Back in October 2014, two friends of mine from my knitting group and I went to Kansas to attend Yarn School. More specifically The Harveyville Project Yarn School. It is such a neat concept and definitely an interesting experience.
Basically the set up is the weekend event is held at an old high school in Harveyville, Kansas that has been converted to hold all types of creative workshops. Yarn School consisted of learning all about fibers, learning how to use a spinning wheel, learning how to dye fibers in various methods, visiting an alpaca farm and just meeting good people and having a fun weekend.
The school itself had a run down hipster feel to it with all sorts of knickknacks everywhere, old school lockers, and we slept in classrooms next to chalkboards. While I understand this concept is still a work in progress and for the most part manageable, the bathrooms could use a bit of an update.
I was super excited to learn how to dye yarn with Adrian from Hello Yarn. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend and wish we had more time devoted to that lesson. Or more opportunities to do additional dying in the down time.
Spinning is hard work. Finding the right wheel, the right fiber, the right rhythm. It's a lot to think about and figure out how to coordinate all at once. I am not the best learner. I get frustrated quickly if I don't pick something up quickly. So I struggled with this part of the lessons. But I did enjoy it once I got the hang of it and one day hope to buy a spinning wheel to better learn this art.
Another favorite part of the weekend was the visit to the Alpaca farm. I think alpacas are my spirit animals. They love me and I love them back. Some days I daydream about living off the grid and owning a few alpacas.
Additionally, the food was fantastic all weekend long. I really wish they would put out a cookbook because I still think of some of the dishes. It was all made from scratch every day which isn't easy to do for over 20 people at each meal.
Basically the set up is the weekend event is held at an old high school in Harveyville, Kansas that has been converted to hold all types of creative workshops. Yarn School consisted of learning all about fibers, learning how to use a spinning wheel, learning how to dye fibers in various methods, visiting an alpaca farm and just meeting good people and having a fun weekend.
The school itself had a run down hipster feel to it with all sorts of knickknacks everywhere, old school lockers, and we slept in classrooms next to chalkboards. While I understand this concept is still a work in progress and for the most part manageable, the bathrooms could use a bit of an update.
I was super excited to learn how to dye yarn with Adrian from Hello Yarn. That was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend and wish we had more time devoted to that lesson. Or more opportunities to do additional dying in the down time.
Spinning is hard work. Finding the right wheel, the right fiber, the right rhythm. It's a lot to think about and figure out how to coordinate all at once. I am not the best learner. I get frustrated quickly if I don't pick something up quickly. So I struggled with this part of the lessons. But I did enjoy it once I got the hang of it and one day hope to buy a spinning wheel to better learn this art.
Another favorite part of the weekend was the visit to the Alpaca farm. I think alpacas are my spirit animals. They love me and I love them back. Some days I daydream about living off the grid and owning a few alpacas.
Additionally, the food was fantastic all weekend long. I really wish they would put out a cookbook because I still think of some of the dishes. It was all made from scratch every day which isn't easy to do for over 20 people at each meal.
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| The school |
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| Our beds |
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| Lockers! |
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| Beautiful sunrise |
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| Sunrise from the men's bathroom. I liked the windows. |
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| Crockpot dying |
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| Trying to be creative with the dying |
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| Colors! |
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| Look at all the pretty colors drying |
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| Adrian teaching us how to hand dye |
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| Learning how to use a drop spindle |
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| One of the spinning wheels I tried |
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| Spinning in Action |
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| Look, I made yarn! |
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| Not bad yarn for the first time. |
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| Alpacas! |
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| I totally want an angora rabbit now |
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| Look at the cuteness! |
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| These sheep were scaredy cats and preferred hanging out behind the bush |
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| Of course I had to take a picture of my Jayne hat next to Firefly Rd |
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| Kansas was surprisingly pretty |
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| All my finished yarns and fibers |
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