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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I love finding a peaceful, historic place to spin and this particular historic place is Buildwas Abbey. Tucked away down a lane, not far from Telford and the Ironbridge Gorge museums, this free entry English Heritage property was the perfect place to fill a spindle. #distaffspinning #handspunyarn

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

It’s not often these days that I get the chance to do some spinning in costume, so I really enjoyed a day out filming at Cosmeston Medieval Village last week.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Last week was just too warm to do very much, but my neighbours six foot high fence provides some welcome shade in my garden. #handspinning #distaffspinning #handspunyarn

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I’ve been experimenting with bundle dyeing using natural dyes just recently. These are the four main colour ways I have come up with so far and, whilst I like them all, I think the autumnal browns and orange are my favourite. Which is yours? #naturaldyes #plantdyed #bundledyeing #handspunyarn

A skein of hand spun yarn lying on a silk scarf. Both the skein and scarf have been bundle dyed together using dyer’s chamomile and Saxon blue to give vivid shades of yellow, blue and green. The original white of both scarf and skein shows through in places.

A skein of hand spun yarn lying on a silk scarf. Both the skein and scarf have been bundle dyed together using dyer’s chamomile, sulphur cosmos and cochineal to give vivid shades of yellow, orange and red. The original white of both scarf and skein shows through in places.

A skein of hand spun yarn lying on a silk scarf. Both the skein and scarf have been bundle dyed together using dyer’s chamomile, sulphur cosmos and walnut hulls to give autumnal shades of yellow, orange and brown. The original white of both scarf and skein shows through in places.

A skein of hand spun yarn lying on a silk scarf. Both the skein and scarf have been bundle dyed together using logwood chips, cochineal and Saxon blue to give strong shades of purple, red and blue. The original white of both scarf and skein shows through in places.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Each time I have posted this video on other platforms the response has shown how useful people have found it. I teach face to face lessons in distaff spinning in the UK, but I know there are so many people, worldwide, interested in learning this technique and tutors are few. Hope this helps.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Is my hand spun yarn suitable for tablet weaving? Looks like the answer is yes. Three ply Romney yarn dyed with cochineal, genista tinctoria and Saxon blue. The pattern is a variation of the Oseberg band. #tabletweaving #cardweaving #handspun #plantdyed #textilecraft

A narrow woven band with a geometric pattern in red, blue and yellow is lying on a white background.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

This scarf has been on my knitting needles since last December. Knitting long, straight pieces has never held much enjoyment for me, so it did get neglected for long periods. Yarn is handspun cashmere at around 26 WPI. Glad to have it finished at last! #cashmere #handspun #handknitted

A hand knitted pale beige cashmere scarf is arranged on a dark red background. The scarf is knitted in a lace pattern which looks like vertical columns of leaves down its length.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

My current WIP is a granny square knee blanket. It started life as squares for a cardigan, but I think I will get more use out of a blanket, so here it is. All hand spun yarn, dyed with plant dyes many of which are from my garden. #grannysquares #crochet #handspun #plantdyed #homegrowncolour

Close up view of a crocheted granny square blanket showing the border being worked. The squares are each of three contrasting colours with a white border and each has been slip stitched to the next. A wooden crochet hook lies in the top right corner, inserted into a loop on the edge of the border, ready to make the next stitch. In the bottom right corner is a ball of caramel coloured yarn which the border is currently being worked with.

A close up view of a crocheted granny square blanket showing the squares being slip stitched together. Each square has three contrasting colours and a white border and most of the seams are completed, just the vertical seam on the right needs to be finished. A wooden crochet hook lies inserted into the work at the point the seam has reached and the ball of white yarn being used for the seam lies on the blanket.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

The sulphur cosmos have produced a bumper crop this summer. This hand spun Romney yarn takes the colour very well. The skein on the left is from 50% WOF of dried flowers, on the right is the exhaust colour. #plantdyed #handspun #sulphurcosmos #naturaldyes

A skein of hand spun yarn soaking in an orange dye bath.

Two hand spun skeins of yarn lying vertically side by side on a linen background. The left hand skein is a vibrant orange colour whilst the right hand skein appears a strong yellow.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

In the current hot weather it's a treat to find some shade outdoors and just sit and spin for a while. The wool on my distaff is hand combed Romney from Fernhill Fleece and Fibre. #distaffspinning #suspendedspinning #handspinning #wool #heritagecraft

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

The latest batch from the dye pot, all hand spun Romney yarn this time dyed with sulphur cosmos on the left, logwood in the centre and cochineal on the right. #handspun #handdyed #naturaldyes #plantdyes

Three small skeins of hand spun Romney yarn lying vertically side by side. The two on the left are a strong orange colour and the one on the right is a paler orange in colour.

