New Guild Spin-In Today! Join us!

Hooray! Hooray! Today’s the day! 

Today is our first ever third Thursday PLY Spinners Guild (PSG) spin-in! 

We encourage you to check out our new spin-in at 5 pm pacific today, March 20th. These third Thursday spin-ins are dedicated to helping you develop the foundational spinning skills and fiber confidence you want. So, if you’re looking for something a little more foundational in addition to, or instead of, Sunday spin-ins, we’d love to see you.   

All of the spin-ins are put on by the PSG. Third Thursday spin-ins will be hosted by one or two of our PSG hosts – Lori Paterson, Donita Westman, Terri Guerette, and Heavenly Besser – while Sunday spin-ins will still be hosted by Laura Linneman and Jacey. 

 If you aren’t already a member of the guild, make sure you are signed up so you can participate!   You’ll have full access to all our incredible video tutorials as well as the spin-ins, where you can ask questions and get real feedback from other spinners. 

We can’t wait to see you there! Please remember that the PLY Spinners Guild is a space for spinners at all levels of spinning. We are an inclusive and diverse community that embraces all spinners and welcomes everyone to create a brave space to question, challenge, and support one another. We strongly believe that the more diverse our community is, the stronger our community is. Our core beliefs of kindness, diversity, and inclusivity inform everything we do. Racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to remove anyone who meaningfully and purposefully disrupts the community or makes other members feel unsafe.

Designer Interview: Shana Cohen

PLY is proud to work with some incredible artists, tool makers, and designers.  Today we’d like to feature Shana Cohen, a designer whose Palimpsest cardigan pattern appeared in the recent Winter 2024 Care issue of PLY.  

Tell us a little bit about yourself? (the hardest-to-answer question first!) 

I’m a knitting pattern designer, architect, design educator, and new spinner! I love creative problem-solving and helping makers to become the best versions of themselves. I hold this true in all of my design processes, and pride myself on meeting my students where they are and helping each student to work to their full potential. I am an empath and extrovert who loves coffee, friends, hiking, and creativity. I live in the Denver, CO, area with my husband and son.  

How did you get started designing patterns? 

I have been involved in creative problem-solving for my entire adult life through my career in architecture and design education. As an architect, I create a set of design directions to solve a prompt. As a design educator, I write assignments for students to solve creative problems while honing their own creative voices. As a knitting pattern designer, I’m doing very similar things: creating a set of design directions for the maker to execute in an asynchronous manner. My first pattern was a superhero cape designed for my son. He asked me for a knit cape with stripes going in two different directions. We worked in a designer-client relationship to come up with a design to meet his needs. I felt a renewed sense of creative energy while solving this problem, and the experience got me out of a funk and helped shape my design identity.  

In the Care issue, you tell us a little about your inspiration for the Palimpsest pattern.  Can you tell us a little more about how you gather inspiration for your patterns? 

I look at my design process as solving a problem for a client, just as I’ve been trained in architecture. I ask questions and propose a design to meet the needs while staying true to my own values of working with clean and thoughtful details and maximizing material use. Sometimes I am struck by a missing piece in my wardrobe or daily life, and other times I get excited by a yarn or a particular detail I want to try. Every so often I am struck by a word or a name that drives the design forward.  When I collaborate with others, I think about how to create a design that will showcase us both in the best light. 

How long does it take for you to work out a pattern and what does your process look like? 

Sometimes I can get through a design in a matter of weeks, from concept to sample and pattern, but most often it’s a longer process for me. I work in sketches and study models (three-dimensional scaled swatches) throughout my design process. I often “road test” a piece before really solidifying it: that is, I make a full-scale mock-up (it might be in the final yarn, or in some instances, a piece of fleece fabric or sheet to test a shape or idea) and then I live with it for a bit, figuring out if the size and proportion is what I’m really going for. I use smaller study models and swatches to experiment with assembly and finishing details, and I often make smaller pieces to photograph or record a video of my process to help explain the details. This process also helps me to make sure that my writing really matches what I actually did! Occasionally I think of a design idea in my head and create nearly the entire thing with limited notes. In these instances, I end up making another version (or portion of a version) while I write to make sure I’m following my own directions! I try to create directions to accommodate many types of makers: those who prefer precise instructions for how many colors to use and where to change colors, for example, as well as those who prefer to freestyle a bit more. 

