Spinning Classes

All spinning classes will be held in the Sparta United Methodist Church fellowship hall

Beginning Wheel Spinning
with Sue Duncan

Have you ever wondered how yarn is made? Twist the fibers and you will make yarn.  Learn the basics of a spinning wheel.  Different types of wheels will be provided for you in class., but if you have your own, please bring it.  Learn how to draft the fibers and allow the twisted fibers to slide through your fingers onto the spool.  You will make yarn right before your eyes.  It is magic!

Friday afternoon or Saturday morning - $55.00

BASIC SPINNING “OFF THE TIP”  with Deborah Tilson Clark

Beginner and beyond

Spinning is a process of twisting flexible fibers together into stronger, continuous lengths. The first human spinners accomplished this work using only their hands. but soon they invented tools to help them spin more efficiently and with more consistent results. For millennia, these tools were variations of a stick-and-weight: the stick was a place to store the twisted fibers and the weight on the stick provided momentum that transferred twist to the fiber. The twisting took place at the tip of the stick, and so, handspinning on all early spinning tools around the world is called, collectively, spinning “off the tip.” 

 Many modern fiber artists find that spinning “off the tip” leads to more enjoyment of advanced spinning tools such as treadle wheels. Others find that the greater control and slower pace of off the tip spinning is the only kind of fiber production they want to do. Either way, in this class we will explore a variety of spindles including drop spindles, bedeezi (Navajo) spindles, charka spinners, “walking” wheels, and electric spinners for learning beginning skills or just sampling the spinning process. 

Beginning Spinning on a Drop Spindle
with Chelsea Fehskins

Here is your chance to learn the centuries-old art of creating yarn on a wood drop spindle.  You will learn the step by step spinning process for understanding and success.  We will also cover some basics of wool types and preparation.  Each student will leave with their mini yarn skein, spindle, and extra wool roving so that you can keep spinning.

Friday afternoon or Saturday afternoon - $35.00

DEBORAH TILSON CLARK is lifelong resident of SW Virginia, and when young she listened to her father talk about turning “the great wheel” as his grandmother spun wool from the family sheep to make yarn for knitting the family’s socks. This implanted a yearning to know the secrets of turning and spinning wool. She learned to do handspinning at Berea College. Later her husband made a beautiful spinning wheel by exactly copying the great wheel from her great-grandmother’s home. She takes much pleasure is sharing what she knows and helping others to enjoy the history, movement, and products of hand spinning

SUE DUNCAN is a fiber arts jack-of-all trades.  She is a retired National Park Ranger who learned about dyes through historical demonstrations that she did at parks.  She has also been a handspinner for over 30 years and has a variety of fiber art interests including weaving and felting. Besides natural dying, she has worked with acid dyes. She raises angora rabbits, angora goats and has a few sheep and alpacas on her farm.

CHELSEA FESHKINS and her family have a small sheep farm in southwest Virginia she raises Finn sheep and her three kids. With a background in teaching, and a love for fiber bringing new students to the fiber crafting world was a perfect match. Making sure that everyone can join in the joy of creating is a main goal of her classes.