The fine spinning class was such a treat! Teaching at Jennifer’s shop is so nice and relaxed and energizing, and all of the students were skillful and adventurous. It was really delightful to watch everyone experiment and settle on a favorite fiber.
I swiped several shots from the class album from The Wicked Stitch on Facebook. More pictures here. (You should go like The Wicked Stitch right now!)
The wheels in attendance were Kromskis, Frickes, a Lendrum and a wee little Merlin Tree. We spun silk hankies, silk top, a 50/50 silk/merino blend, an 80/20 merino/silk, superfine merino, alpaca/merino/silk, and Optim. Tomorrow when it’s light again I’ll snap a picture of my little sample skein and the little 3-gram skeins from short-draw roving and the wee little 3-gram sock I knit from it. It’s so cute, I think I’m going to have to knit tiny little socks from all the fibers in my shop. At Christmas I can have a little sock tree!
Optim is definitely my new fine-spinning favorite. It’s so gooey! It’s like spinning taffy or Silly Putty, not quite solid, not quite liquid. But it’s not at all hard to spin–at least not compared to the really slippery fibers like silk. It’s got enough woolly grab to stay together, but it’s smooth and elastic and weirdly viscous–seriously: gooey.
After Mitten School, I’m going to spin up an Optim treat for myself for winter. It will be just the thing when the days are short and I’m feeling mopey.
Nikol, I had a wonderful time, thanks for teaching this class. I learned lots of new things and enjoyed experimenting with new fibers. Optim is great, I’m glad I bought some.
Why don’t I live in Kansas?? This looked like sooo much fun! Plus the painting workshop you have coming up among other thiings…sigh! And, I saw the colorways on the Harveyville Project website for Mitten School. How am I going to choose? They look AMAZING!!
I attended this class and LOVED it. And why do spinning photos always make me want to go on a diet ASAP? But seriously, I am taking your hand painted class and can’t wait!!! I also love those little bunny slippers and am interested in the Last Minute Gifts Class. When is that going to be? It’s not on the Wicked Stitch website yet. Had a great time and learned a lot. Thanks especially for your wonderful spinning kits with the goodies. Love! The Optim was to die for. I’d never heard of it before and something tells me that my wallet wishes I’d never encountered it. sigh.
I’m the same way. If you looked at the facebook album, you can see I excluded all of the closeups of my double chin. :)
And now that I see the back of my head, I’m VERY pleased I got a haircut on the way home.
I think it’s going to be the first weekend in December. Two days of stuff you can make in a couple hours. Everything from quickie hats to knitted wire jewelry to ornaments. Yay! Should be extra-fun.