Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast artwork

Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

225 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 47 ratings

Join me as each time I either prep fiber for spinning, or sit at my spinning wheel. There is also music and stories while we spin our fiber into yarn.

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Episodes

YST Episode 189 Spinning cotton and picking wool

December 04, 2021 16:16 - 39 minutes - 61.3 MB

In this podcast, I talk about what I learned about cotton and spinning cotton in a class at SAFF this year.  I also had the chance to do some fiber and fleece shopping, and talk about that experience. I mentioned that I would list the four currently grown species of cotton plants and their details. Gossypium hirsutum  Known as upland cotton and native to Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean and Southern Florida.  This species accounts for 90% of commercial cotton grown. Gossypium bar...

YST Episode 188 How old is that fiber

September 26, 2021 15:57 - 25 minutes - 41.2 MB

A short podcast talking about the last five skeins in the yarn wash up, and my recent spinning. I mention fiber from a Phatt fiber box, they can be found here. The other fiber I have been spinning awhile is from Hobby Lobby.  I finally looked it up online and can provide a link.  I am spinning Yarn Bee Showstopper in the Winter Solstice colorway.  

YST Episode 187 The big wash up

September 18, 2021 21:48 - 37 minutes - 42.7 MB

After I spin a skein of yarn, it needs to be washed.  I put this off until I have enough to take several days of washing.   I also talk about doing a burn test on fiber to determine the fiber content.  One was a very big surprise!  The flow chart I was using for this burn test can be found here. My pack of luxury fibers contained white angora and it is shown on the Nano spinning wheel in the photo with this podcast.  The pack of fibers came from Sericin Silk Etsy store.

YST Episode 186

September 11, 2021 13:14 - 33 minutes - 35.4 MB

This podcast is for the week of Sept 5th, and talks about prepping cormo fiber for the dyepot, and spinning a merino silk bamboo blend. I also refer to two past podcasts so here are the links: Episode 38 talks about buying a fleece.  Episode 39 talks about buying non wool fibers and how to store all fibers.  Also the ghost story that I wrote is at the end of this episode. The fiber I was spinning was from Wooliebullie.  Right now the Etsy store is only selling art batts, and hand knit...

YST Episode 185 A Yin Yang fleece

September 04, 2021 04:59 - 28 minutes - 32.4 MB

A catch up podcast talking about Stashdash, the state fair and a black and white Shetland fleece. Stashdash is a challenge created by the podcast TheKnitGirlls. The young spinner I mention in the state fair has grown up and now has her own fiber business at Cedar Ridge Fiber Farm. If you would like to see the daily streams I did during Tour de Fleece, they are archived here.  I am still uploading those, but all will be there soon.  My current streams can be found at Yarnspinnerstales ...

Creativity in the midst of a Pandemic

September 04, 2021 02:34

Back in January 2021, I was doing the New Year thing, thinking about podcasting again, and putting a discussion about the New Year in that podcast.  Somehow, the podcast never happened, and this bit of writing I did, was never published.  Is it still relevant?  I think so, but in a softer way, in that we are really not totally motionless anymore by the Pandemic.   I started the musing with the question 'why during 2020 and especially forced to stay at home, did I not burst into a shower of...

July 26 2021 An Open ended Absence

July 26, 2021 22:29 - 5 minutes - 5.71 MB

Just a brief note to fill those of you that haven't heard of my Mom's illness.  I have to stop the podcast for awhile, as I spend time with her.

YST Episode 184 07/21/21

July 23, 2021 00:26 - 27 minutes - 30.9 MB

A tiny but perfectly acceptable spinning wheel is being 3D printed by Dreaming Robots.   I have the smaller version called the Nano and I talk about it in this podcast.   I purchased it at the Hoosier Hill fiber fair at the booth for Susan's fiber shop. I referenced the book Big Book of Handspinning by Alden Amos.  This is just one source for the book.        

YST Episode 183 07/19/21

July 20, 2021 01:31 - 19 minutes - 21 MB

The podcasts will have a new format starting with this one.  The good news is they will be more frequent, and the maybe or maybe not bad news is they will be shorter. For years I have been using this podcast to teach many things about the spinning of yarn.  Those are available on the website by checking under archives.  There is even listings of the episode topics to find specific podcasts.  With the future podcasts, I will be sharing  my experiences and stories of working with fiber every...

