Free eBooks to create generations of spinners
Ah, bliss. I just returned from a weekend at the Estes Park Wool Market in Estes Park, Colorado. Not only that—but I had a spinning buddy with me. My 6-year-old daughter Hannah, who is still young enough to find everything I do absolutely fascinating, busily packed her bags with her own knitting and spinning for the trip. I'm very conscious of the fact that this is a blessing. A number of vendors commented wistfully on the fact that despite their best efforts, their love for crafting had skipped a generation, sometimes two!
Before we left, Hannah told one of her teachers that we were going to the wool market this weekend. The teacher thought she misheard Hannah and repeated it, incredulously…"wool market?" Hannah patiently explained that there would be sheep and alpacas and fiber and spinning wheels. The teacher's eyes got wide…obviously she was being exposed to a foreign world. I started dreaming again about a world over run by spinners…remember the one where fiber is stocked in grocery stores and the lawns are maintained by flocks of goats and sheep, and the world learns how to spin with drop spindles?
In this dream, there is no need for extra insulation in houses as fleeces are so numerous that they are installed into perfect shelving (engineers have figured this out) that at once protects the wool from wool-eating pests (there are now global conferences on safe and environmentally friendly ways to manage the threat) and insulate homes—keeping them warm in the winter, cool in the summer. Block parties often involve potluck exchanges of fiber and an indigo dyepot. And urban apartment balconies come standard with a fleece drying screen that folds down conveniently when you need it. If your spinning wheel needs a tuneup—it is an easy thing to drop it by the neighborhood spinning wheel repair shop and take out a loaner until your wheel is up and running again.
I wake up and realize that I hold the key to being the change I want to see in the world. Not only are we sitting on a wealth of spinning information (seriously-the magazine has been in print since 1977!), but we also are in contact with you-spinning fans of the world! So, we've just added to the arsenal of free eBooks that you can use to help take over the world. Enjoy An Introduction to Spinning Wheels: How to Use and How to Choose a Spinning Wheel—it is about how to spin on a spinning wheel. Just send the link to your spinning and non-spinning friends alike and see what happens. Perhaps one day our dream will be a reality.
Happy spinning,
