Today’s video is a simple, quick one about my default method of washing yarn. There’s always more than one way to do it, but here’s a good basic way that will work for pretty much any yarn out there.

Years ago, I did a static-image blog post about how to use a half-hitch on a low whorl spindle. Thing is, I did it really quick, after finishing up a dye day, and I was never happy with it for a million reasons, not least among them that my fingertips were stained from dye. What’s […]

Abby’s Spinning Gift Guide 2014 Do you have a spinner in your life for whom you’d like to buy a gift, but you aren’t sure what he or she would like? I’ve pulled together a list of some favourite items in various price ranges to help, followed by a few tips on shopping for spinners […]

In retrospect, as recovery starts to happen, I think maybe the t-shirts should have read I SURVIVED SOCK SUMMIT 2009 or maybe SOCK SUMMIT ATE MY BRAIN or something along those lines. Pulling photos off the camera, it looks like I…. hardly took any. Which, when I think back, isn’t that surprising. I managed to […]

I have officially lost all track of time. In the past 5 minutes, or else perhaps it’s 5 years, the manchild finished school for the year, started summer day camp at the local YMCA, I got my copy of Amy King’s new book Spin Control, I went to Colorado to work on an exciting new […]

There’s a lot to say about filling up a spindle. I often hear from folks who have been told that a big problem with spindles is that you just can’t put a lot of yarn on them, and that’s one of the reasons why wheels win out. The thing is, it isn’t true. Flyer wheels […]

Wow, I want to thank you all for the terrific responses to the question about spinning standing up vs. sitting down! I would urge anybody who hasn’t to read the comments — there’s some fantastic food for though there. Here’s why I asked: over the past few months, I’ve heard lots of people say lots […]

I’m hearing two questions asked a lot lately, and I’m intrigued about them, so I figure it’s time to Ask The Blog. Are you ready? Okay, the first question is: “Can you spin with a spindle while you’re standing up?” and the second one is: “Can you spin with a spindle while you’re sitting down?” […]

A couple of years ago I made a video called Drop Spindle Basics to demonstrate, well, the basics — the most elementary parts of spinning. Since it’s been up, I’ve gotten all kinds of feedback on that video, ranging from “THIS IS AN AMAZING VIDEO. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with the […]

UPDATED 17 July 2017! I originally wrote this in 2008, but have updated it annually ever since. At this time of year, we seem to always have a huge crop of new spinners and would-be spinners looking for information about getting started. So I thought I’d take a morning and pull together an overall post […]