Three skeins of hand spun Romney yarn lying vertically side by side. The far left skein is a dark, almost navy blue, the middle one is slightly paler and the one on the far right is a deep purple colour.

Two small skeins lying vertically side by side. The one on the left is a bright red in colour and the one on the right is a strong pink.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Three more hand spun Romney skeins, fresh from the dye pot. Left and centre are dyed with home grown madder, the skein on the right is dyed with Saxon Blue (sulphonated indigo). #handspunyarn #handdyed #plantdyed #naturaldye

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

After finishing spinning the first of four Romney fleeces, I have made a start on dyeing the skeins. This first batch is dyed with cochineal, logwood and home grown coreopsis. #handspun #romney #plantdyed #cochineal #logwood #coreopsis

Five skeins of hand spun Romney wool lying vertically side by side on an unbleached linen cloth. The skein on the far left is a strong pink, the next skein a deep pinky red, the middle skein is lavender blue the next is a darker blue and the far right skein is yellow.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

These are my finished skeins from #tourdefleece2025. Some were spun with distaff and spindle whilst on holiday, the rest were spun on my Schacht Matchless at home. Full details in alt text. #handspun #handspinning #wool #handspunyarn #heritagecraft

A collection of skeins of hand spun yarn in various sizes and colours.
Top left of picture, three large skeins of natural white Romney yarn spun on a spinning wheel.
Top right, three smaller skeins, a grey Romney, a black Romney Shetland and a white Portland spun with distaff and spindle.
Bottom left a skein of singles dyed in shades of blue and purple lying beside a smaller skein dyed with pinks and greens, both wheel spun.
Bottom right, six small breed study sample skeins, all distaff and spindle spun. The breeds are Clun Forest, Shropshire, Devon Closewool, British Milksheep, Teeswater and Dorset Down.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

My final spin of #tourdefleece2025 took place at Tretower Castle. I'm spinning Romney wool, using a distaff and medieval style spindle and a short suspension technique. #distaffspinning #handspinning #Romney #wool #heritagecraft

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Yesterday’s spin for #tourdefleece was a gorgeously squishy Romney fibre from Fernhill Fleece & Fibre. Spun on my Schacht Matchless. #romney #handspun #handspinning #wool

Picture shows a bobbin on a spinning wheel filled with a white 2ply yarn.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Whilst on holiday last week, I came across a walnut tree, a rare find here in the UK. We’d had a couple of windy nights and the ground was covered with immature walnuts, which I quickly scooped into a bag. Today I dyed a gradient set of hand spun mini skeins using the outer husks from the walnuts.

Five mini skeins of hand spun yarn lying vertically, side by side, on a grey background. The skeins are dyed in a gradient of warm brown tones with the darkest on the left and lightest on the right.

#handspun #walnut #plantdye #plantdyedyarn

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

Last week I was on holiday in Lincolnshire and, as usual, my distaff and spindle came with me. I found some lovely places to spin, but probably the best was in the Great Hall at Gainsborough Old Hall. The wool I am spinning is Portland, a British rare breed and one of my favourites. #handspinning

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

The French marigolds and coreopsis are flowering well in the garden and I have been picking and drying them for some time. I have just used up the remainder of last year’s marigold flowers and dyed one skein of Romney yarn and two of Portland, all hand spun. #plantdye #naturaldye #handspun

Three skeins of hand spun yarn lying vertically on a natural linen cloth. The right hand skein is a rich deep golden yellow and the other two are slightly paler.

A plastic box filled with freshly picked flower heads in bright oranges and yellows.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

My hand spun Icelandic socks are finally finished. They are a very warm, sturdy pair of socks and hopefully will prove to be hard wearing. #handknittedsocks #handspun #icelandic

A pair of feet wearing hand knitted socks in a pale grey hand spun yarn. The socks have an all over cabled rib pattern. The feet are resting on a blue checked hand woven blanket.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

It was a lovely afternoon for sitting in the sun, spinning, at Caldicot Castle. With children playing on the grass, jackdaws calling from the tops of the towers and the scent of roses filling the air. #distaffspinning #handspinning #caldicotcastle

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

This þel fibre, from the Icelandic fleece I have just spun, was so beautifully soft the temptation to face plant into it was huge! (Yes, I did, more than once.) #icelandic #handspinning #cardedfibre

Three rolled batts of soft white fibre lying side by side on a linen sheet.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

My latest spin, newly completed, is an Icelandic fleece from a sheep called Gústi who belongs to @becbriar.bsky.social

Ten skeins of hand spun yarn in shades of pale grey.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Two more sets of mini skeins in a gradient of colours. The yarn is hand spun Romney, the left hand set are dyed with cochineal and the right hand set, with onion skins. Each skein is approx 50m. #handspun #handdyed #plantdyed

Five small skeins of yarn are lined up vertically side by side, dyed in a gradient of pinks, from the dark pinky red on the left to the pale blush pink on the right.