YST A Brief Hello

March 24, 2021 15:14 - 3 minutes - 4 MB

Podcasting for me is on the back burner at this time.  I plan to return with the Tour de Fleece in July 2021.

YST Episode 182 Welsh Sheep breeds review

December 30, 2020 17:55 - 59 minutes - 65.5 MB

Last podcast of 2020 and maybe the last breed reviews I do for awhile.  It is time to move forward into other areas of spinning and the new year seems a good time to start. The breeds reviewed today are Llanowag and Lleyn.  The fiber was part of a Welsh breed study pack from Wychwood Spinners This podcast was created from the audio of a livestream I did when I reviewed these fibers.  It is different than my normal podcasting, but I think the addition of the actual sounds of processing an...

Current episode list

December 10, 2020 15:21

When you go to my web page yarnspinnerstales.com there is a drop down box in the upper right of the page.  In that, you can find archives.  You will need to know the date of the podcast you want to find, then in those archives, go to that year and month.  In that area you will find the specific podcast you are looking for.  Use this list below, to know the podcast title, general information and the date.   Epi # Topic Date 1 Using Combs/Shetland 10/28/07 2 Spin In General Chatter 11/...

YST Correction on Livestream Archiving information

October 30, 2020 15:01 - 3 minutes - 4.09 MB

In the last two podcasts, for some reason I said the livestreams were archived on Facebook, which is not true.  I didn't even catch it as I was editing.  Instead of the tedious process of edit and releasing the episodes, I decided to record this separate little audio. The livestreams originate on Twitch.TV under Yarnspinnerstales  The videos will stay there for a month to six weeks, if you do not catch me when I am live streaming. After that, the videos are archived to you tube.  Once ...

YST Episode 181 Hebridean sheep breed review

October 29, 2020 18:23 - 19 minutes - 20.8 MB

The Hebridean sheep have long dual coated wool in various colors.  I used my study to not only spin the fiber but to show on live stream how to separate the two coats. The fiber was purchased from Wychwood Spinner Etsy shop. A short video on Twitch.tv show how to pull for long tog from the short thel using this fiber.

YST Episode 180 Lonk Sheep Breed Review

October 29, 2020 17:56 - 36 minutes - 39.2 MB

First up in the podcast is a report on my study of the Lonk Sheep Breed.  It's short so I went on to talk about all the spinning projects I have currently going that involve the Merino Breed.   Later, I will do a more complete breed study for that breed.  Finally, I talk about the second Tour de Fleece that ran from Aug 26th to Sept 20th, and what I spun during that time. Lonk fiber was purchased from Wychwood Spinner Superwash merino that I spun into sock yarn was purchased from Yarn Ho...

YST Episode 179 Tour de Fleece 2020

September 12, 2020 13:22 - 49 minutes - 52.4 MB

In this unusual year, even the Tour de Fleece was affected.  The Tour de France did not run in July as usual, but was celebrated on Ravelry anyway.  Then when the Tour did ride in Sept, we did it again. This podcast is about what I spun and learned during the first Tour.  I also included the breed review for Yak fiber, since spinning it was one of my challenge day projects. The Yak fiber was purchased from Laughing Lamb fibers. If you are looking for my live stream, it is on Twitch.tv ...

YST Episode 178 Coopworth Breed review

August 20, 2020 01:31 - 36 minutes - 38.1 MB

The Coopworth Sheep breed is a relatively new breed, as sheep breeds go.  The sample I worked with was from a lamb and contained long lovely locks.  I cover in this podcast how to wash and spin locks, and the specifics of this sampling. Information on the Breed is from the Fleece and Fiber Source Book. Another book I mention is Merino by Margaret Stove. Previously I reviewed Coopworth in Episode 45. I have also done a live stream on washing locks. In the second part of this live ...

YST Episode 177 Ryeland sheep breed review

August 12, 2020 18:04 - 22 minutes - 22.5 MB

A new computer meant a whole new learning curve on new software to record and edit podcasts.  I think I finally have a set up I am happy to release. In this short podcast, I review one of the 52 weeks of sheep breeds, called Ryeland. I talked about this breed in the first part of a  previous podcast, you can access that with this link. The Ryeland fiber was purchased from Marie Redding fiber on Etsy.

