We have had a very busy summer 2019, and the website fairy has fallen behind in her updates. July’s meeting was about spinning cotton, and most members attending had a go, although they all agreed it was very different and considerably harder than spinning wool.

August’s meeting was somewhat larger than normal as we welcomed Amanda Hannaford to talk about her experiences teaching spinning cashmere in Afghanistan and yak in Tibet. She illustrated her talk with hundreds of wonderful pictures of the people she met and the places she went.

While Amanda was visiting, some members had a chance to learn from her at a workshop focused on english longdraw. After first carding our rolags, we then went on to spin them. Despite several attendees never having spun longdraw before, by the end of the session, everyone had managed at least a few good drafts and were prepared to go away and practise at home.

Amanda also spent the day with us at the RBST wool day at Melsop Park Farm, showing us what to look for in a raw fleece, and examining and commenting on examples both from the farm and brought in by local sheep owners. Many of us came home with some wooly stash enhancement.