How do you view and use handspun yarn as a designer? 

As I mentioned, I’ve been lucky enough to have knitters execute my designs with their handspun yarn for a few years, and I’ve asked them about how they make pattern choices for their handspun yarn to help understand my own writing moving forward. I believe my modular designs show off handspun yarn because there are often smaller stitch counts and changing directions in the fabric, which allows the yarn to shine in different ways. My designs usually use a looser gauge, and I find they are forgiving for variations in yarn thickness.  

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the design process? 

I love coming up with an idea and creating a pattern that allows others to make a unique version of my design. I always do a bit of a happy dance when someone chooses to make one of my patterns! The design process can be very solitary and long, and sometimes my designs just don’t work out the way I plan. I put a lot of myself into my work, and sometimes I get bogged down with other life events and need space from a design, so it doesn’t become tied to a negative memory.  

Do you have any inspirational words or suggestions for ways our spinners can better incorporate handspun yarn in their knitting? 

As I’m still a newer spinner myself, I look at larger pieces entirely completed with handspun yarn and I feel a bit overwhelmed, so what about trying out your yarn with something small? I have a few fidget toys in my design portfolio, and they were some of the first patterns I used to test out my handspun yarn. These tiny pieces hold memories of my own making, and the rich texture of my handspun yarn adds to the tactile quality of these handheld treasures. Also, you can use your handspun along with a commercial yarn in a striped or textured piece. I’ve recently created a few designs that do this. I’ve intentionally finished with details in the commercial yarn rather than handspun for a smoother finish, but the beauty of creating is that you get to choose what you make!  

Spin Together 2025! A Resounding Success!

To all our friends who partook in Spin Together and to all our friends who cheered us on from the bleachers, PLY had an incredible first year participating in this virtual spinning competition. We had so many people interested in joining us that we had to host not one but two teams! Forty-seven spinners came together to form The PLY Z-Twist team (led by Jacey & Meagan) and the PLY S-Twist team (led by Karen & Jillian).

With a dose of healthy and friendly competition (we’re looking at you, Jacey) both teams spun some incredible yarns during the last week of February. Below are just a few of the photos of the hard work our teams put in!

This week, our teams will be submitting their photos on their respective Facebook groups for their teammates to vote on. Winners will receive a one-year PLY subscription (or extension if they already have a current subscription)! We’ll be looking forward to announcing winners on our Facebook page on March 10!

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you and we’ll be looking forward to next year’s virtual competition!

Jacey, Karen, Jillian, and Meagan

New Monthly Spin-In for the Guild!

New Monthly Spin-in focused on building foundational spinning skills

There’s nothing like spinning with friends. As spinners, we love to learn from, share with, and generally support each other. Spin-ins provide all those things and the twice monthly PLY Spinners Guild spin-ins (via Zoom) have been one of my favorite regular happenings this past year.  We meet for 90 minutes on the first Sunday of each month at 5pm pacific and the third Sunday each month at 10am pacific. We chat and spin, ask questions, show off what we’re working on, and often deep dive into a specific spinning technique or fiber.  

These Sunday spin-ins have really focused on building community, SALs, show and tells, Q/A sessions, and special guests (PSG teachers, PLY Magazine authors and designers). While we’ve always welcomed newer spinners and celebrated spinners of all skill levels, we do understand that it can be intimidating to join in when you aren’t confident about your skills.  

For anyone that has felt like that, even just a little bit, we encourage you to check out our new spin-in on the third Thursday of each month at 5pm pacific. These third Thursday spin-ins are dedicated to helping you develop the foundational spinning skills and fiber confidence you want. So if you’re looking for something a little more foundational, in addition to, or instead of, Sunday spin-ins, we’d love to see you on third Thursdays starting on March 20th.  

All of the spin-ins are put on by the PSG. Third Thursday spin-ins will be hosted by one or two of our PSG hosts: Lori Paterson, Donita Westman, and Terri Guerette while Sunday spin-ins will still be hosted by Laura Linneman and Jacey. 

