About

Take a class to learn a historic craft from a skilled artisan that dates back centuries and could be found all over the colonies! The spinning of fiber into yarn dates back thousands of years. This class will cover a brief history of hand spinning, identifying distaff, spindle, and whorl in iconography. We will touch on the cultural and magical importance of both distaff and spinning in the Viking age, as well as on gender roles and the groups of people participating in fiber arts during the Viking age- and opportunities to compare to Colonial America. We will also look at examples of distaffs and whorls found specific to the period and geography.

The class will include hands-on work preparing the fiber for spinning- including combing and dressing the distaff, as well as actual spinning technique. Students will be able to handle multiple fiber types including similar to those from the period to better understand their attributes. The $185 fee includes all materials and lunch.