Jillian Moreno

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Jillian Moreno is obsessed with yarn; she can’t stop writing and teaching about spinning, knitting, weaving and stitching. She explores, questions and plays with her yarn and fiber and wants to take as many people as she can along for the ride. Jillian wrote the best-selling spinning book Yarnitecture: A Knitter’s Guide to Spinning: Building Exactly the Yarn You Want and is co-author of Big Girl Knits and More Big Girl Knits. It’s said she’s the secret love child of Willy Wonka and Hildy Johnson. When she’s at home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she can be found wantonly basking in her stash. Keep up with her fiber exploits at jillianmoreno.com.

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Contributions From Jillian Moreno

Yarn Detective: North to Alaska

Our Yarn Detective heads north to find a Qiviut Experience worth writing home about.

Yarn Detective: Sweet Jane

Up close and personal with our beautiful new yarn. How does she knit up? The swatches tell all.

Yarn Detective: DK Sock Yarn

Go heavier to try something new.

Yarn Detective: Creative Linen for the Schvitzing Season

To quote Van Halen: It's the best of both worlds.

Chasing Wool in Northern England

Our Yarn Detective goes into the green north to find the sheepiest, scrummiest wool.

Yarn Detective: Comparing Cottons

Cotton is cotton is cotton, right? Not so fast. Our Yarn Detective is on the case.

Yarn Detective: Cotton Time

Cotton yarns are perfect for warmer days. Unlock the secrets of working with this plant-based wonder.

The Yarn Detective: Nua Sport

Why is Nua Sport so mouth-wateringly delicious? Our yarn expert investigates.

History Spun into an Ethereal Yarn

Our yarn expert explores Love Story Einband, the finest of Icelandic yarns.

Hélène Magnússon: Fire, Ice, and Wool

This designer, teacher, wool lover, and yarn developer brings energy and vitality to everything she does.

Needle Material, Colorwork, and a Surprise

Taking the sweet, swatching time to find your tool and yarn love match.

Uppspuni: Iceland’s Mighty Mini Mill

Field trip! We're off to a mill that's transforming how shepherds with smaller flocks sell their home-grown yarn.

Confessions of a Flat Knitter

Ready to leap off the knitting-go-round? Tips for a soft landing are here.

Yarn Detective: Chromium

This exquisite yarn from Neighborhood Fiber Co makes sculptural knits pop. Plus a flash sale!

Yarn Detective: Ply Twist

Be happy with the outcome of your knitting, fine tune your yarn substitution skills, and stuff your stash with yarns that you’ll love knitting with.

A Spinner in Ireland: Donegal Tweed

Take an armchair tour where fleeces and flecks of color combine to make one of the greatest yarns.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Turns 50

Take a spin (get it?) around the annual gathering of shepherds, yarn makers, and fiber arts lovers that kicks off the festival season.

Books: A Spring Fling

Feast your eyes on nine titles to instruct, delight, and fill your spring with inspiration.

So Good Together: Atlas + Kidsilk Haze

Two marvelous yarns that add up to gorgeous glow and ultimate squish for your favorite worsted gauge patterns.

Yarn Detective: Norwegian Wool

Don't let this bird fly. An ode to a yarn that's gloriously ready for anything you want to knit up.

Unraveling: A Review

So much more than a pandemic memoir.

MDK Atlas: Shifting Gauge

Find your Atlas sweet spot for stockinette, lace, cables, and color work.

Books: A Holiday Shindig

Cozy up with a dozen engaging titles for knitters, for makers, and for reading aloud.

I Made It with Atlas: Fog Cutter

Just what the doctor ordered: a bright hit of citrusy color for a gloriously textured pullover by Thea Colman.

My Icelandic Sojourn

Let's go where the knitting is happy, the cinnamon rolls are the best anywhere, and the grocery stores stock yarn.

Why You Might Want to Learn to Spin

It looks like it's lots of fun. We even give you a little lesson, right here.

Color Play: Q & A with Spincycle’s Rachel Price

Our resident yarnitect talking with an expert dyer and swatching up wonderful yarns.

Yarn Detective: Drape and Elasticity

Learn about what gives your favorite yarns their sprawl or their spring.