YST is going live stream on Twitch TV

July 07, 2020 22:01 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MB

So much behind that title!  I am not stopping the audio podcast.  I am moving forward on the wave of technology and taking my concept for YST with it.  I have set up a channel on TwitchTV You can find me under the same name as the podcast, yarnspinnerstales. I plan to live stream twice a week and during those videos you can join me, chat by typing, watch in the video what I am working on (and have been trying to explain with words for 12 years in the podcast!) ask me questions,tell me wh...

YST Episode 176 White face Woodland breed review

July 02, 2020 18:58 - 20 minutes - 24.1 MB

The breed White Face Woodland was studied by the 52 weeks of sheep group on week 14.  Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain a sample of this fiber yet.  But this breed is not new to me, I reviewed it way back on Feb15 2014.  It is Episode 104 and I encourage you to hit the link and listen to it again. The picture I show with this podcast are the tiny skeins I did during that first study.  The fiber came from Hilltop Cloud. In the second part of this podcast I talk about doing a virtual ...

YST Episode 175 Shropshire Breed review

July 02, 2020 18:42 - 35 minutes - 42.6 MB

This breed review, second of the three I did at the same time, covers the Shropshire breed, another Down breed from the British Isles.   I had two sources of the fiber.  The first, a small sample, came from Wychwood Spinner.  The second was from Marie Redding Fiber Arts Etsy store.  The samples were completely different, so I combined them into one yarn, a tail spun yarn to display the lovely long locks in the Marie Redding sample. I mention the book The Spinners Book of Yarn Designs, a...

YST Episode 174 Oxford Down breed review

July 02, 2020 18:22 - 18 minutes - 22.5 MB

For this month, I am releasing three shorter podcasts, all reviewing sheep breeds.  These do not ave to be listened to in any specific order, it was just how I recorded and edited these. The sample I used to review the fiber was part of a Down Breed study from Wychwood Spinner. I also refer to the book The Fleece and Fiber Source Book by Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson. This breed was studied by the group 52 weeks of sheep on week 12.

YST Episode 173 Gulf Coast Native Breed Review

June 19, 2020 13:08 - 41 minutes - 50 MB

The sheep breed for this podcast was new to me, after all my years of reviewing.  The Gulf Coast Native was raised long ago for it's tolerance to the conditions of the deep US south regions.  But it lost it's favored position, and is now on the critical list of sheep breeds.  The group 52 weeks of sheep included it this year in it's list to study.  I purchased my fiber sample from Herie7 in  the Etsy store. I also spend some time talking about washing fleeces that are very dirty.  Beside t...

YST Episode 172 Black Welsh and White Welsh fiber

May 16, 2020 18:33 - 41 minutes - 49.7 MB

This podcast is a review of spinning the fibers from two Welsh sheep breeds.  The Black Welsh Mountain is commonly known in the US, but it considered a conservation breed, due to it's small number of animals.  The Welsh mountain sheep is white, and not raised much in the US.  I had reviewed the BWM breed in several previous podcasts, so I will provide links to those. Episode 62 is a review of the breed's fiber Episode 64 is an interview with a BWM breeder Oogie McGuire.  Her ranch is ...

YST Episode 171 East Fresian Sheep fiber review

May 01, 2020 17:20 - 21 minutes - 26.6 MB

This is another short breed review podcast.  The East Fresian fiber I spun was a lovely brown color and very easy to spin in roving. There is a short information portion included at the end for a breed of hair sheep called Barbados Blackbelly.  Unfortunately I have not been able to get a fiber sample yet for this Shave 'Em to Save 'Em passport breed.  But the group 52 weeks of sheep had it on the list for week 8, which is part of this podcast timing.  If I ever have the chance to spin some...

YST Episode 170 Cheviot Breed Review

April 25, 2020 17:16 - 26 minutes - 32.4 MB

This is the first of a series of sheep breed fleece reviews.  Today's episode is about the Cheviot sheep.  I was able to spin sample from two different families of this sheep, the Classic Cheviot from the US farm Yucca Farm.  I was not able to find a web link for them on Google. The Brecknock Hill Cheviot sample came from Wychwood Spinner. It was part of a Welsh Experience sampler pack. I previously reviewed this breed in Episode 8 of this podcast, if you would like to listen to that als...