Five small skeins of hand spun yarn lay vertically side by side. They are dyed in a gradient of golden yellow shades, with the darkest on the left and the palest on the right.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Demonstrating medieval style distaff spinning at The Spring Festival. #distaffspinning #handspinning #medieval

A woman is seated facing the camera, spinning wool with a distaff and spindle. She is dressed in 14th century clothes, wearing a long sleeved floor length red gown and a white linen veil and wimple.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

This coming weekend I will be demonstrating distaff spinning on the European Wool Association stand at the Spring Festival. I will have some of my hand spun, plant dyed yarns with me for sale. #distaffspinning #handspinning #springfestival #plantdyedyarn

Advertisement for the Spring Festival at the Royal Welsh Showground on Saturday and Sunday 17th and 28th May.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Last year I had too much Japanese indigo to use it all fresh, so I dried it for future use. Today I used it for the first time and was very pleased with the results on this mini skein set. #japaneseindigo #handspunyarn #plantdye #naturaldye

Five mini skeins of yarn are lying vertically side by side on an unbleached linen background. The skeins are dyed in a blue gradient, with the far left skein being the darkest blue and the far right being the palest.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Another set of gradient dyed mini skeins, this time dyed with cochineal. The yarn is hand spun Romney fibre. #handspun #handdyed #naturaldye

Five mini skeins of yarn lying side by side on a grey background. The skeins are dyed with cochineal to give a gradient of shades, from very pale pink on the left, to a dark red on the left.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Third set of hand spun Romney mini skeins. These are dyed with coreopsis tinctoria, grown in the garden last summer. #handspun #plantdyed #coreopsis

Five hand spun skeins lying vertically side by side on an unbleached background. The skeins are dyed in a gradient of colour with a very pale peach coloured skein on the left. The skeins get darker each time until the far right one is a deep pumpkin orange.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Second set of gradient dyed mini skeins. These hand spun Romney skeins are dyed with home grown madder, harvested last year.

Five skeins of yarn lying vertically side by side on an unbleached linen background. The hand spun skeins are dyed in a gradient of colours from home grown madder root. The far left skein is a pale salmon pink colour. Each skein gets gradually darker until the far right one is a deep rusty red.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

I’m using up the dried plant material from last summer to dye some gradient mini skeins of hand spun Romney yarn. This first set are dyed with weld (reseda luteola) #miniskeins #handspun #plantdye

Three skeins of hand spun yarn lie vertically, side by side. They are dyed in a yellow gradient with each skein being darker than the previous. The left hand skein is a very pale lemon yellow and the far right skein is a strong daffodil yellow. The skeins are dyed with the dried leaves and flowers of the weld (reseda luteola) plant.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Current project, separating the hair layer (tog) from the soft under coat (þel) of an Icelandic fleece. The tog will be combed and spun worsted for a strong, lustrous yarn. The þel will be carded and spun woollen, for a soft, warm yarn. #icelandic #handspinning

A small basket filled with long strands of coarse white hair from a dual coated Icelandic sheep fleece. The strands clump together at one end, in lustrous waves, while the other end is fluffed out, as a result of static electricity, into a white cloud of fibres.

A calico bag containing the soft, wool under coat of an Icelandic fleece, after separating from the hair layer in the previous photo. These fibres are short and very white and look like a fluffy cloud.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

I have a number of events coming up in the next couple of months where I will either be demonstrating or teaching distaff spinning. I will need plenty of fibre prepped, so I’ve made a start with combing these three fleeces. The white and grey are Romney and the black is Romney x Shetland.

Nests of white, black and grey combed wool fibre lie surrounded by unprocessed fleece in the same shades. A pair of wool combs lie on the fleece, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the picture.

