Whew! NwRSA Conference 2009...

June is upon us in full force! In addition to a serious heat wave, the first week of the month brought the annual Northwest Regional Spinners Conference.

After a frantic dash to Weaving Works for some bobbins, I headed down on Thursday for a long weekend of fun and learning. I had a blast again this year and I think my brain is full! I brought my camera with me, but completely forgot to dig it out and didn't take a single picture. Boo, hiss! This was really a shame, because it was held at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA, which is a really pretty campus. As I walked back and forth between classes, the dorms and the dining hall I frequently found myself wishing I had my camera with me, but... I'd promptly forget it again the next time I set off.

There were some amazing teachers this year, both local (Georgean Curran, Amelia Garripoli and Eileen Van Bronkhorst) and nationally / internationally recognized (Cat Bordhi, Kaye Collins, Anne Field and Joan Ruane) Classes offered covered everything from spinning to knitting, weaving and felting. Truly something for everyone.

I am still working on "the basics", so I signed up for spinning classes both Friday and Saturday. Most of my spinning to date has been worsted, since my goal was to be able to spin a 3-ply sock yarn. Now that I have pretty much mastered that, I am ready to move on to processing some of those fleeces I've been buying and spinning up some woolen yarn for a sweater (or other larger project).

So, I started the weekend with Anne Field's "Spinning Worsted and Woolen Yarn" class. Anne is an amazing spinner and I really enjoyed her class. She actually spun standing up, on an Ashford Joy! We used combs, flick carders and hand cards to prep Cotswold and Coopworth locks in woolen and worsted fashion, then spun each prep both woolen and worsted. We finished the class by setting the sample hanks and discussing / comparing them.

The worsted (spinning) portion of the class was mostly review for me, with a couple of interesting tidbits.

1. Unlike some teachers, Anne doesn't see anything wrong with short backward draw (vs short forward draw). Yea! She says that most people can do both, but find one or the other to be more natural for them.

2. I've had people ask me if I am left handed when they watch me spin, because I hold my fiber in my left hand and draft & control my twist with my right. I never really understood why they asked or thought that I was spinning "backwards", because it just seemed natural to me. Anne looked around the room, asked who was left vs right handed, then asked who had learned to spin first using a drop spindle. She said that it is actually very common for right handers who learn to drop spindle before moving to a wheel to spin the way that I do, because they use their dominant hand to flick or thigh-roll and control the spindle.

The woolen (spinning) portion of the class rocked! I had been taught two different methods of long draw previously, plus spinning from the fold and been pretty awful at all of them. Letting go and allowing unevenness and slubs into my singles is painful for me, and not just because I've been spinning fine, worsted singles for the past year and a half.

Anne taught us a medium draw, a third style of long draw and spinning from the fold. True long draw is still a bit of a reach for me, but I can see it just over the horizon. Medium draw and spinning from the fold really clicked and are competing for my new favorite spinning method. One thing I found? They are FAST! Once I got the hang of the draw, I either had to pedal faster or hold afterwards to allow enough twist into the single before letting it wind on. I later switched from the smallest ratio on the regular flyer to the middle ratio on the fast flyer to compensate and allow my feet to resume their "normal" pace.

I am still slogging away on the last bobbin of my latest 3-ply sock yarn, a Briar Rose Fibers BFL for the Ravelry Ply by Night SAL / KAL. If I finish it (please, please, please) before Black Sheep, I may enter it there. I'm not sure who is judging the skeins this year, but last year I think it was Judith MM. After Black Sheep, I'll be gearing up for the Tour de Fleece in July. This year I am going to focus on woolen spinning the whole month and practice what I learned at Conference! Hopefully I'll have something pretty finished in time for Sock Summit in August, because I'll be meeting Josette from Enchanted Knoll Farm there.