Hands-on Workshop: Spinning with Purpose

How do you translate a pattern designed for commercial yarn to one for handspun? How do you estimate the amount of handspun yarn that you will need for a sweater? What information does a gauge swatch tell you? How do you describe your yarn to another spinner so that they can replicate it? How do you check on your own yarn consistency? Join Annamarie Hatcher for a hands-on exploration of handspun and commercial yarns where we will answer these questions and prepare ourselves to spin our yarn with purpose.

This workshop is one to attend if you have ever fallen in love with a sweater that you found in your favourite knitting book and decided that you want to make one with your own handspun yarn from your own sheep.  Annamarie will discuss:

• Translating commercial to handspun
  
• Gauge
  
• How much handspun do you need?
  

Or perhaps you have joined a group of fibre artists who are spinning yarn to make a sweater, like in a Sheep to Shawl competition. How do you maintain group consistency? You will examine how to maintain consistency across a project by looking at:

• Micron count and crimp
• Spin once and measure twice
• Wraps per inch
• Bumps and twists per inch
• Twist angle
• Grist (length divided by weight)
• Discovering which measurement is the most informative

Materials to Bring:

• Scribbler or looseleaf with lined pages
• Calculator (cell phone)
• Several skeins of your own handspun
• Skein of commercial yarn
• Protractor 
• Ruler 
• Magnifying lens 
• Spinning wheel or drop spindle

Optional instructor provided materials it ($4) includes:

• Protractor 
• Ruler 
• Magnifying lens 

The above materials kit is can be purchased during registration for this workshop. You will have the option to register with or without the kit, with the inclusion of the kit increasing ticket price by $4.

Max number participants: 12

Cost: 
$6 for workshop
$10 for workshop + materials kit

NEW:  Please pay for your workshop within 5 days of registering or your registration will be cancelled. If you are paying by e-transfer, please include your invoice number in the e-transfer message and/or mention that the transfer is for hands-on registration.

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Coffee and tea will be available on site, but please remember to bring your lunch. A refrigerator is also available for us to use.

This registration fee is non-refundable. If a participant cancels or no shows, they forfeit the registration fee. If ASH cancels or postpones the workshop, the workshop fee will be applied as a credit on participants accounts for future workshops. Workshops require payment at the time of registration or within 5 days to confirm registration.