Jacey Faulkner

Winning!

/1 Comment/in , /by

Wow. If the last post was any indication, y’all like us and that feels great! I’m proud of this magazine, of the people that work on it, write and design for it, and support it in any way. I feel passionately about what we’re doing and the way we do. And that could be enough. It really could. But the fact that y’all like it too, that it means so much to so many spinners, well, that just fills my heart.

I made a page of the reviews so feel free to take a look. We’re hoping it’ll help influence those that haven’t made the jump yet, to give PLY a try.

As for the random drawing winners, here they are!

Number 1, for the fiber from Wild Hare Fiber, the winner is Becca H. Roy!

Number 2, for the mystery prize from my studio, the winner is Jennifer Hewett-Apperson.

But really, I feel like I’m the winner and whenever I get overwhelmed and stressed, I’m going to push play on the recording I made of Levi reading all those reviews aloud in his sexiest voice.

Jacey Faulkner

Give-away: What do you think of PLY Magazine?

/132 Comments/in , , /by

Hi everyone!

PLY Magazine has been around for almost 4 years now and it’s going pretty well, I think. We’ve spent some time learning how to make a magazine and then we spent some more time learning how to make it great, but we haven’t focused much on marketing and now it’s time!

The short of it is, our low-ad/good-quality paper/fair wages model relies on subscribers to pay the bills so we need more subscribers. Since people are doing more and more research before they commit to buy or subscribe to something, we need to show them this magazine is worth it! That’s where you come in.

We’re building a review page on the website. If you have a few minutes and would write what you think of PLY, either as a spinner, a teacher, a contributor, or any combination, that’d be so great!  

Feel free to post your reviews and endorsements here (with a name we can attribute it to) and I”ll extract them and build the page soon. 

mosley2-web
Next Friday (11-11), I’ll randomly draw 2 people that gave reviews and send them 1 of 2 wonderful prizes. The first is the fiber from Melissa at Wild Hare Fiber Studio that we used in the gorgeous Traveling Hood designed by Jolene Mosley for the latest issue of PLY.  You’ll get 4 ounces of the colorway and 4 ounces of the solid so if you want, you can recreate this exact pattern, all you’ll need is a mysterious cloak and a wandering road.

The second random winner will get something secret, something from the PLY Magazine studio. I can’t say what it’ll be but if you’re a spinner, you’ll want it!

Thanks for all your support and we promise we’ll keep getting better and better

Guest Blogger

Wanna try spinning cotton? (We’re giving it away!)

/6 Comments/in , , /by

merritt1

Our Beautiful Cotton issue has been in subscribers’ hands and store shelves for a few months now, and we’d love to know what you think! Are you a seasoned spinner of the fiber of our lives, or a novice? Did this issue teach you something you didn’t know before, or encourage you to try something new? Did you find it mind-numblingly gorgeous? Have you worked through any of the projects, or spun a new yarn inspired by the information in the articles?

Ruane2 We love hearing what the spinners of the world think about each issue! It also helps us entice new readers to pick up a copy of PLY. So we’d really love it if you would click here and leave a review for the Cotton issue of PLY! (Just scroll down to the product description and click on the “Reviews” tab to enter your thoughts.) As a thank you, we’re going to give away some fabulous cotton fiber! This cotton was actually sent to us by one of our readers, who is sharing her personal cotton harvest with a lucky winner (THANK YOU!). Isn’t it fabulous? It’s super clean, and so much – there is about 1 lb of it!

_MG_4078

We’ll pick a winner at random from the cotton issue reviews on this page on June 15, and contact you to send out your cotton! Remember, don’t leave your review of the issue here, leave it on the issue page, here! Thanks so much, as always, for your support.

 

Jacey Faulkner

Concrete shots and free fiber!

/6 Comments/in , , , /by

It was slow coming to you international folks, I know, but I think just about everyone (minus a few South American subscribers) has their Winter issue of PLY. What did you think? I have to tell you the truth, this one took the most for me to love but it wasn’t the content or articles or samples, it was our photoshoot venue!

