Tour de Fleece makes stop in Peters Township
Belle Erikson of North Strabane Township works with a drop spindle during the Tour de Fleece event July 9 at Peters Township Public Library.
Julianna Heiby, president of the Washington Spinners and Weavers Guild, displays a colorful scarf she made. She and other members of the guild were on hand July 9 at Peters Township Public Library to provide demonstrations.
Julianna Heiby, president of the Washington Spinners and Weavers Guild, works on a spinning wheel during the Tour de Fleece event at Peters Township Public Library.
Amy Manko’s metal Custom Classic spinner isnicknamed the “Buick Roadmaster.”
Amy Manko was at Peters Township Public Library June 9 with her Buick Roadmaster.
Her Buick is not an automobile, but rather, a 65-pound, $2,000 spinning wheel that allows the Eighty Four resident to transform wool from the sheep she raises on her century-old family farm.
“I’m here to demonstrate spinning,” said Manko as she fed wool from her sheep onto a bobbin.
Manko, a member of the Washington Spinners and Weavers Guild, was part of Tour De Fleece, an event held each year by spinners and weavers across the country during the three-week Tour de France bicycle race.
While the race takes place in France, groups of spinners gather in person and in online forums across the United States to promote the fiber arts. Last year’s Tour de Fleece had 7,400 participants.
Julianna Heiby, president of the Washington guild, which meets monthly at Center Presbyterian Church in Peters, said her group decided to demonstrate spinning at the library’s MakerSpace not only to promote the guild, but to show people how the craft is done.
Guild members also do felting, crocheting, weaving and other fiber arts.
“There’s a lot of interest in the craft, especially because of the do-it-yourself movement,” Heiby explained. “There is a growing desire to connect to things.”
Indeed. Yarn itself consists of several strands of material twisted together. The strands connect together through twisting to form a filament. Lots of twisting tends to make a strong yarn, while less twisting makes the yarn softer. Yarn can be made out of wool, cotton, silk, flax, or can be make synthetically from items such as plastic bottles.
Sally Carolus, who was using an older, less-complicated spinning wheel – and less expensive, at $700 – than the one used by Manko, said she became interested in the craft to find a way to use the hair from her four English sheepdogs. She has used the hair to make teddy bears and to knit mittens and hats.
“The mittens and the hats are really warm,” Carolus said.
Manko, meanwhile, gets most of her material from the 120 sheep of 10 different breeds raised on her farm. A sheep is sheared once a year and typically produces five to six pounds of wool during that time, Manko said.
Two of her breeds are the rare Leicester Longwools and Hog Islands.
“There are less than 200 in the world and I have 12 of them,” Manko said.
Myra Oleynik, library director, said libraries are undergoing a transformation and are becoming more of a community center, which makes programs like the spinning demonstration an important part of its programming.
“We also have a crochet club that meets here, too,” she said. “This was a perfect connection.”