The Long Thread Podcast

• Hazel Tindall, World’s Fastest Knitter

  Hazel Tindall can’t remember a time before she knew how to knit. Hazel learned to knit when knitting for sale was the only way that women earned money, when a job outside the home in town was too far to travel. Although her mother found knitting a chore, Hazel liked it, not only knitting sweater yokes for sale but exploring yarns and designs from outside her local sphere. When knitting was work, knitters put down their needles on Sundays, but in time knitting became a pleasure rather than a job for Hazel. She started knitting every day of the week. Eventually she began selling for sale not just sweaters but also designs for sweaters, vests, gloves, hats, and other colorwork designs. Loving color, she avoids sludgy color combinations in favor of bright hues. One member of the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers & Dyers read about a World’s Fastest Knitter competition, and the group believed that they could do better than the current standard. Hazel was found to be the fastest knitter in the group, so off she went to the contest, winning the title. Later, she traveled to Minnesota to defend the title; to her knowledge, she hasn’t been beaten! Links Hazel Tindall’s website (https://www.hazeltindall.com/) Hazel’s patterns (https://www.hazeltindall.com/knitting-patterns) Hazel’s blog (https://www.hazeltindall.com/blog) Shetland Museum & Archives (https://www.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk/) Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers & Dyers (https://shetlandguild.sumupstore.com/) Shetland Wool Week (https://www.shetlandwoolweek.com/) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/index.php) is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Learning how to weave but need the right shuttle? Hooked on knitting and in search of a lofty yarn? **Yarn Barn of Kansas)) has been your partner in fiber since 1971. Whether you are around the corner from the Yarn Barn of Kansas, or around the country, they are truly your "local yarn store" with an experienced staff to answer all your fiber questions. Visit yarnbarn-ks.com (https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/) to shop, learn, and explore. The Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival (https://www.adkwoolandarts.com/) is the perfect way to spend a weekend surrounded by over 150 craft vendors in Greenwich, New York. Discover a curated group of vendors featuring the best of wool and artisan crafters. Throughout the weekend enjoy workshops, free horse drawn wagon rides, free kid's crafts, a fiber sheep show, and a sanctioned cashmere goat show. Join us September 20 & 21, 2025, and every fall! For more information visit adkwoolandarts.com.

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• Tamara White, Wing & A Prayer Farm

  Tamara White always has one eye on the skies. Whether she’s getting her sheep ready for shearing, welcoming visitors to classes and events on the farm, or watching over the yarn in kettles of natural dye, there isn’t a moment when the weather isn’t on her mind. Although rain and heat make hard work of tending a flock of 100+ sheep plus calves, chickens, and other livestock, Tammy sees her work as a collaboration with Mother Nature. Most yarn production farms consist of hundreds of animals of a single breed, enough to produce consistent batches of single-breed yarn. Tammy’s way is more difficult, but more fun. In addition to her original small group of Shetlands, she has an evolving mix of breeds: sometimes Clun Forest, sometimes Teeswater, and most recently Valais Blacknose, a recent Swiss import dubbed the “world’s cutest sheep.” Wing & A Prayer Farm’s yarn line includes a number of fiber blends, not only to incorporate the farm’s different wools but also to bring the best traits of various breeds together. Creating yarns this way also invites collaboration with other shepherds and a number of small mills to whom she trusts her batch of wool. The collaboration with nature continues in dyeing the yarn. A self-taught dyer, Tammy creates as many colors as she can with plants that she can grow in her garden or forage on her property. To support her farm and community, Tammy takes on a wide range of other projects: making soap and pies, selling eggs, hosting classes, and selling breeding stock to other shepherds. It’s an enormous amount of work, but Tammy talks about her farm with such joy that it hardly sounds like a chore. Links Wing & A Prayer Farm website (https://www.wingandaprayerfarm.com/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/wingandaprayerfarm/), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/wingandaprayerfarm/), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8L5mosgHz3kg3IprzfDJ8Q), and Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/join/wingandaprayerfarm) Natural dyeing, felting, soapmaking, and other scheduled workshops (https://www.wingandaprayerfarm.com/events) Find a schedule for the farm shop (https://www.wingandaprayerfarm.com/farm-visits) or make an appointment to visit the yarn shop and apothecary The story of Valais Blacknose sheep (https://www.wingandaprayerfarm.com/valais-blacknose-sheep) at the farm New England Farm & Fiber Festival (https://www.newenglandfarmandfiber.com/) Find yarn, fiber, soap, and merch in the farm’s online store (https://www.wingandaprayerfarm.com/farm-visits) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Brown Sheep Company is a four-generation family business bringing you high quality wool and natural fiber yarns. We spin and dye U.S.-grown wool into hundreds of vibrant colors at our mill in western Nebraska. Our mill has something to offer for every craft, from our well-known knitting and crochet yarns to wool roving for spinning and felting. We offer U.S-made needlepoint yarn as well as yarn on cones for weaving. Learn more about our company and products at BrownSheep.com (https://brownsheep.com/). The Michigan Fiber Festival—Michigan’s largest sheep and wool festival—is a vibrant world of fiber arts. Discover five days of classes with nationally recognized teachers in spinning, weaving, lacemaking, dyeing, felting, and rug hooking. Enjoy three days of shopping. Delight in shearing and fiber arts demonstrations. Enjoy a truly immersive experience. Join us in August at the picturesque Allegan County Fairgrounds (you can even camp on site!) Find more details at michiganfiberfestival.info. (michiganfiberfestival.info.)

