Are you enjoying
the new Knitting Daily website? Pretty, isn't it? Those Web gurus,
they're talented folk. (Thank you, talented Web gurus!) If you haven't
had time to go exploring, you have a treat in store for you!
On Monday, I
wrote about my little spinning "science experiments" where I tried to
see how different ways of playing with fiber affected the yarn that I
made. I had a ton of people write in saying "OK, you've got me hooked
now. Where do I go to learn to spin?" (Evil chuckle...I think it was
the pretty fiber. Pretty fiber gets a knitter every time.)
I
get a little thrill every time a knitter says they want to learn to
spin. After all, it's the yarn—all that beautiful, irresistible
yarn—that gets so many of us into knitting in the first place, and the
experience of making your own yarn is rather heady stuff. I've seen the
faces of knitters when they spin their first length of yarn...and that
look of joy and wonder must be one of the greatest pleasures of a
spinning teacher's life.
This fall, I’m
going to learn to teach spinning. Yes, that's right: I want to become a
spinning teacher myself, because I want to pass on the fun and the deep
satisfaction of making your own yarn. And who do I want to teach me to
be a teacher? The woman who taught me to spin, Maggie Casey. Maggie has
that magical touch—the gentleness to encourage students to overcome
their anxieties, the joy in her craft to inspire folks to do more than
they thought they could, and the depth of knowledge to make it fun to
ask questions in class just to see what fascinating thing she comes up
with!
So when people ask me where to go to learn to spin, I always
answer: Take a class from Maggie Casey. The trouble is Maggie can only
teach so many classes in so many places. You can learn a lot from her
book, Start
Spinning: Everything You Need to Know to Make Great Yarn.
But my friends, spinning is best learned sitting at the wheel with
Maggie by your side. So we’ve done the next best thing to cloning
her—we’ve produced her video
Start Spinning: The Video.
It's literally a spinning class on DVD, where she starts at the very
beginning and goes step by step through everything you need to know.
And the best part is that Maggie isn't just talking to the camera—she's
actually teaching a beginning spinner, so it really is just like being
in a spinning class. A spinning class where you can set your wheel up
in front of the TV, and replay things you don't understand.
See
a sneak peek of this video, behind the scenes of the making of
Start Spinning: The Video.
Oh, and did I
mention that Maggie's spinning student is Eunny Jang? As in, editor of
Interweave Knits Eunny Jang? Being the consummate knitter, Eunny asks
questions every knitter would want answered, and learns to spin from a
knitter's point of view.
So where do you go to learn to spin? Right here, with Maggie by your side.
Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily.
What's on Sandi's needles? I'm seeing stars! I'm nearly done with the first row of lacy stars on the Star Light, Star Bright baby blanket for the cutest baby niece on the planet. (Well, ok, on MY planet, anyway.).