Thea Idea
theaidea.bsky.social
Thea Idea
@theaidea.bsky.social
Enjoying fiber and textile related crafts 🧶🧵 slowly crafting my own website from scratch
You are not late 😁 I started my 2025 advent spinning a week before December 1st and I‘m at day 18 at the moment. Have fun spinning!
January 8, 2026 at 4:38 PM
The 13th WoW advent #handspinning marked the halfway point, so I decided to spin one singles woolen from faux rolags and the second worsted from combed top. I also finally (and painfully!) learned that worsted spinning with waste sari silk is just way too hard on my hands.
January 8, 2026 at 10:46 AM
The 12th WoW advent #handspinning was time for my first-ever cabled yarn. I was so excited that I spun all the singles in one afternoon — it was such a smooth spinning experience. The yarn has slightly too much twist, but I’m very happy with the result anyway. 😃
January 4, 2026 at 5:36 PM
It is. With the sewing machines any additional tech makes everything easier. It’s the complete opposite with machine knitting.
January 3, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Happy to help!
I don’t have any experience with circular knitting machines, unfortunately. I just went straight with the more complex and more expensive machine.
January 3, 2026 at 8:32 PM
LK150 doesn’t work with punch cards. It‘s a really basic flat bed knitting machine. I have a standard gauge metal bed knitting machine that works with punch cards and I‘ve got LK150 because I wanted to knit with thicker yarn and I actually enjoy/don‘t mind manually selecting the needles.
January 3, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Is it an LK150 Silver Reed knitting machine? This one doesn’t do any automatic patterning, you always have to choose the needles manually (although there are some gadgets available to speed up selection). I‘ve just got mine so I cannot say yet how they hold up compared to metal bed machines.
January 3, 2026 at 8:11 PM
I actually find the ratio for weaving on a floor/table loom even worse.
January 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
You can DM me if you want.
January 3, 2026 at 8:27 AM
I have some experience with standard gauge (4.5 mm) knitting machine that uses punch cards. I am honestly not sure how easy it is to find a mid gauge machine with “automatic” patterning.
January 3, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Happy new year!

The 11th fiber blend from the WoW advent calendar was such a joyful and quick spin — the yarn turned out wonderful and has a lovely color.
#handspinning
January 1, 2026 at 7:25 PM
I love the golden color of the red eri silk fibers in the 10th spin from the WoW advent calendar. The yarn didn't want to be spun thick, so it took ages to finish. The poor candle from another advent calendar gave up during plying — the glass broke from the heat. 😁
#handspinning
December 29, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Such a lovely color!
December 29, 2025 at 8:33 AM
First time spinning from the fold! It was so much easier to spin a fiber blend this way. The 9th spin from the WoW advent calendar was a quick and easy one. Sadly, I felt so frustrated when my single broke during chain plying.
#handspinning
December 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The eighth WoW advent calendar spin took a really long time. Still, I discovered the joy of the short backward draw. I found it easier than the short forward draw when #handspinning this merino–silk blend. And I fell in love with chain plying — it’s starting to feel like a breeze. 😃
December 24, 2025 at 10:19 AM
The seventh fiber blend from the WoW advent calendar was inspired by potatoes. And the resulting yarn „screams“ mashed potatoes.
I dared to try a long draw (well, kind of 😂) and I’m glad I did it. It was way easier on my hands.
#handspinning
December 24, 2025 at 8:18 AM
I'm delighted with how the sixth spin from the WoW advent calendar turned out. Although it was still challenging in terms of pain, seeing the finished yarn made me incredibly happy and proud.
#handspinning
December 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The fifth fiber blend from the WoW advent calendar was the most difficult one so far, mentally. I started feeling some pain from #handspinning while I was under (self-imposed) pressure to finish all the spins timely. The result is a relatively thick yarn, with much regret that I was pushing through.
December 18, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Thanks! Oh, I forgot that they can be replaced easily. That’s a good point. I might give button making a try.
December 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
My faithful and ultra sweet assistant has been good this year and he deserved a cushion to have it in my studio room.

Cushion approved! 🥰😍
December 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
This cushion cover came out really good and to my surprise almost without puckering. All the seams have been neatened to hopefully prevent any further mess and lint. Fingers crossed!
#sewing
December 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
They said sanding was dusty and messy … meanwhile my sewing room is covered with lint.
#sewing
December 14, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Looks wonderful! I also like the buttons. May I ask how did you finish them and how are you planning to take care of them? I’m asking because I’ve been wanting to make wooden buttons myself but I was not sure how to finish them to keep a cardigan washable (I hope that makes sense).
December 14, 2025 at 1:49 PM
First time spinning pineapple and banana fibers - so exciting! It was nice watching the colors blending together and I like how it turned out.
#handspinning
December 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
That’s so impressive!
December 8, 2025 at 8:28 PM