YarnMaker no.28, will be the final edition of this British magazine for handspinners

For past 7 years my blog has been quieter whilst my time and energy has gone into publishing YarnMaker, a British magazine for handspinners. This phase of my life is coming to a close, for anyone who has missed the news posted on the YarnMaker website and Ravelry on Monday, here it is:

MESSAGE FROM DOROTHY LUMB, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF YARNMAKER

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that the Autumn edition of YarnMaker, no.28, will be the last, bringing to an end 6 ½ years of publication. 

YarnMaker has been a successful niche product for a small market. The limited number of potential readers combined with other factors mean it is not going to be viable to publish the magazine in future. The time has come to cease publication.

All current subscriptions will be refunded and when YarnMaker no.28 is published in early December it will be sent with a form to allow subscribers to select, if they wish, back issues (2 per copy owed) in place of a refund. A special discount rate for purchasing further issues and binders will be offered on the same form.

TIMETABLE FOR FINAL EDITION, REFUNDS AND SALE

Advance orders for the final edition, no.28, will be taken on the website from Monday 24th October 2016 and also by post.

YarnMaker no.28, Autumn 2016 will be published before 10th December. Subscribers will receive a form printed on the reverse of the address label  to opt either for a refund of the money paid or for two back issues in exchange for each edition owed. There will also be a special discount offer for ordering extra back issues and magazine binders. Stock will be allocated on a first come, first served basis with a deadline for application of 31st December, after which anyone who hasn't responded will get their money back by default. All refunds, magazines and binders will be sent out before end of January 2017.

Edit: 13th December, there have been a few delays but delivery of magazines from the printers is due later this week, so if the postal system is running well they will reach subscribers early next week.  The deadline for the subscriber offer for discount back issues & binders is extended to 6th January 2017.

The final edition is on sale from the website, www.yarnmaker.co.uk. This is a short print run and magazines will only be on sale until 31st December, so has the potential to be a collector's item!

Spun to weave...

I get more spinning time than weaving time nowadays, but I often have weaving ideas for my yarns.

In the past couple of weeks I have been spinning:
Castlemilk Moorit fleece spun longdraw from rolags;
Cotswold fleece worstead from combed fleece;
coloured Merino longdraw from carded rolags.

The Castlemilk Moorit is not quite as soft as it looks due to having two types of wool fibre, a soft wool undercoat and some stiffer longer hairs. I might knit a jumper or jacket, if I have enough. If not enough to knit I could weave with a different wool for contrast in colour and possibly a longer fibre wool to add strength (the fibres in the fleece were around 3-6cm) or a softer wool for comfort.

The Cotswold, centre in photo, I could dye and weave into a firm twill fabric suitable for a jacket or for upholstery.

The Merino, bottom in photo, is lovely and soft. I have also spun blends of this with alpaca. It would make warm, soft woven scarves and would also be lovely to knit into a jumper or scarves, hats, mittens. It was a large fleece and I have plenty.

Weaving with 100% British Wool - handspun

With the latest YarnMaker at the printers (due to be published next week) I had time for some weaving last weekend.

I have a huge stash of handspun yarns. Most of these were spun in 2006.  The wools that went into the blanket include Black Welsh Mountain, Grey Welsh Mountain, Manx Loaghtan, Shetland, Jacob. Some were spun fairly thick like an aran weight yarn, others like a fine sock wool.  There was a good mix of colour, yarn weights and texture.

This photo shows the warp yarns ready to wind onto the cloth beam of my Ashford Knitters Loom, with a 10 dpi reed.

I found that I like using the Glimakra rug shuttle as it passes through the shed without friction.

Here is the new blanket when cut off the loom, before washing in hot and cold water to full the fabric, after which the loose ends and the tassels were trimmed.