is Merino by Margaret Sto…

A new computer meant a whole new learning curve on new software to record and edit podcasts. I think I finally have a set up I am happy to release. In this short podcast, I review one of the 52 weeks of sheep breeds, called Ryeland. I talked about this breed in the first part of a previous podcast, you can access that with this link. The Ryeland fi…

So much behind that title! I am not stopping the audio podcast. I am moving forward on the wave of technology and taking my concept for YST with it. I have set up a channel on TwitchTV You can find me under the same name as the podcast, yarnspinnerstales. I plan to live stream twice a week and during those videos you can join me, chat by typing, wa…

The breed White Face Woodland was studied by the 52 weeks of sheep group on week 14. Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain a sample of this fiber yet. But this breed is not new to me, I reviewed it way back on Feb15 2014. It is Episode 104 and I encourage you to hit the link and listen to it again. The picture I show with this podcast are the tiny …

This breed review, second of the three I did at the same time, covers the Shropshire breed, another Down breed from the British Isles. I had two sources of the fiber. The first, a small sample, came from Wychwood Spinner. The second was from Marie Redding Fiber Arts Etsy store. The samples were completely different, so I combined them into one yarn…

For this month, I am releasing three shorter podcasts, all reviewing sheep breeds. These do not ave to be listened to in any specific order, it was just how I recorded and edited these. The sample I used to review the fiber was part of a Down Breed study from Wychwood Spinner. I also refer to the book The Fleece and Fiber Source Book by Carol Ekari…

The sheep breed for this podcast was new to me, after all my years of reviewing. The Gulf Coast Native was raised long ago for it's tolerance to the conditions of the deep US south regions. But it lost it's favored position, and is now on the critical list of sheep breeds. The group 52 weeks of sheep included it this year in it's list to study. I p…

This podcast is a review of spinning the fibers from two Welsh sheep breeds. The Black Welsh Mountain is commonly known in the US, but it considered a conservation breed, due to it's small number of animals. The Welsh mountain sheep is white, and not raised much in the US. I had reviewed the BWM breed in several previous podcasts, so I will provide…

This is another short breed review podcast. The East Fresian fiber I spun was a lovely brown color and very easy to spin in roving. There is a short information portion included at the end for a breed of hair sheep called Barbados Blackbelly. Unfortunately I have not been able to get a fiber sample yet for this Shave 'Em to Save 'Em passport breed.…

This is the first of a series of sheep breed fleece reviews. Today's episode is about the Cheviot sheep. I was able to spin sample from two different families of this sheep, the Classic Cheviot from the US farm Yucca Farm. I was not able to find a web link for them on Google. The Brecknock Hill Cheviot sample came from Wychwood Spinner. It was part…

Today's podcast includes an interview with Deborah Niemann, who has the wonderful job of working for the Livestock Conservancy organization. In our interview, she shares all the details of the next two year program to introduce spinners and fiber artists to the 22 rare and recovering breeds of sheep through the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em program. I rece…

One of my year long projects is being a part of the FaceBook group called 52 Weeks of Sheep. Each week we study a different breed of fiber producing animals, mostly sheep. In this podcast I talk about the last month of those studies, and go into detail on two new to me breeds. Both are French in origin, the Bleu du Maine and the Charollais. One thi…

Happy New Year! 2020 oh my. I start out this podcast with a yarnspinnerstales, about seeing life with perfect vision. And speaking of new, Santa brought a brand new mic set up for the YST studio. It meant a new learning curve, and I think the sound will improve more as I work with it, but all in all I am happy with it. Over the next two years, I am…

The book Spinning Wool beyond the Basics is by Anne Field. This podcast is a review of the book. There are two editions of this book. The first, published in 2010 by Trafalgar Square Publishing is shown here on Ebay. Google book link is here. The second edition was published by A & C Black Publishers. It seems to be the same book and information, a…

This podcast continues from episode 164, for Oct 2019. I talk about a few problems I had to solve during the Spin Together, with my wheel and spinning. The strange title of this podcast. is all about a major reorganization I did of my fiber. The 100 year shawl along I mention, can be found as a group on Facebook. That is also true of the other grou…

So much happening on the spinning front for me this month, that I needed two podcasts to talk about it all. So this is the first one, and Episode 165 will continue with more spinning goodness. As promised, some links to people mentioned in the podcast: A lovely squishy package arrived at my house one day full of Baby Doll South down fiber. It was p…

This podcast is very different and so you have a choice. There is a library based video website called Kanopy. I found a very interesting video on spinning throughout the world. I wanted other spinners to see it too, but they may not have access unless their library card (and their library system) grants access to Kanopy. The reason I do not includ…

I was able to do so much during this Tour de Fleece, it took two podcasts to tell you all about it. See the previous podcast for part one of this two part series. The first fiber I talk about spinning is called Fake Cashmere, due to it softness. It is however, 100% nylon. I bought my fiber from a dyer whose business is Jazz Turtle. It seems most pe…

