Holly asked about my cotton shirt--it was in the Summer 2004 Spin-off. I used a commercial 10/2 warp and spindle-spun weft in different natural colors. I had actually made the shirt a couple of years before that--so now it's at least 4-5 years old, been worn and washed on a regular basis, and is still doing fine. It's a tunic-style (I used the Egyptian shirt pattern from folkwear and modified the neckline), and it's as comfortable as an old dishtowel.
It was also a candidate for the cover--and lost out to socks :-( The rationale for that was the same (I'm guessing) as the rational for simpler, shorter articles. The target audience has changed. You can get Spin-Off in bookstores now, which is both a blessing and a curse. In a subscriber-only magazine, you can aim at people who are already spinners and want in-depth articles. In a newstand magazine, you need one that anyone can pick up, thumb through, and think "hey! maybe I can do that!" which is more likely to work with a cute knitted cap than a man's handspun, handwoven overcoat (one of Rita Buchanan's articles from way back). Hence my loss to a pair of socks--you don't want a casual looker to be put off by a cover with something that looks too complicated or specialized. The magazine is a business, and in order to stay in business they have to know their audience. A specialized magazine (which Spin-Off used to be) would be too expensive to produce profitably. I blame cable TV. No specific reasons--I just like to blame cable TV for everything! --Ann in Florida To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
