You've fallen in love with yarn. Maybe you find you're just more mindful with a crochet hook or knitting needles in your hands. Or maybe you're in love with the concept of making your own clothes and household accessories with your own two hands. Whatever road has led you to creating beauty with yarn, it's a worthwhile, loving endeavour.
But I find, for a lot of people, handspun yarn is a scary arena to dive into. Here are a few of the things people have said to me while caressing a skein at a fibre festival, nervous about dropping the cash and taking this one-of-a-kind work of art home:
- "I don't know how to wind a ball," or "I don't have a swift and ball winder."
- "How do I figure out exact yardage?"
- "I'm afraid I'll mess it up and ruin the yarn, and it's too expensive to waste."
- "How do I keep it looking this beautiful for the long term?"
- "How do I determine what needle/hook size to use?"
Working with handspun yarn can be an incredibly rewarding experience, bringing you one step closer to the source of your clothes, by giving you a connection to the person who turned loose wool into something usable for garment creation. I've created a video to help take some of the fear and confusion out of working with handspun yarns, offering an easy solution to each of the concerns listed above.
I'm also very grateful to Dana with Triple C and Joe, for her beautiful demonstration of winding a yarn cake without a swift, using a paper towel roll! Check out her video below.
After watching, if you have any more questions and need help with getting over the hurdle and into the arena of beautiful and diverse handspun yarns, feel free to reach out via the contact chat form here!
Ready to take the leap? Follow along as I release the Elements Collection over the course of fall 2020.
Keep an eye out for the fall 2020 launch of two patterns written specifically for Troelli Thick & Thin Yarn:
Kaiya's Throw Blanket
Amy's Slouchy Hat
