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The document is a magazine focused on spinning fibers like wool, silk, and cotton. It includes articles on different spinning techniques like using a tahkli spindle or reeling silk, profiles a ranch that raises Columbia sheep, and features patterns for knitted and woven projects like mittens, a scarf, and a lace shawl made of spun silk. The magazine discusses the history and production of various fibers in locations like China and Oregon.

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208 views7 pages

Spin Knit Win Preview

The document is a magazine focused on spinning fibers like wool, silk, and cotton. It includes articles on different spinning techniques like using a tahkli spindle or reeling silk, profiles a ranch that raises Columbia sheep, and features patterns for knitted and woven projects like mittens, a scarf, and a lace shawl made of spun silk. The magazine discusses the history and production of various fibers in locations like China and Oregon.

Uploaded by

Interweave
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Contents

Theres so much to experience in the Winter 2011 issue


of SpinKnit.

READ
ME
Fiber, needles,
spindle, wheel

The Ways of Wool


Take our challenge: see
what fibers you can spin
on a tahkli. Break the
handcarding rules and
spin great yarn. Learn
how Imperial Stock
Ranch keeps Columbia
sheep grazing on the
Oregon high desert.

Silk Past, Present, and


Future

Working with Silk

Try your hand at three


Discover an unexpected
methods of working with
history in the Oaxacan high- silk: Michael Cook demlands, where villagers raise,
onstrates a traditional Lao
spin, and weave silk. Visit
reeling technique, Sara
a silk factory in Wuzhen,
Lamb explains her method
China. Learn whats changing for spinning silk, and Nancy
(and what remains) in natu- Morey turns silk hankies
rally colored silk.
directly into yarn.

On the cover: Clockwise from left: photos by Eric Mindling, Joe Coca, and Michael
Cook. Second screen: photos by Joe Coca and Anita Osterhaug. Third screen: Photos by
Joe Coca. This page: From top left, photos by Anita Osterhaug, Eric Mindling, Michael
Cook, and Joe Coca.

Patterns for Handmade Yarn


Columbia Mittens
Keep warm with cables

Diamond Silk Scarf


Knit with unspun yarn

Flame Shawl
Spun silk glows in lace

Rocky River Band


Cardwoven reeled silk

Departments

. . . and Finally

To the Source
Where to read, shop, and
learn more

Sounds of Silk
We imagine the sounds
of dining with Bombyx

Contributors
Our talented writers and
designers

Sponsored by

Fall 2010, Volume I

Spinning Yarn with a Tahkli


Stephenie Gaustad

hink the tahkli is


just for spinning
cotton? Think
again.
The tahkli is a
spindle designed
for making ultra-fine, high
twist yarns. It is small and
lightweight with a slender
steel shaft. This is a spindle
made for spinning fine
lace-weight yarns.
And when it comes to
horseracesthe sheer
speed at producing fine,
high-twist hand-spun
yarna tahkli in skillful
hands can out-perform
99.9% of treadled wheels,
hands down.
Sound interesting?

Photos by Joe Coca.

Using the Tahkli


The tahkli is a supported
spindle; it isnt dropped,
dangling from the yarn it has
made. Instead, it rests in a
shallow bowl or dish while the
spinner constantly flicks the
spindle shaft with one hand,
imparting the twist.
Unless you possess a certain
mindset, you wont choose
this tool to spin pounds and
pounds of yarn. But it is
highly efficient, and when
your fingers understand the
manipulation, it can be at once
satisfying and utterly habit
forming. It also helps that this
tiny spindle fits in most pencil
boxes or make-up bags. Its a
snap to pack along.

Following
Silk to the
Source
Anne Merrow

long with tea and


umbrellas, silk is
one of Chinas most
famous exports.
Most of us have
heard the story of
the empress Leizhu, credited
with discovering silk nearly
five thousand years ago when a
silk cocoon fell into her teacup.
A later princess is said to have
spilled the ancient secrets of
sericulture when she smuggled
silkworm eggs in her coiffure
on her way to marry the king of
Khotan.

Photos by Anne Merrow.

Silk Reeling
The best-known use of
silk in Wuzhen is woven
brocade, a product that
requires very fine reeled silk.
Inside Wuzhens restored
buildings, artisans reel silk in
two styles: an older method
using simple foot-powered
reels and a twentieth-century
mechanized method.

The temple of the Silkworm Goddess.

In Wuzhen, a water town


and living museum outside
Shanghai, there is a shrine
to the Silkworm Goddess,
whose tragic tale takes place
thousands of years earlier. In
this legend, a lonely girl makes
a promise she cant keep and
finds herself wrapped tightly
in the hide of her beloved
white horse. A combination of
sadness and magic transforms
her into the first silkworm.
With over a thousand years
of history, Wuzhen continues

silk traditions from ancient


and more recent times. In one
part of town, silk cocoons are
stretched into stacks, then
drawn out as bed-size squares
of floss to make batting for
silk quilts. The quilts, which
are common in China, are
lightweight, breathable, and
warm.
Stacks of stretched layers dry
in the sun; stretched further,
they form the warm inside of
silk quilts.

Whether the reels are


powered manually or with
electricity, the process of
unspooling the silk cocoons
is similar: A silk worker tends
several clusters of bobbing
cocoons in near-boiling
water as the filaments are
gathered into a fine thread.
When a filament has run
out, the cocoon is scooped

Spin to Knit Silk!


Sara Lamb

ilk gets little or


no mention in
most books about
spinning. Wool
is our spinning
benchmark, and
specialty fibers like mohair,
angora, and alpaca are
more commonly spun
than silk (at least in pure
form; silk is often added
to top, batts, and other
blends). But silk can be fun
to spin too: it takes dye
beautifully and produces
the most stunning and
lustrous fabrics. It should
be a part of every spinners
repertoire.

Photos by Joe Coca.

Flame Shawl
Sara Lamb

n designing a knitted lace shawl perfect for


Patt
painting, Sara Lamb was inspired by the
shapes and colors of fire. The flame design
starts small at the neckline, and the motifs grow as
the shawl gets larger toward the hem. The threequarter shape fits easily around the shoulders.
Photos by Joe Coca.

Project Notes

Sara Lamb spun, designed, and knitted this shawl in


order to paint the flame motif with dyes.

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