Spinning in Public

I wasn't spinning in public... but a friend of mine was & she posted some great stories from her experience & I wanted to share them. Kerry (she's on Ravelry, Kerrison, if you want to pop over & say hi or tell her what great stories she came back with) has a Fidelis spinning wheel just like mine. She had the chance to take her wheel to a craft fair & spin for a couple of days & sell some of her handspun yarn. Here is what she posted in our Heavenly Handspinning Fans ravelry group....

I think if you do go spin in public, you’ll get lots of fun stories:


Honestly, I had one guy who stopped and asked me what I was doing…when I explained, he couldn’t see to grasp why I would spend my time spinning when they have “machines for that.” LOL.

Another lady said “I didn’t know people still did this! Are you the only one in Virginia?” --- there’s LOTS of spinners in VA!. hehe.

And a young girl asked if I knew Sleeping Beauty.

An older gentleman this weekend stopped and watched for a while with a soft smile on his face. I started up a chat and he just got all misty eyed and said he hadn’t seen anyone spin since his mama passed away. His mama and grandma spun, so for him, watching that was really emotional. He was a sweetie.

And I had a lady who had been spinning for 10 years, but she had never seen a wheel like Fidelis - and she marveled at the beautiful yarns it made. (There’s magic in my wheel, I’m positive. B/c I sure as heck don’t have a clue what I’m doin! LOL) … she said her expensive Saxony doesn’t make yarn as lovely as the Fidelis. :)

However, no story beats the lady at the quilt show in January who asked the roving vendor “What’s this stuff” pointing to wool/roving. And when she was told “wool” her reaction was “You mean from a sheep? I didn’t know they still made that!”

Hehe. (eyeroll) No… really. In 2000, all the sheep disappeared off the face of the earth!*

Spinning in public was DEFINITELY an experience and it made memories. :) Who knows when I’ll do it again. But it was fun.

Thanks so much for sharing these great stories Kerry! One of these days I'd love to have a chance to take my wheel to a fair or festival & spin in public too. :)