I'm not much for traveling just for the sake of traveling or sightseeing. But if there is a fiber event nearby, count me in! I had never heard of PlyAway but it seemed like a good excuse to go to Kansas City. My SO has family there, so he was happy to make the trip, too.
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| Westward ho! |
We drove. Weather forecasts were iffy, so that meant packing extra clothes, just in case it was warmer than expected or colder (it was wetter and windier, and the temps were a bit better than back home, but I was still overly optimistic in my tee shirt choices). The pic above is just my stuff. I moved the wheel into a back seat and belted it in, to make room for my SO's stuff. He's a photographer, so there was that gear, too.
I signed up for three classes: Spin Unusual Threads for Weaving, taught by Judith MacKenzie; Plying by Design, taught by Stephenie Gaustad; and Fiber Prep Elevated, taught by Mary Egbert. I was so engaged in each class that I neglected to take any photos until the last class. Also, my impression was that I was one of the least experienced spinners there, and keeping up with the instructor was a bit of a challenge, so besides no pics, I have little to show for my efforts. It's a good thing I took notes, otherwise I might feel like I learned nothing. Not so! Here are some highlights:
Spin Unusual Threads for Weaving: Even though the instructor implied that to be a weaver, one must weave on a harness loom, I learned techniques I can use on my rigid heddle looms. An unexpected piece of advice was to use one's handspun for the warp - put all the color and texture in the warp and weft with whatever. If the handspun is something likely to break, warp it with a fine fiber like silk thread - the silk will disappear after fulling. Yarn spun worsted is best for warp, though, while woolen works well for weft. Alternate Z-spun and S-spun threads in the warp to produce a shimmer. We practiced cabling 2-ply silk threads while wrapping them in wool or imprecating (entrapping) fiber between the threads. Another handy trick is to cable silk with a metallic thread, wrapping it in wool, then ply with wool yarn, to make the metallic thread more subtle. All these ideas (and more!) were mind-boggling to me and opened up a new world of yarn creation. Unfortunately, all the thread I created became bound up on the bobbin and will probably have to be cut off. I wish there had been a handout; I also wish the prerequisites had listed knowing how to spin woolen, so I could have been better prepared.
Plying by Design: There was a handout for this class, thank goodness, as there was a lot of info discussed. I wish I had brought about 5 empty bobbins, however, as the recommended two full of Z-spun singles and one empty didn't get me far. A white board would have been helpful as well, as sometimes the instructor's verbal instructions were a bit complex. Spinners are such an opinionated bunch - one teacher will say X, but if you ask another teacher about X, she may say that is all wrong or just give you a blank stare. This teacher was no exception: umbrella swifts are "evil", don't use ball winders because they change the twist, the only way to set twist is with steam, etc. Again, I struggled and my samples were a mess, but I learned some good stuff, too.
Fiber Prep Elevated: This class was the most fun, primarily because we each had our very own 8" Clemes & Clemes MOTORIZED drum carder to work with. OMG! I wish I could justify blowing $1K-2K on one of these machines. We also were equipped with all the tools we needed to create lovely batts of fiber. I was disappointed we did nothing with hand carders and practically nothing with combs (just a demo, although when I came back early from lunch, I tried my hand at combing), we did a lot of color blending. This year's programs in my weavers guild have accentuated color, and this class helped solidify that learning. It is also the one class I had decent enough results for photos.
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| Squee! |
One exercise had us creating an ombre batt: one person blended a color (in our case magenta) with white, one person blended it with gray, and a third person blended it with black; then we combined all three of those into a single batt.
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| Ombre |
Working with a "cmy primary mixing wheel", we tried our hand at blending. The primary colors on this wheel are cyan, magenta, and yellow (cmy). I tried mixing equal parts of magenta and yellow to get red, but without a scale, my proportions were a bit off, so I ended up with more of a tangerine color.
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| Pass 1 |
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| Pass 2 |
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| Pass 3 |
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| Final result |
Another exercise was to select a photo and use it to inspire a color combo.
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| Blueberry parfait |
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| Yum! |
I experimented with creating an ombre in blues. The fun thing about blending colors is if the result doesn't seem quite right, just add more of whatever you need to correct it. Having a motorized drum carder really made this easy.
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| Blue ombre |
We made tweed batts as well. While the instructor said I "got" it, the color flecks seem too subtle to me. Maybe once I spin this up, I will change my mind.
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| Purple tweed |
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| Tweed detail |
Besides classes, from Thursday noon on, the vendor area was open. Quite frankly, I have more fiber, from fleece to yarn, than any sane person should have, and was quite pleased with my restraint. I also have a rule regarding fiber fests: I take $200 in cash, and when that is gone, I am done buying. In the pic below, the blue tool on the left was included in the material fee for the fiber prep class; it's a "brush cleaner" but we used it to remove the final invisible wisps of fiber on the drum carders. The other items are a wraps-per-inch (WPI) tool, a burnisher (packs the fiber onto the drum carder), a diz threader, a diz, a pair of earrings that look like spindles, and a fringe twister.
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| Little purchases |
All participants also received a swag bag full of mostly samples of fiber. What does one do with all these little samples? I think I might blend them with something basic like merino, and knit myself a PlyAway souvenir.
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| Swag! |
Most of my fiber equipment is from Ashford. Consequently, I have watched a lot of their UTube videos which invariably start out "This is Kate from Ashford". So I was excited when I saw Kate from Ashford in the vendor area! I gushed about the videos, and she graciously asked someone to take our picture. My local dealer was impressed.
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| Almost famous! |
Since I wasn't able to get into all the classes I wanted, we had time to make a side trip to Lawrence, to visit the Yarn Barn. I had tried to make a purchase from them online a while back, but everything I wanted was back ordered. Well, I was able to fulfill my original order, and then some, that day. It was mostly spools of carpet warp and skeins of rug yarn, plus some silk thread. Now I am set for a while.
PlyAway is held at the Westin, and I was able to get the special rate for all but one night of our stay, but I still found myself hyperventilating occasionally over just how much money this trip cost. I had to keep giving myself permission to be okay with that. I try to learn as much as possible from books, videos, local experts, and nearby fiber fest classes that cost a pittance, but the PlyAway classes were definitely a step (or three!) above what I am used to. I'm glad I went.
