PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
Did you know we also have a monthly PLY newsletter? Sign up here!
Did you know we also have a monthly PLY newsletter? Sign up here!
https://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/PenPlace-scaled.jpg25601920Jessica Cookhttps://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/plylogo-condensed-pnk-300x164.pngJessica Cook2022-06-30 08:00:002022-07-01 15:42:43Teach or Vend at PLYAway 2023!
After a couple of long years, PLYAway returned April 19-23, and it was wonderful to see faces both familiar and new.
Classes were taught by Maggie Casey, Clemes and Clemes, Meagan Condon, Peggy Doney, Jacey Boggs Faulker, Michael Kelson, Judith MacKenzie, Amy Manko, Jillian Moreno, James Perry, Joan Ruane, Amy Tyler, Emily Wohlscheid.
On Friday evening, James Perry gave a talk and presentation on his journey with wool. Jacey (wearing a snazzy red jumpsuit) gave out some fabulous door prizes.
Karen Robinson and Christie Brown were once again at the registration desk checking spinners in, answering questions, and selling t-shirts and back issues.
And the Pen Place was very happy to have us back! (We’re one of their top shopping weeks of the year.)
The marketplace (vendor hall) opened on Thursday at noon. Spinners lined up early to get into the hall. (The first person in line had been waiting for an hour and was able to get the Daedalus Sparrow she was hoping for.)
Shoppers in the marketplace had a card and got a stamp for each vendor they purchased from. Stamps from 10 different vendors allowed them to enter into the giveaway for $500 to spend in the marketplace. There were 72 entries in the drawing. On Saturday afternoon, by random drawing, a surprised and happy Courtney Rivers won the giveaway. Although she considered getting a drum carder from Clemes & Clemes, she ultimately decided to get a Lendrum wheel from Yarn Barn.
PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
Did you know we also have a monthly PLY newsletter? Sign up here!
Did you know we also have a monthly PLY newsletter? Sign up here!
https://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Teachers-1-scaled.jpeg25601920Jessica Cookhttps://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/plylogo-condensed-pnk-300x164.pngJessica Cook2022-05-06 17:51:202022-05-06 17:51:23PLYAway 2022: Together Again!
Thirty years ago, Amy Tyler went to an annual handspun yarn sale from a local spinning group in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A member of the spinning group invited Amy to sit down at a wheel, and the spinning community has a lot to be grateful for as a result! Since then, Amy has published over 25 knitting patterns, has taught workshops on spinning and knitting for over 20 years, and has written for 9 different publications.
Amy’s story begins with backgrounds in modern dance, kinesiology, and physiology. She was a professor of physical therapy for 9 years but eventually decided to leave the academic life to pursue a life of fiber arts. “I still have more ideas in my head about spinning and knitting than I can carry out in my lifetime, but that’s very exciting to me. It means my brain is always curious about things and asking questions,” Amy says.
These questions have led Amy to develop workshops on several topics, including the ones she’ll be offering spinners at PLYAway this spring (Blending Board: Basics and Beyond; Prep It: Combs, Cards, and Flicks; and Wheel Mechanics). “I was a bit cut off during the beginning of COVID because I had a couple of surgeries that kind of slowed me down for a while, but now both hand and foot are functioning properly and I’m excited to get back into it,” Amy explains. Her classes focus on tools because she has always been interested in what’s possible if you play around enough with the proper equipment.
Image credit: Amy Tyler
“All of the tools have their fabulous advantages and some things that they’re not so good at, so being able to use all of them is really worth it. I think of mechanics a lot from the physics point of view, but I try not to harp on numbers or on those mechanical laws or anything. Understanding a few things about friction or how to take care of your wheel so it works properly and is mechanically happy and how to make yourself mechanically happy, all of those things come into play with [the wheel mechanics] class,” Amy explains.
Amy’s approach to fiber arts is that there is no “right way” to do just about anything, as long as you aren’t being hurt or hurting others. “I don’t think there are very many illegitimate ways of thinking about spinning and how you approach spinning,” she says. For Amy, playing with fiber is an ever-evolving experiment. She describes a time when she first tried hand combs and didn’t enjoy the experience at all; fast forward to today, when she’s preparing to teach a class on how to use them.
Image credit: Amy Tyler
“I had to sit down and figure out how to make it comfortable to do, so it’s about the mechanics of how to use them without hurting yourself that’s really important to me, and then realizing how wonderful the result is. When you first spin from hand-combed fiber it’s a mind-blowing experience. As are so many things in the fiber world. One of the things I like about it is that my mind is blown a lot, and frequently,” she remarks.
Amy adds, “I get very excited about the topics I teach, and I keep wanting to add to them and explore them even further, and the teaching opportunities I get really help my brain think about new ways of thinking about these topics. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me to blow my own mind.”
Being around other spinners is an absolute bonus for the experience, as well. Amy loves to attend events like PLYAway not just to teach but to learn. As she explains it, “people come from many different perspectives and something I heard years ago is that everyone you meet will know something you don’t. When I’m teaching classes I know that every person in that workshop knows something I don’t know. It’s amazing to hear how different perspectives and life experiences influence how people think about the fiber arts. There’s an amazing diversity of ways of thinking about the delightful craft that is spinning,” she adds.
Image credit: Amy Tyler
In one final note about fiber arts, Amy explains, “I have a science background and an arts background and they both influence me when I think about making yarn. It’s like a dance and an amazing mechanical feat at the same time and I get excited to think about it in both ways.”
If you’d like to join Amy in that dance, there are still spots available in her classes at PLYAway this year. Click here to register!
Amy Tyler’s formal training was in modern dance, kinesiology, and physiology. She then spent years teaching physical therapy students about critical inquiry, evidence-based practice, and research design. In 2004, Amy left the academic life to pursue fibers arts. Now she resides in beautiful Benzie county, in the northwest corner of the lower peninsula of Michigan.
PLY Magazine believes that Black lives matter, as well as LBGTQI+ lives. Those most vulnerable and persecuted in our communities deserve our love and support. Please be good to each other.
Did you know we also have a monthly PLY newsletter? Sign up here!
Did you know we also have a monthly PLY newsletter? Sign up here!
https://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AmyTyler.jpg768768Jessica Cookhttps://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/plylogo-condensed-pnk-300x164.pngJessica Cook2022-03-17 08:00:002022-03-06 15:06:13Spotlight on Amy Tyler
It’s coming! Registration for the first annual PLY Away is only a few short days away (Wednesday, Nov 11th at 10 am, CST). We’ve made a few guides to help you choose and to get you ready for the registration process, they’re here ! I think they’re really helpful so take a look if your plans on Wednesday include constantly reloading to see if it’s live yet.
We have had our first batch of early registration winners through already and except for a couple of small things (that we’ve since fixed) everything went swimmingly! There’s another batch of 10 registering the day before it opens for real and I think it’ll go off without a hitch.
When it does go live on Wednesday, I’ll also post the registration button on this blog and on facebook, just in case the PLY Away site goes cabloohey (which totally shouldn’t happen) you’ll still be able to get to the actual registration page on EventBrite.
Now on to the fun news! You know we had the scholarship raffle, right? Donate to the raffle and get a chance to register early or to win a free trip to PLY Away etc. Well, we have our winners!
Our actual scholarship is going to Devin Helmen and our big raffle winner is Ruth Blau! Congratulation to both, I can’t wait to what happens!
https://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/plylogo-condensed-pnk-300x164.png00Jacey Faulknerhttps://plymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/plylogo-condensed-pnk-300x164.pngJacey Faulkner2015-11-09 12:52:452015-11-09 12:52:45PLY Away Winners and Registration