Yes! You can spin your own yarn. Start your exploration of a creative and meditative 40,000 year old tradition by learning to spin yarn on a hand spindle. In this class, you will learn the art of using a top-whorl suspended spindle (also known as a drop spindle) to transform fiber into yarn. Along the way, you will hear tidbits of textile history, from Neanderthal string to Viking sails to the Industrial Revolution and revolutions in America and India, and on to present-day fiber festivals. At the end of the class, you will be able to revisit the local New Jersey Fibershed vendors with your new spindle in hand and the knowledge of how to turn wool, alpaca, angora, and other fibers into yarn that is uniquely yours.
Materials fee: $15 (cash or Paypal). This includes wool roving, a spindle, and a wrist distaff. Students may also bring the spindles and spinning fiber they currently use to class, and we will discuss pros and cons.
Meet the Instructor!
Elisa Eiger is a spinner, weaver, dyer, lace maker, and knitter who has been known to indulge in beading, lampworking, and chainmaille. She passionately believes that art is defined by vision, expression, and expertise, and is not constrained by medium. She is a past president of Palisades Guild of Spinners and Weavers, Jockey Hollow Weavers, and the MidAtlantic Fiber Association. A (mostly) retired science educator and editor, she has given presentations, workshops, and demonstrations at historic sites and has judged fiber-arts competitions in New Jersey and New York.