Lincoln spinner featured in New Zealand magazine

Tammy Jordan, owner of Goldieknots Montana, recently published an article on lace-weight spinning in the international magazine The Wheel, which is published out of New Zealand by Ashford Wheels & Looms.

"I met Richard and Elizabeth Ashford last year at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair," said Jordan, where she was teaching four classes. She met Richard at a food truck and stopped by later to chat with him and his wife Elizabeth.

A long-time fan of Ashford Wheels, Jordan already owned the "Joy" wheel, which Richard explained was named after his grandmother. After Jordan told Elizabeth about the classes she was teaching and that she hoped to teach a lace class the following year, Jordan said Elizabeth pulled her aside to ask her to write an article about lace spinning.

"It went through a couple of rounds of proposals to see what they really wanted for the magazine, and they're a dream to work with. I couldn't have gotten luckier for a first publication than Ashford," said Jordan. "The coolest part about doing the article was not just writing for Ashford, but I spun the yarn. I also designed a lace pattern to go with it, which is featured in the magazine, and knitted the sample for the article. So everything that was in the article was my writing and all of my work to go into it."

Jordan got her start in fiber arts a decade ago when she started knitting and spinning. She now owns five of her own sheep. "I actually use their wool, process their wool, spin their wool, felt with their wool, hang out with them, make them into little felted sheep with their names on them," said Jordan. She also uses their wool for a process she calls "fleece-to fashion."

"I dubbed it that name because I literally take the wool off the sheep, hand-process it. So it's shorn. I pick it, I wash it, I card it, I spin it, and I either knit or crochet it into a finished project of some sort. One of the coolest things about fleece to fashion is you know exactly where your clothing is coming from, and in my case, I know it all the way back down to the sheep's name or the local Montana farmer they come from," Jordan said.

Jordan comes from a long line of fiber people. Her grandmother on her dad's side owned a knit ship in California. "My grandmother, she could look at you, and knit you a sweater three days flat and it fit perfectly, without a pattern. I'm not quite that good yet. I'm designing patterns, but I'm not that good yet," said Jordan.

On her mom's side, her great-grandmother came from Lithuania during World War II and one of her first jobs was knitting wedding dresses. "I just recently found that out," said Jordan.

In addition, Jordan's mom is a master knitter. "She test knits for some really, really big name designers. She's just fantastic, so when I have problems, it's my mom I go to. My mom test knits all my patterns before I release them," Jordan said.

People can get Jordan's pattern, "Cables and Lace Scarf," by signing up for The Wheel magazine https://www.ashford.co.nz or by purchasing it directly from Jordan's website, https://goldieknotsmt.com/shop/, where she also sells wool ornaments, jewelry and maker kits.

Jordan, says she hopes to publish another article with the Ashfords next year and "just to continue doing what I love with all the fiber."

Jordan, who also writes for the BVD, including her regular 'From My Perspective' column, leads the Lincoln Fiber Circle, which meets second Saturdays from September to May, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.