Update: Spinning Luxury Fibres with Rachel Smith

It’s time to delve into and explore the spinning of beautiful new fibres at the Spinning Luxury Fibres: Goats & Rare course, taught by Rachel Smith!

This course follows on the heels of Rachel’s last two Spinning Luxury Fibres courses: Silk and Camelids, and introduces us to the exquisite fibres from goats (cashmere, mohair, and pygora), as well as yak and angora. Some of these fibres are among the more uncommon and demand special attention while spinning.

Rachel takes us on a journey through various spinning styles, fibre preparations, and blending methods, explaining how to make personal blends using what we’ve learned. The proportions we use in our blends impact our final characteristics such as drape, sheen, strength, and warmth, opening the door to more choices with what we can get from our final cloth.

In the course, Rachel uses the Luxury Fibres Kit created by SweetGeorgia Yarns to spin samples for us, as well as demonstrates blending techniques with 18.5 microns Merino Wool or silk (featured in the previous courses). We look forward to chatting with you at the Community Forums to hear about all of your spinning practice!

Join Rachel in Spinning Goat & Rare fibres »

Learn to Spin Q&A on Zoom Today
// starting online soon with Kim McKenna

Taking place TODAY, August 17th on Zoom, join spinning instructor Kim McKenna online and share your progress from Kim’s Spin-In Clinic course! At the meetup, ask any spinning questions you may have or just simply enjoy a spinning crafternoon together with us. If you’re unable to join in live, the meetup will be recorded and shared at a later time at the course page. We’ll be starting at 11:00 AM PDT (2:00 PM EDT)… see you online soon!

Join Today’s Spin-In Clinic Q&A with Kim »

Best Practices in Fractal Spinning
// new article by Debbie Held

If there’s any downside to being a collector and spinner of colourful, hand-painted fibre, it’s that the options for dividing and spinning these braids can feel overwhelming to some. That’s why, years ago, I settled on fractal spinning as my go-to method for splitting down such fibre before it hits the wheel. Over time, I’ve learned to manage my fractal spinning based on the style of dyeing applied, combined with the knitted results I’m seeking.

Read Debbie’s Best Practices in Fractal Spinning »

From our SOS Event Calendar

Learn to Spin Q&A with Kim: August 17, 11:00 AM PDT
Bring your questions and share your progress from the Spin-In Clinic course.
Taking Back Friday Live with Felicia: August 18, 10:00 AM PDT
Not an SOS event but we’re sharing the excitement from SweetGeorgia. Everyone is welcome to join Felicia over in the YouTube live chat.
Co-Working Session with Felicia: August 18, 1:00 PM PDT
Virtual co-crafting session with quiet, focused time for deep work.
Weave and Spin Meetup with Vikki: August 19, 8:00 AM PDT
Bring along any fibre craft project and come enjoy the fun chat on Zoom.
Knit Meetup with Robyn: August 21, 10:00 AM PDT
Bring along any fibre craft project and come enjoy the fun chat on Zoom.
Live Office Hours with Felicia: August 24, 10:00 AM PDT
Coming up already next week, join Felicia at our August live session. If you have an SOS project or question you would like Felicia to include in the livestream, please post them in advance here.