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kimmckenna

The gist of grist

I was recently asked if I could share how I maintain grist, a consistent thickness in my handspun. First, I think it is important for me to stress that my spinning does contain inconsistencies but those inconsistencies are not nearly as noticeable once turned into woven or knitted fabric. Here… Read More »The gist of grist

Workshops for 2025

The slate of workshops and lectures for 2025 are updated and can be found under the Workshops tab. Topics include: “Eri, The silk with humble beginnings”, creating wool/silk blends, handspun from handpainted eri and tussah silk, how to use value keys as a tool for fibre preparation and plying, different… Read More »Workshops for 2025

Floating Selvedge

One of my piques, when working with floating selvedges and a 2-ply wet spun line linen on a recent project was that the floating selvedge thread twirled around as it dangled off the back beam. This undid the ply twist and without the ply twist the linen was more susceptible… Read More »Floating Selvedge

Eri Silk, Part III

As mentioned in Part II, my hands get quite warm and sometimes moist when I spin silk. Not a good combination at all. As the silk starts to stick to my hands, the fibre source becomes disheveled causing the fibre to draft poorly. Several years ago, I decided to see… Read More »Eri Silk, Part III

Eri Silk, Part II

HYDRATING ERI SLIVER The night prior to preparing rolags, I place a length of sliver in a baggie along with a damp cotton ball, which has been gently squeezed to prevent dripping. After tucking the damp cotton ball into a corner of the baggie away from the sliver, the baggie is… Read More »Eri Silk, Part II

Eri Silk, Part I

The handspun textural accents in this scarf were spindle spun from hand-painted eri sliver.  The fibre preparation had a silky soft hand and a satiny sheen. Quite a contrast to my first experience spinning eri fibre from India in the early 1980’s. At that time, the traditional degumming process subjected… Read More »Eri Silk, Part I

NØSTEPINNE

I recently purchased a new nøstepinne designed and turned by woodturner, Ed Pretty. The nøstepinne is both exquisite and thoughtfully designed. Here are a few answers to some questions you may have. WHAT is a Nøstepinne? A nøstepinne is a tool used to wind yarn into a center-pull ball. Unlike… Read More »NØSTEPINNE