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Blend and Spin with Wild Silk (2025)

Instructor: Heavenly Bresser

Wild silks are unique, exquisite fibers that are perfect for the handspinner’s stash. When compared to bombyx silk, they are less slippery, shorter, and often easier to spin. These silks are quite desirable and great candidates for blending, especially considering their beautiful range of colors. Let’s go wild and learn special blending techniques and get comfortable with blending a variety of wild silk with handcards. Then, we’ll take them to wheel or spindle for a spin. Heavenly will also demonstrate how to blend with wild silks using a blending board and drumcarder. You’ll leave this session knowing how to create colorful, elegant, and sophisticated blends that are worthy of spinning.Required Supplies: Spinning wheel or e-spinner in working order with at least 3 empty bobbins (2 for spinning; 1 for plying), lazy kate or equivalent, pair of handcards (72 tpi recommended), notepad with writing utensil. Spindles and spindle kates are welcome.

Sweet Feet: Spinning for Socks (2025)

Instructor: Kate Larson

Handspun and knitted socks can be a joy to wear. Understanding how fiber, yarn design, and knitted gauge intersect will help you create socks that feel better and last longer. We will spin a variety of fibers, talk about how to make the best use of each fiber's unique characteristics, and how preparation impacts the yarns we make. Bring your needles, try a few unusual cast-ons, and learn some creative mending techniques to keep you on your toes.Required Supplies: Several spindles or working wheel, extra bobbins, lazy kate, and handcards. You will need sock needles in US 1, 2, and 3—Kate prefers double-pointed needles, but you can also bring long circulars or two short circulars of each size. Contact Kate if you have any questions at [email protected].

Beyond Beginning Spinning (2025)

Instructor: Maggie Casey

Want to expand your spinning skills? Then this class is for you! First, we’ll tune up our wheels. Then, using carders and combs, we’ll prepare and spin a variety of wools and some other fibers too. We’ll play with different drafts from woolen to worsted and work on consistency in size and twist. After discussing finishing techniques, we can work on planning a project and designing the yarn for it. You will take home a variety of samples and lots of ideas on how to use your beautiful handspun.Required Supplies: Spinning wheel in good working condition with all its parts, 4 bobbins, lazy kate and usual spinning tools, knitting needles in a variety of sizes to knit swatchesSkills Needed: Students should be able to spin a continuous yarn.

Beyond Thick and Thin: Spirals, Fishnets, Rosebuds & More (2025)

Instructor: Charan Sachar

Thick-and-thin yarns are great when it comes to creating textured yarns, and they are some of Charan’s favorites to spin. This workshop will guide you through spinning thick-and-thin yarns with the intention of plying them into something magical. Using these thick and thin singles, we will explore how to create beehives, fishnets (2-ply crêpe), rosebuds, and more. You will also push these yarns further by additing novelty yarns to the slubs. When you leave class, you’ll be able to add these techniques to your creative spinning repertoire. Charan will also share how he uses creative, colorful yarns in knitting, weaving, and quilting.Required Supplies: Wheel with a large orifice (1/2" or larger) to accommodate textured yarns, 2 or 3 extra bobbins (or ability to wind off bobbins on storage bobbins), lazy kate, fine crochet hook (size 0/2mm or 1/2.25mm), pen and paper for notes, niddy-noddy, and any additional tools you prefer.

Weaving a Spinner’s Stash: Handspun for Rigid-Heddle (2025)

Instructor: Stephanie Flynn

Weaving with handspun allows you to create incredible fabrics—even when drawing on a stash of precious leftovers. Rigid-heddle looms allow many options for mixed warps while creating very little waste. We will explore yarn with its twists and plies from a weaver’s perspective: How much strength do you really need for a warp? What sizes and textures of handspun can create a successful warp? How do you choose a complementary weft for different fabric qualities? Bring your own handspun stash and learn to warp with a partner to make setting up your loom a breeze. Weaving time will be interspersed with mini lessons to help you get the most out of the workshop. You will leave class with a beautiful mixed-warp scarf ready to wear!Required Supplies: At least 4 ounces of handspun yarns; more is better. If there are commercial yarns you would like to try, bring them, too! Bring scissors, darning needle, and any note-taking supplies you need.Additional Notes: Looms will be provided for this class.

