Two sections of the post for support spindles, a book review and a discussion of my recent experience spinning angora on my three support spindles.

The book Fleegle Spins Supported is available here.

A YouTube video of me spinning cotton on the Royale Hare brass support spindle is found here and the spindle is available to order from her Etsy shop here.  I apologize for saying on the podcast that the spindle was not readily available, I did not look up the link until after I did the recording, my bad!

The music in today's podcast is by singer/songwriter Emma Wallace who I found on MusicAlley.  The piano piece is called Interlude, and the closing song is Support for my Argument.

My blog with photos can be found here.

Finally the Spinners Journal, a place to record all the processes of any of your spinning projects can be purchased here.  Thanks for your support of this podcast by purchasing the journal!



OK so I'm playing on words with today's podcast title.  I do two sheep breed reviews, Columbia and Rambouilette.  Then I talk about the explosion of spinning information going digital.  Hence, digital sheep.

A few links:  Closing song is by Triple6RFusioN  and is called First Day of Spring.  You can find this and other music played on the podcast at Music Alley.

My blog is here  and if you are looking to buy the Spinner's Journal, click here.

Spinning daily is where you will find all the good digital stuff.

It's actually magic, taking washed but clumped fiber, putting it through the drum carder and getting fluffy batts ready to spin.  It's a spinning project I only do now and then, after accumulating those piles of fleeces and other fibers ready to blend.  Then I spend several months, in an hour here and there, creating the batts.  After that, the fun begins, as I get to spin them and see what those blends will look like in yarn.

In today's podcast, I talk about my recent drumcarding projects, as well as some information for those spinners that may want to buy a carder, or have one that they still haven't worked up the nerve to use.

I will be putting pictures of the fiber, before and after on my blog. 

Music in the podcast is from Music Alley  and includes Proof of Love by Old Man Luedecke,  also February by The Distants.

The Spinners Journal, a book I wrote to help you to document your carding or any spinning project is available to buy at this site.

There are four reviews in today's podcast, two rare sheep breed's fiber, a spinning DVD and my trip to Stitches East.

The Oklahoma State University's website is a good place to start if you are looking for information on any animal including rare breed sheep:Breeds of sheep

There are many wonderful resources for sale at the Interweave press website, books, ebooks, DVD, videos, books and magazines.Interweave press

The specific DVD I review in this podcast "Spinning for Lace" by Margaret Stove is found at this link:Margaret Stove DVD link

For information for your own trip to a Stitches convention, check out the Knitting Universe website:The Knitting Universe

Prism yarns  is also available at many yarn stores

Teacher at Stitches Creative Director at Prism yarns is Laura Militzer Bryant and she taught the class on Intentional Patterning with Hand dyed Yarns.

The spindle like the trindle I bought can be found at this Etsy store:  Trindleman
Need to get your spinning projects organized?  Then my Spinner's Journal  is just what you need!

Janilee and Chris are both post graduate students at the Manchester England college.  Both are spinners and weavers, but have two different concepts for their doctorial thesis.  I was able to interview each and had a wonderful time talking to them.  Listen in, and learn about early weavers and spinners, and the modern day archeological study of them.

Interlude music in today's podcast is from Music Alley and is by the group Celtic Stone.  The title is Drowsy Maggie.

Looking for a link to buy my Spinner's Journal?  It's on Lulu here.

A Spinner's Journal, your own place to record all of the processes of the projects that turn fiber into yarn.

I am a note taker, list maker by nature, and for all the years I've been spinning, those notes are on many different pieces of paper.  I found I still like to refer back to them, and decided I needed a better system for taking my notes.  And if I needed it, I bet other spinners do too.  So I created the Spinner's Journal and it's now finally available for sale.

I've given some details about the journal in this short promo podcast.  Take a listen to see all the wonderful features of the journal.

The journal is available here.   Or if you want to go to my blog yarnspinners dot blogspot dot com, you'll find a link button on the right hand side of the page.

Music in today's promo is from Music Alley and is called Drowsie Maggie by Celtic Stone.

This month celebrates the fact that I have been doing this podcast for four years.  If you've listened since the beginning, THANK YOU!   If you just found me today, WELCOME!

The best thing about podcasts is their longevity.  Oh some podcasts are very linked to current events and may outdate, but information about spinning is always fresh.  Someone is always just learning to spin, or dye fiber, or wash a fleece.  And if they look at my archives and the titles, they will probably find a podcast to help them with that process.

If you are on Ravelry, a quick and easy way to see the topics of each podcast is to go to the yarnspinners spin in group. There is a sticky thread in the posts with the topics listed.

The birthday music today is from Music Alley and includes:

Team Smile and Nod with Happy Birthday you matter  Jason Silver with Happy Birthday and Mario Ajero with Happy Birthday Chopin Ballade

Fluffly, that's what woolen spinning is all about.  You spin from fluffy batts, and you spin a lofty yarn.

The Yarnspinnerstales Spin In Ravelry group has been practicing this spinning technique this month.  I joined them and talk about my experiences spinning woolen on each of my wheels in this podcast.  I also give some suggestions to help you get going with this wonderful way of spinning. I also will be posting photos of what I spun for this challenge on my blog.

I was in the mood for more music in today's podcast too, all with the theme of letting go, a very necessary technique when spinning woolen.  All music is from Music Alley with thank yous to these special musicians:

Laura Clapp with Just Let Go

LeRoots with Got to Let Go

The Hosts with So Hard to let go

To make my sample yarn, I decided to use sample batts from two of my Phat Fiber boxes.  These small batts were just the right size to practice the technique and came from the following vendors:

The Critter Ranch  a super soft batt, no fiber content marked but was probably llama or alpaca.

Maude and Me  an alpaca and angelina batt

The Enchanted Knoll  These were not samples but several large batts gifted to me by a listener (thank you again!)  Lovely forest greens and black these are listed as superwash wool, recycled sari silk and sparkles.  The photo you see with this podcast is a small sample of what the 2 ply yarn will look like when I am done. spinning

I am talking again about the new Majacraft Aura wheel and my learning process as I've spun on it.  Although you may not have this specific wheel, you can listen and apply some of my ideas to any wheel that you would like to expand in your spinning skills.

The second section discusses my crazy idea of putting beads in the yarn before I knit, and how I finally got that idea to work.  The photo here shows that yarn on the bobbin of the Aura.

The music today is a bit different than normal as I recently discovered there are some techno tunes I really enjoy.  So I've included a techno interlude called Hestor is Amused by Johnjack.  If techno is really not your thing, the interludes are short and I give you a chance to turn the podcast off before the end song.  But I really urge you to listen, as I do like the song, Pas De Deux by Lee Negin. 

All of today's music is from Music Alley with my extra thank you to Clare Dowling for my use of her Spinning Wheels as the podcasts intro music.

Until later, happy spinning!

Today I decided to podcast to potential spinners, and entice them into the fold, so to speak.  So the podcast is all about taking that first step or two.  Before long you will be a spinner too.

I also included a review of a very good magazine to start you on your way, Knit and Spin by Interweave Press. 

Music in today's podcast is from Music Alley  The interlude is called Music for an unborn podcast and is by Michael van Laar  The closing song is by Cat Malojian Only You.  And a big thank you to Clare Dowling for her perfect song for the opening of all my podcasts, Spinning Wheel.