#woolcombs #wool #fibreprep #colouredfleece #naturalcolour

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Second outdoor spin of the year at Fernhill Farm open day last Saturday. I'm spinning Portland fleece while the person off camera tells us about the blade shearing lesson which she has just done. #distaff #distaffspinning #handspinning #suspendedspinning

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

After the Fernhill Fibre farm open day on Saturday, I now have a small mountain of raw fleece to wash. 2 white Romney, 1 coloured Romney and a White Icelandic from @becbriar.bsky.social #rawfleece #wool #handspinning

A composite picture showing four raw sheep fleeces. Top left and bottom right are white Romney fleeces, top right is a grey Romney and bottom left is a white Icelandic fleece.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

First alfresco spin of the year at delightful Harvington Hall, an Elizabethan gem tucked away in the Worcestershire countryside. #distaffspinning #suspendedspinning #shortsuspensionspinning

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

I’ve had this Icelandic fleece for some time, so this weekend I have finally made a start on spinning it. I’ve separated the two layers of the fleece and started spinning the soft under coat. #distaffspinning #suspendedspinning #handspinning #icelandic

A distaff, dressed with white fibre tied with a red and white band, is lying diagonally on a linen cloth. Leaning against the distaff is a spindle, with an antler whorl, holding a small cop of spun yarn.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

First visit of the year to our local alpacas.

A cup of cappuccino coffee with an alpaca stencilled on the top.

Three dark brown/black alpacas in a field.

Two dark brown/black alpacas grazing in a field.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

This Portland fibre has been on my Oseberg distaff for some time. I use it at workshops to demonstrate spinning with a short distaff, but it’s beginning to look a little travel weary, so it needs to be finished off. #distaff #osebergdistaff #handdistaff #handspinning #shortsuspensionspinning

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Yesterday, while demonstrating distaff spinning for the Devon Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, I spun a total of 103m of yarn in 1hr 4mins. The fibre I spun was black Romney x Shetland from Fernhill Fleece & Fibre. #distaff #distaffspinning #handspinning #suspendedspinning #handspunyarn

A distaff, dressed with combed black wool fibre tied on with a red and white tablet woven band, is lying on a grey background. Beside it lies a spindle on which is a cop of black yarn, spun from the fibre on the distaff. The spindle has a small red deer antler whorl on its lower end.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

From packaging material to hand spun yarn to finished item. This Castlemilk Moorit fleece was too lovely to waste, so after it was used to keep my wool combs safe I spun it up and knitted myself a cowl! #handspunyarn #handspinning #handknitted

A hand knitted cowl in brown, hand spun yarn is lying on a neutral coloured background. The cowl has been blocked and the Falling Leaves stitch pattern stands out well.

The same cowl as in the previous photo, taken whilst knitting was in progress. The pattern looks lumpy and is hard to make out at this stage.

A spindle, filled with brown yarn, is lying on a background of unprocessed fleece. This is the hand spun yarn which will be used to knit the cowl in the first two photos.

An opened parcel containing a pair of wool combs and some brown fleece, which has been used to prevent the combs rattling around whilst in transit. The fleece was spun into yarn to make the cowl pictured previously.

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Reposted by A Distaff Spinner’s Diary

Wingham Wool Work @winghamwool.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Join us for all things weaving and spinning at our Ashford Demo Day at Wingham Wool, on the 22nd & 23rd April 🌟Live Demonstrations 🌟Meet the Ashford and Wingham teams 🌟Visit our new site 🌟Wheel and Loom Surgery For more information and booking visit www.winghamwoolwork.co.uk/ashford-days...

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Yesterday, while visiting Cotswold Farm Park, I hung my walking stick on the fence in order to have both hands free to video some pretty little Shetland sheep. It proved to be too tempting a sight for one of them.... #shetlandsheep

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Current project- making Something Useful from all the oddments from other projects! These headbands are all hand spun Romney Shetland fibre, either in natural colours or plant dyed. The blocking boards and pins, which I had for Christmas, are seeing plenty of use just now. #handspun #handknit #wool

Three hand knitted headbands are displayed in a vertical fan. The central one is knitted in a loop stitch in several shades of rusty red coloured yarn and off white contrast. The two bands either side are Fair Isle patterned in dark grey and gold on an off white background. The band on the right also has some rusty red colour in the pattern.

One of the Fair Isle pattern bands from the previous picture is pinned out to dry on a blue blocking board.

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

For anyone whose day needs brightening up…….

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A Distaff Spinner’s Diary @distaff-spinner.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

I could be making history here. Is this the first time Castlemilk Moorit fleece has been spun from an Eastern European style distaff with a French spindle? #distaff #distaffspinning #handspinning #suspendedspinning #shortsuspensionspinning #frenchspindle

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