Saturday I took a class with Tom Knisley at Red Stone Glen.

I had taken a learn to spin class there in the spring with his daughter and learned a lot so I was excited to go!

Have you ever wondered how to spin those wonderful yarns that have interesting textures and visual appeal? This workshop will take you beyond the typical yarn. Students will learn how to spin several different styles of yarn, including thick and thin spiral yarns, slub yarns, core spun yarns and yarns that incorporate mill spun yarns into the plying process. You will leave with all kinds of ideas and many samples to inspire you when you get home.

All materials included in tuition.

I spent Friday night in York so I could get there early and then came home after the class. A 9-5 class is a lot! I was really flagging at the end.

It was fun being around other spinners and getting help when we ran into troubles. I had hoped we’d be making more really artsy yarns with beads or feathers but we mostly stuck to corespun (which he insists has to be plied, unlike the other class I took), some spinning with commercial yarns, thick and thin and one where we spun it back on itself.

I was a little surprised when we got the reminder email to find out we were supposed to bring our wheels. So was everyone else. I had assumed we’d be using their wheels with art yarn attachments. I quickly ordered the Freedom Flyer for my Joy 2 but I couldn’t get a straight answer from any spinning group or either of the stores/dealers I contacted if it was a replacement for the flyer it came with or not. Knisley didn’t know either! It’s a difference in length in the cord that goes around the bobbins and I don’t want to locked into the Freedom Flyer since it is too big to pack into the bag and ply using the built in Lazy Kate. I was told to unscrew the other one but I know that would end up just putting a hole in my wheel eventually since it’s just a screw hook. Anyway, I just didn’t use it in the class and it turned out that we didn’t need it because we most spun very fine yarn for hours and then plied it together.

I actually ended up learning more about the rations and whorls for spinning finer yarn than I did novelty/art yarn! I’m glad I went, we made some batts and had fun spinning but I was hoping we’d go a little further. Someone asked about some other styles of art yarn and he wasn’t familiar with them. He was a very friendly and patient teacher and we did cover everything listed, I was just picturing the yarn to be bulkier and wilder. But I think I came away with some skills.