http://hand-spinning-news.com Monthly roundup of spinning news, reviews, giveaways and silliness en-gb http://www.knitbritish.net/woolfest/ A lovely selection of images here courtesy of Louise from KnitBritish.

Louise rates Woolfest as "a wool enthusiasts dream - a wonderfully woolly maze of natural & rainbow colours". She bought so much of that woolly maze that she couldn't fit it into her case and had to mail it home to herself by Special Delivery! woolfest-knitbritish.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 12:53 +0100 http://slugsontherefrigerator.com/woolfest-no-really-it-was-work/ Kat of Slugs on the Refrigerator gives us some lovely photographs from the day and felt very lucky to be there in the name of work. KatGoldinWoolFest.jpg Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:26 +0100 http://annisknittingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/cumbria-woolfest-2013.html Anniken, a self-confessed yarn-addict, combined her trip to Woolfest with a visit to the Lake Windermere and Stott Park Bobbin Mill which looks well worth a visit.

She also explains the challenge of displaying as many shawls as possible and transforming a cattle pen into a beautiful display, which she seems to have managed well. bobbin-factory.jpg Mon, 08 Jul 2013 21:53 +0100 http://www.hilltopcloud.co.uk/blog/13849500 I don't usually feature commercial items, but hey, they're my rules to break...

Thanks to Katie of HilltopCloud whose beautiful dyed fibre and yarn you will have seen at any of the major shows. She spotted these new designs from Herdy at Woolfest.

The mugs feature some appealing designs showing shearing, grading, scouring, carding, spinning, weaving, knitting and wearing. There's a mediaeval woodcut look to the artwork but with some modern twists in the designs. hilltop-herdy.jpg Wed, 10 Jul 2013 16:02 +0100 http://www.clothroads.com/handspun-yarn-magic-for-tajikistan-women/ Liba Brent works on development projects in Central Asia, training women in remote rural areas to make luxury yarn and products.

The women have started weaving and dyeing mohair yarn into blankets and knitting socks and sweaters.

As the women's standard of spinning has improved, so has their confidence and social standing. Handwoven-Blanket-W.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 11:43 +0100 http://www.goddessaday.com/norse/frigg Frigg is the Norse Goddess of the sky, marriage, motherhood, love, fertility, and the domestic arts.

She is the patron Goddess of spinners and weavers, and she spins the clouds in the sky.

Thank you to The Cottage for sharing the beautiful picture and to Sheila who thinks that the Goddess sometimes works too hard where she lives. frigg.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:11 +0100 http://jamiesonandsmith.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/its-that-time-of-year-again/ Shetland wool has a beautiful handle and bounce and the well-known 'halo'.

It's shearing time and 80% of the wool grown on Shetland is processed by Jamieson and Smith ready for products from fine lace through to carpets. In this blog post we get a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes and more information about this famous wool.

Shared by Perfect weather for spinning and knitting who's looking forward to Shetland Wool Week - see the Events listing for details. JnSshearingtime.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:12 +0100 http://www.hilltopcloud.co.uk/blog/13838283/ There have been many posts about measuring your skein but here Katie of Hilltop Cloud makes an important point about the length of your skein vs the length of your niddy noddy.

Well worth reading and bearing in mind. measuring-skein.jpg Mon, 08 Jul 2013 15:37 +0100 http://cherylharper14.blogspot.co.uk/ If, like me, you've managed to acquire fleece that you're not sure you'll ever spin, here's an idea that will quickly turn some of that fleece into something useful.

Cheryl the Compulsive Spinner has formed these balls using needle felting and then used the washer to wet-felt them. The result is a set of dryer balls, which are said to reduce drying time and reduce wrinkles in the fabric. felted-dryer-balls.jpg Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:42 +0100 http://nls.interweave.com/t/bfbbbEWV8QASM8EJZnBYqaBEKfaaaBYqBEKf?t=2@28098&f=rihfkbcjwpm_hlbhm.bpl&fd=tgjdmZehyno_fnZjk.dnn&k=C2r&w=&s=%23 It's the best time of year for taking your craft outdoors. Is it your knitting you pack or a spindle?