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• Madelyn van der Hoogt, The Weaver’s School

  With Madelyn van der Hoogt’s extensive knowledge of loom-controlled structures and techniques, you might be surprised to learn that the celebrated weaving teacher spent her first years as a handweaver working on a backstrap loom. On a sabbatical in Latin America from her teaching career in Oakland, Madelyn traveled from village to village looking for the style of weaving she wanted to do, then sought out a local teacher. But when she moved back to the United States and began a new life as a farmer, her backstrap weaving style hit a snag: sitting on the ground to weave under a tree is a lot less pleasant when you are the favorite meal of chiggers. Falling in love with shaft looms and the cloth she could make, Madelyn began the weaving explorations that would make her the editor of two national weaving magazine, instructor in a half dozen weaving videos, and leader of a weaving school. She now has over 30 looms in her home teaching studio, each ready to explore a different weave structure. Despite decades as a writer and editor, she doesn’t hesitate before identifying first and foremost as a teacher. Links The Weavers’ School (https://www.weaversschool.com) The Primary Structures of Fabrics: An Illustrated Classification by Irene Emery was originally published by the Textile Museum, Washington, DC; it is currently out of print. Ask Madelyn (https://handwovenmagazine.com/search/?search=ask+madelyn) includes hundreds of thoughtful replies to reader inquiries—and if you send her an email (mailto:[email protected]), she might answer yours! This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. Learning how to weave but need the right shuttle? Hooked on knitting and in search of a lofty yarn? Yarn Barn of Kansas has been your partner in fiber since 1971. Whether you are around the corner from the Yarn Barn of Kansas, or around the country, they are truly your “local yarn store” with an experienced staff to answer all your fiber questions. Visit yarnbarn-ks.com (https://www.yarnbarn-ks.com/) to shop, learn, and explore.

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• Cecelia Campochiaro, Curious Knitter

  When you first learned to knit, you might have wondered why certain stitches made fabric that curled, or why right-leaning and left-leaning decreases didn’t quite match, or why charts didn’t really show what the knitted fabric would look like. Knitting patterns might have seemed completely unworkable. If we stick with the craft, most knitters eventually take these oddities in stride and work around them. We learning to fudge what we can’t fix, and we figure that’s the way knitting goes. We read our stitches, let the habits of our skilled hands take over, and integrate knitting into our lives the way we ride a bicycle, make a cup of tea, or steer a car. Not Cecelia Campochiaro. With a scientific mind (trained by a PhD in physical chemistry), she approached those small curiosities as chances to investigate knitting more closely. By making small variations—holding several yarns together and creating gradual striping patterns, repeating a sequence of stitches with a slight offset, or mirroring the same stitches on both sides of the work—she has explored the nature of knitting and created extraordinary fabrics. Her latest book, Reversible Knitting, shows the differences in drape, texture, design, and color that emerge simply from removing the idea of “right” and “wrong” sides of the fabric. The richness in Cecelia’s work lies in its simplicity. Like knitting itself, the careful repetitions and variations that she presents add up to a project far greater than the sum of its parts, as pleasing to the eye as to the hand. Links Reversible Knitting (https://ceceliacampochiaro.com/reversible-knitting/) is Cecelia’s latest book. Making Marls (https://ceceliacampochiaro.com/making-marls/) explores working with strands of different colored yarns held together. Sequence Knitting (https://ceceliacampochiaro.com/sequence-knitting/) examines the surprisingly rich results of repeating a group of stitches. Parastripe Shawl (https://farmfiberknits.com/library/RSPIFfjdRk6icOdEBaAvGA) is available in the Farm & Fiber Knits Library and as part of the Creative Color Collection. (https://farmfiberknits.com/library/LuKQD_4ITWmxBc5CM5MuSg) Carson Demers’s book Knitting Comfortably (https://ergoiknit.com/) offers advice on the ergonomics of knitting. This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You'll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. The Michigan Fiber Festival—Michigan’s largest sheep and wool festival—is a vibrant world of fiber arts. Discover five days of classes with nationally recognized teachers in spinning, weaving, lacemaking, dyeing, felting, and rug hooking. Enjoy three days of shopping. Delight in shearing and fiber arts demonstrations. Enjoy a truly immersive experience. Join us in August at the picturesque Allegan County Fairgrounds (you can even camp on site!) Find more details at michiganfiberfestival.info. (The Michigan Fiber Festival – Michigan's largest sheep and wool festival – is a vibrant world of fiber arts. Discover five days of classes with nationally recognized teachers in spinning, weaving, lacemaking, dyeing, felting, and rug hooking. Enjoy three days of shopping. Delight in shearing and fiber arts demonstrations. Enjoy a truly immersive experience. Join us in August at the picturesque Allegan County Fairgrounds (you can even camp on site!) Find more details at michiganfiberfestival.info.)