Donita Westman knits, spins, weaves, and teaches fiber arts in central Ohio. When she isn’t creating with fiber, she’s likely playing with her dog, reading, literally herding her husband’s cats out of her fiber studio, and sometimes blogging at donitawestman.com. 

Terri Guerette learned a variety of fiber arts from her mom at a young age and began spinning in 2004. She quickly developed a passion for her newest hobby. Terri teaches and demonstrates spinning and other fiber arts in many different settings (living history events, schools, farm days, fairs, etc.) and is always happy to share her knowledge. She was a SOAR Scholar in 2011. 

Lori brings her love of Black history and teaching to everything she does. Lori finds spiritual sanctuary in the meditative nature of knitting, spinning, and dyeing. Since 1990 when she saw a woman wearing handknit socks, she has been determined to not only make her own socks but to make so many things from fiber. Lori hand paints yarn for knitting and fiber for spinning in her Portland studio (a converted garage) and sews together pretty colored fabric in her (very little) spare time.

Heavenly Bresser is an award-winning handspinner, spinning wheel restorer, and international fiber arts instructor. Some of her areas of passion include a love for working with color, working from fleece, and researching historical information for antique spinning wheels.

We can’t wait to see you there! Please remember that the PLY Spinners Guild is a space for spinners at all levels of spinning. We are an inclusive and diverse community that embraces all spinners and welcomes everyone to create a brave space to question, challenge, and support one another. We strongly believe that the more diverse our community is, the stronger our community is. Our core beliefs of kindness, diversity, and inclusivity inform everything we do. Racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to remove anyone who meaningfully and purposefully disrupts the community or makes other members feel unsafe.   

I Want to Tell You About My Friend

I don’t want to tell you that Stephenie Gaustad was a great spinner. Everyone knows that. 

I don’t want to say she was a talented and generous fiber artist. If you have ever taken a class with her or read one of her books or articles, you already know that too.   

I want to tell you about how warm her hugs were and how she never let go first. I want you to know how funny she was, how her eyes twinkled when she smiled, how she followed her heart in all things, and how she loved getting in good trouble. I want to tell you about the Stephenie I knew and how much I loved her. 

The first time I fell into the arms of Stephenie Gaustad was at SOAR in 2010. Her flax to linen workshop was next to my textured yarns workshop. When I got to the part of the class where I have everyone spin a thick and thin singles yarn from cotton, a spinner in my class (who had recently taken a class with Steph) hopped up and ran out the door.  

The retting sounds from next door halted, and Stephenie Gaustad walked through the adjoining classroom door.  

“What’s this about spinning cotton thick and thin? Handspun cotton needs to be spun fine, with lots of twist, and very even.” 

I was not a cotton spinner. My spinning skill was not nearly at the cotton “spun fine, with lots of twist, and very even” level. I only used cotton as an (extreme) example of how you can spin any combed fiber into a thick and thin yarn if you pay attention to the staple length.  

I haltingly and nervously explained that even the shortest cotton can create a stable thick and thin singles yarn as long as you make your thick section shorter than the staple length so that the ends of the fibers are caught in the high-twist thin section on either end of the thick bit. I demonstrated as Stephenie (along with all my students and hers) stood around my wheel watching. 

When I finished, she whooped! 

She whooped and hugged me, and we never saw each other again when we didn’t hug and huddle up.  

Because we both made a living travelling to teach, we saw each other often. One evening, after several days of teaching, we sat next to each other, exhausted, in a Chinese restaurant. I leaned in and whispered to her all my plans for starting a magazine. She smiled and her eyes twinkled. You have never seen such a twinkle. 

When the first issue of PLY came out, she sent me a short length of handspun thick and thin cotton and a letter: 

Dearest Jacey, Ply is fantastic! I love that you have multiple voices on a single topic, and really hear the person as he/she takes time with answers. This is what strikes me first. I get the chance to focus on something, spend time with it and not rush off in another direction 2 pages later. I treasure this copy and will refer back to it time and again. 

Your enthusiasm for the craft and project is palpable too. It is so exciting. I feel transported back in time, actually to a decade when new magazines were popping up right and left, in different formats; it all was new and fresh. Ply is a breath of fresh air!