An MDK Yarn Glossary

Or, That Word Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

A Bookish Spring

Brew a pot of tea and browse these titles to get your hands moving and to delight your heart and head.

How Needle Material Affects Gauge

Moreno over matter. Choose the best needles for the way you knit.

Atlas: Up Close with This New Yarn

What makes a yarn great? Our yarn expert shows us exactly what makes Atlas special.

Sing Along with Sequence Knitting

She loves to play at swatching all day.

Books: A Winter Shindig

Books for makers, books for winter reveries and reflection.

Mixtape Cowl Recipe

Mix it up and make it your own.

Mixtape Marls

Amp up your color crush by marling gradients.

Color Curiosity: What Is Going on with those Skeins?

Down the technicolor rabbit hole we go.

Books: A Late Summer Shindig

Heaps of inspiration for the marvelous maker's autumn to come.

Yarn Detective: Got GOTS (Certification)?

When it comes to organic certification standards, GOTS is the Greatest of All Time.

Yarn Detective: Semi-Solid Swirl

All turned around for Neighborhood Fiber Co.'s exquisite dyeing.

Books: A Spring Shindig

Recommendations for a happily busy maker's summer.

Sonya Philip’s Long-Awaited Book Is Here!

Jillian Moreno reviews a brand-new thing by Sonya Philip.

Yarn Detective: Léttlopi Love

In which Jillian sings the praises of a yarn that hits all the sweet spots.

Why Wool Wash?

. . . or The Wetter the Better . . . or Mostly Moist.

Best of 2020: Jillian’s Gems

Fiber-y goodness from the mind, heart, and hands of Jillian Moreno.

Books: A Seasonal Shindig

A roundup of fiber and needlework goodness.

Double Vision

Fill our hands with that doubled yarn. Ooooh ... doubled yarn.

Ply Playground

Race you to the playground (of novelty yarns)!

Mohonk: What Makes a Yarn Cozy?

Good ingredients, cleverly combined, add up to a great sweater yarn.

How to Audition a Yarn

For one thing, “audition” sounds like a lot more fun than "swatch."

The Switcheroo: Nua Sport and Felted Tweed

A side-by-side comparison of two great yarns for one fabulous design.

Substituting Yarn: Look at the Design

When substituting, it's not just about the yarn.

Yarn Detective: Felted Tweed

Fans of Felted Tweed, unite! Everybody loves this yarn—and for good reason.

Substituting: Thinking About Yarn

It could all go horribly wrong. Let's do it!

Yarn Detective: Wonderful Winterburn

Véronik Avery's Hadley Pullover in Winterburn Aran—will you look at that shine?

Yarn Detective: Big Wool

How can a yarn be so big and yet so light?

Superwash Part 2: How Do They Do That?

Settle in, yarn explorers, for an overview of the superwash process, plus: a tale of two merinos.

It’s Not You, It’s the Yarn: Superwash Edition

Ever wonder why superwash yarns are...like that?

Yarn Detective: Sock Yarn Versus Fingering-Weight Yarn

Danger, Will Robinson! Sock Yarn and Regular Fingering-Weight Yarn are not identical twins.

Yarn Detective: Twist and Knitting Style, Part 2

The yarn goddess answers two reader questions about how yarn twist and knitting style affect knitting gauge.

Yarn Detective: Ballbands Are Liars

Separating signal from noise, when it comes to information on a yarn label.

Picking and Grinning: How Your Knitting Style Affects Gauge and Fabric

Welcome to another installment of "It's Not You, It's the Yarn."

Best of 2018: Things About Yarn You Didn’t Know

Riveting, we tell you! This is the most compelling writing about yarn you'll ever find. Read ’n’ learn, friends!

Yarn Detective: The Mysterious Phenomenon of the Gauge Shifters

The secret to knitting lighter sweaters.

Grist: A Secret Measurement for Substituting Yarn

Learn this simple calculation to improve your success when substituting yarns.

The Why of Ply

This often-overlooked yarn characteristic can have a big impact on knitted fabrics.

Woolen and Worsted: What Does It Mean?

Our spinner-in-residence teaches the difference between two styles of putting twist into yarn.

Better Know a Sheep: Breeds and Yarns

Sheep, goats and other woolly beasts might save your knitting.