After you learn to spin yarn, you may start looking at the world with new eyes. The cotton balls in medicine bottles, the dust bunnies behind the couch, even your husband’s beard may all look like potential yarn. Humans have been spinning yarn for thousands of years, and over time countless spinners have asked this very question. Here are some answers.

It still mystifies me that Mother Nature hides so much natural dye in plain sight. Mushrooms, leaves, insects, roots, and wood are just waiting to give you a rainbow of dyes if you know the magic recipes to coax them out.

Learning to spin can be frustratingly open-ended. People will tell you there isn’t a wrong way to spin, but that means there isn’t one right way, either. When you’re learning to spin, though, some choices can definitely make your learning process easier or more difficult.

Whether floods or fires, disasters have wrought havoc on crafters' tools and stashes as much as the rest of their belongings. Have you thought about what you'd tell an insurance adjuster about your precious hobby materials?

In November 2017, hundreds of weavers gathered in Peru for the third Tinkuy. Most of the weavers I met take drop spindle spinning for granted, the way that many of us take potable tap water for granted.

It’s not a contest, they say. Sure, we’re all winners. But in my competitive little heart, I know that spinning yarn is the very best craft, a better way than any other to spend your time.

As I write this, I’m getting ready to travel to Tinkuy, an international gathering of weavers in Peru. My packing list grows longer by the minute: rain ponchos, audiobooks, hand sanitizer. Speaking with Maggie Casey today, she reminded me, “Don’t forget to pack a drop spindle.”

When I told my parents I’d taken my first spinning class, my mother told me, “That’s great! We have an old walking wheel and a flax wheel up in the attic.” I was very confused at the time, because that spinning class was at the gym and involved a stationary bicycle. It would be years before I was interested in making yarn, and at that point I was very sheepish.