-Stephenie

Now it is time for Alden to add his 2 cents.  

Well, I am flabbergasted. The scope of the work is mindboggling. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination and energy. The mag is a visual knockout, the advertising is arranged with taste and finesse and considering the stated purpose “the magazine for handspinners” what can I say but bravo! Huzzah! You are a phoenix rising in a world of turkeys. 

-AA

From that first issue on, Stephenie was in almost every single issue of PLY and she and I were firm friends. I don’t even know if that’s true. I feel like I wasn’t friends with Stephenie –  we were family. She was the closest thing I had to a grandmother, and when my mom died, she was there for me. Stephenie’s hugs were the warmest and she’d hold on as long as I needed.  

Of course there were other things, business things, that happened – she became PLY’s technical editor, she taught at PLYAway every year, she wrote a wonderful book with us. But it’s the actual time I spent with Stephenie, the moments, that I remember and that mean the most. She went to a May Day festival at my kids’ school with me once. She beamed as we watched dozens of kids in handmade dresses, dancing and wrapping the May pole. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I’m pagan,” and held my hand the whole time.  

Last year she visited us in Oregon. I offered to fly her out, but she insisted on driving. She pulled up in a giant SUV filled floorboards to roof with spinning wheels and tools (almost all built for her by Alden). My kids unloaded the tools as Steph and I sat on the porch and talked about the future of fiber arts.  

That night, after dinner, Stephenie, the kids, and I played Telestrations – a cross between the old telephone game and Pictionary. I had never seen Steph laugh so hard as I did that night. Stephenie was a part of my life. She was a part of my family’s life. We were family. I will miss her forever. 

While she was here that time, we filmed the first Teacher Tea for the PLY Spinners Guild. It’s a segment where I sit down with spinning teachers, drink tea, and talk. It was so early in the PSG that we didn’t have good lighting yet, hadn’t figured out how to get a decent sound track, didn’t even have the PSG studio set up nicely, but none of that matters because Steph is such a joy. We’ve made the teacher tea with Steph public, viewable to everyone, guild member or not. Please sit down with some tea of your own and spend some time with this dear, darling woman. 

https://www.plyspinnersguild.com/videos/9-teacher-tea-steph

Stephenie Gaustad was a wonder, and the world is better for having her in it. I’m better for having known her. Since I heard the news, I’ve been rereading all the emails she’d ever sent me, and it is helping replace some of the tears with smiles. Her closing lines especially help. I’m including a few of them here. I hope they make you smile too. 

Hope that your spring days are full of beautiful green growth and smiles, 

-SG 

This morning’s rainbow reminded me of you. You are all the colors and you always bring a smile, 

-SG 

Well, the snow has turned to rain. It really is kind of late in the year for it. It is o.k. I have plenty of fiber to spin here, and a few wheels to do this. 

-SG 

You see, dear friend, I didn’t want to scare the hell out of you with dire futures. It ain’t like that one bit. I want to give you, dear friend, good news. And this is it.  

-SG 

The rain will pass, my dear Jacey. The rain will pass and you and I will keep growing, 

-SG 

So don’t fret over me. (In my best “Arnie voice”, “I’ll be back!”) 

-SG 

So I am laying here this evening basking in the glow of a completed job and oh boy, Jacey, my dear, are we going to have run raising some dust! Whoopee!  

-SG 

Stephenie Gaustad

August 1947–February 12, 2025 

Spin Together 2025

We are excited to announce that PLY will be joining in on the Spin Together festivities this year!

What is Spin Together?

Spin Together is about the joy of spinning and the opportunity to share that joy with other spinners. It’s also a fun competition that will take place beginning at noon on February 22, 2025, and ending at noon on March 1, 2025 (noon in your time zone). It all takes place online in Facebook groups, and you can participate from anywhere in the world.

Does PLY have a team?

Ply has TWO teams! Each team maxes out at 25 people and we said, well, one team just isn’t enough! Our teams are called PLY Magazine Z-Twist and PLY Magazine S-Twist. While both of these teams will be full of cool people who read and contribute to the magazine, only one twist direction can reign supreme. Or, you know, each will serve its purpose in its own time or something like that.

