Fri, 26 September 2008 Episode 14: "Wonder Wheels Power, ACTIVATE" (41:13) 
Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning, I think you know just what we feel... when we're spinning... well, when WonderMike is spinning. Maia Discoe and Brooke Sinnes of Tactile Fiber Arts Studio join the Yknit guys for this episode. WonderMike chatted with these spinning divas one late night after a month-long series of spinning classes held at KnitOneOne in Berkeley, CA. They spoke of many spinning things: past, present and future. The following people and topics were mentioned:
We've got two prizes for you courtesy of the kind souls at Tactile. The first prize is for the non-spinners or just-got-bit-by-the-bug folks. Tell us what drew you in. What was the thing that hooked you? Your prize is a Learn to Spin kit which contains a 2.1 oz. Schact Hi-Lo Spindle, 2 oz. of naturally dark BFL, 2 oz. of naturally dyed BFL, an organic cotton tote and "Spin It" by Lee Raven! The second prize is for the experienced spinners. All you have to do is tell us your FAVORITE thing about spinning. That's it. Your prize is a $50 gift certificate. To enter either contest, please leave a comment on Yknit.com or on Ravelry under the YKNIT group discussion. One winner for each prize will be randomly selected from all the entries. DEADLINE FOR ENTERING IS OCTOBER 15, 2008. CALLING ALL GUY KNITTERS!
Contest Winners
Congratulations to our winner and thanks to everyone who participated! The entries for this contest were inspiring. We used snippets of the following songs in this episode:
Always, a HUGE thank you to everyone who downloads and listens to Y KNIT. YSpin? It's where it all begins! Comments[41] |
I am inspired to learn to spin by my love of barnyard animals :) as well as my wish to find out how fiber becomes the yarn that I knit with. I'm hoping to take a "try out spinning" class at the Garden State Sheep Breeders Festival next weekend...if I like it, I'll need supplies to practice! Thanks for a great podcast. You make me smile during my commute.
I'm not a spinner (yet), but I'll tell you what's drawing me in: podcasts like yours! I just ordered my first "how to spin" book off Amazon. Lousy enablers! ;-)
posted by: Clumsy Knitter on Fri, 9/26 04:17 PM EDT
I was drawn to spinning when I first heard you could buy a fleece for about $20, and after a whole mess of work, have a sweater's worth of yarn. Sadly, I'm lazy. Also, I have no real impulse to dye, so I'd end up with natural shading going on.
But I'd love to find out if I can draft and spin something other than bumpy novelty yarn.
But I'd love to find out if I can draft and spin something other than bumpy novelty yarn.
So, as I was saying before someone (ahem) deleted the post and all the comments .... ;-)
I'm a relatively new spinner (only about six months now), but I'm hopelessly addicted. I think my favorite thing about spinning is how relaxing it is. If you want your yarn to be even, you really have to keep a slow, steady pace. It's very hard to stay stressed out when you're gently treadling and running beautiful fiber through your fingers!
I'm a relatively new spinner (only about six months now), but I'm hopelessly addicted. I think my favorite thing about spinning is how relaxing it is. If you want your yarn to be even, you really have to keep a slow, steady pace. It's very hard to stay stressed out when you're gently treadling and running beautiful fiber through your fingers!
posted by: Sarah on Fri, 9/26 04:37 PM EDT
I probably said this more eloquently before ;) but I am a fairly new spinner. I became inspired to spin by watching the gorgeous yarns being spun by one of the ladies at my knit night. I just switched spindles on Sunday and am suddenly completely engrossed in spinning.
My favorite thing about spinning is seeing what I can make with my own hands.
