Ply is a magazine primarily for spinners and those who use hand spun yarn.

Goat Issue 36

Are you in love with spinning but wish you had more control over how the yarn turns out? Do you have trouble spinning a yarn that matches from the beginning of a bobbin to the end? Did you know that it's not just you but also your fiber type, fiber prep, and wheel set-up that makes your yarn more or less consistent? Do you know that consistently inconsistent is still consistent! These and so many more questions are covered in the new issue of PLY. Plus there's spinning cotton, weaving cotton (those curtains, am I right?), natural dyeing, acid dyeing, using tools to help you stay consistent, keeping craft in your busy life, staying steady while spinning woolen and worsted yarns, using music, using blends, adding texture, keeping that texture tidy, the most consistent breeds, and of course, finding your personal style of consistency (which might be consistently inconsistent).There are also great projects that will make you want to break out your spindles, wheels, looms, and needles. This issue is about making you a better spinner but also celebrating the spinner you are.

Double Coated #32 Spring 2021

The Double-coated issue is twice as full and gorgeous as whatever you’re reading now! In fact, it’s so full we had to add extra pages (it comes in at a whopping 136 pages). From the softest sheep to “carpet sheep,” from Norway to Arabia, from woolen to worsted, from North Ronaldsay to Kihnu and Hungary to Soay, this issue travels around the world and is filled with sheep you’re going to want to snuggle and spin. It includes everything you’ve ever wanted to know about primitive and double-coated sheep, including separating, not separating, prepping, dyeing, spinning, plying, knitting, history, folklore, and more gorgeous images than you can shake a stick at. You’ll want this issue. P.S. It’s also got Nancy Bush. ’Nuff said.

Warmth #31 Winter 2020

This issue is full of everything: it’s got smart, informative articles that run the gamut from dyeing (with Sasha Duerr) to how to spin the warmest worsted yarn possible, from what the warmest sheep breeds are to how to spin a very fine woolen yarn. It’s got colorwork convertible mittens as well as a brioche hat from Nell Ziroli, and Maggie Casey and Judy Steinkoenig team up to make the warmest yarn and the warmest woven scarf. Judith MacKenzie writes “Notes from a cold country,” 6 of our favorite spinners tell you about the warmest yarn they can make, and we take socks that were once warm and make them warm again. You’ll read about things that warm a heart and community, such as fibersheds, community art, and Shetland’s traditional pile blankets, and a piece about one of the warmest women in the community. Of course, there’s more, too! It's time to get toasty, ya'll!

Cloth #26 Autumn 2019

Have you ever struggled with how fiber choice affects the cloth you want to create? Does your yarn transform into the cloth you imagine, be it warm, drape-y, strong, lustrous, ethereal, or smooth? Do you wonder what fabric type is best for the yarns you create? This issue can help address all those questions and more. It’s full of sound spinning advice and lots and lots of beauty. Let the words of Judith MacKenzie, Stephenie Gaustad, and Sarah Swett inspire you while Michelle Boyd, Beth Smith, Jillian Moreno, and James Perry (plus more) get serious with how to spin for the cloth you want. You’ll read about why your cloth might turn out too heavy, how color changes in different cloth types, and how fiber, prep, and twist impact your final cloth. Plus there are amazing designs by Susan Pandorf, Cal Patch, Susan Fricks, and Jennifer Lackey.

Power #22 Autumn 2018

Spinners are powerful people -- we make yarn. This issue is all about that power, harnessing that power, increasing that power, and enjoying that power. Do you want to know how to spin faster and more consistently? Do you want to be more mindful about your spinning? Build better spinning habits? Find greater meaning? Have you ever wondered how to move from 4-ounce braids to greater lots of fiber for larger projects? This issue covers power from lots of different angles and one of them is sure to speak to you. There are articles about speed and production but if you’re not concerned about faster yarn making, there’s also pieces on mindfulness, consistency, habits, learning, spinning with chronic illness or pain, and using your wheel. All of these things add to your power as a hand spinner. There’s also interesting experiments on drafting, fiber prep, yarn construction, and resulting yarn longevity. We even have a showdown between yarn and a robot that you won’t want to miss. Of course there are powerful projects too! Power can mean so many things -- spinning quicker, finer, more consistently, or even more mindfully. This issue is all about becoming a more powerful spinner, whatever that means to you.

Semi #18 Autumn 2017

Semi semi semi! Yarns exist on a spectrum with the most intimidating (and sometimes unattainable) ones at each end – TRUE WOOLEN and TRUE WORSTED. Everything else is in between, and it’s this everything else that the Semi issue is focused on. It’s packed full of information, experimentation, and opinion but very few hard and fast rules (because there are very few of those in spinning). What does it mean to draft against your prep and when and why would you want to do it? How do you spin semi-woolen or a semi-worsted and what, if any, difference does it really make to the yarn. Do semi-yarns wear and tear differently than their true spun sisters? What about fiber type, does it influence where a yarn falls on the spectrum? What are semi-yarns good for, better for, and best for? Semi yarns are what most spinners spin most of the time, isn’t it time to really understand what semi- means! This issue will illuminate and inspire.