Dear Spinning Circle,
We are entering a new year and Wool n’ Spinning is continuing to grow! For links to content that has been created over time, please check out the Index, a working document, here. One of the primary things I am asked about is how to navigate all the content that is available once you join Patreon. It’s overwhelming at first and just getting into the Live Chat for the Streams is often a stumbling block.
Navigating the Wool n’ Spinning Platforms
Patreon, the Ravelry Group, Slack, YouTube and more
There are many ‘levels’ to Wool n’ Spinning, and your participation is welcome at any and all levels. Patreon offers me a platform to offer all the posts and content but the Index is where you are able to access specific topics, vlogs and PDFs. The different tiers on Patreon allow you to choose how much of that content you would like to interact with, leaving the content that doesn’t apply to you at this time (and it’ll always be there for later so don’t worry!).
The Ravelry group continues to thrive and grow each week. This is where much of the ongoing chatter occurs for the SALs and Studies that we host. Within the Ravelry group, we are also hosting a year-long Zero-to-Hero Make-along for those who would like to tackle an ‘epic’ project. We’ve hosted this prior and brought it back this year due to requests from the community – very exciting!
YouTube allows me to host the Live Streams for patrons, as well as upload content that is linked on Patreon for your viewing. These posts are all accessible through the Index so that you don’t have to constantly scroll through Patreon to find them. The blog, welfordpurls.com, offers me a platform to post about topics that would be better not to clog up the Patreon feed. I also post the podcast episodes there so that Mike can access them for iTunes (RSS feed). Some do not check the blog at all and that is fine! It’s one more place – I get it!
The Slack channel is where most of the daily community happens. For those wanting to interact with their tribe on a daily or weekly basis, this is the place for that. The community in there is chatty, supportive, kind and engaged.
Content Creation at Wool n’ Spinning
There are several different ways to participate in the Wool n’ Spinning content and how much you participate is up to you! These are the current projects and SALs (spin-alongs) we are working on:
- Breed & Colour Studies: July – December 2020, January – June 2021
- How I Spin Vlogs: Released monthly as extended vlogs on a specific topic of study, currently we are studying my Breed & Colour Study yarns for our Organic Polwarth study
- 51 Yarns SAL:
- Last year, we started Group A for our 51 Yarns SAL that is a community-wide project to work through Jacey Boggs-Faulkner’s book, 51 Yarns, which many have been able to keep up with and has been incredibly inspirational! This year, we’ve started a second group, Group B, to begin their study over two years (Group B Ravelry thread).
- Zero-to-Hero SAL: Taking place in the Ravelry group for all the participate in
- Projects from fibre àhandspun à finished item
- Invited to document as much or as little of the process – the chatter thread in Ravelry is for support, encouragement, inspiration, motivation and help!
- Wool n’ Spinning Radio: Monthly audio podcast for all patrons to download and listen
- Attentive Spinners are invited to participate in the show, sign up here
- The Wool Stream: live streamed twice per month
- Topics will morph & change over time, currently discussing creating a capsule wardrobe
I always find a renewed excitement as a new year is unfolding. I hope there are studies and SALs you are interested in joining. Please post any questions below and I will be happy to answer and help you navigate.
Happy New Year!
Warmly,
Rachel
