Yarnspinners Tales's Podcast

Latest Episodes:

YST Episode 175 Shropshire Breed review Jul 02, 2020

Show notes

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, as a source for one way to make tail spun yarn.

Another method for tail spinning can be seen on this You Tube video.

YST Episode 174 Oxford Down breed review Jul 02, 2020

Show notes

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 Jun 19, 2020

Show notes

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 the dish detergent Dawn which is readily available, I review Namaste Farms washing products from Natalie Redding. It is available from the Woolery here.

YST Episode 172 Black Welsh and White Welsh fiber May 16, 2020

Show notes

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 call Desert Weyr and she is still selling the BWM fiber and yarns and is now part of the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em program.

Because of my participation in the fleece study group 52 Weeks of Sheep, I discovered the other Welsh Mountain sheep, with white fleece. I got a sampling of UK fiber for both the BWM and the Welsh Mountain from Wychwood Spinner and talk about both in the podcast. The fleece of Welsh mountain that I purchased at a fiber fair is unfortunately unidentified as to the vendor so I can not give a link to that at this time.

YST Episode 171 East Fresian Sheep fiber review May 01, 2020

Show notes

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 of the fiber, I will review it again.

YST Episode 170 Cheviot Breed Review Apr 25, 2020

Show notes

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 also.

YST Episode 169 Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

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 fibers in future pod casts.

Here are some of the links for this podcast:

Livestock Conservancy

SESE program

Teaching videos for sheep breeders of rare wools

Woolhalla Tunis a provider of SESE breeds fiber

Incredible Edible use of waste fleece for mulching

Finally I will be renewing my efforts to remind my listeners about the Spinners' Journal I have for sale, by periodical posting a promo pod cast. If you are interested now, you can find it on Lulu.com here

YST Episode 168 Bleu du Maine and Charollais sheep breed Feb 29, 2020

Show notes

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 way to sample texture or colors one would see if the yarns are to be used weaving. It's final product size is a perfect mug rug.

My fiber that I used to spin these breeds came from Wychwood Spinner.

Another breed was the BFL. The photo shows a Blue Faced Leicester skein I spun from top purchased from Hilltop Cloud.

The group also studied Cheviot. I did a breed review in Episode 8, if you want to listen to it again. Likewise Episode 45 is my previous review of the breed Coopworth. I was not able to obtain any of this fiber yet to add to this review.

I visited the yarn store in Nashville Ind, called The Clay Purl. There is a knit night there on Tuesday evenings, and it was lovely to meet the knitters and sit and listen and join the conversation. The shop is full of lovely yarn and some dyed fibers for spinning. I purchased a merino braid dyed by Bean Blossom Fibers.

YST Episode 167 A Year of Perfect Vision Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

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 can. I have found a group on Face Book called 52 weeks of sheep who have the same passion. Each week there is a new breed to study and hopefully have fiber to spin. This week's breed was one I had never heard about, Bleu de Maine. I love the blue black faces of these sheep and have included the photo for this podcast.

Here's the links promised in the podcast:

The designer of the mystery shawl I am currently knitting with my handspun is Lyrical Knits.

The yarn I am using was an experiment to dye the tertiary colors. I talk about it in episode 51.

The Shave Em to Save Em program and other good information about rare breeds conservation programs can be found on the livestock conservancy web page.

And the source I found on Etsy for samples of a few of what I will be spinning with the 52 Weeks of Sheep face book group is WychWood Spinner.

Finally the fiber I am spinning currently is a dyed Blue Face Leicester from A Star is Shorn.

