April 11, 2025 • 14 mins
In this episode Sasha dives into what it takes to set herself up for a successful spin of 16 ounces or more. Sampling is a crucial part of the process; by letting herself start with experimentation and play, she figures out how to achieve both a fun spin and one that results in a yarn that she loves.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Sheepspot Podcast:You can find the script for this episode HERE.
You can comment on and discuss this episode here in The Flock, Sheepspot’s free online community for inquisitive spinners.
Here's the link to the Podcast search page and playlists.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:58):
How do you set yourself up for success when you're embarking on a big spin?
That's our topic for today.
Hello there, darling sheepspotter. Welcome to episode 149 of the Sheepspot Podcast.
I'm Sasha, and my job is to help you make more yarns you love.
In today's episode, I'm going to talk about what I do before I really settle
(01:22):
in to spin the singles for a project that's 16 ounces or more.
In particular, I'm going to focus
today on how I ensure that I have enough fiber to complete my project,
how I sample to ensure that I'm going to love the yarn I end up with,
and how I keep records of all my plans and schemes in order to ensure that my
(01:46):
yarn is as consistent as possible.
I've done a good number of big spins by now, and I've learned some things about how I relate to them.
One is that I just can't stay interested in a large project unless there is color involved.
Early in my spinning days, I spun quite a lot of sweater quantities from fleeces.
(02:09):
I enjoyed those spins and I learned a lot from them.
And one of the things I learned from them is that I cannot stay interested in
white or naturally colored fiber long enough to spin and knit a whole sweater.
It's just not going to happen.
I need color to keep me excited about a project.
(02:30):
The other thing that I've learned about myself, and I finally learned to work
with this rather than against it, is that I absolutely will get bored in the
middle of a big spin and want to spin something else.
And I've learned to just let myself work on whatever I want to work on in the moment.
(02:50):
So that means that I always have a bunch of different projects on the go.
And I used to think that my inability to stick with one project at a time was
like some kind of moral failing.
I've since learned that lots of makers, painters, for example,
deliberately set up their practice so that they're working on several different paintings at once.
(03:15):
That way, when you get stuck on one thing, you can go work on something else,
and often you'll learn something from the second painting that will help you
solve whatever's got you stuck in the first one.
And I think having multiple spinning projects on the go can work the same way.
The fact that big spins tend to take me a long time means that I've adjusted
(03:38):
my process over the years to accommodate that.
And I'll get to that in a little bit.
But my overarching piece of advice about any big spin is to know yourself,
to know how you like to work,
and to create a process that is really dialed in to the way that you want to work.
(03:59):
There is no right way to do this spinning thing other than the way that makes you happy.
So I urge you to pay attention to your preferred ways of working,
and build in anything that you need to remain happy throughout.
And I'll touch on how I do this in this episode.
(04:19):
So let's talk about sampling and then about ensuring that you have enough fiber
since those two things are related.
Whether you're spinning first and figuring out what to do with your yarn later,
or you want to spin for a particular purpose,
I recommend that you start by just sitting down at your wheel with some of the
(04:41):
fiber that you plan to use and just experiment with it. Just play with it.
You could do this in a super systematic way where you spin the fiber a bunch
of different ways and then ply and wash your samples and see which one you like best.
And I described this process in episodes 15 and 59 of the podcast,
(05:02):
so you might want to go back and listen to those.
Or you can just spin for a while until you hit on a spinning method that feels comfortable and easy.
Remember, you're going to spin a lot of this yarn, so prioritize fun.
And you also want to make sure that you're getting a yarn that you like.
(05:24):
Either way, ply the yarn, be sure to finish it, and make enough for a good size
swatch so that you can test out the yarn in fabric.
And, this is really important, be sure to save and label samples of both your
finished and your unfinished yarns.
Use what you learn in this process to evaluate the yarn.
(05:48):
If you like it and you enjoyed spinning it, and you're going to spin first and
plan what to do with it when it's finished, you may be ready to start spinning
your singles right away.
If not, make whatever adjustments you need and spin and ply another sample.
Again, finish it, swatch with it, save samples, and evaluate.
(06:10):
And you may need to do this a few times.
If you're spinning with a pattern in mind, there's something else that you need
to do in the sampling stage, and that is to knit a gauge swatch.
The result will tell you whether you need to tweak the yarn and sample again,
and you may have to do this more than once.
(06:31):
And my friend, my beloved sheep spotter, just suck it up and do it.
It will save you time in the long run, and more importantly,
it will prevent you from spinning and spinning and spinning and ending up with
something that you don't love.
At the end of your sampling and swatching process, you should have figured out a few crucial things.
(06:55):
How you can spin this fiber into a yarn you like that's fit for purpose and fun to make.
