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Workshops Below is a list of the workshops I currently offer, with brief descriptions of each one. I'm always thinking up new ideas for workshops, and I am happy to customize workshops to suit the needs of your guild or festival. If you would like more detailed information on a particular workshop, or would like a workshop customized for your group, contact me. To find out what I'll be teaching next, and where, check out my blog.

Multi-Day Workshops

String Theory:Go back to the fundamentals and use the theories of technical spinning to improve the yarns you make. This workshop makes technical concepts like tpi, count, and grist control easy for everyone. 2 or 3 days

Spinning Superior Socks:Learn everything you need to know about making your own handspun and handknit socks! From choosing and preparing the right fibres, through spinning and knitting, all the steps to creating your own warm and durable socks will be covered. 2 or 3 days

Color With A Twist:Feel confident about spinning color by using these simple techniques to ensure stunning results every time. Through a series of exercises and samples, spinners will learn the secrets of combining colors to make spectacular ombre, variegated, and confetti yarns. 2 or 3 days

Silk From Start to Finish:Explore the amazing variety of silk preparations available to spinners, from cocoons through fine yarns, and the possibilities they present for exciting yarns. From degumming cocoons to plying with manufactured yarns, this workshop will take you on a silk journey, from start to finish. 2 or 3 days

Simply Elegant Spindling:This introduction to the drop spindle takes a new approach to this ancient tool. Easy, relaxed drafting techniques, along with tips for easy plying, will give your a fresh perspective on your spinning. 1 or 2 days

One-Day Workshops

Just the Flax:Spin flax into linen, with a fairy tale result! This workshop offers a friendly introduction to flax spinning, including different methods for spinning and finishing your yarns. A variety of tools and traditions will be explored, bringing a new appreciation of this ancient fibre to the modern spinner.

Wild Cards!:Create a wild range of colorful yarns using color mixing and blending with cards, combs, and hackles. Explore stripes and heathers, blend just the color you want, and combine fibres and textures for unique yarns. Mix it up and let your handcards go wild!

A Fistful of Colors:Make an explosion of multi-colored yarns without blending or dying! Using only a couple of simple spinning and plying techniques, participants will make self-striping, confetti and heathered yarns. Come explore the wild world of color that you hold in the palm of your hand!.

Short and Sweet:Short fibres, such as cotton, bison, and cashmere present special challenges for handspinners. Explore different preparation and spinning techniques to make spinning these fabulous fibres fast and fun!

Hankie-Pankie:Get up to some hijinks with silk! Mawatas, or silk hankies, are a versatile but often overlooked fibre preparation. Dye your own silk hankies, then spend some time exploring the variety of spinning techniques we can use to make the most of mawatas.

Fringe Elements:Adding embellishments such as fringes, beading, and needle-felting can take your knitting or crochet from blah to bravo! Let your creative side loose and personalize an amulet bag while exploring a variety of techniques. Come live life on the fringe!

Half-Day Workshops

"Improv" Your Creativity:Improv, or improvisational theatre, is a fast-paced, in-the-moment form of entertainment, and the skills that improv actors use can help fibre artists keep their creative juices flowing, too. Come ready to play, and learn how improv can keep your work fresh and exciting!

The Fine Art of Plying:Plying makes singles into yarn. Learn how to acheive a balanced twist in your plied yarns, how to decide how much ply twist a yarn needs, and how to keep your plying even and smooth. Tips for mulitple plies and Navajo plying will also be explored.

Getting Even:Everyone wants to make a smooth even yarn when they spin, but many spinners find themselves wrestling with uneven grist, slubs, and coils instead. This workshop will explore different approaches to evening out our singles, subduing our slubs, and taming our tangles. We will look at both worsted and woolen techniques, and get even with our spinning!

Supersize Me!:Bulky yarns are great for quick knitting or weaving, and fast and fun to spin. From fibre preparation to finishing, this workshop will explore different styles of bulky yarns, from singles to novelty yarns, and inspire you to “supersize” your spinning.

Puttin' on the Glitz:Add glitz and glamour to your spinning using high-tech blending fibres, metallic threads and beads. Using different blending, spinning, and plying techniques, this workshop gives hand spinners the opportunity to add sparkle to even the simplest of yarns.

Spinning Out of Control:Let the fur fly! Allow your creative side to take over your spinning and make a wild and wooly yarn. Believe it or not, slubs, neps, coils, and uneven plying can make a fabulous, and usuable, yarn. This workshop will give hand spinners a chance to break all the rules and still make great yarn!

Don't Throw That Away!:Every spinner accumulates bits and pieces, fibre samples, combing waste, yarn ends--materials too precious to throw away, but not enough to make something out of. So what do you do with those little bits of fleece and thread left over after a workshop or project? Mix them up and make a new yarn! This PowerPoint seminar, with plenty of hands-on samples, will inspire you to save and recycle even the tiniest scraps and push your spinning to the limit.

© Michelle Boyd 2010 All rights reserved.