We learn as we go, as usual, and what we learned this time was that grand, wide-sweeping locations aren’t for us. They just don’t work as well as the itty bitty gritty shots full of textures and detail. We shot at the gorgeous Longview Mansion in Lee’s Summit, MO. And just like the website implies by it’s own lovely photography — your bride will look stunning as she glides down the grand staircase beneath the crystal chandelier; your fish and/or chicken plated dinners will look delectable as your guest consume them along side copious amounts of champagne from the champagne fountain that’s placed under the twinkling stars; and never will you and your spouse feel so majestic and magical as when you walk down the column-lined promenade punctuated with extravagantly shaped shrubbery. The location was all of that and more.

However, when you’re attempting to capture the tiny felted corner of a Wendsleydale swatch, you tend to shoot a little closer. Heck, you tend to shoot a lot closer. With our specific photo needs, it’s hard to capture the grand staircase, the champagne fountain tower, the topiary shrub that’s skillfully pruned to look like an actual tree, and the imposing stone columns. In fact, when we what you see is mostly the wood on the staircase, a stump of the shrub, and the concrete at the base of the columns.

Bernadette and I worried and woe-ed. We did. We actually woe-ed. It’s a thing.
Woe: a feeling of great sorrow or distress.
to woe: to slightly sway back and forth while consumed with a feeling of great sorrow or distress.
Woe-ed: to do all the stuff I just said but, you know, yesterday, last week, in the past.

We woe-ed. We woe-ed all the while we waited for the issue to go through layout, then to go to print, then to make it through the USPS-mystery-system. And then we got it, cracked it open, and we thought and then texted each other “oh, that’s a pretty good issue.” I mean, it’s no “ruins of a castle” but in the end, it looked cohesive and it told the story it was supposed to tell.

So what do you think of the issue? And I don’t mean the photography in particular (Bernadette always does such a good job with what I give her, right? and she did rock those concrete shots!) but the issue in general. I love hearing and reading what spinners think of each issue! Plus, it helps people on the fence decide if they should give us a chance. So, if you’d be so kind, head over here and leave a review for the Singles issue of PLY!


On feb 15th I’ll pick one reviewer at random (I totally promise it’ll be random) and send him or her some of the fiber we used in the issue. That’s right, you’ll get 4 ounces of the same fiber used to spin and knit the Ondulant sraft by Carol Feller. The fiber is dyed by the wonderful June Pryce Fiber Arts and it’s the same light to dark gradient you see above. You’ll also get 2 Crosspatch Creations fiber blended batts. This is the same fiber Sue Tye and Jill Sanders used in their amazing Saori Tunic. You want this fiber, right? It also just so happens that it all goes together beautifully! Go, leave a review on the issue page (not here) tell us what you think! It makes us smile, keeps us striving to get better, and helps us keep on keeping on!

Jacey Faulkner

Review the Texture issue and win some batts!

/8 Comments/in , , /by

small colorful battsIt’s that time again, the time when I ask you to review the current issue. I want to know what you think. I have some gorgeous textured batts to send one lucky reviewer/subscriber. They’re the kind of batts that make fantastic corespun yarn, the kind that Steph Gorin wrote about in this very issue. If you’ve never tried this technique, it’s be the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. Of course, if you’ve already tried it, you don’t have any need for more fiber do you? Oh, right, spinners always need more gorgeous fiber!

So here’s what you do. Just leave a review for the texture issue of PLY Magazine here, under the review tab. Also make sure to leave your name! On December 3rd, we’ll use a random number generator to pick a number, find the comment that matches that number and announce the winner! We’ll use your name to look up your address and ship your gorgeous batts the very next day! You’ll be corespinning in no time!

Guest Blogger

Your Tools

/4 Comments/in , /by

I may start to sound like a broken record but I can’t help it!

In January I wrote a blog post titled Buying Things and it was all about how to go about buying the right tools. This is something I think about a lot because I teach a ton of classes that include processing wool from raw fleece and I see how some people have tools that don’t fit them or they don’t work for what they wanted them to do.

