Fun with Fiber
SLIPPERY ROCK — Susan Lightner's feet pressed six wooden treadles in combinations to power her loom weaving patterns of blue and purple.
“It's foot powered,” said Lightner, a Butler Spinners and Weavers Guild member from Marion Township. And so the pattern goes “6 and 2. 6, 4, 3. 6 and 1,” she said.
A new program called Fun with Fiber Arts at the Slippery Rock Library, 465 N. Main St., Slippery Rock, is a group of weavers who plan to gather once a month on Thursdays to teach and show people their craft. The next session is July 25.
Members of the tight-knit group have woven friendships through their art over the time they have known one another.
Three from the group were part of the team that placed second in the sheep-to-shawl contest in 2016 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, said Lightner, who has been weaving since 1978.
It was Lightner who suggested the library as a gathering place for the group because of its location and evening time slot, she said.
Lightner began weaving after her sister bought a 200-thread loom at a yard sale.
“Once you start weaving, you get in the groove and it's very soothing,” she said. “We're all getting older so, if we want to hand it off, now's the time.”
Have fun, Lightner said to beginners, a piece of advice that was echoed by other group members.
Ann Malick spun fluffy clouds of Bluefaced Leicester wool into smooth, cream-colored yarn that wound around her bobbin. Malick has known Lightner since the '90s.
“It's a very popular breed right now,” said Malick of Zelienople, a guild member. “Spinners have tendency to go with cycles of what they like to spin.”
Cashmere, alpaca, flax, yak and camel are examples of several fibers people can spin.
Malick used to spin angora rabbits' wool because she would show the animals and harvest the wool, she said.
Silk is one of the more difficult fabrics to spin because it is slippery and long, she said.
One program gaining worldwide interest is the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em initiative, which encourages spinners to buy the endangered fleeces.
“If you don't shear a sheep, their health will decline,” she said. “There are a lot of varieties of sheep that are endangered now.”
The Harmony group Malick is also involved in has seen an increase in younger participants interested in spinning and weaving, she said.
Malick loves to spin, she said. “I could do this all day,” she said. “We love to get groups together and we love to teach ... The more people we can get interested, the more it's going to stay around.”
Mary Lou Phipps spun two strands of wool together to make 2-ply fabric that wrapped around her bobbin. Phipps, of Harrisville, has known Lightner since the '70s when she was first learning to weave.
“You always ply the opposite way that you spin it,” said Phipps, who is also a guild member. “The spinning wheel is a lot like a sewing machine.”
Phipps spun on a 40-year-old traditional Ashford spinning wheel she first got as a non-finished kit from New Zealand for $50, she said. Since the late '70s, she has spun as a hobby.“Today, there's shops all over where you can get supplies,” she said. “Now how much are wheels — $700.”In addition to spinning, Phipps also weaves rag rugs for family, she said.“It's more relaxing than weaving for me,” she said about spinning. “When my kids were little while they were doing their homework, they'd like someone really close by, but I didn't want to hover. I could spin and be in the same room with them, and they could holler out questions if they needed me.”Spinning takes practice, she said, adding the first sweater she spun and wove weighed about 3 pounds.“It's nice to get together like back in the days when ladies would get together for quilting bees. It's more fun when you do it together,” she said. “That's one of the reasons we wanted to gather here, so if there were other people in the community that didn't have a place they could come or wanted to learn more about it, they could come.”JoAnn Clark stabbed a felting needle onto a form until her purple wool molded onto the three-dimensional structure fashioned into a troll.“Needle felters are stabby — straight in, straight out,” said Clark, a Boyers resident. “It's very relaxing, and it also lets me be very creative.”First, she wets a felt form, which takes heat, water and pressure. Then, she needle felts on top of it. She worked her way to needle felting three-dimensional items, Clark said, adding the pumpkins are an idea she developed herself. She also weaves.One full creation takes about 4 to 5 hours, she said. Ghosts, headless horsemen, vampires, Frankensteins and owls are among her classic Halloween creature creations.“I like to be very creative and make all kinds of creatures,” she said. “It lets me release that as an artist to be a little bit crazy and make all kind of funky things.”Carol McFadden fed green and purple ultra fine merino wool into her Bosworth Journey Wheel.“My grandmother told me I would never catch a husband if I didn't know needle arts,” said McFadden of Pittsburgh, who has been spinning, weaving, knitting and crocheting for more than 60 years, laughing. “She used to take my stitches out if they weren't perfect and make me do it over.”McFadden's spinning is not tied to the latest trends in the commercial industry, she said.“I get to design exactly what I want,” she said. “My thing is color.”McFadden makes her threads different colors, then plies them together for pops of color, she said.The journey from Pittsburgh to Slippery Rock is worth the trip, McFadden said.“These are my friends, and we're all really close since we did the sheep-to- shawl in 2016,” she said.Find a mentor or group is McFadden's advice to beginners.“And, don't follow the rules,” she added. “If you're getting the yarn you want, it's right.”
Fun with Fiber Arts at the Slippery Rock Community LibraryWHEN: July 25WHERE: Slippery Rock Library, 465 N. Main St., Slippery RockFOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the library at 724-738-9179Project Day hosted by Butler Spinners and Weavers GuildWHEN: 10 a.m. WednesdayWHERE: Butler Memorial Park, 100 Memorial DriveNOTE: Project Day is an informal monthly meet. Take a project and visit.FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call Ann Malick at 330-396-0324.