Pueblo Cotton Fiber Preparation & Spinning (2025)

Instructor: Louie García

Pueblo fiber artists have been spinning cotton for weaving and sprang for at least 1500 years. A Pueblo fiber artist of Tiwa and Piro heritage, Louie García preserves and renews the textile traditions of his ancestors. In this unique class, students will learn about the importance of cotton fiber, spinning, and textiles in the Pueblo Southwest through hands-on exploration. You will experience seed cotton, hand ginning, and using Pueblo spindles, which are unlike Navajo or other spindles that most will be familiar with. The mode of spinning is very different from what you have experienced before; no prior cotton spinning experience is required.Required Supplies: NoneAdditional Notes: Materials provided: Seed cotton; spindles and beaters for use in class

Everything Turkish Spindle (2025)

Instructor: Amelia Garripoli

Ready to elevate your Turkish spindle spinning? Over two days of hands-on fun, we’ll dive deep into this versatile cross-armed powerhouse. Starting with the fundamentals to get you spindling efficiently and confidently, we will cover everything from drafting, getting the twist just right, troubleshooting for consistent results, exploring different fibers, different spinning draws, and more. You’ll pick up tips for improving productivity, consistency, and control. Finally, we’ll wrap up with plying techniques that’ll have you plying at top speed with true Andean plying—plus a bonus exploration of chain plying and ply-on-the-fly.Required Supplies: Students should bring at least one Turkish spindle (more than one is best).Additional Notes: If possible, bring Turkish spindles in three weights: less than 1 ounce, about 1 ounce, and about 1–1.5 ounces. If you have any other spindles you have questions about, bring them, too.

This-a-way, That-a-way—Spinning Opposing Plies (2025)

Instructor: Heavenly Bresser

Expand your skills from traditional yarns to not-so-common yarns with an opposing ply. Spinning these type of yarns requires at least one energized ply. The results are yarns with intriguing texture and increased elasticity. In this session, you’ll learn how to make a basic opposing-ply yarn including helpful tips for successful plying, and also discover the many applications for these kinds of yarns that make them so valuable!Required Supplies: 3 ounces of wool, divided, preferably combed top or roving (see homework for more details), spinning wheel or e-spinner in working order, 2 empty bobbins, lazy kate or equivalent for plying. (No spindles for this session.)Optional Supplies: Niddy-noddy; wraps-per-inch tool.Homework: Spin 1 ounce of wool with a worsted draft on two individual bobbins (0.5 oz on each bobbin). These singles should have a similar grist and be spun in same direction (Z, or clockwise). Take notes on how you’ve spun these singles (i.e. whorl/pulley, or speed on e-spinner). Bring remaining 2 ounces of wool to the workshop. (For example: If your singles are spun from Targhee top, then bring Targhee top for the class session.)

Creative Focus: Building a Spinner's Idea Notebook (2025)

Instructor: Kate Larson

Inspiration is everywhere. The challenge for fiber artists is in translating interesting architecture, a sunset, or a memory into yarn and textiles. In this workshop, Kate will share with you how she uses a spinner's creativity notebook to capture fleeting color combinations and pattern ideas, while keeping no-fuss, yet accurate samples. You will leave with a spinner's notebook, several of your own color-texture studies, and a new way to capture your creativity.Required Supplies: Several spindles or a spinning wheel in good working condition, extra bobbins, lazy kate, handcards.

English Long Draw vs. American Long Draw (2025)

Instructor: Maggie Casey

What is the difference between English long draw (double drafting) and American long draw? It depends. We will spin wool and cotton both ways—you can see the difference yourself and add another drafting method to your spinning repertoire.Required Supplies: Spinning wheel or espinner in good working condition and all its parts.

Creative Knitting with Art Yarns (2025)

Instructor: Charan Sachar

Art yarns look pretty and are great for sharing on social media, but have you wondered how you could use these yarns in your knitting projects? Using art yarns for weaving seems obvious, but these yarns can enhance your knitting projects, too. Charan will share ways of using different kinds of art yarns in knitting projects. By practicing these techniques and learning what technique works best for each yarn, you will gain the skills to use these yarns in your future projects.Required Supplies: Straight or circular knitting needles in US 7, 8, or 9 for swatching worsted-weight yarn, and knitting notions as you prefer.Additional Notes: Yarns will be provided, but bring any art yarn that you would like to explore during class.

Zoom Loom: A Spinner’s Explorations (2025)

Instructor: Stephanie Flynn

Spinning for weaving is great fun, and pin-loom weaving allows you to create woven cloth with small amounts of yarn—perfect for handspinners who love to explore. Come learn what characteristics come together to make an excellent weaving yarn and how to spin for different fabric qualities. Bring a wheel or spindle and create small samples to weave on the Zoom Loom. This sweet little pin loom requires no previous weaving experience and will be provided for use during class. See your handspun in a small woven sample that could be used as a coaster or sewn together with more squares for a larger project.Required Supplies: Working spinning wheel or e-spinner with extra bobbins and a lazy kate, or several spindles and plying box or similar.Additional Notes: Looms will be provided for this class.

