If you’ve ever been fascinated by the age-old art of turning fluffy fibers into beautiful yarns, you aren’t alone.  While it is considered a dying art, there is still a large hand-spinning community.  I became fascinated with spinning wheels ever since hearing about them in the Sleeping Beauty story.  Unfortunately, there were not any instructors in my area to teach me to spin!  After a lot of searching on the internet, I found a lady that offered weekly lessons but she was four hours from me!  I contacted her and begged her to give me a one-day crash course in everything spinning.  This taught me two things:  1. The basics of how to spin using a wheel that I could expand upon at home, and 2. That spinning fundamentals could be taught in a short period of time.  I left her shop with a book, a bag of fiber and a used-spinning wheel that I purchased from her.

Spinning is like anything else, the more you practice, the better you get.  Those first few skeins of yarn I produced were laughable, but I got better! 

That said, spinning wheels are expensive investments.  I’ve seen many wheels go up for sale because someone has bought one only to either not know how to use it, or didn’t like spinning after they purchased it.  That’s why I decided to offer a 4-hour spinning course in a single day so beginners can discover this relaxing pastime and decide if spinning is for them before committing to an expensive piece of equipment.

Sessions are held in Spout Springs Virginia in the fellowship hall of my small church.  Students can either bring their own wheel, if they have one, or can borrow one of my student Ashford Tradional wheels.  Because of the hands-on nature of this class, space is limited to three students per session.   This is the perfect learning activity for mothers and daughter, girlfriends, or be like me – and come alone to learn this fun skill.