My favorite thing about spinning is seeing what I can make with my own hands.
posted by: LittleWit on Fri, 9/26 05:18 PM EDT
Aw, I was funnier then, I think....Anyway, I have three alpacas and get a real kick out of spinning fiber from them - I am SUCH a Michael Pollan geek that I was all over that part of y'all's podcast - yow! Oil sucks! Uh, anyway....I love making yarn even more than I love knitting it, which is saying something. I feel very smug, looking at yarn I've made. Like, all you twerps out there with videogames are just waiting for a power outage to lose your minds, you know, but me? I made YARN. Ha.
posted by: Erin on Fri, 9/26 06:59 PM EDT
I've been spinning for 6 months now and my favourite thing about spinning is not knowing how a dyed top is going to look when spun up and then seeing it emerge!
posted by: Rachelle on Sat, 9/27 02:51 AM EDT
I have been trying to fight off the urge to spin. Do I need another hobby? At this point I haven't had anyone say "here take this spindle and fiber and go do it". Maybe if someone did I would....:)
posted by: Karin on Sat, 9/27 08:15 AM EDT
I have been inspired to try spinning from the plethora of spin/knit blogs in the blogisphere....just haven't gotten brave enough to buy the materials ;)
posted by: Whitney on Sat, 9/27 09:06 AM EDT
I tend towards challenging knitting (I'm doing a beaded lace shawl right now), but spinning is my meditation. I love the flow of the wheel and fiber...I could do it all day. And I have. :)
Thanks for another great podcast!
Thanks for another great podcast!
posted by: Sharon Rose on Sat, 9/27 10:43 AM EDT
I like spinning because it slows me down, centers my mind, and becomes fairly meditative. There is some stuff that will take a long time to spin (Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino roving) because it wants to spin up thinly. And some stuff that goes fast because it wants to spin thick (and bumpy--the crappy alpaca I got off ebay when I was just learning how to spin, but saved for when I was \"good enough,\" and now know exactly how bad a roving it is).
posted by: Cathy on Sat, 9/27 11:21 AM EDT
I have just very recently learnt to spin, and I have to admit, I sort of cheated a little. I found a load of pencil roving so that I didn't have to deal with any drafting or prep, and just set up my drop spindle and started twirling. I guess what hooked me was the thought that I'd be able to take a step further back down the yarn line. I can already knit, I know somewhat how to dye, but to create my own yarn from chunks of fibre seemed even more exciting. Being able to have that much control over the final product, learning to make things to my own specifications. And to be honest, I learnt that it's just really fun to watch the spindle twirl and to see something so awesome come of said twirling!
posted by: Ria on Sat, 9/27 12:59 PM EDT
I am a spinner, dyer, knitter, crocheter, beader etc.
My favorite thing about spinning is that I feel like I'm connected to a such a myriad of people throughout history, in that this skill that I'm doing is something that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Also, I like that when I spin I can make whatever yarn I want to make, and I don't have to find it in a store. That and I love to see people watch me, because it's odd to see a male knitter, but seeing a young (18) male spinner/knitter/dyer/etc making yarn on this contraption; and asking questions just makes me feel good that I am helping people know that crafts are for everyone, and that anyone can do it.
My favorite thing about spinning is that I feel like I'm connected to a such a myriad of people throughout history, in that this skill that I'm doing is something that has been passed down for hundreds of years. Also, I like that when I spin I can make whatever yarn I want to make, and I don't have to find it in a store. That and I love to see people watch me, because it's odd to see a male knitter, but seeing a young (18) male spinner/knitter/dyer/etc making yarn on this contraption; and asking questions just makes me feel good that I am helping people know that crafts are for everyone, and that anyone can do it.
posted by: Tyler Macek on Sat, 9/27 09:58 PM EDT
My favorite thing about spinning is that there's no pattern! There's no such thing as losing your place in the chart or forgetting what row you're on.
Also, being a public spectacle is fun. If you think you get funny looks when your knitting in public, just wait till you spin in public!
Also, being a public spectacle is fun. If you think you get funny looks when your knitting in public, just wait till you spin in public!
posted by: Holly on Sun, 9/28 02:26 PM EDT
I spin because I once saw a group of women spinning away in public. I stood and stared at them until my husband pushed me along. I had to spin. Today I spin because I love the rhythmic motion of the wheel. It allows me to fall into an almost meditative trance. besides, fiber is cool!
