Spinning 201

The spinning class at Webs was great good fun.  Half of us were knitbloggers.  Jenny Bakridges is a talented spinner and teacher:  positive, warm, encouraging, personable, knowledgeable, nonjudgemental and energetic. 

What did I learn?  Certainly, there were the tricks and tips that we depend on our more experienced spinning peers to tell us.   Examples:

1.  A more secure way to fasten a leader to a bobbin
2.  A better way to join string for a driveband
3.  Demonstration of different drafting techniques
4.  Discussion of ratios/wheel circumference/treadling habits/drafting
5.  Sampling techniques to avoid generating 400 yards of yarn that needs to be beaten into sullen submission

I discovered that there is no desirable progression through drafting techniques or use of whorls that mark one's advancement in the craft.  The only criterion that marks a spinner as a "good" spinner, is whether you come close to achieving what you want from what you produce.  And even that is relative.  The good spinner learns from just TRYING to achieve a certain yarn.  That means even if the yarn isn't what you intended, you can still be a good spinner if you have learned from the process.  (Yes, Margene, I know.)

One of the pieces of learning to spin that constantly surprises me is this:  how much of drafting, getting a reasonably consistent amount of fiber into your point of contact (the pinching hand), and figuring out speed of takeup (which affects how much twist ends up in the yarn) CANNOT be easily taught.  Someone can look at your yarn, and say, "Yeah, too much twist."  Then you have to remember how you spun it, and change what you did the next time around.  The same thing is true of plying.  That is not easy, despite my obviously analytical learning style.

I was one step removed from camnesia.  I left it home. 

The murmurings of holiday anxiety are beginning to crescendo through blogland.  I can hear read it in the stress of descriptions of gift knitting and holiday preparation.  I found an article in Food & Wine magazine that offers a thoughtful perspective.  The author writes with clean and sympathetic precision.  The link can be found here.

In the desperate need to knit something other than socks, I have promised my MIL a 30" lace scarf.   The yarn is Sundara's laceweight silk, color 001.  I'm going to modify this shawl pattern into scarf mode, approximately 7" in width.  I will have lots of yarn left over.  Quelle domage.

Comments

[Cassie]

I would love to take a class with Jenny. I've never tried to do anything other than intuitive spinning, which may or may not be a good thing, but I'm sure a class or two wouldn't hurt.

I wish the picture of the shawl pattern you're adapting were clearer - its hard to see. I'm sure you'll be stuck (ahem) with enough leftover yarn to make a second scarf. Poor baby.

[Lucia]

I took a class with Alden Amos once -- he's definitely more dogmatic than Jenny, but I learned a lot. (I actually liked him, being inured to curmudgeons.)

I'm with Cassie on the shawl picture: it is hard to see. Your yarn is beautiful, however. Quel dommage indeed.

[maryse]

the photo of the yarn against the granite is really pretty. probably not much different than the aluminum sky the author describes.

[Kathy]

Thanks for the link to the article, timely for sure! The yarn is glistening through the monitor, if that's possible.

[Carole]

I'm glad the class was a success for you. I'd be interested in seeing what you learned about joining the driveband string. And I love the color of the yarn for the scarf!

[margene]

The post on the class have been very helpful to me as I've been spinning in a vacuum. What you shared has helped me feel better about what I am learning intuitively and by trial and error.
The winter solstice IS a turning point. Even though the worst of winter is still ahead, the days grow longer. That fact, and the sun in the mountains, gets me through Jan. and Feb.

[Cordelia]

I l.o.v.e. that yarn. Enjoy the leftovers.

[Luise]

Great article you sent us to. It reminded me of the Christmas Revels, which started in Cambridge, Mass., 36 years ago and is now presented nationwide. A celebration of the winter solstice, it's an unusual combination of music, dance, and theater. (You may know it well.) Try a CD of it if you don't live near a performance. (Music is the best part of the season for me. I've pared back the rest enormously.)

[Sylvia]

Was that a gauntlet thrown? I'm craving a chance to toy with your analytical mind and teach you drafting... It's math, sort of multivariable calculus in textile form.