Episode list Jan 05, 2020

Show notes

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 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 Perendale 04/22/08 11 Book reviews 05/09/08 12 Cotton Dyeing part 1 Chemical 05/30/08 13 Cotton dyeing part 2 Natural 06/01/08 14 Cormo and Montadale 06/20/08 15 Cotton prep and spinning 07/08/08 16 Romney and Targhee 07/31/08 17 Andean Ply, Fleece Picking 08/17/08 Spinning Bulky yarn 18 CVM and Maine Island Sheep 09/01/08 19 Wheels and how they work 09/16/08 20 Navajo Churro and Jacob 09/30/08 21 Felting a fleece, faking pelts 10/27/08 22 Alpaca 10/31/08 23 Drop Spindles 12/20/08 24 Spinning and Dyeing Silk 01/25/09 25 Cashgora 01/31/09 26 Woolen vs Worsted spinning 02/15/09 27 Tunis and Karakul 03/14/09 28 Dyeing wool Discolored fleece 03/30/09 29 Spaelsau and Icelandic 04/23/09 30 Plying 04/30/09 31 Bamboo and tencel 05/16/09 32 Silk, Soy and Milk fibers 06/01/09 33 Dog hair,Spinning DesignerYarn 06/22/09 Review of Intentional Spinner 34 Carding and Blending fibers 07/07/09 35 Angora rabbits and the heat 07/31/09 Washing alpaca fiber 36 Spinning with a Charkha 08/21/09 37 Southdown,Polworth 09/13/09 Setting up a wheel to spin 38 Selecting a wool fleece 10/10/09 39 Selecting non wool fiber,storing fiber An original ghost story 10/24/09 40 Spinning for a specific yarn 11/21/09 41 Discussing grist 11/29/09 42 Changing yarn size by adjusting 12/18/09 tension 43 Spinners block unlocking creative 01/20/10 juices 44 Fiber Fairs 04/05/10 45 Coopworth and Polypay 04/18/10 46 Spinning tools 05/08/10 47 Natural Dyeing book reviews 05/31/10 48 Planning a dye day 06/22/10 49 Carbonized bamboo TdF 07/12/10 history of wheels I own 50 Saran Wrap dyeing 08/14/10 51 Dyeing for specific colors 08/28/10 tertiary color study 52 Natural dyeing with walnut leaves 09/28/10 53 Front porch spinning Creativity 10/23/10 54 Color Theory with digitaldurga 11/10/10 55 Color Theory part 2 11/10/10 56 Blending the Tertiary colors 01/10/11 57 Blending Hackle 01/29/11 58 Types of Fiber combs 02/14/11 59 Washing and combing 5 breeds 02/28/11 60 Spinners' single study 04/07/11 Forsyth product review 61 A new Wheel Majacraft Aura 05/07011 62 Black Welsh Mountain Clun Forest 05/17/11 63 Lock and fold spinning 06/02/11 64 Oogie McGuire interview BWM breed 07/22/11 65 A podcast for knitters who want to 08/20/11 become spinners 66 Learning the Aura and beaded yarn 08/21/11 67 Spinning Woolen 10/05/11 Special Episode Happy fourth Year YST 10/15/11 Promo podcast for The Spinners Journal 11/05/11 68 Interviews with two scholar spinners 11/16/11 69 Leicester longwool, lincoln longwool 01/07/12 spinning DVD review and Stitches East 70 Drum Carding projects 02/21/12 71 Digital Sheep 03/31/12 72 Support Spindles 04/28/12 73 Chatting with Fiber folks 05/26/12 74 Let the Spinning Begin 07/02/12 Tour de fleece 2012 75 The Wheel Keeps Spinning TdF12 07/05/12 76 Listen to your inner spinner TdF12 07/08/12 77 Is it rest day yet? TdF12 07/11/12 78 Two types of plying TdF12 07/15/12 79 How the fiber speaks to me TdF12 07/18/12 80 Fractal spinning and finished yarn 08/02/12 81 The finish line TdF12 08/07/12 82 California Red and combing CVM 08/16/12 83 Ryeland and Salish 09/17/12 84 Positive Spin YST on Stash naming 10/05/12 85 Five year anniversary podcast 10/31/12 86 Katahdan review and porch spin in 12/10/12 87 A Fresh Start