Donita The Fiberista

a cream handknit lace cowl made with very chunky yarn with 3 leather buttons lays on a wood table

an open hank of 2-ply cream wool yarn shows super bulky, thick-and-thicker strands of yarn

I encourage my #handspinning students to keep their first #handspunyarn so they have a visual representation of how far their #spinning has come - here’s mine!

Pattern: #FalseCreekCowl by #TinCanKnits, 11/2014
Yarn: #handspun “medium top wool”, 10/2014

#UseYourHandspun 💜 🧶 #fiberarts #knitting

Pantone really said MORE WHITE in trumps America

Triskaidekaphilia Beanie pattern by Donita Westman Triskaidekaphilia is a word of Greek origin, meaning “love of the number 13”. I think 13 gets a bad rap, dear reader; there are more fearsome and wretched things in this world than the number that fol...

New #freepattern alert!! 🚨

My new design for @dyemadyarns.bsky.social , the #TriskaidekaphiliaBeanie , is live on #Ravelry! Tag your photos or add your project to Rav so I can see how yours worked up! 🧡🫶🧡

#knitting #hat #beanie #Triskaidekaphilia #Swiftie #TLOAS

www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...

Insane.

2 bags sit on a picnic table - one full of apples and the other full of yarn. The bags are made of woven checked fabric in maroon & gold (the larger) and maroon & gray (the smaller). Below the photo, text reads “⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Well written pattern with some helpful photos. Easy enough to follow and am pleased with how my weaving is coming out - verified Etsy buyer”

A kind review of the A Bushel & A Peck Market Bag pattern - available on Etsy!

This weave-to-sew pattern uses worsted weight wool and is written for 16” and 24” weaving width looms.

🔗 in bio!

#RHweaving #rigidheddleweaving #rigidheddleloom #EtsySeller

Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!

A frog holds a rainbow that stretches between a cloud held in each hand, there are raindrops, skulls, hearts, and stars falling from the clouds. The text above the rainbow reads “Doing my best in a system designed to break me”

a woman wearing a purple vest and a blue and white blouse is smiling . ALT: a woman wearing a purple vest and a blue and white blouse is smiling .

Name a non-LOTR character who could resist the one ring.

A finished skein of handspun, twisted like a Bismarck, in shades of lilac & rust

A collage of the process, top left is spun singles, top right is plied yarn, bottom left is the bobbin end cross section of the yarn, bottom right is yarn off the bobbin, before wet finishing

The hand dyed mill-spun yarn in the same colorway for comparison

#spinningSunday

This is “Thank You for Being A Friend” by @dyemadyarns.bsky.social (November 2024 club colorway) on Piper Fiber - 85/15 Polwarth/Tussah Silk

Spun on my EEW 6, and plied on my Hansen MiniSpinner!

🧶 #handspun #handspunyarn #handspinning #spinyourownyarn

It’s my go-to!

teal 2-ply yarn, spun worsted, swatched in knitted stockinette, lace, and cables, as well as woven, sit on a brown background

teal 3-ply yarn, spun worsted, swatched in knitted stockinette, lace, and cables, as well as woven, sit on a brown background

When I teach #plying, I encourage folks to consider their end goal for the yarn when choosing a plying method. These pictures perfectly encapsulate why! I know which I would choose for cables - Which would you choose?

Photos from Twist by Michelle Boyd

#handspun 🧶 #fiberarts #handspinning

Adrian Bliss hitting the nail on the head - that stare into the camera at the end, chef kiss 👌

“Making Art In 2026”

An aqua bobbin of lavender, gray, red and green plied yarn is held in hand over green grass

The same yarn, before wet finishing

The finished yarn, after a nice bath!

#spinningSunday is back!!

This is “Merino Village” by @dyemadyarns.bsky.social

Spun on my EEW 6, and plied on my Hansen MiniSpinner!

🧶 #handspun #handspunyarn #handspinning #spinyourownyarn

That is stitch pattern + yarn nirvana!! 😍

A small booklet entitled “CBUS Craft Communities”

An 8.5x11 flat zine with all (most?) of the central Ohio craft meet ups through the week and months

Our draft of the Columbus Craft Communities zine is done!! We’ve got copies at the shop for pick up, or you can print your own! It’s just one 8.5x11 sheet of paper, printed on the front and it makes a lil booklet! #knitsky #columbus #ohio #crafting

How do you hold your hands as you ply? Do you keep your singles separated?

Read more about opposing ply yarns in PLY magazine!

#handspun 🧶 #handspinning #spinyourownyarn #fiberarts #PLYmagazine #PLYspinnersguild #spinningSunday

A 2” embroidery hoop has a silver key chain fob through the screw at the top, and holds a rainbow heart cross-stitched onto white Aida fabric

I found this Mini Matchbox cross stitch kit from The Crafty Kit Company at @dyemadyarns.bsky.social and even though I hadn’t cross-stitched in years, I had to get one! I’m so charmed!!

