Drop Spinning Workshop

Create your own yarn through the ancient process of spinning, hosted by The Center for Pioneer Life.  A wool-spinning workshop using drop spindles and spinning wheels will be held Saturday, September 21st from 1-4PM.  You’ll learn the process of spinning, how to create yarn, and will take home your work.

Instructor Karen Watkins began fiber spinning during the West Virginia Arts Council’s effort to renew traditional handcrafts in preparation for our nation’s 1976 Bicentennial celebration.  She first apprenticed with Barbara Bergman of West Virginia, who worked extensively with the Shipibo Indians of the Peruvian rainforest.  In 1985 Karen began teaching spinning and weaving to children and adults in camps and schools in Western North Carolina and through the Mountain Arts Program (MAP) as well as the Penland School of Crafts.   She also spent two decades restoring museum quality antique oriental carpets and textiles, many of which have been displayed at the Textile Museum in Washington DC.