(ironic note I just talked with maia at OFFF and then came home to listen to them with you two!)
(ironic note I just talked with maia at OFFF and then came home to listen to them with you two!)
Fun episode, thank you! I started spinning about 8-10 years ago, and was inspired to try when I first started knitting. I too was intrigued by the concept of creating something from sheep to garment.
posted by: Jennifer on Mon, 9/29 08:19 AM EDT
I want to learn to spin because I think it will distract me more (read: relax)from my young kids and this economy :) I've been itching to try it and start, but am hesitant that I might just like it too much....
jessicaknits
p.s. love your podcast - entertaining, educational and FUN
jessicaknits
p.s. love your podcast - entertaining, educational and FUN
What do I love about spinning?? (besides all of it)
I love the magic of plying. Watching the colours come together and watching the bobbin fill up with actual yarn!!!!
I love the magic of plying. Watching the colours come together and watching the bobbin fill up with actual yarn!!!!
posted by: Ann-Marie MacKay on Mon, 9/29 02:18 PM EDT
I love watching the way the colors change as you spin. I'm always surprised by how different the finished yarn looks compared to the fiber.
posted by: Tasha on Tue, 9/30 07:02 AM EDT
i have the dream of having a little farm with happy sheep from which i spin amazing yarn. problem? i don't have a farm and i don't know how to spin. but i'd love to give it a go.
posted by: ani on Tue, 9/30 07:38 PM EDT
I actually learned how to spin on my first visit to Rhinebeck 2 years ago. Walking around with all of that fiber around me was too much to resist! I sat down at vendor after vendor where they each gave me a quick lesson on their wheels. I had used a drop spindle before, but knew I needed a wheel.
I just love the feel of the fiber going through my fingers and the transformation from the fiber to yarn. And how it can become so many things, depending on what you mix together and how it's spun.
I just love the feel of the fiber going through my fingers and the transformation from the fiber to yarn. And how it can become so many things, depending on what you mix together and how it's spun.
posted by: Kathy on Wed, 10/1 07:43 AM EDT
i actually started spinning just to see if i COULD do it (i'm one of those) and got so hooked that now i'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first spinning wheel-- i'm picking it up on october 10th!!!
posted by: SingleWhiteKnitter on Wed, 10/1 10:08 AM EDT
I spin because it is fascinating (look! fluff makes yarn! and it doesn't fall apart!), and I *love* the way handspun yarn looks, especially when spinning hand dyed fibre or fun batts. :)
posted by: Andrea (noricum) on Wed, 10/1 07:09 PM EDT
I don't spin yet, I want to, have always wanted to but have not had the resources. I love fiber in all its lofty goodness and some of the colors are like a good fall carnival, and cotton candy.
My good friend moved and with her she took her knowledge of spinning and her wheel, of course all this just before she was to teach me to use a spindle.
I would love and cherish the starter kit so that I might too join the ranks of spinners.
My good friend moved and with her she took her knowledge of spinning and her wheel, of course all this just before she was to teach me to use a spindle.
I would love and cherish the starter kit so that I might too join the ranks of spinners.
posted by: Lorrie on Sat, 10/4 02:04 PM EDT
My sis got me hooked, like a good drug, to spinning. I now have my first wheel that I love. I actually find myself "treadling" my gas pedal, might to the delight of the drivers behind me I'm sure.
posted by: cdnbull on Sat, 10/4 08:50 PM EDT
I was first inspired to spin by reading various blogs and already being a knitter it only made sense to spin my own yarn. After months of talking about getting a wheel, my BF surprised me on Christmas day 2005 with brand new Ashford Kiwi wheel. After about two weeks of persistent attempts at making anything that resembled yarn, I read an article about spinning from the fold...BAMM! I finally had it! Within days I was spinning something that did not resemble rope from the Titanic. What hooked me was the fact that I could spin almost any fiber on that little wheel. Within 6 months I bought my second wheel, Majacraft Rose, there was no turning back from that point. I finally took a formal class and refined my technique then started to learn to use a drop spindle which took no time at all.