How do I join one of the PLY teams?

Between January 28 and February 15, 2025, you will be able to go to this page and sign up to be on a team. The fee is $15 per person, paid directly to Spin Together when you sign up. They also encourage a donation to Habitat for Humanity. Remember, there is a limited number of spaces on each team, so signing up early gives you the best chance of getting on the team you want.

Where will all this happen?

We will host two groups on Facebook for participants to chat and see each others’ progress. We will also host a Zoom spin-in for both teams together at some point during the week! Spin Together also has a Facebook group for everyone participating in the event.

Are the prizes?

Of course there are prizes. On top of the generous contests and prizes offered by the Spin Together organizers, our PLY teams will also have our own challenges! A few lucky winners will win a year-long subscription to PLY magazine! (Either a new subscription or extending your current subscription).

For general information about Spin Together:

More information coming soon via social media!

PLY: 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW

PLY has had a full and fulfilling year! We can hardly believe how much we’ve done!

Firsts

PLY had its first booth at a fiber festival! No, really! In September, we attended DFW Fiber Fest and had a blast!

We also had our first full season of the PLY Spinners Guild. That means we produced 13 episodes featuring 8 different instructors. Our more than 1400 guild members have collectively watched 9,743 hours of guild video content. We’ve also hosted 24 Zoom spin-ins!

We also offered our first ever Holiday Guide! We were pleased to present a variety of new products and top-of-the-line small businesses in this fresh format.

A New Magazine

In 2024, we committed to producing a sister magazine to PLY. With the help of smart and passionate weaver Lisa Graves and the PLY team’s 11 years of experience, WEFT was born! In July, the Kickstarter was a success with more than $100k pledged from 1348 backers. The first issue is slated for Spring 2025!

A New Book

We are excited to announce the release of our third book on December 20: Twist by Michelle Boyd. Twist is destined to be one of the “those” books — the ones that earn a permanent spot on every spinner’s bookshelf. It’s a deep dive into every aspect of Twist and how it affects spinning and yarn. It’s also our first hardback book!

Added 2 New Amazing Team Members

In 2024, PLY brought on two new team members: Jeannie Sanke and Meagan Condon. Jeannie has been with PLY since summer and handles advertising for both PLY and WEFT. Beside being a prolific spinner of chiengora, she has more than twenty years of experience in marketing and advertising in the publishing industry. Meagan joined PLY in October as the technical editor and blog coordinator. Meagan has been teaching and writing for PLY almost since the beginning. She has a background in library & information sciences and social media marketing. We are excited to have their combined experience leaning into the new year!

Worked with Some Amazing Contributors

In 2024, PLY worked with a total of 56 authors and designers to produce four issues (91 published articles!): the Growth Issue, the Reference Issue, the Alpaca Issue, and most recently, the Care Issue. Supporting our vision and goal to give voice to our diverse community, of those 56 contributors, we brought in 17 new-to-PLY authors.

Going Forward

Thank you for joining us on this journey! We look forward to a prosperous year full fiber, creativity, community and fun.

Seasons Greetings from the PLY Spinners Guild

The giving season is upon us, and we want to include everyone we can in the PLY Spinners Guild. If you are in a crunch looking for a very last-minute holiday gift for the spinner or soon-to-be-spinner in your life, a guild membership is the perfect answer!

The guild is priced at $85/year or $12/month. We think this is a very good deal for the amount of information and community you will get. It’s also the amount we need to make the guild financially viable with 1500-2500 members (we are currently at the lower end of that). This allows us to pay for the substantial hosting required by so many high-def videos, the charge per member to access the site, along with fairly compensating the teachers, editors, and everyone involved in making the guild work.

However, in the giving spirit, we do not want the guild’s membership dues to be a barrier to anyone who would like to be a part of the guild. We want everyone, and the more diverse and full our community is, the better we all are. To that end, we are making available 100 free guild memberships every 3-month period for spinners (or potential spinners) who are part of an underserved community, are on a fixed income, or just plain can’t currently afford the regular dues. Please sign up here and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Whether you get a membership for yourself or a loved one, the PLY Spinners Guild looks forward to sharing a new year of community, education, and fun with you.

