You’ve got something to say about spinning!
Mood Board: Care (Winter 2024)
We care for ourselves, our people, and every aspect of our spinning lives. Care looks different for every person. What does care mean to you with your spinning? We’re looking for tips, techniques, and spins that show us how to care for and celebrate our craft, our earth, our community, and ourselves.
What about caring for your body? Do you have tips on how to choose a wheel that works with your body? Do you know how to position yourself while you spin on a wheel or a spindle for the most comfort? How to set up your spinning space? Are there stretches or exercises that help you to keep spinning?
Do you spin with a disability? What makes it more comfortable to spin? Tell us ways to modify spinning to help when we have sore hands, backs, knees. For example, if you have arthritis in your hands, how do you draft worsted with the least soreness?
What about caring for your tools? How do you give your wheel the ultimate tune-up? How do you keep your drum carder in tiptop shape? Do you have a spinning toolkit that you think others should duplicate? Do you know which type of drive band and brake band materials are best for your wheel and the way you spin? How do you care for a new-to-you antique wheel?
How can we care for the earth while being fiber artists? Are there ecological ways to dye? Ways to wash fleece with less water? How can we use every bit of our fiber rather than throw it in a landfill? How are mills that commercially process fiber caring for the earth? What does organic mean in the fiber world? What is bio nylon? Are there better earth-friendly ways to make superwash fibers?
Which sheep breed needs the least extra resources to thrive? How are shepherds caring for the earth while growing exceptional fiber for us to spin?
Care is also about celebrating. How would you create a colorway or fiber blend that celebrates a person or event?
Are there things you make for your friends, family, and community for care or celebration? What are the perfect handmade gifts, the best fundraisers? How do you use your handspun to celebrate significant life events?
How do you celebrate and hold on to a technique that you learned at an event like PLYAway? How do you hold on to the memories and warm fuzzies of our big community celebrations, like sheep and wool festivals? Do you celebrate how you are growing as a spinner? Do you make plans for that growth, and how do you mark those milestones?
Project ideas and proposals are due by December 1, 2023. We’ll get back to you in January 2024 and final work is due June 1, 2024.
The last few mood boards are here:
Autumn 2024: Alpaca
Summer 2024: Reference
Spring 2024: Grow
Winter 2023: Sweater
Autumn 2023: Drape
Summer 2023: Place
Spring 2023: Science
Winter 2022: Neck and Shoulders
Autumn 2022: Loft
Summer 2022: Mix
Spring 2022: Goats
Winter 2021: Heads and Hands
Autumn 2021: Consistency
