Member Update // Spinning Luxury Fibres with Rachel Smith

Last month we began preparing our supplies to get ready for this exciting course release, and we’re now delighted to share with you the lesson launch of Spinning Luxury Fibres: Silk taught by Rachel Smith!
In this video course, we will cover the following objectives:
- A working definition luxury fibres, their place in your spinning, and possible uses
- A repertoire of spinning preparations to prepare these fibres for successful spinning
- A collection of spinning drafts for working with a variety of preps, fibres, and lengths to create structurally stable yarns
- How to finish luxury yarns for your next knitting, weaving, or crochet project

We’ll spend time spinning each fibre at the wheel. Then, we’ll take a look at ply-back tests and sample skeins that were spun from the SweetGeorgia Spinning Silk Kit (made especially for this course). Spinning silk in and of itself is a whole mastery course. With that in mind, and as always in the spirit of experimentation and curiosity, let’s explore the world of silk and consider this an introduction.
You can find all of the course progress chat and questions over in the SOS Community Forums and we’ll be sharing posts on Instagram using the tags #sosspinning and #schoolofsweetgeorgia. Also, save the date for six weeks from now where Rachel will host our Spinning Silk Q&A meetup online, on March 15th, to share our progress notes together!
Spot The Difference: US vs UK Crochet Terms // Amanda Buckley
The internet has been a wonderful boon for all us makers, giving us access to patterns from people and places all over the world. For those of us who crochet, crochet terms can be problematic… but it isn’t anything we can’t handle with a little bit of sleuthing up front.
Let’s dive in and see what makes English language crochet patterns a tad special.

Read Amanda Buckley’s new Spot the Difference: US vs UK Crochet Terms article at the School, with examples and helpful information on how to determine whether your crochet pattern uses US or UK crochet terms.
Livestream Recordings Now Available
If you missed joining us last month for these two online events, you can now find the recorded replays available for viewing:
- Double Weave Q&A with Felicia // Six weeks after the Double Weave on 4-Shafts course launched, SOS members joined together on Zoom for a follow-up sharing their weaving questions, projects that have been made, plus discussed future plans.
- January Live Office Hours // Thank you to everyone who joined us over in the YouTube live chat as Felicia spoke about the latest updates taking place at the School plus shared some highlights of the recent projects made by SOS makers.
Upcoming SOS Meetups & Online Events
With something for all makers, we’d love for you to join us at our upcoming meetups:
- Knit Meetup with Vikki: February 6, 10:00 AM PST // Bring any fibre craft project you’re working on and join in this fun and casual chat on Zoom.
- Taking Back Friday Live: February 10, 10:00 AM PST // This isn’t an SOS event but we wanted to share the excitement from SweetGeorgia! Everyone is very welcome to come and join Felicia over in the YouTube live chat.
- Weave & Spin Meetup with Vikki: February 11, 8:00 AM PST // Everyone is welcome to join in this fun and casual chat on Zoom; grab any fibre craft project you’re working on.
- Crochet Joins Q&A with Charlotte: February 15, 12:00 PM PST // Join in and share your projects and questions from both Charlotte’s Crochet Joins course, as well as the recent Crochet Increases and Decreases course.
- Live Office Hours with Felicia: February 23, 10:00 AM PST // Save the date for our monthly Live Office Hours with Felicia, sharing the latest news from the School. If you have any fibre arts questions or SOS project you would like shared during the livestream, please post your questions and projects in advance.
Please note! We will be taking some time each week to ensure the SOS website is up-to-date, taking place for 1-2 hours on Tuesdays starting at 1:00 PM PST. Our apologies for any downtime or interruptions you may experience during this time as we work quickly to have the site running smoothly for you to access everything the School has to offer!
Wishing you a wonderful week of multicraftual making,
School of SweetGeorgia