Spinning Workshop with Celia Quinn

I am coming down from two days of Spinning Classes with Celia Quinn. What an exhilarating, educational time it was! I learned so much.

(In respect to my regular teacher I should put that statement in perspective.) There were really only two small things that were completely new; the rest was connecting the dots in a different way that brought about the "ah-ha!" moments over the two days.

The first day was "Good Solid Basics." I learned to spin equally on both sides with either hand in front or behind. We learned spinning worsted method and true long draw. Second day was "Spinning to Specification." This was a hard class; lots of counting with rulers and other measuring devices. I did learn to do my wraps per inch around a pencil and then measure the wraps on the pencil rather than trying to smoothly wrap singles around a ruler - lots easier.

Here is the result of our efforts to all match the same number of Wraps per inch and Plys per Inch. For you non Spinners you need to be able to do this so you can make the same yarn at the end of a project as what you started making. This is a big problem for me as I always seem to be making much thinner and thinner yarn as I spin up my fiber. And you need to be able to determine what yarn you need to make for a specific project. Lots more detailed than just going and buying commercial yarn but OH! so much more satisfying!!!


The main problem of both classes was the heat. We were in a member of the class's backyard patio over looking Lake Murray. The weather decided to go into Santa Ana mode and it was 90 before Noon both days. It's hard to spin fiber out of sweaty hands! And poor Celia, who lives in Alaska, she was really uncomfortable in the heat.



There were 20 of us with our spinning wheels. I can't tell you how nice it is to spend several days with fellow Spinners where you talk about little else than Spinning, Weaving and Knitting.

If you ever get the chance to attend a class with Celia Quinn please jump at the chance.

Thanks Margaret and Karalyn for all you did to make these classes happen!!