YST Episode 169 Shave 'Em to Save 'Em

March 26, 2020 01:25 - 45 minutes - 47.8 MB

Today's podcast includes an interview with Deborah Niemann, who has the wonderful job of working for the Livestock Conservancy organization.  In our interview, she shares all the details of the next two year program to introduce spinners and fiber artists to the 22 rare and recovering breeds of sheep through the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em program.  I recently got the passport that is used to record whenever you use a fiber from one of these breeds and will be talking about working with these fibe...

YST Episode 168 Bleu du Maine and Charollais sheep breed

February 29, 2020 22:34 - 58 minutes - 83 MB

One of my year long projects is being a part of the FaceBook group called 52 Weeks of Sheep.  Each week we study a different breed of fiber producing animals, mostly sheep.  In this podcast I talk about the last month of those studies, and go into detail on two new to me breeds.  Both are French in origin, the Bleu du Maine and the Charollais.  One thing I failed to mention in the podcast was after spinning the Charollais fiber, I used for the first time a small sampler loom.  It is a fun wa...

YST Episode 167 A Year of Perfect Vision

January 23, 2020 02:28 - 45 minutes - 64.2 MB

Happy New Year! 2020 oh my.  I start out this podcast with a yarnspinnerstales, about seeing life with perfect vision. And speaking of new, Santa brought a brand new mic set up for the YST studio.  It meant a new learning curve, and I think the sound will improve more as I work with it, but all in all I am happy with it. Over the next two years, I am going to revisit and redo my rare breed sample files.  It has always been a passion of mine to find and spin as many breeds of sheep as I c...

Episode list

January 05, 2020 18:24

When you go to my web page yarnspinnerstales.com there is a drop down box in the upper right of the page.  In that, you can find archives.  You will need to know the date of the podcast you want to find, then in those archives, go to that year and month.  In that area you will find the specific podcast you are looking for.  Use this list below, to know the podcast title, general information and the date. Epi # Topic Date 1 Using Combs/Shetland 10/28/07 2 Spin In General Chatter 11/13/07...

YST Episode 166 Book Review

November 18, 2019 23:39 - 36 minutes - 43.6 MB

The book Spinning Wool beyond the Basics is by Anne Field.  This podcast is a review of the book. There are two editions of this book.  The first, published in 2010 by Trafalgar Square Publishing is shown here on Ebay.  Google book link is here. The second edition was published by A & C Black Publishers.  It seems to be the same book and information, although I have not seen an actual copy of the book yet.  It is shown in this link at Alibris. I talk about her differentiating between...

YST Episode 165 Herding the Stash

November 03, 2019 01:41 - 51 minutes - 76.9 MB

This podcast continues from episode 164, for Oct 2019.  I talk about a few problems I had to solve during the Spin Together, with my wheel and spinning.  The strange title of this podcast. is all about a major reorganization I did of my fiber. The 100 year shawl along I mention, can be found as a group on Facebook.  That is also true of the other group I am in called 52 Weeks of Sheep. One of the breeds this group recently studied was Babydoll Southdown, and I talk some in the podcast ...

YST Episode 164 Oct 2019 part 1

October 29, 2019 02:58 - 53 minutes - 64.7 MB

So much happening on the spinning front for me this month, that I needed two podcasts to talk about it all.  So this is the first one, and Episode 165 will continue with more spinning goodness. As promised, some links to people mentioned in the podcast: A lovely squishy package arrived at my house one day full of Baby Doll South down fiber.  It was processed and mixed with lovely mohair and a tiny bit of nylon.  The ewe's name is Lily and was white.  The ram's name is Ray, and is a lovel...

YST Episode 163 A review of the video World Spinning Techniques

September 19, 2019 00:31 - 50 minutes - 63.6 MB

This podcast is very different and so you have a choice. There is a library based video website called Kanopy.  I found a very interesting video on spinning throughout the world.  I wanted other spinners to see it too, but they may not have access unless their library card (and their library system) grants access to Kanopy.  The reason I do not include a link here, is because it is best to access it from your library's website.   So first, if you have a current library card,go to their w...