Spindles Can Ply! (2025)

Instructor: Amelia Garripoli

Whether you’re just starting with spindles or already spinning circles around your friends, this workshop will level up your plying game with techniques that can elevate your yarn. We’ll kick things off by mastering speed plying with a multi-strand ball—your spindle’s new best friend. Then we’ll unlock the secrets to achieving perfect yarn balance and explore the art of 2-ply vs. 3-ply, delving into how your singles’ thickness and twist affect the final product. Amelia will introduce you to advanced plying methods, including chain plying and ply-on-the-fly. By the end of this workshop, you’ll walk away with new skills, ready to create beautifully balanced yarns on your spindle. Get ready to impress yourself—and your friends—with plying expertise!Required Supplies: Students should bring three balls of singles (can be spindle- or wheel-spun). All three should weigh about 0.5–1 ounce each and be similar in weight and twist. Students should bring at least one spindle—top-whorl, bottom-whorl, or Turkish—that weighs between 0.8–1.4 ounces. It’s fine to bring more than one spindle, as we will tailor techniques to each type.Additional Notes: If you have handcards, please bring them. You are also welcome to bring any spindles you have questions about.

Colorful Colcha Embroidery (2025)

Instructor: Julia Gomez

The heritage art of colcha embroidery has a long history in the American Southwest, and its revival has been a passion for Julia Gomez. This simple couching stitch worked in colorful handspun is free-form and flowing, perfect for both fine detail and large motifs. Join Julia to hear the history of this stitching tradition, learn colcha embroidery techniques by creating a small sampler, and see Julia’s handspun embroidered works up close.Required Supplies: Enthusiasm and patience.Additional Notes: No previous embroidery experience is needed but is helpful. Kits with embroidery materials will be provided.

Louie García

Louie García is a Piro Pueblo/Chicano textile artist with over 30 years of experience. He is the president and founder of the New Mexico Pueblo Fiber Arts Guild and regularly teaches Pueblo weaving to Pueblo tribal members as a means of revitalizing the Pueblo textile tradition. Louie also cultivates native cotton varieties from heritage seeds and processes the fiber from the cotton he grows by hand with the help of his wife and two daughters, who are now 13 and 18 years old. Louie’s work is featured in several private and public collections and museums, including the Indian Arts Research Center at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Albuquerque Museum, and others.

Charan Sachar

Charan Sachar is an artist whose work reflects his passion for the fiber arts, like knitting, spinning, weaving, and quilting, and he uses it as an inspiration for his clay work. In all the fields that he works in, he loves to accept challenges and approach the making with a “what if..” attitude. Charan specializes in creating art yarns with textures, using traditional spinning techniques and pushing them an extra step to create unique yarns. As a teacher, he shares his preferences and his learnings along his journey, but also encourages his students to try techniques/materials by themselves and then decide for themselves. Learn more at creativewithclay.com.

Stephanie Flynn

Stephanie Flynn is a fiber fanatic experienced in teaching and motivating students in many fiber arts. She has a diverse expert background that includes spinning, weaving, knitting, felting, and dyeing. Her interest in learning about fiber arts started at a very young age, and she trained in accessory design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Stephanie continues expanding her expertise by seeking out the best in the industry. Her online weaving class can be found on craftsy.com and online spinning classes on Schacht School of Textile Arts. Stephanie is coauthor of the book Woven Scarves: 26 Inspired Designs for the Rigid Heddle Loom with Jane Patrick. Her other projects can be found in Spin Off, The Weaver’s Idea Book, and Little Looms. She loves to spread her contagious enthusiasm for fiber with everyone she meets and vows that students are sure to find inspiration in any class she teaches.

Maggie Casey

Maggie Casey has been addicted to spinning since the last century, and while some people are proud of their wine cellars, she much prefers her basement full of fleece. Maggie was co-owner of Shuttles Spindles & Skeins in Boulder, Colorado, until it closed in 2020. She teaches at events around the country, including Estes Park Wool Market, Harrisville Designs, John C. Campbell Folk School, Maryland Sheep & Wool, PlyAway, and SOAR. She holds Part 1 of HGA’s Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning and is the author of Start Spinning, many articles, and several videos from Long Thread Media.