Liz Good, editor of Spin-Off magazine, has enjoyed a resurgence of spindle spinning after buying this container; actually made for a completely different purpose but ideal for carrying fibre and her small spindle without fear of breakage or felting.

Click through for more details and a beautiful crocheted spindle holder (pattern in upcoming Spin-Off). paintball-spindle-accessory.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 15:49 +0100 http://www.hilltopcloud.co.uk/blog/13841305 Katie of Hilltop Cloud has just finished this beautiful crescent-shaped shawl using a BFL / Ramie blend.

As a bonus, Katie explains fractal spinning in the most simple and understandable way that I've heard. She spun her yarn this way despite her dyeing being fairly solid. The subtle stripes are beautiful - click through for more pictures and to see this effect. hilltop-raspberry.jpg Wed, 10 Jul 2013 22:24 +0100 http://freyalyn.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/run-up-to-woolfest.html It's great to see people's inspiration and how it leads to the finished result.

In the run-up to Woolfest, Freyalyn found time to post the wonderful picture of Haifoss in Iceland alongside her finished dyed yarn. She's captured the colours beautifully and is rightly very pleased with the result.

Click through to see inspiration and dyed fibre together. Haifoss.jpg Wed, 10 Jul 2013 22:32 +0100 http://knittinggoddesswithacat.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/stash-enhancement-daybreak-dyeworks/ Grace, the Knitting Goddess says that she's still practising with her spinning but it looks great to me.

As well as the beautiful colours that she's spun, something that really interests me in this post is that she plied most of the yarn 2-ply but found herself with quite a bit of singles left on one bobbin (yes, Grace that's not too weird).

I usually make an Andean bracelet of what's left, join the spare end of single with a spit join and continue 2-plying.

I'm really pleased that Grace decided to navajo ply what she had left because we now have a great example side-by-side of how the plying methods make the same singles look so different. Navajo concentrates the colour, 2-plying mixes them up. Click through to see the comparison close-up. navajo-2-ply.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 11:57 +0100 http://knitsnthings.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/dreambird-shawl-in-handspun-yarn/ Not a free pattern, but it does look fantastic here in knitsnthings' hand dyed and hand spun yarn.

Like Leftie it looks ideal for using smaller amounts of handspun yarn. I do like the graduated effect achieved here. Handspun-Dreambird-Shawl.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:13 +0100 http://askthebellwether.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/do-you-separate-fleece-or-blend-it.html I had a conversation recently with my friend / teacher about fleece characteristics varying from one individual sheep to another, even within a family.

The characteristics vary greatly within a single fleece too - you'll find coarse and kempy (hairy) wool in certain areas and finer and crimpier wool in others.

Amelia of Ask the Bellwether discusses the pros and cons of separating these different areas or blending them together. analysing-a-fleece.jpg Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:06 +0100 http://wooltribulations.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/making-weld-dye-from-plant-to-wool.html I've noticed a 'growing' number of blog posts this year about growing and using dye-plants. Fran has been posting entertaining and informative articles about various home-grown brews.

Weld grows wild here in the UK and gives a very strong and light-fast colour.

Unable to find any, Fran has grown some and here she gives us her tips for growing, harvesting and using the plant.
weld-3-003.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 11:58 +0100 http://goldyspinner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/colours-to-dye-for.html Also in natural dyeing news and once again demonstrating that natural dyes don't just give dull colours, Goldilox of Dyeing to Spin has been busy. These four lumps were dyed using madder, walnut husks, chamomile and onion skins. natural-dyeing-to-spin.jpg Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:37 +0100 http://2bannab.com/2013/06/17/episode12/ I've been in the market for a while for a hackle and pair of combs.They're expensive and not so easy to find.

I have featured home-made combs before which were a much more involved process. In contrast AnnaB has made a working hackle costing just a few pounds. It seems to have been successful - a couple of episodes further on she is spinning the fibre that she's blended using the hackle.