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• Sara Bixler, Red Stone Glen

  At a time when many fiber arts stores are closing, Sara C. Bixler is bucking the trend. With degrees in both fine art and education, she had developed a studio practice as well as a teaching repertoire at the Pennsylvania weaving school where her father, Tom Knisely, had taught for decades. When that store closed, she decided to take the risk of opening a brand-new fiber arts center known as Red Stone Glen. It was an audacious project: the school and accompanying store occupy a rural campus in southeastern Pennsylvania, with space for several classes and even on-site lodging for students. Beginning a few years ago, the family took another step into the fiber arts when her husband, Dustin, acquired Bluster Bay Woodworking from its founders and began producing shuttles and other weaving tools “in the Glen,” too. She had support in her project from former students and from Tom, who was delighted to have a teaching home base again. Sara also loves opening her students’ eyes to other weaving traditions, whether exploring weaving destinations overseas or preserving the legacy of American textile history in the National Museum of the American Coverlet, where she serves on the board of directors. Links Red Stone Glen (https://redstoneglen.com/) Triaxial weaving: Hex Weave & Mad Weave (https://red-stone-glen-fiber-arts-center.myshopify.com/products/hex-weave-mad-weave-an-introduction-to-triaxial-weaving?_pos=1&_sid=01e5449c8&_ss=r) by Elizabeth Harris and Charlene St. John National Museum of the American Coverlet (https://www.coverletmuseum.org/) Sara’s videos on Boutenné (https://learn.longthreadmedia.com/courses/boutenn-with-sarah-bixler) and other subjects are available from Long Thread Media. (https://learn.longthreadmedia.com/collections?q=bixler) Sara leads tours to Japan (https://opulentquiltjourneys.com/all-craft-journeys/weaving-dyeing-holidays/item/discovering-japan-and-its-textiles?category_id=61) and Switzerland (https://opulentquiltjourneys.com/all-craft-journeys/weaving-dyeing-holidays/item/switzerlands-textile-heritage-and-christmas-markets?category_id=61) with Opulent Quilt Journeys. Bluster Bay Woodworks (https://blusterbaywoodworks.com/) This episode is brought to you by: Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com (https://www.treenwaysilks.com/). You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white. If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed. The Michigan Fiber Festival—Michigan’s largest sheep and wool festival—is a vibrant world of fiber arts. Discover five days of classes with nationally recognized teachers in spinning, weaving, lacemaking, dyeing, felting, and rug hooking. Enjoy three days of shopping. Delight in shearing and fiber arts demonstrations. Enjoy a truly immersive experience. Join us in August at the picturesque Allegan County Fairgrounds (you can even camp on site!) Find more details at michiganfiberfestival.info. (The Michigan Fiber Festival – Michigan's largest sheep and wool festival – is a vibrant world of fiber arts. Discover five days of classes with nationally recognized teachers in spinning, weaving, lacemaking, dyeing, felting, and rug hooking. Enjoy three days of shopping. Delight in shearing and fiber arts demonstrations. Enjoy a truly immersive experience. Join us in August at the picturesque Allegan County Fairgrounds (you can even camp on site!) Find more details at michiganfiberfestival.info.)

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