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All About Yarn Online Workshop

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I’m proud to announce the release of my class All About Yarn with Interweave.  This class has been a long time in coming!  It’s a version of one of my most popular topics to talk about: why yarns act the way they do.  I’ve been working to get this information to a wider audience, and I feel that this fits that niche.  Let me tell you a little bit more about the class:

 Ever find what you think is the perfect yarn for the perfect project, only to find that they are not perfect together at all? Ever fret over substituting one yarn for another? Join Jennifer Raymond and discover why a yarn that is luscious for lace can be a fail when it comes to cables. Look at your stash with fresh eyes, and visit your LYS knowing how to choose and use the right yarn for whatever you want to make. Prepare to learn All About Yarn.

In this Online Workshop you’ll:

 

  • Learn about the 3 building blocks of all yarns–ply, weight, and fiber content—and how they work together.
  • Determine the weight of any yarn, from handspun to those mystery yarns in your stash.
  • Explore a whole menagerie of fiber animals–from angora to yak–along with cotton, linen, silk and more.
  • Gain new confidence in choosing and using yarns, whether for a new pattern or for your own design
  • Get tips on how to care for your finished projects.

 

Lesson Outline:

 

  • Introduction
  • Meet Your Instructor
  • Understanding Ply:

 

  • Singles
  • 2 Ply Yarns
  • 3 & 4 Ply Yarns
  • A Weighty Matter: Yarn Weights Explained
  • Yarn Weight Standards
  • Wraps per Inch
  • A Small Detour: Worsted vs. Woolen Yarns
  • Fiber: Protein, Cellulose, and Other Types of Fiber
  • Quick Guide: Types of Wool
  • Quick Guide: Other Animal Fibers
  • Quick Guide: Cotton, Linen, & Silk
  • Quick Guide: Synthetic Fibers
  • Fiber Care

 

  • Wrapping Up

 

 

 

Skill Level: Beginner on up. Though aimed at knitters, this workshop is also appropriate for crocheters or any maker interested in yarn.

Materials required: None! Though you may find it helpful to rummage through your yarn stash while watching.

 

About the Instructor:
Jennifer Raymond is a knitter, crocheter, and spinner based in Ashland, Virginia, with more than 20 years of stitching experience. A teacher and designer, she also has a business repairing and restoring heirloom knit and crochet pieces.

SVFF on Saturday

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Little Turtle wakes us up around 5 in the morning, so for the first time the morning drive to SVFF I wasn’t drifting off to sleep.  The three of us left our house around 5:50 am, and began winding our way through Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley.  We watched the sun bleed through the trees, and fog linger over the fields with the mist thick enough to obscure your view barely six feet into the field.  We wound through farms and orchards, Little Turtle talking and gurgling in the back.  Pulling into the fairgrounds, the air was cool and I pulled on my sweater while we set up.

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Today I was teaching Helix Knitting, using my Circle Game pattern.  It was such a great group of ladies – interested in learning, willing to try, and determined in the face of mistakes.  I was a little nervous –  not about teaching the class, but having Little Turtle along.  It was my first time teaching in-person since becoming a mama.  Michael was a champ – helping with setup, wrangling Little Turtle, and driving us where we needed to go.

After class we got to visit with a good friend from the Washington, DC area who was taking Patty Z‘s blending class.  I’m so envious!  If I didn’t have a baby, I’d be all over Patty’s classes on spinning cellulose fibers.  Ah, well.  Another time.  Once we wrapped up and said goodbye to our friend, it was for a walk around the fairgrounds, where we could see vendors setting up and preview some of the wares.  The vendors don’t start selling until tomorrow, but it’s fun to see how various vendors have gotten their booth transportation down to a science – slotting in every piece into the back of a car or trailer.

This evening we’ll get a special treat.  The hotel room has a TV, and we’ll watch all the television we don’t at home (since we don’t have at TV).  I’ll work on a pattern that’ll be in Crochet World next year, and we’ll get to bed early.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Duct Tape Dress Forms, and getting to see a bit more of the festival.

Have you been to any Fiber Festivals this fall?  Are you planning on going to any?

 

All About Yarns in October!

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All About Yarns with Jennifer Raymond

If you follow my blog, you know that one of my favorite classes to teach is Yarns 101.  Yarns 101 is normally a 3-hour class on why yarns behave the way they do: why some yarn substitutions work, why your alpaca sweater is super saggy, and how we can make more informed decisions about pairing yarns with projects.  I love teaching the class, and often one of the responses I get back on my evals is… “When will you teach a Yarns 201?”

So many people enjoy the class, and would love to delve even further into the material.

I’ve been thinking for a while about how to go about doing that, and in the spring I pitched a class to Interweave that was my answer.

All About Yarns is an online seminar I’ll be teaching with Interweave’s online learning platform, Craft University.  From October 3rd to October 21st, we’ll explore and learn the different factors that influence how yarn behaves: ply, weight & fiber.

How does this differ from Yarns 101?  Yarns 101 is 3 hours.  All About Yarns is 3 weeks.  We’ll be able to do things I wouldn’t be able to do in a workshop.  There will be further learning assignments, swatching and sampling, and the creating of yarn cards.

Take a look at some of the topics we’ll cover:

  • How to determine the weight and size of your yarn.
  • Discover how ply and yarn weight influence the final presentation of your colorwork or lace.
  • How to look at yarns to determine which ones is suited for which project.
  • Determine which yarns will be suited for high-wear items, and which yarns would be better for next-to-skin wearing.
  • Understand how fibers in yarns influence the final look, drape and sturdiness of your garment.
  • How to figure out what your “mystery yarns” are made of, and how best to use them in your projects.

I’d love to have you.  If you’re interested in the course, you can sign up for it here.  Come join me!

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