CNCH 2023 WILL TAP YOUR CREATIVITY WITH A VARIETY OF DYEING AND SPINNING CLASSES
Yvonne Smith
If the idea of dyeing or spinning your own yarn is something you have always wanted to explore, you will have multiple classes to choose from when the Conference of Northern California Handweavers meets in San Luis Obispo from Aug. 3-6, 2023. During the three-day retreat-style conference, participants will be able to choose from three separate dyeing classes and two different classes on spinning. All will be taught by experienced and highly regarded instructors.
Dyeing
Nancy Finn
Working Your Way Around the Color Wheel – A Color Survey – Nancy will present an
introduction to dyeing in which each student will create her or his own set of colors, including primary, secondary and tertiary colors. The sets also will include toned and shaded colors, as well as tints and a gray scale. By the end of the two-and-a-half-day workshop, each student will create approximately 100 color samples.
Graham Keegan
Know Madder – Many Roads, Many Reds – Students in Graham’s class will explore the processes of transferring color from the roots of a hearty perennial plant onto a range of fibers. In the process, they will create dyes ranging from red, maroon, plum, peach, flame orange and pink, and will dye small skeins of cotton, linen, wool, and silk yarns. Students will explore direct dyeing, dyeing with mordants, and color shifting using pH and mordant after-baths to achieve a range of color tones. Keegan says, “You will leave this class with a deeper understanding of the (madder) plant, how to grow and process it, how to harvest and store it, and, of course, how to dye with it.”
Teresa Ruch
Designing and Painting Warps – ”The goal is to look at various ways to design painted warps to give your design a unique look,” Teresa says. “We will start by dyeing a 2-scarf warp in a random fluid manner where one color flows into the next, creating shades, tints and tones and a feather look one gets with most ikats. We will discuss why knowing the studio and fibers are important and how to adjust for successful end products. Some color theory, color formulas and studio practices will also be discussed. I will show you several different types of layout and design techniques that can be used in painted warps: how to plan them, dye them, and carry through for the effect you want to produce.”
Spinning
Kate Larson
Blending and Spinning for Color Effects – Kate says, “Modern spinners have a bounty of dyed locks, rovings, and combed tops at our fingertips. While much of what we buy is ready to spin, we can also dive in and make our own blends and adapted preparations. In this workshop, we will prepare and sample a variety of yarns — tweed, marled, ombre', and more — while exploring color interactions and basic color theory.
Learn to create several different preparations and blends using your handcards, and you’ll also have a chance to try your hand at color blending on a hackle.” Angela Schneider: The Short and Long of Spinning – Angela urges her students to “Explore drafting techniques and fiber preparations that cover the range from the smoothest worsted to the loftiest
woolen yarns. One extreme creates firm, hard-wearing yarns with crisp definition, and the other maximizes softness and warmth (and it feels like magic to spin). We'll spin them both with a few steps in between, plus try the carding and combing techniques to go with them. We'll examine the appropriate fibers, preparations, and characteristics for each.”
CNCH 2023 will be located on the campus of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Attendees will enjoy apartment-style lodging on the campus and 16 retreat-style classes in subjects including weaving, spinning, dyeing, felting, kumihimo, sprang -and more.
Registration opens on April 29th of next year, and students are urged to register early because classes are
expected to fill up quickly.