Was going through some old files this weekend and came across things from when I first started working with fibers. I had been given an old walking wheel that my grandfather said had been his mother’s in Nova Scotia, BUT. . . he always enjoyed a good tale and as the wheel had been made in NH by Azel Wilder, I have never been positive of it’s true provenance. Still, he had had it and I was excited to get it.

Great wheel by Azel Wilder from my Grandfather
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Now I needed to learn to spin. My friend, Wallie, made sure of that. We lived in Philadelphia and she found a lecture in a library, “just over the bridge’, in NJ. Given by fiber artist, Pam Pawl, it was all about spinning and its cousin weaving. Out of that meeting, a group of us formed the South Jersey Guild of Spinners and Handweavers. I was the guild’s second president.

I got a drop spindle, hand cards and some wool and learned to spin. Next was sending to New Zealand for my Ashford Spinning Wheel kit which I sanded, finished and put together. We had meetings at members’ homes, held Sheep to Shawl festivals, weaving shows, and learned to dye our own fiber. I made wonderful friends and learned my way around South Jersey.

Along the way I acquired a 4 harness counter balance loom and began weaving. Later a small Harrisville loom and a large AVL loom joined my world. Samples of my weaving are on Flickr.

My first loom – had its limits but I loved it!

I’ve sold the AVL but still have the others. They are stored away but you never know. I still spin!

Newspaper clipping of a Spinning/Dying event we held. So much fun!