How to set up your wheel to spin that yarn.
The diameter of the singles you need to spin to achieve the plied yarn that
you want. and the amount of twist in your singles and your ply.
This may sound like a lot of work up front, and actually it is a lot of work,
(07:20):
but I absolutely love this part of the process.
If I let myself be guided always by what's fun and easy and just let myself
play around and collaborate with the fiber, I know I'll eventually get to a
yarn that I enjoy making and using.
And isn't that what this is all about?
(07:40):
Once I've done all my sampling and I've settled on the yarn I plan to spin,
I can use a finished sample skein of that yarn to determine how much fiber I'll
need to spin the yardage I need.
And that's either a ballpark amount, if I'm going to find a pattern later,
or a specific amount if I'm spinning for a pattern I've already chosen.
(08:04):
So here's how to do that.
Determine the length of your skein in yards.
And I describe how to do this both in episode 22 and in episode 95.
So you're going to determine accurately the length of your skein in yards.
Then you're going to weigh the skein in grams, and you're going to weigh it
(08:28):
in grams because it's a small unit of measurement, and it's going to be more
accurate than weighing in, say, ounces.
And then you're going to divide the length of your yarn in yards by the number of grams.
That will give you the length per gram and then you're going to multiply that
by 454, which is the number of grams in a pound.
(08:51):
This will give you the yards per pound of your yarn.
So let's say that you have a 20-yard sample skein that weighs 10 grams.
Your yards per gram would be two, and then you would multiply two by 454,
and your yards per pound would be 908.
(09:13):
So if you needed 800 yards for your sweater, that would mean that you'd need
around two pounds of fiber.
But this is really important, guys. Always,
always, always get some extra fiber so that you are sure that you are going
to have enough yardage for the project, plus any swatching that you need to do along the way.
(09:35):
Especially if you haven't chosen a pattern yet, because remember that you will
need to knit a good size swatch when the yarn is finished in order to determine your gauge.
Finally, let's talk about taking notes and keeping records through the process.
This is an example of a place where I've needed to build in that self-knowledge
(10:00):
I was talking about at the top of the episode, because I pretty much know that
I will abandon this big spin in the middle and then come back to it.
Because I know that, I've learned that I need to make really good notes when I get started.
And I do this in a few ways.
The first thing I do is that I fill out what I call a spinning record card. And this is.
(10:27):
Card that I've designed. I designed it a million years ago when I first started
spinning, and it's been through many different tweaks and iterations.
And I have this card printed out onto pieces of cardstock, and that's where
I record all the information about the spin.
(10:47):
So there's spaces for fiber information on one side and for spinning information on the reverse.
There are also places is where you can attach samples of your singles,
your unfinished plied yarn, and your finished plied yarn.
I offer these cards, or rather, I don't offer the cards.
I offer a PDF that you can download and either print and cut them yourself onto
(11:14):
cardstock, or you can have them printed and cut for you. I usually send them off to staples.
And so I'll put a link in the show notes to where you can find those in The Flock.
It's free and you can make as many copies as you need for your own use.
Just please don't share them.
(11:37):
So I fill out my spinning record card and I keep it with the fiber so that I can find it easily.
I also take a small manila shipping tag and I just cut slits on either side
and wrap a sample of my singles around the card.
(11:58):
I also put a plyback sample through the hole in the tag and I keep this in the
tool bag I hang from my wheel.
Every time I start spinning the singles after a break,
whether that break is 10 minutes to go fill my water bottle or 10 months,
(12:18):
which it sometimes is, I start by comparing the singles I'm spinning to the one on the tag.
And this helps me maintain consistent diameter throughout the spin.
And I like to just have this, I get.
You know, those tags are not big. So I like having a small little piece of card
(12:41):
with a sample attached to it right by my wheel so that I can consult it every
single time I sit down to spin for that project.
And then finally, I also create a page for the project in my spinning notebook
where I keep basic information about the project and I have room for longer notes.
(13:02):
There is some space on the spinning record cards for notes, but I sometimes
need more space, and this way it's there waiting for me if I need it.
The page is already created.
Once I've created my record card, my shipping tag, and my notebook page,
I'm ready to start spinning my singles, and next week's episode will be all about how I do that.
(13:27):
So how do you get started with the big spin? What are the steps you take to
set yourself up for success?
I would love to talk about it. Share your process in the dedicated discussion thread in the flock.
You may have discovered something in your practice that could really help someone
else in the community get unstuck or get up the courage to start their very first big spin.
(13:53):
There's a link to the discussion thread in the show notes, which you'll find
right inside your podcast app.
Just open up the description for this episode, click the link,
and you'll be taken right to the thread.
