Have you ever considered spinning your own yarn for crochet? People start spinning for a whole host of reasons: they are seduced by the fiber; they love the tools; they saw someone spinning at a festival and now have the bug; or they are just compelled to spin and don't know why. Another reason they get started is because they want a particular yarn and just can't find it.
This bag made with yarns spun S and plied Z will be featured in the Fall 2010 issue of Spin-Off. |
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Crochet yarn is perfect for spinning because there is a long-held belief that yarns designed for knitting don't always behave the same way when they are crocheted. And there is a good reason for that.
When you knit or crochet with yarn, you add or subtract little bits of twist as you're working; it is just part of the process, something that happens whether you're aware of it or not. That little bit of added or subtracted twist will change the character of the yarn.
In an article in the upcoming Fall issue of Spin-Off, (on newsstands in September), expert spinner Maggie Casey and crochet designer Margaret Tullis take a really close look at the twist added while spinning and how it affects crocheted fabric specifically. They try out several handspun yarns, crochet them into samples, and make a couple of projects to show how the yarn behaves. They then draw conclusions about how to best spin yarn for crochet.
While we don't cover crochet in every issue of Spin-Off, we do talk a lot about the qualities of fiber, how to make great yarn, and what to do with it. Fun stuff. Come over and check us out—subscribe to Spin-Off—you might find that we have what you've been looking for. |