It is with great pleasure that I bring you the 31st issue of tinyStudio Creative Life magazine! This is already the second issue for 2026, and I am finding the days and weeks slipping by so quickly. It seems like every day brings its own challenges, and I am very pleased to be seeing a deliberate movement among both long-time yarn crafters and a new generation of fibre artists all looking for something beyond the overload of the online world and overwhelm of ‘life’ getting more challenging.
This movement is heading in such a wonderful direction! Many of us are turning to our ‘analogue’ crafts both for comfort, and for practicality. It reaches into the whole realm of self-sufficiency: where our tools and materials have come from, how they are made, and the sustainability of what we are using. There is comfort to be found in ancient crafting traditions, as well as the confidence of knowing we can still feed and clothe ourselves through our own creativity and vision.
The makers you will meet in this issue are all walking their own path back to the source. What a wonderful feeling to be gathering our own materials: wool from the farmer who raised the sheep, recycled fabrics and materials making old into new, and simply spending time creating something with our hands.
In this issue we have quite a few projects with a leaning towards weaving, with some fantastic ways to use up small quantities of yarn and fibre: no fluff left behind!
I am incredibly grateful to the wonderful artists who have contributed their stories and creativity to the issue. I hope you will also be inspired to use up a some left-over bits and pieces and make something you will love, and take some time out of this busy and frequently online world, to enjoy some analogue activities!
Here is what you will find in Issue 31!
What a delicious collection of creative stories, ideas, and projects! In this issue you will find the artist Léna Descottes, who has made a wonderful new life with sheep, and community, on the island of Inishbofin off the Irish coast, what a magical place, I would love to visit her workshop!
I am very happy indeed to welcome Evanita back with a new article on how important it is to take good care of yourself while crafting, it is so easy to overdo it, and very necessary to know how to avoid injury, especially for those of us who love to spin for relaxation! Read Evanita’s article for her tips on how to pace yourself for comfortable crafting.
We have a fascinating trip back in time as Matthew Wright takes us on a journey to visit Herbert Guthrie-Smith, one of the early sheep farmers in New Zealand, with a love for nature and in particular the amazing birdlife in this country. He was truly a groundbreaking naturalist and conservationist whose study of the flora and fauna not just on his own farm, but around the country, led him to put pressure on the government (in the 1930’s) by calling for the establishment of reserves and national parks, pest and predator free, to protect and preserve the indigenous wildlife of Aotearoa NZ.
We have more fibery inspiration in the work of Oktawia Watras – who has also provided our cover image for this issue! Oktawia has a passion for the wonderful characteristics of wool in all its forms. You can see the sculptural nature of felted wool in Oktawia’s costume design, and you can almost feel the rustic softness in her knitted garments. I especially enjoy the warm rustic-ness of her designs, and the simple shapes and forms that allow the yarns to shine with beautiful constructions.
This issue also has some hands-on projects and ‘how-to’ guides to keep you busy! Rosemarie Smith shares a bag design thats perfect for using your woven fabric, and includes info on how to cut the fabric to keep it stable and intact.
Ineke De Brouwer always brings inspired ideas and gorgeous story-driven designs, and in her new series we are featuring her handwoven bag that uses up-cycled leather strips – also with some great methods shared for stabilizing the weave while sewing it up – pattern included.
And then we go beyond weaving and stitchery and into multimedia textiles with the art of Andrea Rosales, who sets out her approach to inspiration and experimentation to create fiber art works. I really enjoy her focus on experimentation, and I loved her project of creating a new artwork every day for 30 days – this exploration project is such a great way to expand ideas and techniques, and Andrea has also included for us a step-by-step tutorial as a jumping off place for your own experimentations!
I also shared an article for this issue, called ‘Unspun Yarn’ – This is a tutorial on how to create rolags suitable for making into unspun yarn (no wheel/no twist!) and then how to knit it up! I had a lot of fun making this, and I have also uploaded a tinyStudio TV episode demonstrating every step of the process as well, this is available to all Digital Membership subscribers. Unspun yarn is such a delightful soft and airy yarn, and so much fun to make and use.
There is so much more in this issue than I can fit on this page! I am very grateful to all the amazing artists who have allowed me to share their work in this issue. Together we have travelled the globe and explored many ideas, I hope you will feel as inspired by these articles as I am!
As always, you can purchase this issue in Print or Digital right here on the blogpost, or find it, and all the other issues of tinyStudio magazine, in the fiberygoodness shop!
Enjoy weaving and tapestry tutorials, up cycling, fiber prep, and inspirational stories!
tinyStudio is proud to be sponsored by our favourite wheel makers :
