About Me: Spinning Yarn

Even before coming to Australia (from Canada) I had a fascination for wool and wool products. We used to attend the 4H Agricultural Show locally where we lived in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia and where a lot of children my age would go straight for the rides. Not me -- the sheep were my main attraction – and I would spend a great deal of time ‘spinning yarn’ – tales - with the owners! Mom and Dad always knew where to find me.

Mom used to knit some lovely things for us as we were growing up. She was not into spinning yarn herself; she worked with commercial yarn, but she put lace patterns in some garments and fairisle patterns in others and showed us how versatile the medium can be. Sadly, we outgrew the garments soon enough, growing too big to knit for!

One of my earliest memories of Australia is the shearing contest at the Dandenong Show back in 1972. What better place to learn about wool than the premier place in the world for sheep and shearing! Australia, that is, not Dandenong! Plenty of action, plenty of fleece, lots of sheep and breeds, lots of great sounds and – dare I say – smells! AAAH! The Bush!

Years later, back in the days when my children were small, we lived for a while on the Murray, in Mulwala - and country things were all the go for me! I learned to stoke the fire and cook on a wood stove, I learned to chop wood, I learned that sheep can have bronchitis, I learned that Magpies eat duck eggs, I learned that dust and dirt creep into the tiniest places, and I learned about spinning yarn.......

I have always wanted to be spinning yarn. I bought my tutor's wheel and happily spun until I ran out of fleece and then I faced a new challenge: How do you choose another lot of wool to spin? I enrolled for wool classing at Wangaratta TAFE and completed my Certificate at the Melbourne College of Textiles when we moved back to Melbourne (1991). It did not occur to me that “classing” could be a career – I was too interested in spinning yarn.

Where do you find sheep in the city? On the very outskirts, of course and up in them thar hills! More years, lots of spinning yarn, much fleece and some shearing shed experiences later, I was asked by a lady where I worked if I could teach her about spinning yarn so that she could use the fleece from her pet sheep.

This is not the kind of woolclassing I had originally intended, but it is eminently satisfying, as well as creative and exciting. Classes are full of eager and willing students to inspire and there is always room for more. Ewe too can be creative and inspired. Ewe too can be spinning yarn!