The page at the link below allows you to listen to AnnaB's podcast but she has also posted some step-by-step pictures and and an eBay link for buying the same metal-toothed afro combs that she used. home-made-hackle.jpg Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:32 +0100 http://www.chemknits.com/2013/06/spinning-misc-dog-fur.html Rebecca from ChemKnits received some dog fur as a gift and treated it as practice as she's planning to spin the fur from her own dog in the future.

She says "I love the softness and the halo of this yarn" chemknits-dogfur.jpg Thu, 11 Jul 2013 11:13 +0100 http://nerdgirlyarns.com/blog/e-textiles-handspun-circuit/ Making feathers and other add-ins seem workaday, this handspun yarn includes LED lights.

Christa doesn't give any details of her process, but she says "After many prototypes I have a good working process down - just a few lights, 5-7 yards, small 3 volt battery"

Click through to see a picture of the lights within the yarn. light-up-yarn.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 12:00 +0100 advertising.html Are you a pattern designer, supplier, dyer?

Would you like to be associated with Hand Spinning News and at the same time reach the growing readership of thousands of hand spinners? dreamstime_xs_125.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 15:53 +0100 http://www.flickr.com/photos/hilaryemersonlay/9156068022/ Spinning Wheel Studio supplied the yarn and shared this picture of artist Hilary Emerson Lay who often braids thick and thin yarn into her hair. yarn-hair-hilary-E-L.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:22 +0100 http://www.flickr.com/photos/mijasper/8652391708/ Michael Jasper has made this beautifully-detailed model from Lego.

With thanks to Tabs of Rosy Retro for the image. lego-spinning-wheel.jpg Mon, 08 Jul 2013 16:23 +0100 http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/pattern.php?id=3771&lang=en It's too hot to think about wearing anything too substantial but how about a light and lacy scarf and wristwarmer set to slip on late of an evening?

As part of my own Tour de Fleece I've been spindle-spinning some angora purchased at Wonderwool. I had thought about using it for lace wristwarmers and I think I have the perfect pattern here.

They're by DROPS design with a reasonably low difficulty rating. In laceweight and 3.5 mm needles. lace-wristwarmers.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 12:01 +0100 http://woolandchocolate.com/2013/07/02/baby-girl-knitting/ Another lovely series of pictures from fibre to finished object, with a free baby pattern thrown into the bargain.

WoolandChocolate devised the pattern - "a onesie with frills and a balloony butt" - and gives us the pattern on her Ravelry project page (follow her link within the text) CoutubabyII.jpg Wed, 10 Jul 2013 16:17 +0100 http://cre8tioncrochet.com/2013/07/handspun-newborn-beanie/ One for the crocheters with a new baby in their life.

The pattern for this seamless hat suggests using a bought skein of handspun yarn. To spin your own, it looks like a skein of thick and thin singles, with an 85 yarn skein making two hats. handspun-yarn-newborn-beane-free-pattern.jpg Fri, 12 Jul 2013 13:25 +0100 http://glastonburywoolfestival.co.uk 24 & 25 August, Glastonbury, Somerset

A weekend of sheep related entertainment! The sheep and alpaca run is on Saturday and everyone is invited to make woollen hats to wear on Sunday - the more outrageous the better. They would also appreciate volunteers.
Glasto.jpg Sun, 12 May 2013 13:51 +0100 http://yarndale.co.uk/ 28 and 29 September Skipton Auction Mart, North Yorkshire

For you if you love yarn and are passionate about all things woolly. It aims to celebrate the beauty and diversity of wool, cotton, linen and silk fibres in all their forms
yarndale.jpg Sun, 12 May 2013 13:51 +0100 http://www.shetlandwoolweek.com/ 7 - 13 October 2013

A busy weekend dedicated to celebrating Shetland wool and textile heritage.

The full events list includes workshops, demonstrations, open studios, spinning, knitting, weaving and Britain's most northerly sheep. shetlandwoolweek.jpg Sun, 12 May 2013 13:51 +0100 http://www.fibreflurry.co.uk The third year promises to be the best year yet. Workshops and exhibitors over two days fibreflurry.jpg Tue, 11 Jun 2013 22:12 +0100