Xie
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madebyxie.bsky.social
Xie
@madebyxie.bsky.social
84 followers 100 following 52 posts
I’m a handspinner, knitter, weaver, and more recently crocheter living in the foothills of Alberta. I mostly share fibre arts mixed with climate and social justice. Views are mine and they are left, very very left.
www.madebyxie.ca
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madebyxie.bsky.social
Day 3 of #tourdefleece2025

A little more spun on this braid from @fibregoddess.bsky.social
Only had a short time for spinning this evening.

@StASHlounge #spinwithstash
A photo showing a partially filled bobbin on a spinning wheel. The fibre is a multi-hued grey with sparkles. Text on the photo says start to indicate the state of the bobbin at the start of spinning for Day 3 of #tourdefleece2025 A photo showing a slightly fuller partially filled bobbin on a spinning wheel. The fibre is a multi-hued grey with sparkles. Text on the photo says finish to indicate the state of the bobbin at the end of spinning for Day 3 of #tourdefleece
July 8, 2025 at 4:30 AM
madebyxie.bsky.social
This week’s #showmeyourknits is stripes! This a self-drafted sweater using #handspun yarn.
A white woman (me) with dark hair and eyes and red glasses is standing in her living room showing off the sweater she just knit for herself. She has her left hand on her hip and is holding her right hand up in a “ta-da” kind of pose. The sweater is brown v-neck with narrow vertical stripes in earthy blue, green, orange, and pink. The sleeves have wide horizontal stripes in the same colours. In the background a brick fireplace, lamp, and leaf artwork are visible.
February 2, 2025 at 3:17 AM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Final yarns! They have been washed and the twist is set. 🧶
#handspinning
Six skeins of #handspun yarn in a rainbow. From left to right they are purple, dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, and pink. The skeins are much more cooperative than that bobbins to photograph. No tricks were employed to wrangle the yarns for this photo except minimal efforts to minimize the skein ties, which are purple cotton 2/8 weaving yarn.
January 31, 2025 at 3:57 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Lastly purple! (My favourite)
A bobbin of variegated purple #handspun yarn lies on a table. The purple hue ranges from almost pink to vibrant blue-purple. A collection of six bobbins in a rainbow of colours. Left to right they are purple, dark blue, light blue, green, yellow, and pink. Not shown are the things under the pink bobbin holding it in place to facilitate this group photo of things that really just want to roll away from each other. If they think they’re having trouble getting along now, I have terrible news for them about what’s coming (they are destined to be made into a shawl).
January 31, 2025 at 3:42 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Darker blue
A bobbin of blue variegated #handspun yarn. The blues range from mid dark to indigo. The dark blue joins the light blue, green, yellow, and pink bobbins. Tricks have been employed to keep them together for the photo so they don’t roll all over the table.
January 31, 2025 at 3:38 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Light blue!
A bobbin of light blue #handspun yarn lies on a table The light blue bobbin joins the green, yellow, and pink ones. They are becoming increasingly unruly as they want to roll around the table.
January 31, 2025 at 3:35 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Then green
A bobbin of green #handspun yarn. The green is very bright! The green bobbin joins the yellow and pink ones. Three bobbins of handspun yarn in the colours of green, yellow, and pink from left to right lie together on a table
January 31, 2025 at 3:27 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Next yellow!
A bobbin of yellow #handspun yarn. The yellow is vibrant and bright. The bobbin of yellow yarn lies next to the pink yarn that was spun first.
January 31, 2025 at 3:25 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
First up pink! This pink is so bright it’s almost hard to look at, but perfect for this project!
A bobbin of #handspun pink yarn. The pink is very saturated and very vibrant.
January 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Fortunately, the Fibre Shindig was coming up. Also fortunate, pink and purple are kind of in the rainbow already if you do it right. So off I went to find something that would fit the bill. My very talented friend Sarah of seaturtlefiberarts.com had the perfect fibre 🧶 3/
Six bundles of #handspinning fibre dyed in a rainbow from pink to yellow to green to light blue to dark blue to purple. The bundles are arranged in a circle on a table.