#slowcrafts #crossstitch #fiberarts #loveislove

Image is orange text on a brown background: “Plying is not just twisting singles together in the opposite direction; it is a separate step in making yarn with its own set of considerations.“

THIS. All day long.
Plying isn’t just another barrier to using your yarn. It is just as integral to your finished yarn as how you spin your singles and how you wet finish.

Say it again @spindleprincess.bsky.social !! 👏👏👏

The best thing about this theme is this yarn!!! 😍

Adam Sandler, in character as Happy Gilmore, stands on a golf course wearing a black & yellow Bruins hockey jersey. Text on the screen says “Just tap it in. Give it a little tappy, tap, tap, taparoo.”

Big shout out to Adam Sandler for making another (hysterical) #HappyGilmore movie.
My #rigidheddleweaving students were starting to age out of recognizing my go-to directions for students who wanna beat the life out of their #weaving. We don’t have to beat the weft, we’ve just gotta “Tap it in!” ⛳️

A hardback copy of Twist by Michelle Boyd sits on a teal corduroy ottoman. The cover art features an aged wood background with a single strand of yarn, with one ply each in blue, ecru, rust, and olive green

My #TourdeFleece Day 18-19: Even when you can’t spin, you can read about spinning!
Michelle’s book is so approachable & packed with useful info for all skill levels!
Thanks @spindleprincess.bsky.social & @plymagazine.bsky.social for this book!

🧶 #handspinning #fiberarts #PLYpublishing

2.5 in tall Ferris wheel laser engraved on maple wood featuring five stitch markers with attachments that open, making them perfect for both knitting and crochet. Stitch markers are a deviled egg, a corn dog, a cow, cotton candy and a ribbon (like a state fair blue ribbon).

Our state fair collection isn’t just yarns!!! It’s also notions!!! Like this Ferris wheel marker minder 🎡 it’s got a deviled egg, corndog, cow, cotton candy & blue ribbon stitch marker :) dyemadyarns.com/collections/... #knitsky

A small purple spinning bobbin is 2/3 full of denim blue spun fiber sits in the palm of my hand.

My #TourdeFleece Day 16-17 spinning is this tiny bobbin of superwash merino singles for the @ PLY guild spin-along to make opposing ply sock yarn. This deep stash fiber is happy to be spun, I think! ☺️

#handspun 🧶 #handspinning #slowcrafts #fiberarts #PLYspinnersguild

Gorgeous!!! Makes me wanna learn Tunisian!

Five twisted hanks of various sizes each in either beige, dark pink, red, yellow and green. They’re meant to evoke a hotdog and condiments.

Five twisted hanks of various sizes each in either beige, dark pink, red, yellow and green. They’re meant to evoke a hotdog and condiments.

A grilled hotdog in a bun with ketchup, mustard and relish

We made a collection for the State Fair!! As ephemeral as the fair itself, this collection is only available through 8/3. Look! It’s a hotdog yarn sock set!! Half skeins of bug and dog, with minis for ketchup, mustard & relish 🌭🧶🧦

I’ll try to post a pic when it’s not sweltering outside! ☺️

Thank you!

1 tiny bump of pastel blue-lavender fiber sits on a teal corduroy ottoman, surrounded by 9 small bundles of spun singles from the same blue wool.

My #TourdeFleece Day 15 was finishing another mini-bump at “A Fairy Good Time” at the Franklinton Farms Learning Garden.
Kelley & Ashley from @dyemadyarns.bsky.social were there w/ a great wheel, which I spun on (ish) 😆 - POIDH in their stories!

#handspun 🧶 #handspinning #slowcrafts #fiberarts

Hand embroidery on an antique white napkin that reads it is ok to do less when you are dealing with more

This is certainly not a “check out” sort of message but it is a reminder that capitalism is a beast and can make it impossible for us to do less when we really need to. It’s a reminder to find ways to stay connected to community and allow others to help.

The beginning of a hand-knitted, crescent-shaped shawl, with a knitting needle still in it, lays gray snowflake blanket. The shawl is light gray with stripes of dark blue dashes across it. Next to the shawl is the ball of gray yarn and 5 smaller balls of yarn fading from deep blue to light blue-teal. The gray yarn is held in a yarn sleeve that is pastel pink with blue cats eating sushi and Ramen on it.

My #TourdeFleece Day 10 was sidelined by a rib that refused to stay in its place… but I knit on my Lake Effect Snow shawl.
🌊❄️ 🥶
Feile shawl by @letesknits.bsky.social
Yarn is Chester sock in “Road Slush” and “Great Lakes fade” by @dyemadyarns.bsky.social

🧶 #slowcrafts #fiberarts #knitting