Small Business Feature: The Foldout Cat

During this giving season, we’d like to call attention to some of our small business partners. You’ve seen The Foldout Cat featured in the PLY gift guide. Now we’d like for you to meet them as more than just the product they sell.  

Q Wirtz, the owner and Chief Feline of the Foldout Cat, started her spinning journey in 2012, when she was still practicing law full-time. At that time, she primarily focused on crochet for her fiber fix. She purchased a Schacht Ladybug but quickly exiled it to the closet when Toxic Perfectionism(™) got the better of her. Within a few years, she’d essentially given up on spinning. In 2014, she left the full-time practice of law and moved to Alabama to be with her partners. 

Q explained, “I was both burned out and worn out, and I had absolutely no clear idea of what I wanted to do – or could do – next.” 

To keep herself busy, Q began selling her crochet with one of her partners at a weekly maker fair at one of Huntsville’s reclaimed textile factories, Lowe Mill. She adds, “I found myself increasingly recharged and inspired by the constant exposure to assertive creativity, and in relatively short order I applied for and was granted a studio space with the collective… In early 2017 I took the terrifying step of giving my creative endeavors a business name – naming is a powerful act! – and the Foldout Cat came formally into being.”  

In 2018, something extraordinary happened. “That November, I went to a spinning retreat hosted by friends, attending for the company but dutifully toting my Ladybug and a bit of theoretically easy-to-spin roving along for the look of the thing. I sat down next to someone who’d taught spinning for the Haus of Yarn in Nashville, stuck my fluff into the leader loop she tied on for me, sighed deeply and put my feet on the treadles … and something just clicked. I went through the roving I’d brought with me in the first hour after that silent revelation and spent the rest of the weekend spinning anything and everything the other attendees were willing to throw my way. They were delightfully generous, as fiber folk often are.” 

The Foldout Cat had a new direction: spinning and enabling.   

“Given the amount of time I spend teaching spinning/talking about spinning/actually spinning these days, I surprise myself sometimes when I remember that I only started spinning six years ago!” Q adds, “I love teaching anyone who wants to sit down and fiber with me – but my favorite is working with folks at the beginning of their experience with a given fiber-art form. I like giving people permission to play, and to experiment – and above all, as they’re learning a new skill (or acquiring a new tool for an existing creative toolbox), to give themselves the grace in that learning that they would give a beloved friend.” 

The Foldout Cat’s Goals 

Goal #1: to support myself, financially and psychoemotionally. 

Goal #2: to spread love and respect for fiber arts of all kinds. 

Goal #3: to empower everyone I meet through my business – students, customers, fiber-adjacent spice and partners – to believe that they have a creative, artistic aspect, that it deserves to be recognized and honored, and that doing so will enrich their lives. 

Goal #4: to keep putting beauty into this world–especially now, especially in these tumultuous days – and to help others to do the same.

If you are looking for a last-minute fiber gift for the discerning spinner in your life, consider working with Q to create a custom CatBatt! If you have ever seen The Foldout Cat at one of the many festivals and fiber retreats where they vend, you’ve probably had the pleasure of seeing her one-of-a-kind batt buffet where customers get to choose their fibers from a plethora of options and Q will blend a custom batt right then and there.  

She extends this service to her website. “Right now, online customers have two options there: they can send me an email and I’ll work with them remotely to build what they need or they can buy a gift certificate and use it in person at any of the 15+ shows to which I travel each year.” Design a batt for a loved one (or for yourself! You deserve some holiday fluff, too!) or give a gift certificate that allows your friends and family to design their own CatBatt. 

Even if you don’t have the opportunity to grab a CatBatt now, you’ll have plenty of opportunities in the upcoming year. Q explains, “In 2024 I had the honor of being part of 18 events, from conferences like Convergence to huge festivals like Rhinebeck to intimate workshop series like the one I got to do at a good friend’s beautiful home studio in Georgia, and including the first-ever Alabama Fiber Festival in early November. My 2025 schedule’s on track to be even more packed – and I couldn’t be more grateful for all of the teaching and vending opportunities that presents.” Check out her website for a list of events where you can find the batt buffet in person this upcoming year!