When I volunteered to write a blog about spinning, I thought I would write about the six workshops and seven seminars available at this year’s ANWG Conference. I thought I would extol the amazing instructors teaching these classes, a couple of whom I have the privilege of calling friends.
As I was folding and putting away sweaters for the season, I had a realization about my fiber journey. When I moved to the Pacific Northwest 10 years ago, I decided to learn how to spin to add to my knitting. My first class was a drop spindle class. I was horrible at it! I decided to get a wheel to learn, and I looked online for the “best” beginner wheel. For me, that was an Ashford Traditional that I found on Craigslist. I watched a lot of YouTube videos to learn and made a very uneven yarn. I knit a hat from it that I wear to this day. The following Spring, I saw spinning demonstrations at the Shepherd’s Extravaganza Spring Fair and found my people. I joined the Area 2050 group of the NwSFA at an in-person meeting the following weekend where I learned more in one afternoon than in the months I spent learning online.
I continued to grow in my fiber arts learning, borrowing a rigid heddle loom from an Area 2050 friend. Again, I learned online. I loved it. Recently another NwSFA friend gifted me a Baby Wolf loom and I went back online where I found a great class by Janet Dawson. What an age this is where we can order up the specialized help we need from the comfort of home.
At Area 2050, I found a wonderful group of spinners, but now I needed weavers too. Thankfully, my local spinner friends are also weavers! In person we share so much advice, guidance, and inspiration. We can share the exact information that someone needs in the moment that they are ready to hear it.
That’s it isn’t it? How we learn, how we grow as a person, as an artist. Being with our people. Learning from a person, in person. Watching and growing with our friends and with the people who inspire us. I hope this blog inspires you to join us at the ANWG Conference. I for one am looking forward to the excitement of that week, joining my friends to learn new spinning, weaving and other fiber techniques.
Registration for ANWG 2025, June 16-21
I cannot wait to see you at Conference!
Spinning in Six Workshops and Seven Seminars
Workshops
Beyond Braids: Spinning Magic
Beyond Thick and Thin
Blending Board Magic
Corespinning Plus
Spinning 201 – Beyond the Basics
Textured Yarns for Weaving
Seminars
ABC’s of Drop Spindling
Bottle Brush / Caterpillar yarn
Button Yarn
Jumbo Boucle Yarn
Spinning the New Fibers
Stacks
Supported Spindling
Janet Dawson
Janet will teach two workshops and four seminars at the conference.
Workshops:
Angles & Unduly (3 Day)
Twill Tie-ups: Where the Magic Happens (1 Day)
Seminars:
Designing in the Halftones
Name Drafting: Not just for overshot!
Overshot Departures
Profile Drafting 101