Lorain County Spinners and Weavers

This year’s Roc Day celebration of the Lorain County Spinners and Weavers (Ohio) included wrapped prizes marked for a spinner, weaver, knitter, or felter along with donations for the “Kitchen Sink Yarn” experiment. To support the newbies, members were on hand to demonstrate and answer questions on how to spin a thin yarn, long and short draw, and Navajo plying. Each year this group donates to the Heifer International Project, and in 2007 contributions surpassed all previous totals. A large part of the money comes from the sale of tickets to raffle off their handspun shawls, handwoven or knitted by guild members. With the proceeds, they were able to give two “knitting baskets” of two sheep and two alpacas with the remaining funds buying goats.

Prairie Hand Spinners

A tribute to the late Berta Morrison, founding member of the Prairie Hand Spinners (Montana), was in the Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners (MAWS) newsletter honoring her twenty-eight-year membership as an active spinner and knitter, resource, and volunteer. She received the MAWS Living Treasure Award in 1998 which recognizes fiber artists who have made an outstanding lifelong contribution to the fiber arts. Nominees must demonstrate excellent craftsmanship, have been a source of inspiration and knowledge to others, and have contributed to the development of the fiber arts on a state, regional, and/or national level.