Heavenly Bresser

Heavenly Bresser is an award-winning handspinner, teacher at major fiber events, spinning wheel collector and restorer, and the founder of Heavenly Knitchet. She is excited to share her love of knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, and all things fiber related with the world. Some of her areas of passion include a love for working with color, working from fleece, and researching historic information for antique spinning wheels. Heavenly has made it her mission to help fiber artists of all levels expand their knowledge of their craft and try new things. Learn more at heavenlyknitchet.com.

Kate Larson

Kate Larson (she/her) is the editor of Spin Off and loves using fiber arts as a bridge between her passions for art and agriculture. She keeps a flock of Border Leicester sheep and teaches handspinning and knitting throughout the United States. Kate is the author of The Practical Spinner’s Guide: Wool (Interweave, 2015), many articles and patterns, and several videos, including How to Spin on a Charkha (Long Thread Media, 2022).

Julia R. Gomez

Julia R. Gomez is an internationally recognized award-winning colcha embroidery artist and teacher from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Julia considers herself the “Johnny Appleseed” of colcha embroidery because she wants to teach anywhere and everywhere, telling the story of the Churro sheep and generations of embroiderers. Her work is in permanent collections at the Albuquerque Museum, the Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, and more.

Amelia Garripoli

Amelia Garripoli learned to knit at her mother’s knee; her fiber journey blossomed in 2001 with a home—and llamas—of her own. Since then, she has explored spinning, weaving, dyeing, nålbinding, and sock machines. A passionate teacher, she leads workshops at fiber festivals, guilds, and e-spinning Zoom classes. Her work appears in Spin Off and PLY, and she’s the author of Productive Spindling, Power Spinning, and two spindle videos from Spin Off. She spins, weaves, and plays string games as she explores fiber festivals across America. Find her at askthebellwether.com.

Treenway Silks

You’ll find the largest variety of Silk Spinning Fibers, Silk Yarn, and Silk Threads & Ribbons at www.TreenwaySilks.com. Choose from a rainbow of hand-dyed colors. Love natural? Our array of wild silk and silk-blends provide choices beyond white.

Greenwood Fiberworks

Greenwood Fiberworks is an indie dye company that specializes in hand-dyeing luxury fibers and yarns. When you visit our online store you'll find a selection of yak, camel, merino, bamboo, blends, and more, all celebrating our love of spinning and fiber. When we aren't in Utah dyeing fiber, we are on the road and look forward to seeing you again in Colorado. Visit www.greenwoodfiberworks.com or email us at [email protected].

Louët

Our legacy of making high-quality, innovative spinning and weaving equipment continues as owner Paul Vervoorn and the entire Louet team create new products to fuel your passion. You can expect to find our newest wheels and spinning tools at SOAR. Visit our website at www.louet.nl and remember that our support line is always available with hundreds of support articles so you can find answers to your questions when you need them. Open a ticket by sending an email to support.

Yarn Barn

Yarn Barn of Kansas is your ultimate destination for all things fiber since 1971. Nestled in downtown Lawrence, we offer an extensive selection of knitting and weaving yarns, looms, kits, and accessories to fuel your creativity. Our knowledgeable staff is here to assist you with any questions or project ideas. Whether you’re a local or connecting with us online, we strive to be your trusted partner in every fiber endeavor.

TheDancingGoats

TheDancingGoats makes historic and prehistoric reproductions and re-imaginings of fiber arts tools. Focusing on the prehistoric textile traditions of the Northern Roman Provinces, the Northern Isles, and Western Europe. Shuttles, heddles, looms, spindles, and whorls. Tools are made in wood, stone, pewter, copper alloys, ceramics, and glass. The advanced CNC Laser at TheDancingGoats is dedicated to making fiber arts tools and folklore inspired creations.

Double K Diamond Llamas and Fiber

The journey of Double K Diamond Llamas and Fiber started with myself (Karen Kinyon), my husband, and two llamas in 1988. Today, the farm and fiber company continues to serve fiber enthusiasts with finished hand-woven and hand-knit garments as well as hand-spinner's roving. We are thrilled to bring the experience of alpaca and llama fleece to SOAR. My contact information is by phone at 970-218-0409 or by email at [email protected] or stop by the ranch! The coffee is always on!

Long Thread Media

Long Thread Media serves content for the handspinning, handweaving, knitting, and traditional needlework communities online, in person, and in print. We are proud to publish Handwoven, Easy Weaving with Little Looms, Farm & Fiber Knits, PieceWork, and Spin Off, as well as offer information, education, and community to crafters in those fields.

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