My Saturday class was "Spinning Fabulous Alpaca", with Kaye Collins. Kaye is from Fort Collins, CO and holds a Certificate of Excellence in spinning from the Handweavers Guild of America.
This was also a great class and really built on what I learned about woolen spinning in on Friday. Kaye supplied a wide selection of Huacaya and Suri alpaca of various microns and preparations. I found that there was a big difference in the feel, especially when spinning the Suri. I am now ruined for anything other than baby (22 micron or finer) alpaca...
At the end of the class, we got a chance to try some baby lama, camel and a camel/merino blend. Mmmmm, the camel was divine! I actually have some gorgeous black baby lama top from Crown Mountain Farms that I picked up in April at Shepherds Extravaganza, so getting to play with some during class was great.
In addition to the commercially prepared fiber, we also used combs and a drum carder during class to prep and blend our own. We talked about washing alpaca, how to keep the static / fly-away to a minimum while processing it and the best ways to set the twist. Lots of good info there, plus directions for creating a small PVC niddy noddy.
Kaye had us create sample cards during the class which should be a great resource and we also made bolo-style necklaces using longer sections of each fiber spun. As the proud owner of several bobbins of "mystery yarn" from various classes, I though that this was a pretty clever way to record, preserve and use the fiber spun during the class. I ended up with a bolo from my handspun and a wrist distaff from my neighbor's! She had taken Kaye's class on Friday too and didn't want a second bolo, so she made a pair of wrist distaffs instead.
Biggest takeaways from this class:
1. Spinning woolen, especially with a slippery fiber like alpaca, takes a lot more twist than I am used to. In general, I found that I had to jump up TWO ratios in order to get enough twist in my (thin-ish) singles. Even with a two ratio jump, I had to be careful and make sure that I was treadling fast enough to keep up with my hands. (which would really mess me up every time I switched back to worsted spinning!)
2. I really liked spinning alpaca woolen, especially with medium draw (woolen prep) and from the fold (worsted prep). Alpaca spins GREAT over the fold, probably because it is so slippery. I had no problems with it clinging to itself and trying to pull the lock back in line with the twist, which I have experienced with wool.
3. Alpaca prep is similar to wool, but there are slight differences and I came away with some good tips.
4. Ditto on the finishing, which I kind of got a hint of when I spun my alpaca/merino blend for Alpacapalooza earlier this year. I thought at the time that the "poofyness" I saw in my first few samples was a result of my spinning / TPI or caused by the particular fiber blend (50/50). Turns out that it may just have been because of the alpaca itself. I'll need to start earlier and sample more extensively next year to make sure that I don't run into this again.
Showing posts with label NwRSA Conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NwRSA Conference. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
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.
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.
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