The Art of Spinning

Spinning Art Handspinning 1 as Creative Expression by Tracy Hudson

he art of spinning novelty and art yarn has been around for some time, Tand many spinners have been aware of techniques like coiling, bouclé, and making tailspun yarn for years. However, with the growing popularity of handspinning, the opportunity to market handspun products online, and the increased presence of teachers and books, more spinners are using yarn as a form of expression. You could say more artists are turning to spinning as a medium, or you could say more spinners are turning to art; either way, 2 there are a lot of people spinning highly unusual and adventurous yarns.

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38 Spin.Off ■ spinoffmagazine.com I interviewed several spinners of this type, those who are constant- ly facing the “what are you going to do with that?” question and laugh- ing it off. For these spinners, yarn itself is art and spinning by itself is work (and play) enough. This work includes photographing and sharing the yarn, particularly online. The online fiber community of personal websites, blogs, and Ravelry.com is the perfect incubator for ideas and inspiration, where discus- 6 sions, challenges, and themes encourage the development of fiber innovation. song “Magic Carpet Ride”; a yarn titled alive and can capture what the spinner Ravelry is a massive online communi- Mermaniac, about swimming; Cam- wants it to capture. You can imbue the ty of knitters and crocheters, including el Salt Caravan, inspired by a Nation- fiber that you spin with energy in the thousands of spinners. Members post al Geographic short video documenting form of thoughts, emotions, and energy profiles and projects, organize stashes, salt mines in West Africa; and Boga, channeled for a certain purpose.” Cin- and share their work and ideas in vari- the giant reptile ridden by Obi-Wan dy Cole explains how all the energy of ous forums. Kenobi in Revenge of the Sith. Notably, her day translates into yarn in what she For example, the Fiber Friday group not a single entry in the transportation calls “a climactic and emotional expe- on Ravelry offers a theme each week, thread referred to a wheeled vehicle. rience that allows me to dump out all with topics ranging from the specific Why spin for themes and challeng- that whirrs around in my brain. I love (Wizard of Oz, Andy Warhol, Bjork) to es? Karen Barnaby says that the themes the process because it feels that as the the abstract (confusion, sleep, feminini- get the wheels turning in her mind, and fiber runs through my fingers, the stress ty). Responses to the theme of transpor- “once the wheels start turning, it’s hard and excitement of the day energize my tation show the range of interpretation to stop.” She gets excited about re- singles and allow them to take on the deployed by the spinners. They includ- creating the color and texture of an im- wild personalities they were destined to ed two magic carpets, one based on a age, as in the Ravelry Picto Create group have.” description of Solomon’s carpet of silk where a new photo is posted once a Naomi Ryono emphasizes the quali- and gold, the other on the Steppenwolf week. Velma Belchik finds the theme ty of her spinning experience, “I think challenges “very stimulating creative- because my spinning time is limited to 1. Cindy Cole’s yarn inspired by the musical ly” in that they “require that I think in only a few hours each day, if that, I pre- performer Bjork: “The yarn is spun from an entirely different way.” Can you spin fer to spin whatever I feel like at the incredible hand-dyed blue bamboo with a nebula? A tide pool? The sun over moment versus having to spin for a par- yellow silk, white Tencel, and viscose, and a desert? These themes challenge the ticular theme or topic. So when spin- a blended purple and blue Angelina fiber. spinners technically, intellectually, and ning an art yarn, most times I will pick Throughout this skein are lace crochet pieces aesthetically, as they attempt to incor- the fiber first. Then I’ll try to picture it and pink and blue green flowers.” 2. Naomi porate the mood of the image, the ar- spun different ways depending on the Ryono, one of her Squoosh Monsters, thick- chitecture and movement, in addition fiber content. What might it look like and-thin singles. 3. Karen Barnaby made this to color and shape. No matter the top- as a single? Wrapped? Plied?” Then she yarn in response to a photo of a stone cairn ic, each spinner takes a completely dif- enjoys herself, working with technique on a stony waterfront. It contains Merino, ferent approach, tapping into her own in response to the fiber. alpaca, and silk blended with natural Gotland and silk waste thrown in. 4. Linda Scharf says, resonance with the subject. Topics are For most of the spinners I inter- “Here’s what my horn was saying yesterday,” treated in depth, and often a finished viewed, spinning is not just something in response to the jazz theme. 5. Karen yarn will be accompanied by written they do, it is what they do. Fiber and Barnaby, detail from Magic Carpet Ride, spun reflections, a story, or Internet links to spinning are a part of their daily lives for the transportation theme. 6. Melissa videos or articles. and affect the way these artists view Ricks: “I spun a thick and thin singles, then Spinners of art yarn take inspiration the world. Karen Barnaby and Victoria ply-wrapped it with a bouclé around a third not only from external stimuli but also Smith independently said the same yarn, but made wrapped loops out of the from the process itself. Karen is fasci- thing: “If I’m not spinning, I’m thinking thick spots, which twisted down into the big nated by the potential of fiber. She ex- about spinning.” Velma, a self-described knots you see.” plains, “Yarn captures energy both “full-time fiber adventurer” who makes physically, and nonphysically. Fiber is her living through her yarns, describes

