Transcript for
Episode 75: Three Tips for Self-Taught Spinners
Hello there, my darling Sheepspotters! I’m back to the audio-only version of the podcast, so welcome to episode 75 of The Sheepspot Podcast.
Well, that was a long and unexpected hiatus! I think it’s been just about a year since the last audio podcast. During the initial part of the COVID-times, I was live on Instagram daily (you can find some of those shows on my IGTV channel in the “Journal of the Plague Year” series). I loved that; I really needed to interact with some humans, and it was fun to do some spontaneous teaching on video. So when I stopped the daily lives, I decided to do the podcast as an Instagram Live. (You can also find those on my IGTV in the “Sheepspot Podcast'' series.) And I enjoyed those until Instagram ate a couple of the podcasts, meaning that I did them live and thought I’d saved them. But apparently I hadn’t.
So we are back to audio, and I will get to today’s topic, tips for self-taught spinners, in a minute. But first I want to catch you up on a big Sheepspot development from 2020: we now have a free online community just for inquisitive spinners—and if you’re listening to this podcast, I’m guessing that you qualify—The Flock. The Flock is hosted on a platform called Mighty Networks. Mighty Networks gives us a great set of tools for hosting community discussion, running online courses and challenges, and it’s also the new home of our membership community, The Sheepspotters’ Society. If you’re not yet a member of The Flock, head on over to theflock.sheepspot.com. As I mentioned, it’s completely free to join. And it’s also where we’ll be posting our podcast transcripts and freebies.
I actually got the idea for this podcast in The Flock, and speaking of freebies, there is one for this episode, about which more in a moment. I ask new Flock members to tell me who taught them to spin, and the overwhelming majority of them are self-taught. So I’ve been thinking about how I can ease that journey a bit and decided to make a podcast in which I offer some tips to all those self-taught spinners out there. So, without further ado, three tips for self-taught spinners.
First, I think it’s a really good idea to get to know some other spinners, so you’ll have folks to whom you can bring questions and also share wins. For some of you this might be a guild, if you have a local one. I would suggest that you just google “handspinning guild near me” and see what comes up. Guilds are a great way to socialize with other spinners, they often host classes and workshops that are very reasonably priced, and lots of guilds have their own equipment, which members can rent for a reasonable fee, which is a fabulous way to, say, try out different kinds of hand card before you buy your own set. Or to try out different wheels.
If you don’t have a nearby guild, darling, join us in The Flock! We can’t rent you equipment, but there are so many wonderful spinners in the group at all skill levels who will be happy to help you out if you need it. We also do monthly contests, host a team for Tour de Fleece, collect pattern ideas that work well with handspun, and celebrate each other’s yarn. So “get to know some other spinners” is my first tip.
My second tip is “learn from the best.” There are a couple of ways to do this from the comfort of home. For one thing, Craftsy is back after being bought and sold a couple of times, and there are some really good spinning classes on Craftsy. I recommend particularly those taught by Jacey Boggs Faulkner, Amy King, Jillian Moreno, and Esther Rogers.
So Craftsy is great. Even better, in my view, is an all-access subscription to Spin-Off from Long Thread Media. For one thing, Spin-Off is now being edited by Kate Larson and I think it is giving Ply Magazine a real run for its money. Even better, for $150 USD, you can have both a physical and digital subscription to Spin-Off and access to all of Long Thread Media’s (formerly Interweave) instructional videos for both spinning and weaving for a full year. I think it’s a really great deal, and right now you can try it out for 30 days for free.
The all-access subscription to Long Thread Media will let you watch videos by Sarah Anderson, Maggie Casey, Abby Franquemont, Judith MacKenzie, Deb Menz, and various other spinning luminaries. Over and above what you’ll learn from the actual lessons, you can also learn so much just from watching really good spinners spin. So tip #2 is “learn from the best.”
Tip #3 is “assemble a spinning library.” In the freebie for this week, I’m giving you a list of the books I think should form the foundation of any spinner’s library. The list includes:
Sarah Anderson, The Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs: Techniques for Creating 80 Yarns.
Abby Franquemont, Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool.
Kate Larson, The Practical Spinner’s Guide to Wool.
Jillian Moreno, Yarnitecture: A Knitter’s Guide to Spinning.
Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook.
Beth Smith, How to Spin: From Choosing a Wheel to Making Yarn.
So, lovelies, that’s it for me this week. We’ve talked about getting to know other spinners, learning from the best and watching great spinners without leaving your house, and assembling a spinning library. You’ll find the downloadable freebie with links all my favorite spinning books in the thread with this episode in The Flock, so if you’d like a copy, just head to theflock.sheepspot.com. I would love it if you joined us over there for a discussion of this episode.
In the next episode I’ll be talking about my five favorite wools for new spinners. Thank you so much for listening, my friend. I’ll see you next time!