One of the examples I use in class about buying good tools is Crayons. You know those crayons you can buy at the dollar store that when you try to color with them there is very little pigment and a ton of wax and if you just spend a tiny bit more money you can get the name brand ones that color beautifully. The result is worth the extra investment even if you are only buying them for your kids to scribble with.

Well, I broke my own rule.

I decided I wanted to learn how to do water color washes for backgrounds in my journal (you can read about my Journal Journey here). So I went to the craft store and I bought a couple of water color palletes and I started looking at brushes. I first had 3 brushes in my hand that I knew would work but the total cost for the three brushes would have been $20. But! There on the end cap there was a display and there was a set of 8 brushed for $8! Three of the brushes in the package were the same shape as the three in my hand so I went for it.

20150805_140159

 

See all those dark fuzzy bits? Those are the brush fibers that were falling out of the brush as I put the paint on the paper. And that brush is still not done shedding.

Now. I have spent $8 on tools that suck and I will need to go back and spend the $20 on the better brushes.

See what I mean? Buying the better brushes in the first place would have saved me almost 30% of what I will spend in the end because I didn’t follow my own advice.

I’m sure I’ll be back here in six months to talk about tools again. In the mean time, buy the best tools you can afford and save money in the long run!

Guest Blogger

Buying Things

/6 Comments/in , , /by

In the Ply Ravelry group in the thread about what people would like to see in Ply, there has a been a bit of discussion going on about the stealth reviews. Some people are happy with them, and some people would like to see more about the downsides of the products being reviewed. It’s a fine line and I think Jacey did a good job of answering concerns and explaining that’s going on. You can check it out here: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/ply-magazine/2611174/201-225#201

It got me to thinking more than usual about buying fiber tools and how to go about it. Since I owned a fiber shop I have thought about this question a lot but in the last year or so I’ve not been so invested in it for other people. But here I am, back again to thinking hard about the whole topic.

Here’s what I see happening. Somebody wants to buy a new thing. There are several makers of this thing and so it’s hard to decide which one to invest in. Fiber tools seem expensive and so this somebody doesn’t want to get it wrong. So they go to Ravelry/Facebook/Twitter/G+ and say, “I’m looking to buy a thing. Which thing do you recommend?” Then the spinner gets 1 million replies with all of the people saying that the thing that they own is the very best and all the other things are poorly made/don’t work/are stupid. Now the spinner is even more confused. What to do?!

woolprocesscard

 

Here’s my advice, since not everybody has a spinning shop within a couple of hours of their home where they can try things.

First, if you have a guild, take advantage of it. Ask people there if you can touch the tools they are using to see if they feel comfortable to you. If it’s a spinning wheel, it is not difficult to try the wheel with your own fiber and then take off the length that you spun even if they are in the middle of a bobbin. Most spinners are very happy to help.

If you don’t have a guild and you feel like you are out there on your own, chances are you aren’t – you just haven’t found the people yet, go with your gut. Don’t buy the cheapest thing but buy the best you can afford.

Here’s how this discussion goes in almost every class I teach.

Student: “Really? $75 for hand cards!?”

Me: “yep, that’s what they cost.”

Student: “Can’t I just use a dog brush?”

Me: “yes you can. But the tines aren’t as strong and you will be replacing them often and they cost $10 so once you replace them seven times over 7  years you will have paid the price for hand cards which will last more than 20 years at least. $70 over 20 years works out to $3.50 per year which is way cheaper than dog brushes over time.”

That’s how I feel about almost every spinning tool. Yes, the initial expense feels high but buying the right tool for the job will work better and the tool will last for almost your whole fiber life.

So, now, what if you buy a tool that’s not working for you? Well, there is a giant market for second hand tools. you won’t get what you paid for it but it will be close. Chalk this up to a learning experience. it’s like paying for a class. Now you know. Sell the thing and get a different one. There is somebody out there that will love it.

