4-11-2026 Bellwether Bulletin - Bellwether Craft Co.

The Bellwether Bulletin 

Weekly Fiber News ~ Patterns ~ History & Lore

April 11, 2026

📰 The Fiber Feed: Top News

Golden Goose CAL Launches for Spring: TOFT, a British craft company, recently introduced a fairy-tale inspired crochet-along (CAL), called the “Golden Goose.” Crafters are called to join the CAL from April 20 through May 1. The project is part of the brand’s ongoing storytelling series, encouraging makers to engage with narrative-driven patterns while working through a guided, community-based make. | Read more at TOFT

Weaving Across the U.S.: Weaver Elizabeth Hill shares her story of traveling cross-country with a rigid-heddle loom and visiting local yarn shops and mills along the way. She says each “state scarf” holds a memory of the yarn, the place she set up to weave it, and the people she met along the way – people who often struck up a conversation with her starting with, “What are you doing?” | Read more at Little Looms

Tri-Axial Weaving Gains Attention: A recent guide breaks down the fundamentals of tri-axial weaving, a technique built on three intersecting sets of strips at 60-degree angles. The structure creates visually complex patterns and highlights the mathematical precision behind advanced weaving methods. | Read more at EWESPECIAL

Royal Visit Spotlights Historic Wool Mill: Princess Anne, the Princess Royal and also sitting president of the UK Fashion and Textile Association, recently toured Abraham Moon & Sons, a heritage Yorkshire mill. In business since 1837, the mill is recognized as one of Europe’s leading “vertical woolen mills” – meaning it completes every step of production under one roof. This includes dyeing, spinning, weaving and finishing. | Read more Campaign for Wool

🖼️ New Exhibits

Knitted Installation Brings Wartime Britain to Life: Set to open this summer at Peterborough Cathedral, The Longest Yarn II: Britain at War will feature thousands of hand-knitted figures depicting scenes from World War II. The large-scale installation uses textile craft to recreate historical moments, demonstrating how knitting can serve as a powerful medium for storytelling and remembrance. | Read more at BBC

(Photo courtesy of the U.S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife)

🐑 Fiber Feature

Vicuña, A Protected Alpaca Cousin: Native to the high-alpine barrens of the Andes, the Vicuña is a wild, protected relative of the alpaca that produces the rarest and finest animal fiber in the world, according to Alpaca Collections.

Measuring a mere 12 microns (finer than more Merino wool fibers that are considered “superfine” at 15-18.5 microns), the fiber is harvested through a traditional communal roundup called a Chaccu, where the animals are gently herded, shorn and immediately released back into the wild to preserve their populations. | Read more at Alpaca Collections

🧶 From the Studio:

Don't forget, this Bobble Heart Granny Square is free for you to download.

Get the Pattern

📜 Heritage & Lore

A dose of fiber history

Spider Woman Weaves the World: In Diné (Navajo) tradition, Spider Woman is credited with weaving the web of the universe and teaching the first people how to weave. According to the creation story, she first discovered weaving through a mysterious thread that emerged from her own hand, later using it to form intricate patterns inspired by the universe itself. Today, young weavers are taught to touch a sunlit spider web so that Spider Woman’s gift may pass into them, carrying forward the belief that weaving connects the maker to both the natural and spiritual worlds. | Read more at NavajoRug.com

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