The Magic of Spinning
by Frances Sandiford

Mention spinning and the first thing that comes to most people's minds is probably Cinderella sitting next to her wheel by her stepmother's hearth, or the miller's daughter and Rumpelstiltskin. As I recently discovered, however, spinning wheels have left the realm of fairytales and come into the 21st century.

On October 16th, I went to the Sheep and Wool Festival at the Rhinebeck Fairgrounds. The featured sheep was the Rambouillet breed, raised locally on several Dutchess County farms. What amazed me most besides the sheep was the large proportion of attendees wearing gorgeous hand-knitted sweaters, hats, scarves, shawls, mittens—even full knitted outfits. The rich tones of the colors blended in with the autumn leaves that had just peaked on the trees. In talking with some of these people, I found out not only that they had hand-knit their outfits, but mostly spun their own wool. The craft of spinning, I learned, far from being a relic of the past, is growing along with the increased interest in knitting. Spinning your own wool, I discovered, has become a kind of counterpart to growing your own vegetables.

One of the local groups behind this upsurge is the Elmendorph Spinners, a group of about 30 spinners who meet in the historic Elmendorph Inn in Red Hook. The motivating factor for the group's organizer, Mary Kelly, is a desire to keep a venerable skill alive. To that end, Mary goes to the Dutchess County Fair every August to give workshops and demonstrations in the Wool Work Room attached to the sheep barn. Recently, speaking from her home, she was kind enough to give me a quick "spinners for dummies" course.

The spinning wheel originated in the East as early as 100 A.D in more or less the same form as it exists today. Although at first other fabrics were spun, wool soon became the fabric of choice because of its "crimp"—its wavy, elastic quality. A few sheep were found to have fine wool next to their skin and coarser wool outside. Through selective breeding, that tendency has been modified. Some sheep raised in the Hudson Valley, in addition to the Rambouillet, are: Romney, Merino, Shetland, Icelandic (which has a heavy wool suitable for outer clothing and blankets), and the Border Leicester.

Judy Malstrom, of Clinton Corners, one of the Elmendorph Spinners, prefers the Border Leicester for its fine crimp. Others prefer the Merino, popular at the Sheep and Wool Festival. When the sheep are sheared, at about one year old, spinners acquire the fleece to work with. The wool must be sorted, then scoured to remove the dirt, then rinsed in fresh water. Back in the 18th century, the recipe for scouring wool called for "three parts lukewarm water, and one part urine," but Judy assures me that dishwashing detergent will do just fine. After that, the wool is spread out to dry.

Then comes the carding. For this the spinner uses two paddles, slightly curved with small metal spikes. The wool is pulled apart, and tufts of it are put on one of the paddles. The other paddle teases it into a gossamer fabric called the "roving." The wool can be dyed at any time after it has been washed. Handlers may prefer a natural dye such as black walnuts or marigolds, or they can use Kool-Aid (yes, the Kool-Aid that your children drink), which gives the wool a deep, permanent color.

A spinner who wants to circumvent some of these steps can travel to Greenport, just south of Hudson, to a truly Cinderella setting in a unique shop called Country Wool. (Caution: do not go without calling for directions; it's tricky to find on the first trip.) Claudia Krisniski, who owns and operates the shop, sells the gamut of wool products from clean fleece to yarn and hand-knitted clothing. She has a spinning wheel set up in the shop, and she spins as she talks, giving advice on technique or product selection. "Spinning," she says, "takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to be good at." Ms. Krisniski also offers classes on spinning in conjunction with Columbia Greene Community College.

On prominent display at Country Wool are enticing objects called drop spindles. About a foot in length, they consist of a rounded stick, like a pencil, stuck into the center hole of a CD. These spindles are versions of wooden-based ones that date back even earlier than the spinning wheel. People interested in learning to spin usually start with the drop spindle—turning the spindle by hand, with the CD acting as the flywheel— before graduating to the spinning wheel. The spindle is portable, inexpensive (about $10) and can be used to spin every sort of fiber. Using the spindle gives you a "feel" of spinning without the complications of wheels, but the wheels themselves are the most efficient way of turning the roving into yarn, which can then be used for knitting.

None of the Elmendorph Spinners I interviewed thought of spinning as a chore. For Judy Malstrom spinning is her way of getting back to the basics. To Claudia Krisniski the sensation of spinning is like meditation or yoga. For Wendy Siera, "something clicked in my head" when she realized that she had found a craft that uses both hands, leaving her a feeling of sheer joy. These modern day spinners have come a long way from Cinderella.

The Elmendorf Spinners meet the third Friday of every month at 7 p.m. at the Inn. At least one spinning wheel is always available for borrowing for a month at a time. Country Wool can be reached by phone at 518-828-4554.