Darling Sheepspotter, that is it for me this week. Thank you so much for listening.
I will be back next week with more on Big Spins, and I look forward to talking to you then.
(14:18):
While you're waiting, spin something. I know, and I think you know, that it will do you good.
How do you set yourself up for success when you're embarking on a big spin?
That's our topic for today.
Hello there, darling sheepspotter. Welcome to episode 149 of the Sheepspot Podcast.
I'm Sasha, and my job is to help you make more yarns you love.
In today's episode, I'm going to talk about what I do before I really settle
(01:22):
in to spin the singles for a project that's 16 ounces or more.
In particular, I'm going to focus
today on how I ensure that I have enough fiber to complete my project,
how I sample to ensure that I'm going to love the yarn I end up with,
and how I keep records of all my plans and schemes in order to ensure that my
(01:46):
yarn is as consistent as possible.
I've done a good number of big spins by now, and I've learned some things about how I relate to them.
One is that I just can't stay interested in a large project unless there is color involved.
Early in my spinning days, I spun quite a lot of sweater quantities from fleeces.
(02:09):
I enjoyed those spins and I learned a lot from them.
And one of the things I learned from them is that I cannot stay interested in
white or naturally colored fiber long enough to spin and knit a whole sweater.
It's just not going to happen.
I need color to keep me excited about a project.
(02:30):
The other thing that I've learned about myself, and I finally learned to work
with this rather than against it, is that I absolutely will get bored in the
middle of a big spin and want to spin something else.
And I've learned to just let myself work on whatever I want to work on in the moment.
(02:50):
So that means that I always have a bunch of different projects on the go.
And I used to think that my inability to stick with one project at a time was
like some kind of moral failing.
I've since learned that lots of makers, painters, for example,
deliberately set up their practice so that they're working on several different paintings at once.
(03:15):
That way, when you get stuck on one thing, you can go work on something else,
and often you'll learn something from the second painting that will help you
solve whatever's got you stuck in the first one.
And I think having multiple spinning projects on the go can work the same way.
The fact that big spins tend to take me a long time means that I've adjusted
(03:38):
my process over the years to accommodate that.
And I'll get to that in a little bit.
But my overarching piece of advice about any big spin is to know yourself,
to know how you like to work,
and to create a process that is really dialed in to the way that you want to work.
(03:59):
There is no right way to do this spinning thing other than the way that makes you happy.
So I urge you to pay attention to your preferred ways of working,
and build in anything that you need to remain happy throughout.
And I'll touch on how I do this in this episode.
(04:19):
So let's talk about sampling and then about ensuring that you have enough fiber
since those two things are related.
Whether you're spinning first and figuring out what to do with your yarn later,
or you want to spin for a particular purpose,
I recommend that you start by just sitting down at your wheel with some of the
(04:41):
fiber that you plan to use and just experiment with it. Just play with it.
You could do this in a super systematic way where you spin the fiber a bunch
of different ways and then ply and wash your samples and see which one you like best.
And I described this process in episodes 15 and 59 of the podcast,
(05:02):
so you might want to go back and listen to those.
Or you can just spin for a while until you hit on a spinning method that feels comfortable and easy.
Remember, you're going to spin a lot of this yarn, so prioritize fun.
And you also want to make sure that you're getting a yarn that you like.
(05:24):
Either way, ply the yarn, be sure to finish it, and make enough for a good size
swatch so that you can test out the yarn in fabric.
And, this is really important, be sure to save and label samples of both your
finished and your unfinished yarns.
Use what you learn in this process to evaluate the yarn.
(05:48):
If you like it and you enjoyed spinning it, and you're going to spin first and
plan what to do with it when it's finished, you may be ready to start spinning
your singles right away.
If not, make whatever adjustments you need and spin and ply another sample.
Again, finish it, swatch with it, save samples, and evaluate.
(06:10):
And you may need to do this a few times.
If you're spinning with a pattern in mind, there's something else that you need
to do in the sampling stage, and that is to knit a gauge swatch.
The result will tell you whether you need to tweak the yarn and sample again,
and you may have to do this more than once.
(06:31):
And my friend, my beloved sheep spotter, just suck it up and do it.
It will save you time in the long run, and more importantly,
it will prevent you from spinning and spinning and spinning and ending up with
something that you don't love.
At the end of your sampling and swatching process, you should have figured out a few crucial things.
(06:55):
How you can spin this fiber into a yarn you like that's fit for purpose and fun to make.
How to set up your wheel to spin that yarn.
The diameter of the singles you need to spin to achieve the plied yarn that
you want. and the amount of twist in your singles and your ply.