YST Episode 162 TdF2019 part 2

August 25, 2019 00:42 - 1 hour - 99.3 MB

I was able to do so much during this Tour de Fleece, it took two podcasts to tell you all about it.  See the previous podcast for part one of this two part series. The first fiber I talk about spinning is called Fake Cashmere, due to it softness.  It is however, 100% nylon.  I bought my fiber from a dyer whose business is Jazz Turtle.   It seems most people like to spin this fiber blended with other fibers, but I enjoyed spinning it on it's own.  Another source for the fiber is Paradise...

YST Episode 161 TdF 2019 part 1

July 29, 2019 02:42 - 59 minutes - 73.2 MB

This is the first of a two part podcast, because I had so many projects to tell you about for the Tour de Fleece. In this podcast I talk about spinning cotton sliver on the Majacraft Aura, not a very traditional way to spin cotton.  My challenge day project was finally achieving those beautiful tight rolags on my blending board. I also completed two skeins.  The first was a dyed polworth from Yarn Hollow The second skein was a gray Horned Dorset fiber, which I got from Dyed in the Wool...

YST Episode 160 Spindle Spinning From Novice to Expert

July 02, 2019 22:55 - 28 minutes - 33.7 MB

Here is the first of the book review only podcasts I mentioned in a previous podcast.  After years of podcasting, I realized that the book reviews will be easier to find if in their own individual podcast. This podcast reviews the book Spindle Spinning from Novice to Expert by Connie Delaney.   Links to possible sources for this book can be found on Abe Books Also seen listed on Ebay here In both cases, the exact listings may no longer be available, but it serves for you to see the...

YST Episode 159 June 2019

June 17, 2019 14:43 - 46 minutes - 55.2 MB

It's that time of year, and the tents are up and the vendors hopeful as the cycle of yearly fiber fairs continue.  I mention in the podcast my 'blue sky' dream of hitting them nationwide some year.  A van full of fiber to sell, and be replaced by purchases, sounds just right! The photo for this podcast shows the Pegosa alpaca fiber I am currently spinning by the lock on my Roberta. There are lots of links for the podcast, for everyone that I mentioned, be sure to check out the webpages. ...

YST Episode 158 May 2019

May 15, 2019 13:15 - 54 minutes - 66.4 MB

I realize that is an unusual subtitle for a postcast.  I recently had a total knee replacement surgery, and for the first 15 minutes or so of this podcast, I do talk about how the healing process delayed my spinning and fiber work for several weeks. But once the spinning wheels got going again, I had two WIP to talk about, the Pegosa alpaca project was continued and I finished spinning two fibers I had used for a project back in Sept. a babydoll Southdown and a Polworth. As promised I di...

YST Episode 157 The Pegosa Project

March 18, 2019 18:51 - 56 minutes - 69 MB

It's official!  I have joined the ranks of retirees.  Now it is time to 'spend' my stash, or as I have decided to call it, my retirement 'fund'. We start this with a very large blanket of alpaca fiber from an alpaca named Pegosa.  The first pound is washed, but not completely processed as I am using it to test various processing methods.  This podcast talks about combing with handheld combs, and the yarn that I spun from that top. Needless to say there will be plenty more to podcast abou...

YST Episode 156 Drafting

January 08, 2019 00:46 - 51 minutes - 62.6 MB

Happy New Year!  It is always full of thoughts and plans for the spinning projects ahead.  In today's podcast I talk about maintaining watch on the drafting zone to make your yarn more intentional. Watching the drafting zone will help you break out of making the same WPI yarn all the time to making art yarns that feature thick and thin singles.  All of this is the topic of this podcast. I have done previous podcasts on drafting if you care to find those and listen to them.  Just click on t...

