knit | spin

Tuff Socks Naturally: Ryeland the Prep

Today’s post is one in a series called Tuff Socks Naturally, an open, collaborative project exploring more sustainable alternatives to superwash and nylon in sock yarn. You can join in on the discussion, share pics and projects on this blog or Local and Bespoke or on instagram using the hashtag #tuffsocksnaturally. In the last post we […]

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Tuff Socks Naturally Update

Compliments of the season to you all. Our Dear Girl made this card. This is my last post for 2017. Needle & Spindle will be having a wee rest over the Festive Season and probably most of the January school holidays too. Thank you for being such enthusiastic, loyal readers this year. I have cherished […]

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Tuff Socks Naturally: Second Sock

I wish I could spin and knit faster. There are so many things I want to try out for the Tuff Socks Naturally Project. This project is a collaborative project exploring durable, non nylon, non superwash alternatives to the standard sock yarns and fibres around at the moment. It is an open project, so please […]

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Tuff Socks Naturally Project: Introduction

My recent sock remaking project coalesced a number of thoughts for me around durability and sustainability, particularly of socks. Remade socks, legs are spindle spun from Jillybean, BLF braid, bottoms and cuffs are wheel spun from Corriedale x Ryeland x Finn fleece from Lucinvale Fleeces. Socks are such a humble item, trod on daily and […]

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Darn Sock

It is still slow and steady here at Needle and Spindle, so sock darning is about the right pace. After encountering this wonderful darning technique on Local and Bespoke, I found that a pair of my favourite socks were needing urgent repair. I found the same yarn in my mending yarn jar because although visible […]

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Slow Socks

This post is a bit of a cup-of-tea-and-a-lie-down after the strident excitement of the last couple of posts. A perfect time to show you a lately finished spinning and knitting project. These socks are slow socks, or more precisely, slooooooow socks. They took a long time to finish. They began their journey into becoming socks […]

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S(h)ock Confession

Several years ago, I decided I wasn’t going to buy any new socks. I was going to knit them. Apparently, I did not dedicate myself to that task at quite the rate required. I now find that I am the proud owner of 3 pairs of handknit socks in extremely high rotation, all now requiring […]

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A Strange Assortment

In the last wee while, I have made a peculiar assortment of things, even odder when I see them brought together now. Twenty seven high vis, Velcro armbands are now ready to help Our Dear Girl’s harried teachers keep track of a mob of excited preschoolers when out and about in the park. I am […]

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Laura and the Pirate Queen

Our Dear Girl was rather happy with her birthday.  She ate cake, played party games, thanked her guests politely for their lovely gifts and then posed uncooperatively for her mamma’s pics! One of her gifts this year was a Little House on the Prairie costume.  We all feel we know the Ingalls very well as […]

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Hill Dwellers

Socks for the Hill Dweller are done and what a pleasure they have been. They started with a Crazy Zauberball.  Doesn’t that sound exciting? It is from Germany (which breaks my rule of Australian only yarn when in Australia but I am having concerns about the ecological soundness of this rule which I will talk […]

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