Camp Pluckyfluff - Madison, CT

I had a great time this weekend meeting a lot of my local New England art yarn spinners at Camp Pluckyfluff in Madison, Connecticut.  There were over 20 spinners at this camp, so many we had to separate into two different rooms.  But the camaraderie was so great that I felt like I got to know everyone and we all mingled and enjoyed watching each other create gorgeous unique art yarns.

One of my favorite things about art yarn camp is being inspired by the creativity of other amazing artists.  While I was at camp I saw two absolutely gorgeous hand-knit art yarn shawls.  I asked the artisans if I could use their creations as my base for writing up a similar pattern - and they were thrilled.  I love meeting people who love to share as much as I do.  One of the best things about art yarn is that you don't need intense knitting/crochet skills to work with it.  The yarn itself is so beautiful, it simply needs to be knit or crochet in a loose flexible way.  These two works of art will be re-written as simple to follow patterns on my blog in upcoming Free Pattern Fridays!

I also came up with a lot of fresh ideas to add to this blog for Tutorial Tuesday.  I wanted to try to update my blog twice a week with educational, fun, fresh ideas for spinning yarn and fiber art.  I don't know if I'll be able to be as consistent with Tutorial Tuesday thru July - but Free Pattern Friday has been received with SUCH warmth and excitement that I've already got those patterns written up and ready to automatically post thru the months of June & July.  

A special shout out and thanks to Dayna of Madison Wool (www.madisonwool.com) for coordinating this weekend's workshop.  What a wonderful group of women!  I am so excited to be living in the New England area where yarn spinning has such a rich history and culture.

Dayna supports handspinners from around the world by selling their yarns in her shop.  You can find my yarns in her shop as well as many others from around the world, unique spinning supplies, and workshops!  So if you're in the New England area be sure to check out Madison Wool.  Once my travels in July are complete, and my book has been written, I will also be teaching spinning classes at Madison wool in the late Fall/Winter.  

I also heard a rumor that camp pluckyfluff will be returning to Connecticut every year for fiber camp!  How wonderful that would be!

About one month until Yarnival, the biggest handspun art yarn celebration on the West Coast.  I will be bringing my entire shop with me (locks, art batts, faux cashmere, art yarns - and some surprises up my sleeve) as a vendor.  After Yarnival I'm driving up to Oregon to pack up the rest of our stuff we left there last summer, and drive it all cross-country to our home in Boston.  Once that move is done, I'll start writing the rest of my book which will be published in Spring 2013.

What.  A.  Year.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's update: Tutorial Tuesday!!  How to add Bead Clusters into yarn:

Here's a video that I made from this weekend.  Enjoy!!