YST Episode 155 Stitches Midwest

October 09, 2018 14:11 - 53 minutes - 64.8 MB

Links to vendors mentioned in the podcast: Stitches events in general Atlanta Ga event May 30-June 2 2019 Stitches United is on that page too. Youghiogheny Yarns Keri Fosbrink dyer Fiberlady bamboo fiber Buffalo Wool Co Buffalo wool yarn and fiber Franklin Habit Shirsty Cat Designs Merino silk fiber 2 Guys Yarn Company Soak Flatter spray Lost City knits Denise Bell  Applecross Highland shawl Ravelry pattern Knitted Knockers knitbahpurl Stevenbe Vintage Lace book ...

YST Episode 154

September 04, 2018 02:02 - 32 minutes - 40 MB

In this discussion of what I did during the 2018 Tour de Fleece, I talk about the wool breed Zwartbles, spinning buffalo fiber on a drop spindle and finally a very rare breed of wool, Dor Galen. The buffalo fiber was included in the Clouds of Luxury from the Etsy store Sericin The Dor Galen fiber was purchased at a fiber festival several years ago from Sandy Ferguson's Dyed in the Wool    Dor Galen is no longer available, the horned dorset at the bottom of the above linked page is prob...

YST Episode 153 TdF2018 Part 1

August 18, 2018 03:36 - 40 minutes - 48.9 MB

My favorite time of the spinning year, the Tour de Fleece event.  As promised, here is the review of what I spun this year. This is part one of the two part podcast. A few links.  To see photos of all of the lovely fibers and yarns I talked about, go to my group in Ravelry, yarnspinners spin in and look at the TdF2018 thread in the discussions.  You must be signed into Ravelry for the link to work. Links to the fiber artists whose fiber I spun and talked about are: A Star is Shorn  ...

YST Episode 152

July 05, 2018 03:01 - 41 minutes - 50.3 MB

When I find that a podcast has no specific topic, but many different stories, I call them a spin-in.  I also likened this to writing you a letter, dear listener! But mostly it feels like when we gather together with our spinning wheels and spin and talk.  One never really knows what the conversations will be. I catch you up on my recent projects, spinning and otherwise, tell you about a few things I read online, rant a bit about books and bookcases, and end with the promise of lots of spin...

Updated Episode Listing

June 28, 2018 23:11

Epi # Topic                                Date 1 Using Combs/Shetland              10/28/07 2 Spin In General Chatter            11/13/07 3 Raising Angora Rabbits             12/01/07 4 Christmas music only                12/16/07 5 Spinning Angora                       01/18/08 6 Border Leicester and BFL           02/02/08 7 Skirting a Shetland Fleece         02/16/08 8 Cheviot and Corriedale              03/02/08 9 Washing a fleece                      04/02/08 10 Finn and Pere...

YST Episode 151

April 20, 2018 15:14 - 39 minutes - 47.3 MB

Ahhh, tis the season of freshly shorn fleeces.  But what if your cupboard is already full?   If you have an answer, come to the Ravelry group and search for Yanrspinnerstales spin in.  Join us there for the conversation. A nice solution to at least organizing your fleece project is The Spinners Journal, a daily spinning book I created to sell.  Your purchase supports the archiving of my past podcasts.  Thank-You!  

YST Episode 150 Ravellenics 2018

March 22, 2018 15:49 - 52 minutes - 62.5 MB

Ravellenics, for those that haven't heard the term, is an event hosted on Ravelry during the Olympics.  There are events you can enter projects, and win digital medals.  The rules state you start at the opening ceremony and finish by the closing ceremony. I have done this many years now, every two years. Most years I do a spinning project, but the last two times I have done knitting projects with hand spun yarn. This podcast talks about three of this years projects for Ravellenics, two c...

YST Episode 149 Ten Years of Podcasting

January 25, 2018 19:05 - 1 hour - 83.3 MB

It's true, I have been podcasting for 10 years now! In the first part of today's podcast, I review the book The Weaving,Spinning and Dyeing book by Rachel Brown. In the second part I give a little bit of the download statistics for the podcast, some listener's comments about spinning in their lives over the last 10 years, and my favorite and least favorite parts of spinning. I was able to include music with this podcast, thanks for the website Free Music Archive. They have an archive ...

In top twenty spinning podcasts!

January 11, 2018 00:04

Who knew there were so many spinning podcasts!  I have the pleasure of being listed number 9.  

Books

First Things First
1 Episode

Twitter Mentions

@yarnspinners_g 2 Episodes