My favorite thing about spinning would have to be the ability to create so many different types of yarn. And as one of the ladies in the podcast said, after spending all day at work and coming home feeling like I have nothing to show for it, spinning produces something tangible and I feel good about the effort and time that went into creation of the skein of yarn when it is completed.
My favorite thing about spinning would have to be the ability to create so many different types of yarn. And as one of the ladies in the podcast said, after spending all day at work and coming home feeling like I have nothing to show for it, spinning produces something tangible and I feel good about the effort and time that went into creation of the skein of yarn when it is completed.
posted by: Ed on Sun, 10/5 10:43 AM EDT
I am dyeing to learn to spin. I have a book on spinning which I have read cover to cover. I think it is all the podcasts about spinning that have gotten me hooked: yours (this episode was great) and a few others. I have this desire to create something from beginning to end. I have dyed yarn to knit with it but now I want to feel the fleece to yarn to sweater. Would be so rewarding. I cruise websites with wheels and show them to my husband all the time. Hmm, you think he is getting the hint?
You Guys are a BLAST!!! I love listening to you while I knit ..and...yes SPIN! I taught myself to spin on a homemade drop spindle with a dowel and CD that a freind gave me. I started about 5 years ago and haven't looked back. At the time I was living in SoCal at the beach and despite the hot sunny days of 80+ degrees I would be in our little cottage spinning wool. I LOVE spinning so much that my wonderful and handsome partner agreed to cancel a trip to Cancun to go north to Washington, the land of fiber and wheels. We also spent several trips to north CA, Mendicino, Sebastipol and Bodega, hunting spinning shops and spinners...of which there are some great people in Bodega CA. Every time we travel I bring home fiber. One of my favorite Hats is from a black sheep named Penny that resides in Sebastipol CA. We even chucked everything in SoCal 2 yrs ago to move to Whidbey Island WA. We arrived on the the island on a Thursday and a week later I am at the local High School for a spin-in. I met wonerful people who I stil spin with going on 2 years now. I have coworkers who spin and am constantly taking fiber and handspun to work (which an office setting in a contractor enviroment...with plenty of straight men) and keep my head high with wool in hand. So if you were to ask Y SPIN? I would simply reply, 'cause it's my life. Thanks for a great show and making me smile while I spin. Oh and I do compensate my parter with great handspun and knitted items for all his patience and many miles of fiber vacations.
Kelly
Kelly
Why spin? I don't know quite yet, but I'm going to learn! Between Rhinebeck coming up, and all the podcasts talking about spinning, its been bouncing around quite a lot in my brain. I even pulled out the drop spindle I bought 5 years ago and gave it a whirl (pun intended) this weekend. I'll be the one checking out the wheels at Rhinebeck!
Thanks so much for the podcast, BTW. Its always so entertaining and makes my exercise time fly!
Thanks so much for the podcast, BTW. Its always so entertaining and makes my exercise time fly!
posted by: Arlene on Tue, 10/7 11:46 AM EDT
Great podcast; I love it. My favorite part of spinning is feeling the fiber go through my fingers. And that there ate so many things to learn and so many ways to do it. And it is so much fun to knit with your own handspun, and to knit with yarn that you processed from a stinky dirty fleece, now that's something to feel good about. Thanks for a great interview; i've been a fan of Maya's for a while.
posted by: kate on Tue, 10/7 12:53 PM EDT
Y Spin? I want to join the sisterhood. To create beauty with one's own hands is such a gift.
There are no spinning resources near me. I have always wanted to learn but have absolutely no idea where to begin.
Do I need a new addiction. Don't we all?
There are no spinning resources near me. I have always wanted to learn but have absolutely no idea where to begin.