[Chris]

My French is a bit rusty (or maybe it's my brain that's rusty). I read dommage but thought fromage.

Sounds like the workshop was good for you. Sampling is an amazing tool! I bet your mind grabbed right on to the ratio discussion. Unfortunately for me, talking ratios makes my eyes cross, my teeth curl, and my brain shrink from the pain. But sampling the different ratios helped me get the concept. A pound of natural color merino or blue faced leicester is great for sampling. Later when you want to practice dyeing, you can use your samples.

[Kellee]

Ratios? What are ratios? Is that sort of like fractions? Dangit. I hate math.

You know what love, though? That yarn. It's yummy. I also love that shawl. E. and I saw one knitted up in the Whispers yarn at the Classic Elite outlet store earlier this year and it was absolutely delightful. What a lovely mum gift.

[Marcia]

Oh, how I wish you could take a class, or five, with Judith MacKenzie! Nothing against Jennie (I hear she is lovely and a very good teacher), but JMM is the best, bar none. I'll chat about this more another time. Re: the holiday madness, with no one here on the 25th anymore, we have cut way back, and don't miss the frenzy a bit! Dinner on the 24th is usually my homemade pizza, and the next day...whatever strikes my fancy at Costco!

[minnie]

gorgeous stuff. it practically glows!

and i'm an intuitive spinner. so far, there's only been one yarn i was unhappy with, and i still used it! it's the yarn i used to make my earflap hat.

[LaurieM]

I'm working on de-stressing my Christmas. I still have to smack down errant thoughts of gift knitting though. :-)

[Cathy]

Love the yarn. It's a journey - spinning - you give and take from every spinner you meet. Lovely way to share the way.

[Caroline M]

Is the leader trick the one where you double the yarn for the leader then fasten the fibres to the loop of the leader with a larkshead knot? That came under the heading of "things I wish someone had told me"

I have my first spinning class in January, I am gathering class samples and thinking about what I want to learn.

[Marcy]

Lovely yarn porn! too bad you won't be using it all up, huh? Very domage. As to plying, it does admit to a more analytical approach. I can show you next time I see you.

[Lynn]

My Christmas-present knitting (1 hat, 5 scarves; 1.25 scarves still to go) appears to be under control, by some miracle, but I've barely even thought about other presents, Christmas cards, the tree, decorating the house, when shall I see my parents (any time is fine by them, luckily), and assorted other holiday detritus. And frankly, I may just not think much about any of those these year. I'm my mother's daughter; she thinks that Mother's Day is an invention of Hallmark and that there is always something more worth doing than housework. This year, I shall honor my upbringing, evidently.

[Lee Ann]

I'm knitting, but not for Christmas. I'd lose my mind if I did that.

Wait, it's already gone. Crap. Maybe I should knit just one gift, then...

Love the granite yarn. Lace and stone...interesting combination.

[Juno]

What would happen if you tried to spin by the seat of your pants and then looked at the result analytically?

[Teyani]

sounds like you had a great time at your class. beating yarn into submission (heh -heh) that creates a totally great picture in my mind!
I'd also love to hear about the drive band technique.
I have kept (as in not thrown away) all the yarn I've spun through the years, (even the worst of it) and I have ended up using it all in various projects. Sometimes the mistakes added great texture to a table scarf - or made a lovely felted hat :-)
I hope that you continue to enjoy to process, as Rilke once said.. "we must resolve to ever be beginners.. to learn to love the process..."

[vanessa]

that yarn is luminous!

[lisa Co. Springs]

Thanks for sharing what you learned---but it does seem that so much of learning to spin comes down to plain old trial and error, huh?

[Llamafarmgirl]

I'm a regular over at Spinning Spider Jenny's Blog - I really like your method of describing her class - outline with brief information - excellent technique. Couldn't stop looking at your yarn as I was reading - looks like it could be Jenny's handspun - yum.

Happy Spinning

[Lorette]

That silk is just beautiful. Remind me that I do NOT need more lace yarn. Really.
Thanks for the link to the holiday angst article. Holiday? What holiday?? You mean I should finish my shopping soon?