Come out, come out, wherever you are: Searching other young spinners and weavers!

I realise that in order to become an active cog in the great yarn wheel I will need to get out there among it all.

So my plan of action? To infiltrate the fiber industry one community group at a time. Mwahahaha!!!!

Well, Ok, it isn’t as sinister as it sounds; I just plan to become an active and regular member of as many crafty gatherings as possible. Networking is the key to success so they say!

The main difficulty I have at the moment is that I work in a call centre until 8pm every weekday evening so I miss a lot of local goings on but I will just have to work around that for the time being.

I did manage to go to the monthly meeting for the Mid Essex Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers recently however and that was marvellous. http://www.midessexguildwsd.org.uk/page2.html

It was brilliant to be surrounded by so many crafty people; the moment I walked through the door my ears were greeted by the chatter and buzz of the friendly members and their whizzing wheels. I felt completely inspired.

Somehow, scatter-brain that I am, I succeeded in forgetting to take my knitting with me. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Aunty A let me get some much-needed practice on her spinning wheel. As I struggled to get my hands and feet to work the fleece and treadle, getting in a complete tangle, I was showered in fantastic advice offered by some of the regulars who came over to say hello.

I have to admit, even with all this help, I ended up a tense, crippled form, my nose pressed against the working bobbin and my neck completely seized up. It is safe to say I did not achieve the relaxed, almost hypnotic technique the many experts in the village hall were displaying that day. Never the less, I managed to refrain from launching the wheel across the room in frustration so I feel I did gain one small victory.

Aunty K and Aunty A doing a little weaving

If you are one of them and you are reading this then please do say hello! I would love to know that I am not the only twenty-something tackling this incredibly organic process. Do you have a group of your own you attend? Maybe you can help me avoid the crick in my neck I am currently maintaining?
I look forward to returning to the Mid Essex Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers meeting but I was a little saddened to see that although the hall was full to the brim I was the youngest attendee by a good number of years. I hate the thought of spinning, weaving and dying becoming a lost art and I am positive there must be people of all ages practicing these crafts.

I will sit tight and hope to hear from you all soon!!