This is the first of a two part podcast, because I had so many projects to tell you about for the Tour de Fleece. In this podcast I talk about spinning cotton sliver on the Majacraft Aura, not a very traditional way to spin cotton. My challenge day project was finally achieving those beautiful tight rolags on my blending board. I also completed two…

Here is the first of the book review only podcasts I mentioned in a previous podcast. After years of podcasting, I realized that the book reviews will be easier to find if in their own individual podcast. This podcast reviews the book Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert by Connie Delaney. Links to possible sources for this book can be found on A…

It's that time of year, and the tents are up and the vendors hopeful as the cycle of yearly fiber fairs continue. I mention in the podcast my 'blue sky' dream of hitting them nationwide some year. A van full of fiber to sell, and be replaced by purchases, sounds just right! The photo for this podcast shows the Pegosa alpaca fiber I am currently spi…

I realize that is an unusual subtitle for a postcast. I recently had a total knee replacement surgery, and for the first 15 minutes or so of this podcast, I do talk about how the healing process delayed my spinning and fiber work for several weeks. But once the spinning wheels got going again, I had two WIP to talk about, the Pegosa alpaca project …

It's official! I have joined the ranks of retirees. Now it is time to 'spend' my stash, or as I have decided to call it, my retirement 'fund'. We start this with a very large blanket of alpaca fiber from an alpaca named Pegosa. The first pound is washed, but not completely processed as I am using it to test various processing methods. This podcast …

Happy New Year! It is always full of thoughts and plans for the spinning projects ahead. In today's podcast I talk about maintaining watch on the drafting zone to make your yarn more intentional. Watching the drafting zone will help you break out of making the same WPI yarn all the time to making art yarns that feature thick and thin singles. All o…

Links to vendors mentioned in the podcast: Stitches events in general Atlanta Ga event May 30-June 2 2019 Stitches United is on that page too. Youghiogheny Yarns Keri Fosbrink dyer Fiberlady bamboo fiber Buffalo Wool Co Buffalo wool yarn and fiber Franklin Habit Shirsty Cat Designs Merino silk fiber 2 Guys Yarn Company Soak Flatter spray Lost City …

In this discussion of what I did during the 2018 Tour de Fleece, I talk about the wool breed Zwartbles, spinning buffalo fiber on a drop spindle and finally a very rare breed of wool, Dor Galen. The buffalo fiber was included in the Clouds of Luxury from the Etsy store Sericin The Dor Galen fiber was purchased at a fiber festival several years ago …

My favorite time of the spinning year, the Tour de Fleece event. As promised, here is the review of what I spun this year. This is part one of the two part podcast. A few links. To see photos of all of the lovely fibers and yarns I talked about, go to my group in Ravelry, yarnspinners spin in and look at the TdF2018 thread in the discussions. You m…

When I find that a podcast has no specific topic, but many different stories, I call them a spin-in. I also likened this to writing you a letter, dear listener! But mostly it feels like when we gather together with our spinning wheels and spin and talk. One never really knows what the conversations will be. I catch you up on my recent projects, spi…

Ahhh, tis the season of freshly shorn fleeces. But what if your cupboard is already full? If you have an answer, come to the Ravelry group and search for Yanrspinnerstales spin in. Join us there for the conversation. A nice solution to at least organizing your fleece project is The Spinners Journal, a daily spinning book I created to sell. Your pur…

Ravellenics, for those that haven't heard the term, is an event hosted on Ravelry during the Olympics. There are events you can enter projects, and win digital medals. The rules state you start at the opening ceremony and finish by the closing ceremony. I have done this many years now, every two years. Most years I do a spinning project, but the la…

It's true, I have been podcasting for 10 years now! In the first part of today's podcast, I review the book The Weaving,Spinning and Dyeing book by Rachel Brown. In the second part I give a little bit of the download statistics for the podcast, some listener's comments about spinning in their lives over the last 10 years, and my favorite and least …

This podcast is the third on lichen dyeing and concludes the project for me. I talk about the ammonia extraction method and dyeing wool with the extract. I also tried a contact dyeing method on some silk and talk about that. The fiber is lovely and I am looking forward to spinning with it next year. The photo shows the corriedale roving dyed with t…

I had a wonderful week, focused on spinning as much yardage as I could. I talk about all those yards in this podcast, plus a few thoughts on spinning on the electric Roberta and also what to do about fiber with high vegetable matter in it. Looking for a way to keep track of your spinning projects? I have created the Spinners' Journal to help you wi…

This podcast has a review of my experience using Akerworks drop spindle tool called the Sprindle Crane. They were a prize sponsor in the Tour de Fleece 2017 on Ravelry, and I had the very good fortune to win this prize! Akerworks website for further information. I promised a few links, here's the easiest to find on Youtube. There is a difference be…

This podcast talks about the boiling water method of lichen dyeing. I used the dye pot twice and dye fiber and fabric.

I have started the fun project of a lichen dye pot and in today's podcast I talk a little about the history of lichen dyeing, and how and where I collected my lichens. There's also a TdF2017 update at the end of the podcast. I had four books in my spinning library to use as references for this information. The main sources were from the same author…