Do I need a new addiction. Don't we all?
posted by: Peggy Latham on Tue, 10/7 08:49 PM EDT
First of all...I LOVE your podcast!!!! I only wish that there was one every day of the week!!! You Guys ROCK!!
I fell in love with the idea of spinning when I was a child. My grandmother's neighbor had a great wheel, which was displayed in her "parlor"....so mysterious to me that a bag of "fluff" could be maniuplated into yarn, which in turn could be made into clothing/fabric. The thought of it all was like magic to me!!! Lucky for me the facination never left, when I had the opportunity to learn to spin I JUMPED and have discovered that it truly is magic to take a basket of fluff and turn it into beautiful yarn, which in turn can be knit into whatever I choose or whatever direction the yarn directs me to. An added bonus is relaxation....it is SOOO soothing to sit and spin....good for the soul!!
I fell in love with the idea of spinning when I was a child. My grandmother's neighbor had a great wheel, which was displayed in her "parlor"....so mysterious to me that a bag of "fluff" could be maniuplated into yarn, which in turn could be made into clothing/fabric. The thought of it all was like magic to me!!! Lucky for me the facination never left, when I had the opportunity to learn to spin I JUMPED and have discovered that it truly is magic to take a basket of fluff and turn it into beautiful yarn, which in turn can be knit into whatever I choose or whatever direction the yarn directs me to. An added bonus is relaxation....it is SOOO soothing to sit and spin....good for the soul!!
posted by: Crazy For Yarn In Alabama on Wed, 10/8 10:19 AM EDT
I spin because I was bound and determined not to!!!!! I was never going to learn to spin, uhn uh, no way. Got too many things I do already and not enough time to enjoy them already... But my friend sent me some of her handspun last spring -- darn it -- it was gorgeous. And then I was home over the summer and another friend showed me some yarn she had recently spun up -- darn it! And then we were all going together to Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene this summer (Where I saw Tactile and fell in love with their stuff -- but I wasn't going to ever be a spinner, so I moved on -- darn it). And I only, I swear it, I was only going to Black Sheep to get sock yarn. That's it. Sock. Yarn. I came home with a spindle and a "mystery" batt, darn it, and I fell head over heals in love with spinning. Can't stop. It's like Moira Shearer and those darn red dancing shoes. Darn it! Honestly, it is the most soothing activity ever. That is why I spin. It makes the world one person closer to being a peaceful, blissed out place.
Imagine what this world would be like if we got all the world leaders to spin together and to dance together! And guess what, you can totally dance while you spin on a spindle!!! Is that cool or what. Life can be oh so good.
btw: I love all your episodes. This one though, holds special delight for me. Thanks for all your great work!
Imagine what this world would be like if we got all the world leaders to spin together and to dance together! And guess what, you can totally dance while you spin on a spindle!!! Is that cool or what. Life can be oh so good.
btw: I love all your episodes. This one though, holds special delight for me. Thanks for all your great work!
I'm only just learning but I'm enjoying it so far and as I've been in a Weaving, Spinning, and Dying Guild for about 4 years its about time I started doing some of the above (spinning and dying) e=rather than just taking along my knitting.
posted by: Jen on Sat, 10/11 02:50 PM EDT
I'm so happy I've found this great podcast! Really good work, guys :)
I am a beginner spinner and was drawn to the craft because my yarn habit was getting so expensive. I've since discovered that really beautiful roving is fairly expensive as well but it's too late, I'm hooked! Spinning just feels nice, it's relaxing most of the time, and I love that I can try to create the exact type of yarn for a project instead of trying to find it.
I am a beginner spinner and was drawn to the craft because my yarn habit was getting so expensive. I've since discovered that really beautiful roving is fairly expensive as well but it's too late, I'm hooked! Spinning just feels nice, it's relaxing most of the time, and I love that I can try to create the exact type of yarn for a project instead of trying to find it.
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