This may sound like a lot of work up front, and actually it is a lot of work,
(07:20):
but I absolutely love this part of the process.
If I let myself be guided always by what's fun and easy and just let myself
play around and collaborate with the fiber, I know I'll eventually get to a
yarn that I enjoy making and using.
And isn't that what this is all about?
(07:40):
Once I've done all my sampling and I've settled on the yarn I plan to spin,
I can use a finished sample skein of that yarn to determine how much fiber I'll
need to spin the yardage I need.
And that's either a ballpark amount, if I'm going to find a pattern later,
or a specific amount if I'm spinning for a pattern I've already chosen.
(08:04):
So here's how to do that.
Determine the length of your skein in yards.
And I describe how to do this both in episode 22 and in episode 95.
So you're going to determine accurately the length of your skein in yards.
Then you're going to weigh the skein in grams, and you're going to weigh it
(08:28):
in grams because it's a small unit of measurement, and it's going to be more
accurate than weighing in, say, ounces.
And then you're going to divide the length of your yarn in yards by the number of grams.
That will give you the length per gram and then you're going to multiply that
by 454, which is the number of grams in a pound.
(08:51):
This will give you the yards per pound of your yarn.
So let's say that you have a 20-yard sample skein that weighs 10 grams.
Your yards per gram would be two, and then you would multiply two by 454,
and your yards per pound would be 908.
(09:13):
So if you needed 800 yards for your sweater, that would mean that you'd need
around two pounds of fiber.
But this is really important, guys. Always,
always, always get some extra fiber so that you are sure that you are going
to have enough yardage for the project, plus any swatching that you need to do along the way.
(09:35):
Especially if you haven't chosen a pattern yet, because remember that you will
need to knit a good size swatch when the yarn is finished in order to determine your gauge.
Finally, let's talk about taking notes and keeping records through the process.
This is an example of a place where I've needed to build in that self-knowledge
(10:00):
I was talking about at the top of the episode, because I pretty much know that
I will abandon this big spin in the middle and then come back to it.
Because I know that, I've learned that I need to make really good notes when I get started.
And I do this in a few ways.
The first thing I do is that I fill out what I call a spinning record card. And this is.
(10:27):
Card that I've designed. I designed it a million years ago when I first started
spinning, and it's been through many different tweaks and iterations.
And I have this card printed out onto pieces of cardstock, and that's where
I record all the information about the spin.
(10:47):
So there's spaces for fiber information on one side and for spinning information on the reverse.
There are also places is where you can attach samples of your singles,
your unfinished plied yarn, and your finished plied yarn.
I offer these cards, or rather, I don't offer the cards.
I offer a PDF that you can download and either print and cut them yourself onto
(11:14):
cardstock, or you can have them printed and cut for you. I usually send them off to staples.
And so I'll put a link in the show notes to where you can find those in The Flock.
It's free and you can make as many copies as you need for your own use.
Just please don't share them.
(11:37):
So I fill out my spinning record card and I keep it with the fiber so that I can find it easily.
I also take a small manila shipping tag and I just cut slits on either side
and wrap a sample of my singles around the card.
(11:58):
I also put a plyback sample through the hole in the tag and I keep this in the
tool bag I hang from my wheel.
Every time I start spinning the singles after a break,
whether that break is 10 minutes to go fill my water bottle or 10 months,
(12:18):
which it sometimes is, I start by comparing the singles I'm spinning to the one on the tag.
And this helps me maintain consistent diameter throughout the spin.
And I like to just have this, I get.
You know, those tags are not big. So I like having a small little piece of card
(12:41):
with a sample attached to it right by my wheel so that I can consult it every
single time I sit down to spin for that project.
And then finally, I also create a page for the project in my spinning notebook
where I keep basic information about the project and I have room for longer notes.
(13:02):
There is some space on the spinning record cards for notes, but I sometimes
need more space, and this way it's there waiting for me if I need it.
The page is already created.
Once I've created my record card, my shipping tag, and my notebook page,
I'm ready to start spinning my singles, and next week's episode will be all about how I do that.
(13:27):
So how do you get started with the big spin? What are the steps you take to
set yourself up for success?
I would love to talk about it. Share your process in the dedicated discussion thread in the flock.
You may have discovered something in your practice that could really help someone
else in the community get unstuck or get up the courage to start their very first big spin.
(13:53):
There's a link to the discussion thread in the show notes, which you'll find
right inside your podcast app.
Just open up the description for this episode, click the link,
and you'll be taken right to the thread.
Darling Sheepspotter, that is it for me this week. Thank you so much for listening.
I will be back next week with more on Big Spins, and I look forward to talking to you then.
(14:18):
While you're waiting, spin something. I know, and I think you know, that it will do you good.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com