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About Esther Rodgers

Esther is the fiber artist that masterminds Jazzturtle Creations and heads Woven Heart SAORI Studio. She is  known for her creative art yarns, unique fiber preparation, and always innovating her spinning techniques to create new textures.  She is on the cutting edge in terms of yarn design and spins true Art Yarns that tell stories.  Being a SAORI weaver gives her a unique perspective of how these extra special yarns can be used.  She loves showcasing creative yarn by creating garments and other items out of her woven cloth

https://jazzturtle.com/

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Esther Rodgers's Daedalus Retreat Classes

Sculptural Corespinning

3 hours $45 materials fee

In this class, students will explore corespinning on top of “unusual” and somewhat challenging cores- Wire and Elastic! We’ll talk about design concept and how to prepare your fibers for specific textures and techniques. We’ll explore techniques reapplied to these structural wire and elastic cores- creating instant neckwear, as well as discuss other uses for these architectural yarns. Students will even learn techniques to spin over LED lights!


Level of Spinning: Should be able to spin a single, ply comfortably and be familiar with corespinning.


Students should bring:

  • A spinning wheel in good working condition

  • Extra bobbins

  • fiber/yarn/add-ins you'd like to use and anything you'd like to share with classmates

  • Encouraged to bring beads, feathers, sparkly stuff, and other things you've collected to use in addition to their kits

  • Notebook

  • Lazy Kate

  • Niddy Noddy

Supplies Provided by Instructor: 4oz carded fiber, as well as extra embellishments, wire, LED lights and elastic for the students to use.

Twisted Together - Crepe, Cables and the Endless Possibilities of Layered Plying

3 hours $35 materials fee

This is a great class for all sorts of spinners- from ultra textured art yarn spinners, to the most traditional laceweight spinners!! Play with texture by layering your plies! In this class students will explore the structure layered plying by spinning crepes and cables. Then we will play with texture by mixing and matching non traditional plies to make the same layered structures.

 

Level of Spinning: Should be able to spin a single of different weights, and ply comfortably.


Students should bring:

  • A spinning wheel in good working condition

  • Bobbin with fresh high twist singles in a solid color (as even as possible)

  • Extra bobbins

  • Notebook

  • Lazy Kate

  • Niddy Noddy


Supplies Provided by Instructor: 6 oz hand dyed top

Tailspinning - The Long and Short of it! And How to Use Tailspun Yarns!

3 hours $45 materials fee

Tailspun yarns are both intriguing and inspiring, but can be intimidating to attempt spinning. In this class we'll learn the entire process of the making of tailspun yarn: We’ll discuss how to choose a fleece and wash it to protect the lock structure, and dyeing methods to showcase the texture of the fiber. Then we’ll move onto spinning the locks with more than 5 tail spinning techniques. As a bonus, we will talk about how these tailspun yarns are used in projects. Knit and woven samples will be shown.

 

Level of Spinning: Must be able to spin on a wheel and familiar with corespinning.


Students should bring:

  • A spinning wheel in good working condition

  • Extra bobbins

  • Notebook

  • Lazy Kate

  • Niddy Noddy

  • Assorted locks to spin


Supplies Provided by Instructor: 8+ oz assortment of tailspinning locks, Cotton core and mohair core

Wildplying - Beehives, Bobbles, Crescents, and Coils and How to Use Them!

3 hours $35 materials fee

Ever wonder how to how to spin those funky plied yarns with bobbles and coils? In this class we’ll cover the entire process by combining the function with the funky with the essentials of artplying. We’ll spin the singles needed, then we’ll “wild” ply into, coils, crescents, beehives, stacks and spirals! As a bonus knitted and woven samples will be available for examination and discussion.

 

Level of Spinning: Must be able to spin a single and ply on a wheel


Students should bring:

  • A spinning wheel in good working condition

  • Bobbin with fresh high twist singles (as even as possible)

  • Extra bobbins

  • Notebook

  • Lazy Kate

  • Niddy Noddy



Supplies Provided by Instructor: 4oz hand dyed combed top, 1oz solid top, cotton plying yarn, add ins

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