Tunisian crochet is my jam! I love it. You can get metal and plastic hooks and the uber rare circulars in most sizes in metal and plastic from Herrchners for reasonable prices. Susan bates carries them and other suppliers as well.

here's a quick search: https://www.herrschners.com/category/herrschners/knit+and+crochet/crochet.do?c=5.100059.100896.100898&brand_name=Susan+Bates%26%23174%3B&pp=12&sortby=newArrivalsDescend&cx=0

I just saw some at Hobby Lobby a few days ago

thank you everyone for your suggestions.
Looks like I've got a bit of on-line searching to do.

GG

Just curious if there are many spinners here on AQ. I enjoy spinning on both wheel & spindle, and I love knitting with my hand spun yarn. Mostly I knit shawls and socks (with commercial sock yarns).

:O)

was always intrigued but never knew where to start. we have sheep but have never done anything with the wool

I taught myself to spin about 4 years ago! Bought a Schacht Ladybug sight unseen seen. Refused to start with a spindle and now that I finally gave one a try I pretty much hated it. ;) LOVE my spinning wheel! Spinning some Targhee a friend shipped from MT for the 1st time...Soft and sproingy! Romney seems to be the most available in my area. I enjoy knitting with my own handspun... still have to buy sock yarn because I never spin as thin as I think I am!
Laurie in Maine

Has anybody ever spun you a skein of your sheep's wool? What do you raise ;)

I learned to spin on a drop spindle, and I've never tried a wheel... but I'd love to have one.

I learned on a spindle and used it exclusively for over 1.5 years. Then I purchased a used Rappard Wee Peggy spinning wheel. I enjoy spinning on both now. The wheel is much faster, but the spindles (Jenkins Turkish Spindles) are much more portable.

What type of spindle did you try? How about you Vandisar...what type of spindle do you use?

I have spun sock yarn from a fleece given to me by friends. Suffolk was the breed. I had it cleaned and blended with nylon, then processed into roving. I ended up with about 5 skeins. I have knit one pair of socks from it already and need to knit up some of the others one day.

Currently I have Merino that I blended with alpaca on my spindle (plying now). And Punta, dyed by a friend, on my wheel.

Sea Maid, what breed of sheep do you raise?

:O)

Another spinner here! I have both spindles and wheel, and I love them both. I do knit occasionally with my own handspun, but I tend to fill up the yarn basket faster than I knit it down! I've also just gotten into weaving and I'm excited to start weaving with my own handspun.

I have also played around with processing raw fleece, carding or combing it and blending with other fibers. Recently I'm trying to learn to spin cotton and linen--both VERY different from wool, and from each other!

What kind of sheep do you have?
If you want to learn to spin, you might be better off buying some ready-to-spin fiber (look for "roving", "combed top", or a "batt", but make sure you get some that is marketed for spinning rather than felting). Well-prepped fiber will make it much easier for you to learn to spin, before you start working with your own. This video by Abby Franquemont is a great introduction to spinning with a spindle.

As for spinning your own sheep's fleeces, the basic steps are:
1. Wash the wool (Here's a good article on it, though I use a sifting litterbox set--I can give you more details if you want).

2. Prep for spinning. Usually this means either carding the wool (with hand cards or a drumcarder) to produce rolags, roving, or batts, or combing it with wool combs to produce combed top.

3. Spinning!

4. Knitting/crocheting/weaving/just admiring it!

A really, really good book on the whole process is The Spinner's Book of Fleece by Beth Smith. Also, if you're not already a member of Ravelry, I suggest joining and looking for the Beginning Spinning group and the Fiber Prep group, both of which have very extensive pages of tips and FAQs as well as many nice and knowledgeable people who are happy to answer questions.

I have not tried cotton or linen. I am just happy with all the different wool blend and silks out there. Like you, my basket is home spun fills faster than I can knit it up.

:O)

Yesterday I gave kettle dyeing another go, this time in shades of green. Jacquard Emerald & Spruce (I think... the water on the second batch was running teal.) I only bought 6 jars/colors to experiment with originally and it's time to order some other colors...break away from my comfort zone maybe.

Knitting down the newly spun stash is a little like taking 1 step forward and 3 or 4 steps backwards!

I don't do a lot with dying. What I do, is mostly done with Koolaid. We have a few ladies in our group who do natural dying. They will use anything from copper rods to Avocado shells & pits. It is fun to see what they come up with.

Yeah...I totally agree about the knit down of handspun. It just takes so much longer to knit something, than it does to spin up a skein or two.

:O)

I'd love to learn how to spin. :-)

Sits N Knits
in Orlando

I am supposed to have a spinning wheel. But I will get one someday.

I'm too scared to learn to spin. I do not need another obsession.

Exactly what I said before I went to my first fiber retreat. Someone put a Turkish style spindle in my hands and I was hooked.

:O)

OMG I just discovered this!! It is in Norwegian with subtitles, but basically you are watching people knit!! There are 3 different ones about knitting....

Slow TV: National Knitting Evening (they yarn bomb a Harley Davidson Motorcycle)
Slow TV: National Knitting Morning
Slow TV: National Knitting Night

And if you do not get netflix.....there is a Danish show..... The Great Knit-Off (like the great British Bake off, but for knitting!!!)
https://youtu.be/ZxpcuCPMLps

-amanda from seattle

the entire seasons of the Great Knit Off are on Youtube unfortunately.....there are not many with English....but here is another one

https://youtu.be/sEk6kjtJz3w

Amanda from Seattle

I so enjoyed watching that video. I watched the 3 part challenge. I don't knit, instead crochet, but its still fun seeing what they make. I can't imagine being on a time constraint, that in itself would be challenging. lol....Thanks again, Amanda.

I started to knit myself a letterboxing bag a few months ago. Has anyone ever done this before?

Nope, but I totally crocheted a pouch for my compass 🤓 (And a few pouches for carves, too)

Cool!

No, we went with an eagle creek bag, but I imagine a knitted/felted bag would be great! Waterproof at least!

A bag for my gear? No, but I do knit pouches for my planted stamps LOL!

If anyone is interested in helping me with a little project involving quilting that will help cheer up my elderly mom who is dealing with health issues (her own and my father's), please send me a PM with your email address. It won't cost you anything other than a bit of time, a quick trip to a shop, and maybe a stamp. And it may not even cost a stamp. :)

Note, it does involve a little white lie.

karmakat

Anyone out there do mochila
I just today learned about it.
What I know:
mochila means backpack
mochila is apparently the adopted word for a style of crocheting and patterns
you need to carry at least three strands (even if it just one color)
cotton seems to be the material of choice
use a hook a bit smaller than recommended the yarn manufacturer

what else should I know before I do this?

great, something else to fill my hours.

I don't know about mochila. Guess I will have to do some searching on that one. I have been making soap sacks. (Supporting A Community with Kindness). I've made 15 so far and still have plenty of cotton yarn to go. I'm not sure which organization I'm going to give them to (Red Cross is easy to locate, but I think I would like to give to homeless vets the first time), but I'm sure there are plenty of groups that could use these.

and, one more thing
You always only work in the back side of the loop.
The front, unworked part of the stitch gives it part of its distinct style/design.