This class is all core all the time. We'll make a wide range of yarns from easy to a little more challenging. All are fun and funky. We'll start out with some traditional corespinning using top and locks. I'll discuss about the proper materials for cores and then we'll use a non traditional core material and make a super funky elasticized yarn. Finally we'll move into the core plying. Using core yarns that we make or are commercially made, we'll make a real boucle yarn and end the day playing with coils and bobbles. These are some exciting and fun yarns. You will also find that by learning novelty yarn making techniques that it will further your ability as a “traditional” yarn spinner. You will make so much yarn.

STUDENT– Please bring a wheel in good working order with 3 or more bobbins. It's also helpful to have a Niddy Noddy and a Lazy Kate. You can also bring in some singles if you like for the coils but we'll also be making some. You must have a good working knowledge of the wheel and be comfortable with basic spinning instructions. This is an intermediate class.

I'll tell you all the truths and then you need to dare to trust the twist! We'll expand your drafting horizons. Even if you walk out of this class not loving the true long draw, we'll be working on all the drafting methods between short and long draws. You'll have a new appreciation and new abilities for working with your wheel and mastering that twist with several different types of fibers.

STUDENT - Please bring a wheel in good working order with 3 or more bobbins. It's also helpful to have a Niddy Noddy and a Lazy Kate. You must have a good working knowledge of the wheel and be comfortable with basic spinning instructions. This is an intermediate class.

ALL ABOUT THE COLOR

$80 (4 hours) minimum 10 students
Color Color Color everywhere! You see colored tops and rovings all over the place. You want them but you aren't sure what to do with them. Or you get them home, spin them and are a little disappointed in the results. This class is all about making some samples, talking about color, and helping you be able to see the fibers and predict how the colors will look. I'll help you create a more predictable and desirable result in your final product.

STUDENT - Please bring a wheel in good working order with 4 or more bobbins. It's also helpful to have a Niddy Noddy and a Lazy Kate. If you have problem yarns or a confusing piece of handpaint that you want to discuss, bring those and we'll have a discussion at the end of class. This is an intermediate beginner's level class but you must know how to make yarn already. It doesn't have to be perfect but you have to be able to make singles and ply reliably.

COLOR E.S.P. :

$80 (4 hours)
Once upon a time, handpainted top wasn't so easy to find. Now, there's color everywhere. So enticing with their come hither looks. You can't help but buy it. Then you get that gorgeous hand painted top home and it falls flat of your expectations. Why did it do that? This class is a little different from my other “All about the color” class in that we work on different samplings and get a little deeper into little changes that effect the colors. Everything from the prep, the predraft, the drafting, and the plying all affect the final color of your yarn. We'll discuss how our eye sees colors, we'll talk about predictably, learn some new tricks and we'll get right down into some handpaint and spin it up with our new learned ability prediction. I'll also show you my quick “swatching” trick so we can see how these colors will play out.

STUDENT: Please bring a wheel in good working order with 3 or more bobbins. It's also helpful to have a Niddy Noddy and a Lazy Kate (preferably one that is not attached to your wheel). You must be capable of making yarn and have a good working knowledge of the wheel and be comfortable with basic spinning instructions. This is an entry level intermediate class.

ALL THE SINGLE....YARNS

Anyone that knows me, knows I love my singles yarns. Thin, energized, worsted, bulky, fancy, even, thick/thin....all of them. If you like them too and want to make better singles that are not meant for plying then this is the class. I'll go over how to make the singles, how to tell if you're going about it right, how to perfect them and how to finish them off. This is a fun class and some things may be more surprising if you've never made singles yarns. At the end of class if time allows, we'll go over how to use the singles in garments to get predictable results.

STUDENT– Please bring a wheel in good working order with 3 or more bobbins. If you have a wheel that has extra whorls, bring them. It's also helpful to have a Niddy Noddy and a Lazy Kate. You must have a good working knowledge of the wheel and be comfortable with basic spinning instructions. This is an intermediate class.

Plying 201 $60 (2-3 hours)
Bring in tons of singles. This class isn't about making singles though we will be making some to check your twist and to do some math on how to make superb balanced singles. The majority of this class is going to go over all kinds of plying.
You will do:
*Balanced and Unbalanced 2 ply
*3ply
*Chain/Navajo Ply
*4 ply
*Cable ply

Cards, Combs, and Hackles $80 (2-3 hours) Materials included.

Bring your own if you have them but I will have a couple of sets of these for everyone to use and share as well. We will learn how to use them and to blend with them.

*Hand Cards – Rolags
*Combs
*Hackles
*Using a diz
*Drum Carder
*Blending colors

Today is all about using nothing or something to blend up your colors. We will start with some base colors and from that you will make new colors. Red and Yellow make Orange...and so on. We will learn how to blend with hand cards, drum carders, combs, hackles, and nothing at all. This is a great class if you want to be more efficient and making the color you want from the colors you have.

If you have combs, hackles, or hand cards bring them. Also bring a wheel or spindle in good working order. The real test to how well you did making your blend is how well it looks spun up. I usually keep a spindle by the side of my carder for quick testing.

WEAVING LACE...

$115 (4-6 hours)
There are several ways to make lace. We'll be working on your rigid heddle loom but many of these are the same way you'd do them on the big floor looms. We have so many different variations. So much lace in so little time. We'll use manipulations with pick up sticks, our fingers, needles and just with our shuttles. If you're interested in taking your weaving to a new level, this may just be the class for you.

STUDENT – You already have a working knowledge of your loom and are proficient at warping it. In class we'll warp together and teach you a few tricks to get going a little faster then we'll move on to making our samples. Please bring your loom (in good working condition), warping peg, a 10 dent reed, smooth sport weight yarn (at least 360 yards) wound into a ball (optional if facilities provide this), 1 pick up stick, darning needle, and 2 shuttles.

PICK UP LINES...

This is for all the Weavers out there with a Rigid Heddle loom that want to get more out of it. You can do a lot with color and plain weaves but sometimes you want more. In walks the pick up stick. With the use of a pick up stick and your rigid heddle, you can make so many patterns. We'll go over some fairly simple techniques that will get you on your way and you'll walk out with a small sampler piece of weaving.

STUDENT – You already have a working knowledge of your loom and are proficient at warping it. In class we'll warp together and teach you a few tricks to get going a little faster then we'll move on to making our samples. Please bring your loom (in good working condition), warping peg, a 10 dent reed, smooth sport weight yarn wound into a ball (optional if facilities provide this), 2 pick up sticks, and 2 stick shuttles

If you cannot provide your own yarn for this, please let me know when you book the class. It's an additional $24