January 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
There’s a bit of a story behind this project. Several years ago I made my niece this shawl for her third birthday. She had asked for a shawl “like her Grammy and her auntie wear” so I picked out some fibre and spun and knit her a shawl 🧶 1/
A #handspun shawl in a gradient from yellow to purple is draped over a spinning wheel. The shawl is an asymmetrical triangle with a lace flower motif. #handspinning #knitting
January 31, 2025 at 3:12 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Some #handspun cabled knits for #showmeyourknits
Descriptions and pattern credit are in the alt text. 🧶
#handspinning #spinnersofbluesky #knitting
A pair of mittens sit on a computer keyboard. The mittens have a purple background with turquoise cables and colour work. The colourwork forms the shape of snowflakes in the background of the cables and there is a diamond pattern over the thumbs. The mittens are finished with two colour 2x2 ribbing. Pattern is Norrlund by Sarah Huntington Burch. A person stands with their arms crossed over their chest. They are wearing a pair of arm warmers made from naturally coloured cream alpaca handspun yarn. The arm warmers have a cabled pattern up the front based on the Fire & Ice Fingerless Mitts by Roz Harmon. A toque made of handspun yarn that gently transitions from pink at the brim through a gentle yellow-green to pink again at the top. The hat has an allover cable pattern on it. The pattern is Field of Wildflowers by Joji Locatelli. The yarn is a 4-ply cabled yarn. A variegated denim blue mitten with a cable up the centre sits on a neutral background. I don’t actually know what this mitten is sitting on. There is only one mitten because I ran out of yarn for the second one. The yarn is hand-dyed, blended on wool carders, and handspun into a 3-ply. The pattern is Celtic Moonrise Mittens by Rhiannon Don.
January 26, 2025 at 10:13 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
This is my loom. A 4-harness 45" Leclerc Fanny II counterbalance. I got this one from someone local who had it disassembled in her basement for several years. It's a great loom.
A 4-shaft Leclerc Fanny II floor loom sits folded up against the wall next to a set of stairs going up. Some ice cream pails are visible in the foreground.
January 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
Finished some #handwoven towels over the weekend. Pattern is Bertha’s towels from Handwoven Magazine. These ones were done in 2/8 with 4/8 overshot. Still learning so the first one is laughably long. I either need to beat harder or actually use the recommended size of yarn 😆
🧶
Four handwoven towels with an overshot pattern hang on a towel rack. They all have a purple background. From left to right the first three use turquoise, light purple, and a sage green for the overshot. The last towel uses orange and yellow over the same purple background. The first towel is a bit longer than the others and hangs down a bit lower. The wall behind is a neutral beige colour.
January 20, 2025 at 3:09 PM
madebyxie.bsky.social
One of my favourite sweaters for is my #handspun Victoria sweater by Jennifer Wood.
#spinning #knitting #showmeyourknits
A blue-purple sweater with 3/4 length sleeves and lace details at the top of the front and back, shoulders, and bottom hem hangs on a dress form. The background is a neutral beige wall. A close up of the lace detail on the shoulder of a blue-purple sweater A close up of the lace detail on the front of a blue-purple sweater.
January 19, 2025 at 9:06 AM
madebyxie.bsky.social
My favourite shawls I’ve #knit from the past few years for #showmeyourknits
Patterns are:
Sheherizade (Anna Victoria)
Powder Pink (Julie Riede)
Powder and Dust (Veera Valimaki)
Illumine (Nim Teasdale)
All yarn is #handspun by me 🧶
A heart-shaped beaded lace shawl lies spread out on a tiled floor. The yarn is handspun from a blend of navy alpaca and black silk. A colourful asymmetrical triangle shawl is draped over a spinning wheel situated in the middle of living room. The yarn is handspun with colours going from yellow to orange to pink to purple. The shawl has an openwork flower motif at regular intervals throughout. A triangle shawl hangs from a dress from with the centre back of the shawl showing. The yarn is three different handspun purples - light, a variegated medium, and dark purple - and there are striped sections where the colour transitions from one to the next. The shawl also has a flower lace motif in each section. A half-circle shawl is draped on a dress form with the centre back showing. The yarn is handspun from a blend of blue yellow and white to make a complex off-white colour. The shawl is lace with tiny purple seed beads in it.
January 12, 2025 at 9:51 AM