Review of 2012 spinning 12/31/12 88 Exchanges, an angora spinning 01/27/13 exchange 89 Thin, thinner, thinnest, a froghair 02/04/13 spinning exchange 90 Plying with commercial yarns 03/16/13 91 The more I teach, the more I learn 04/26/13 92 Chain plying (navajo plying) 05/31/12 93 Preparing for TdF 2013 06/25/13 94 TdF13 day 1 and 2 07/02/13 95 TdF13 days 3 thru 5 07/06/13 96 TdF13 days 6 thru 9 07/09/13 97 TdF13 traveling with baby 07/19/13 98 TdF13 final report 07/30/13 99 Book Review Hand Designs for 09/09/13 Spinners and Knitters 100 Finishing yarn 10/20/13 101 Machine Washing alpaca 01/11/14 102 Spinning alpaca 01/30/14 103 Norfolk Horn 02/11/14 104 White faced Woodland 02/14/14 105 Portland fiber 02/18/14 106 Ravellenic spinning 02/22/14 107 Manx Loaghton and Hill Radnor 03/16/14 108 Dyeing Alpaca 04/24/14 109 Greencastle Fiber event 06/02/14 110 Ky Sheep and Wool Festival 06/25/14 111 Preparing for TdF14 07/09/14 112 TdF14 Team Painted Tiger 07/16/14 113 TdF14 Team Majacraft 07/21/14 114 TdF14 Team Farm Fiber Marketplace 07/26/14 115 TdF14 Team Support Spindlers 07/31/14 116 TdF14 Final recap 08/10/14 117 A Wool Gathering Yellow Springs Ohio 10/04/14 118 Spinailla 2014 11/07/14 119 Fortutous fleeces 11/27/14 Interview with Digitaldurga 120 Roc Day 2015 01/07/15 121 Wool Wash review interview with 02/03/15 Natalie Redding 122 Review of Norman Kennedy's DVD 03/26/15 123 Alpaca in the dyepots 05/16/15 124 Spin In General Chatter 06/30/15 125 TdF15 part 1 07/15/15 126 TdF15 part 2 07/23/15 127 TdF15 final update 08/03/15 128 Washing handspun yarn 09/13/15 129 Spinzilla 2015 Ashford spinning quill 10/22/15 130 This, that and daydreams spin in chat 11/26/15 131 New Year, New spinning 01/07/16 132 A Hand spun hat and a mystery yarn 02/17/16 133 Review of Craftsy, and more knitting 03/30/16 with hand spun yarn 134 Fiber purchases, state fair prep and 06/15/16 Tdf spinning plans 135 Pre TdF and a swap 07/03/16 136 TdF16 podcast 1 08/01/16 137 TdF16 podcast 2 08/15/16 138 TdF16 podcast 3 08/27/16 139 Ravellenics 2016 and State Fair 09/27/16 140 Spinzilla and Natural Dye mordants 12/02/16 141 Spinning New Year's resolutions 02/02/17 Book review Yarn.i.tec.ture A Spinning Sabatical 03/10/17 142 Life Changes,Why Worry? 06/16/17 A conversation with my daughter 143 Counting Treadles for even plying 07/03/17 144 Dyeing with Lichens part 1 07/14/17 145 Dyeing with Lichens part 2 08/19/17 146 Spindle Crane review 10/01/17 147 Spinzilla 2017 Recap 11/02/17 148 Dyeing with Lichens part 3 11/21/17 149 Ten Years of Podcasting 01/25/18 150 Ravellenics 2018 03/28/18 151 Episode 151 Fiber Fairs 04/20/18 152 Episode 152 July 2018 Spin in 07/04/18 153 TdF 2018 part 1 08/17/18 154 TdF 2018 part 2 09/03/18 155 Stitches Midwest 2018 10/09/18 156 Drafting 01/08/19 157 The Pegosa Project Alpaca 03/18/19 158 Post Op Spinning 05/15/19 Book Review Creative Spinning Allison Dayker 159 Finally a Fiber Fair 06/17/19 160 Book review Spindle Spinning 07/02/19 161 TdF2019 part 1 07/28/19 162 TdF2019 part 2 08/24/19 163 Review of a spinning video 09/18/19 found on Kanopy through library 164 Oct 2019 part 1 10/28/19 165 Oct 2019 part 2 Herding the Stash 11/02/19 166 Book Review Anne Field 11/18/19 Beyond the Basics of Spinning

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Yarnspinners Tales’s Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected