Class with Abby

Any one of my spinning friends will know that I turn into a bit of a 12 year fangirl about Abby Franquemont (even though I am a 30 something man). They will know this for many reasons, among them the fact that I have been talking about Abby teaching in MN since the classes were announced, like, a year ago. This was the big weekend and I am overwhelmed by new ideas and options, but in a good way. I knew Abby is an amazing teacher since I was lucky enough to be able to take some classes at last year's String Thing at her studio, Stringtopia. Time must have dimmed my memory as I kept being amazed at the calibre of teaching.
The students in my classes (all spindles all day, and Spinning for a Project) had the range of experience from beginner never spun before to advanced spinning for 30 years and everyone learned a great deal. With humor and some serious knowledge and experience Abby got everyone beyond comfort zones and into the learning sweet spot where one has the thrill of the new without the paralyzing fear of failure. I know that my spinning will never be the same, and as a daily spinner this could be something frightening. In this case it is exhilarating because I feel like I have been liberated from spinning the yarn I spin. I have some tools and techniques in my brain and hands which will allow me to decide what yarn I want to spin and why! This is so powerful and I suspect that this will resonate for a while in my brain before I feel the full effects.  I had a lot of fun, learned more that I think I can realize, and feel like my spinning jumped a level or two without me knowing exactly how.