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7. Linda Scharf, detail. 8. Naomi Ryono how this has affected her life: “I see relaxed with locks after spinning a lot of 2-ply. everything around me as potential fod- 9. Laura Mayotte’s Camel Salt Caravan is der for art yarn, either literally—as raw 9 composed of a 3-ply yarn with Corriedale, material—or figuratively, as inspira- camel hair, camel down, strips of indigo cloth tion.” Victoria echoes this view, saying, and red cotton cloth, miscellaneous locks, “My mind sees a lot of the world as hemp twine, and felt salt tablets. The yarn is ‘spinnable’ and ‘not spinnable’ . . . the meant to portray the difficult life of working the salt mines, the endless desert, tying the more art yarn I spin, the more narrow salt tablets to the camels, hot large sun, the the second area becomes.” periodic stops at small oases/wells/trees for Cindy Cole and Linda Scharf take water and one of the oldest forms of trans- their fiber adventures further by writ- portation. 10. Naomi Ryono: “This yarn start- ing, teaching, researching, and begin- ed with a batt made by Daniela of Felt Studio. ning interesting ventures online. The I spun in some denim strips and some tussah main things Cindy and Linda seem to silk waste that I got from Mandie at Ewe Give have in common are boundless curi- me the Knits, and some novelty eyelash yarn. osity and the drive to pursue artistic Then I wrapped it with two different weaving interests to great length and depth. For- yarns and some silver beads.” 11. Linda tunately for the rest of us, they also love 10 Scharf spun this yarn based on the Japanese esoteric dance tradition of Butoh. The yarn to have company on the journey. Pro- itself was photographed in several different moting thoughtful dialogue is a hall- postures, as if moving through the dance. 12. mark of their activity, whether through Tracy Hudson, spindle-spun yarn inspired by images, words, music, or video, and all the Bollywood dance diva, Madhuri Dixit. of this feeds back into their fiber work. Cindy says, “The most inspiring part of spinning for me is that I can let it be an avenue for experience. What I mean is that I can watch a movie, see a paint- ing, smell something sweet, hear won- 11 derful music—and be able to translate,

by spinning yarn, what that experi- more we push each other to create new ence meant to me. It is a place mark- and truly original things. We build on er for that moment in my life.” In this each other and we shouldn’t be afraid way, nonspinning time is a harvesting to do that; it’s the way we get better and of ideas and images, thoughts that ac- push more boundaries.” This continual cumulate and wait for their chance at development and innovation within art- expression. In Linda’s words, “It’s like yarn spinning is in turn enriching and a good conversation is going on. I am preserving traditional spinning. In her in constant dialogue with fiber. It is book Intertwined, Lexi Boeger makes a teacher. I have asked certain ques- the important point that “adapting to tions and I keep asking more questions. the aesthetics of current popular culture Something whispers in my ear, I create will actually preserve traditional spin- in response to it, and I learn. Then ning as it opens up the craft to new ad- I have more questions.” vancements.” Linda Scharf also speaks Art yarn is not just about being free to the topic of continuity and respect and wild. Although the end result might for tradition, saying, “My home is filled 13 give that impression, the creative pro- with textiles because they called out cess involves discipline and a focus on to me. I feel that I am in constant 13. Cindy Cole, Spanish Shawl made of technique. There are several technique- communication with artists and others Merino, mohair, and felted beads and based challenges in the art-yarn groups who’ve preserved knowledge and arti- inspired by a photo of a nudibranch mollusk. on Ravelry. By learning new techniques, facts.” Working with fiber and sharing spinners expand their options for enjoy- among contemporaries is a way to en- ment and expression. Jacey Boggs’s in- gage with this history, and “by engag- where her home is progressively filling up with fiber structional Sit and Spin DVD has given ing, it seems we continue the dance, and handspun yarn. She posts liberally as Himalaya on Ravelry.com and sporadically on her blog, http:// renewed focus to the technical aspect keep it all vital so that the things that einesaite.blogspot.com. of art yarn. Her systematic approach have caused some arts to disappear emphasizes that art yarn must be well will not happen again.” z Resources crafted, possessing the structural in- Tracy Hudson, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, has Boeger, Lexi. Intertwined: The Art of Handspun Yarn, tegrity to pull off textural stunts. There been spindle spinning since 2005. Textile interests Modern Patterns, and Creative Spinning. Bever- have been many discussions among art have taken her to India, Thailand, and Hawaii, and ly, Massachusetts: Quarry Books, 2008. spinners about the necessity of learn- she continues to pursue freelance textile research Boggs, Jacey. Sit and Spin. DVD. Insubordiknit, ing proper spinning skills before tak- and collection. Currently she lives in Doha, Qatar, 2009. www.insubordiknit.com. ing off into crazy-land. As Karen said to an aspiring spinner online, “You need to practice the skills needed and to 14. Karen Barnaby, detail from I’m Not the Shy Little Alien You Thought You Married. free your mind so spontaneity can take over.” Thick and thin, corespinning, bouclé, stacks, add-ins, wrapping— all the variations on spinning form the vocabulary from which the poetry of art yarn is drawn. Velma notes that “the techniques are myriad and varied, and acquiring these skills takes considerable time and practice on top of mastering all the same skills needed to spin con- ventional yarns.” Jacey was asked why she would give away all the secrets of her trade in her DVD. She replies, “When we share all of our secrets, that’s when we start invent- ing new ones and the new generation of innovation starts.” She then elaborates, “The more people know, the more we share and learn from each other, the 14

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