Also, when you are asking for opinions, be sure to talk to people who have tried more than one kind of thing. So many people will tell you that they just love their xbrand thingamajig and you should ahve one too when they’ve never even touched a different brand. And when people have a negative opinion about a thing, ask them why. It may be because the handle didn’t fit their small hand and you have a bigger hand so it won’t be an issue.

See? Easy.

Or you could just ask me. I have lots of opinions and they are all right.

 

Jacey Faulkner

Craftsy loves us: Ply to knit class

/4 Comments/in , /by

Hey Spinners, Craftsy loves us! Have you noticed? Our own Jillian Moreno recently did a craftsy class called PLY to Knit (okay, it’s really just called Ply to Knit but I like writing PLY!) and I’m watching it now. Literally, right now! There’s Jillian with her great hair, dazzling smile, and cat-eyed glasses being just barely over-shadowed by all the smartness coming out of her mouth!

I’m going to try and give this a true and honest review but since I just think Jillian is super brilliant and a wonderfully talented spinner, it might be biased. A bit.

Jillianheadshot

First, Craftsy has gotten really good. The way they put together lessons is super easy and intuitive to follow, which is important to me. I don’t want to have to figure out how to use the platform while I’m trying to figure out my spinning and they’ve done a great job making it easy to use. I also really like that you can interact with the teacher.  Second, Jillian is comfortable and charming during all the lessons. She’s likable and I think that’s a really important piece in the puzzle. Can you imagine if you had to watch a grouchy teacher for 3 hours? Yeesh.

This PLY to knit class has 7 lessons ranging in length but averaging about 30 minutes each. Each lesson is broken up into main ideas that make sense. In Jillian’s case those lessons are:

An Intro to PLY: This is a kind of setting of the stage. We meet Jillian (charming) and she goes over what plying is, what it does for us, and what some of the terminology she’ll use means.

How to PLY: This is a big big lesson. This is where she gets into the meat of plying. How to sit, how to set up, how to actually ply. She talks about resting and rewinding bobbins and plying from your hand too. I found myself nodding along with much of what she said, thinking, yes, I agree with that.

SONY DSCLesson #3 and Lesson #4 cover everything your might want to know about 2-ply and 3-ply yarn, from plying to knitting to balance and unbalance to chainplying. She even compares 3-ply and chainplying. It’s good stuff. I think it’s really important that she shows examples in knitted swatches so we can see exactly how the different plys effect our knitting. Following her lead, because it’s fun to spin along with her, here’s the samples I spun and knit during these 2 lessons.  The one on the left is chain-plied, the one on the right is 3-ply.  Both are from the same fiber.  I was really careful to match up my color on the 3-ply and when I made my loops on the chain-ply, I really tried to have very little color mixing. In the end,  I like the gradual color change of the 3-ply swatch but know that it had more to do with my chain-plying technique than chain-plying in general.  Both are great techniques and Jillian is good at explaining why.

One of my favorite lessons is #5, fixing mistakes. I make a lot of mistakes, almost all the ones she mentions, so I squinched up my face and watched extra hard during this part.

Plus, she says this great line: “the answer to this mistake is a sandwich.”   I really like when the answer to my mistake is a sandwich!

She rounds out the entire class with a lesson on finishing and a lesson on measuring. And if I didn’t love the class already, she uses a WPI tool shaped like a tardis! Sandwiches and tardises! She’s a lady after my own heart.

Altogether, it’s a solid class on plying to knit. While I watched I tried to think if there is stuff that I’d have included that she left out and there isn’t any glaring omissions. Of course, not everything about plying is in here but that be silly to expect. Spinning is a giant and long-standing craft. If everything could be taught in 3 hours, PLY Magazine wouldn’t make it very long, right? And really, what that means, at least what I hope that means, is that craftsy will do lots more spinning classes!  Let them know we want more, okay?

If you want to ply to knit, this class will teach you a lot, no matter how long you’ve been spinning.  Here’s a link (with a little discount).