Date: Saturday, March 8, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Hoover Church of Christ, 3248 Lorna Road, Hoover
Our program this month is: Panel Discussion: Spinning
This month’s gathering will be all about spinning! Join us as some of our talented members share their knowledge, experiences and antidotes about spinning fiber in to yarn. The panel consists of:
Yvonne Gauntt will be speaking about Turkish Spindles. Yvonne has been spinning since 2005, when she re-spun the yarn in a chunky, lightly spun tourist shawl, full of vegetable matter and lanolin to knit a prayer shawl for her mother. She used a cheap, heavy drop spindle to do it, and was pleased with her accomplishment, but liked the idea of spinning more than the actual practice. In September of 2016, she went to Homewood Library to see a movie with her husband for their anniversary. She never made it to the movie. It was Spin in Public day, and she spent her time spinning with one of Kathryn Pitt’s Jenkins spindles. The rest is history. Yvonne now has a whole herd of Jenkins spindles, and although she uses other spindles sometimes, Jenkins Turkish spindles continue to be her favorites.
Mary Spanos will be speaking about Supported Spindles and Small Distaffs. Mary learned to spin 40 years ago and a few years later she left a normal career to live full time down the handspinning rabbit hole. She loves single treadle spinning wheels and low whorl spindles.
Clare Emily Clifford will be speaking about how to prepare a Braid for Spinning. Clare first learned to spin 25 years ago and has since fallen deep into the fiber rabbit hole. She appreciates how spinning thread & yarn connects us to people of all cultures on every continent throughout human history through the techniques, tools, and fibers we work with. Sometimes you’ll find Clare working with the technical aspects of spinning, but she always loves the meditative simplicity of adding twist to fiber, whether she’s doing so on a spindle or spinning wheel.
Karen Ford will be speaking about Drop Spindles. Karen has been spinning since the early nineties after a sheep to shawl Mary Spanos did at a local yarn shop. She loves her Ashford traditional, any and all well balanced high whorl spindles and spinning with supported spindles. Her favorite fiber is colorful and her current favorite combination is Polworth and Silk. She spins for pleasure and usually has no end project in mind. She loves it because it connects her to past generations….and it’s fun!!
Also, if you felted a bowl last month, please bring it in for show-and-tell!
