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Arts & Entertainment

Textile Demonstrators Weave History and Art at Saline Celtic Festival

Weavers, spinners and knitters alike gathered under the textile tent to teach, demonstrate and learn.

Weavers, spinners and knitters weaved history and art at the Saline Celtic Festival Saturday.

The Textile Arts Tent was located in the exact center of all of the activity at . Women from The Spinners Flock in Chelsea, the Ann Arbor Fiber Arts Group, and others from as far away as Royal Oak gathered to do what they love best.

“Knitting is just total Zen,” said Cynthia Hobbs.

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She worked with Border Leicester Sheep’s wool, a wool with longer hairs. Hobbs said she is one of those people who takes her knitting and yarn everywhere. 

“We often have sales in Chelsea, but I can never part with any of the yarn because I want it for myself,” she laughed.

Beside Hobbs was Carol Nowacki, knitting a purple sweater. Hobbs explained how Nowacki had only been knitting for a year, which made the quality of her work seem even more impressive.

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The chairperson for the Textile Arts tent was Mary Underwood, who shared a wealth of information about the rich histories of textiles. The Spinners Flock is a small weaving study group that has years and years of experience with the textiles and knows the rich history of the art. A group of the women are planning a trip to Scotland to see, learn and feel the textiles of spinners past.

Ellen Wilson and Nancy Hedberg have both been members of The Spinners Flock for over twenty years. Set up with their wheels, they greeted passers by and answered questions from the curious.  Hedberg had with her raw fleece, or “stinky and dirty fleece” as she put it, as well as washed fleece that she was spinning. The bundles she had were directly from Dawn Farm in Ypsilanti. Hedberg hopes to make something wonderful from the fleece to be able to donate for the Dawn Farm Jamboree in September. 

“I just thought it would be neat for them to have something made from yarn that came from their very own sheep,” she said.

Jane Miller sat nearby demonstrating the art of plying, which is when two strands of yarn that have already been spun are spun together. 

At the southeast corner of the tent was Barbara Schutzgruber and her floor loom. 

“Basically, this is how fabric is still made today, except now big machines do it,” Schutzgruber said. 

She explained the different parts of the loom, how each piece was needed to make the fabric, from the shuttle to the foot pedals. Schutzgruber is also a member of the Ann Arbor Fiber Arts Group, and takes special orders for all kinds of textile pieces.  

Underwood was very happy with the central location of the tent.

“We are in such a perfect spot,” she said, “People have been coming in and out non-stop.” 

The spinners performed walking demonstrations scheduled throughout the day and held a tweed contest as well.

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