Tuesdays September 9, 16 and Thursday September 18 | 6 - 8 PM
*choose: $140 | $180 | $220
Join 2025 Teaching Fellow Lauren McElroy to learn the timeless techniques for transforming raw wool into beautiful handspun yarn. Utilizing sheep fleeces from the Craigardan farm, students will learn how to skirt, wash, card, comb, and spin the wool into their own usable yarn. With time for both one-on-one instruction and community building, we will engage mindfully in the ancient practice of creating textiles with the work of our hands, intention, and simple hand tools. Join us for this three-session course and take your fiber skills to the next level. Registration is required.
Session one:
From right off the Craigardan farm, students will learn to skirt and wash a raw sheep’s fleece. Together we will identify what makes a fleece suitable for spinning. You will become comfortable with understanding the structure of a fleece and locks of wool. We will also discuss the importance of fiber work, the significance it’s had on civilization, and the interwoven connection of our fiber shed with everyday life. This session will be held on the farm, so bring your muck boots and clothes you don’t mind getting wet or dirty.
Session two:
We will move into wool processing. By this time, our fleece will have had time to dry and we can begin to process it into different preparations for spinning. Students will learn the difference and benefits of multiple preps and have ample time to practice and commune together to share stories. When we have amassed enough prepared fiber, we will begin to spin using a drop spindle. You will learn the key components to spinning a single, like twist, drafting, winding, and joining to create the first half of their yarn. Students will go home with homework to complete their second single and return to session three ready to ply and finish their yarn.
If you have wool carders or combs, a drum carder, picker or flicker, please feel free to bring them for this portion of the course
Session Three:
In our final session, we will ply and finish our yarns. With our yarn wound onto bobbins, we will ply our completed singles together from a DIY lazy kate and wet finish our yarns using special techniques to set the yarn. There will be time for students to continue to practice with one-on-one instruction and troubleshooting. We will discuss further steps on what we can do with our yarn next.
Optional: Please bring to this session an old shoebox, long straight knitting needles, and two empty paper rolls.
Location: Main Campus. Look for Craigardan Event sign at the end of Main Campus driveway (two “doors” west of the farm store, towards Keene). Google Maps Link
Photo courtesy of The Crafters Box
PLEASE REGISTER
*PROGRAM FEE STRUCTURE
While many of our programs are free, we also offer classes and events with a fee. There are three prices to choose from on a sliding scale:
subsidized $140 | regular fee $180 | help others $220
Upon registration, we trust you to choose the right fee that matches what you can afford. Do you need financial assistance? Can you pay the regular rate? Do you have the ability to pay a bit more and make funds available for others?
If in doubt, give us a call at 518.242.6535
Lauren McElroy is Craigardan’s 2025 Teaching Fellow. Lauren is a queer, Black, experimental fiber artist currently working in knitwear design, punch needle embroidery, and on themselves. They have been published in Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, Making Magazine, Spin Off Magazine, Knitstrips Interactive Knitting, Ply Magazine, is a season 7 Knitstar, and has created over 60 knitting patterns. You can find out more and interact with their work on their website, motherofpurl.net