“One of a Kind Fibre Crafts”
Early in the
By McKenze Martin
morning you can hear the hum of the spinning wheel... Spinning and spinning. Weaving together a piece of art like no other.
An ancient craft dating back to over a thousand years ago. The spinner turns the large wheel with one hand and drafts the fiber as it’s spun into yarn with the other. PrairieHawk Fibres creator and artist, Coleen Hawkins, has brought the ancient craft back into the spotlight. She does everything from spinning, hand dyeing and painting to weaving the wool. Coleen’s father purchased the spinning wheel from New Zealand in the early 1970’s. Her mother never used it for its craft, just as a piece of furniture. She says and I quote “When I took it home I was bound and determined that I was going to make it work” and that she did. Coleen has always been an avid knitter and sewer. Her latest endeavor has been six years in 51
PrairieHawk Fibers
the making... Perfecting her work of art in the fibre world. The sound of pride in her voice heightens when she tells me “no two pieces are identical” Weaving like crazy, Coleen quickly built up a big inventory. She thought “Why not share?” them. All the grandkids used to spin the wheel in the basement to get it going as fast as they could! The last 2 summers every 2 weeks, Colleen was at the Jasper farmers market. It is definitely her niche... she can not spin or weave fast enough to keep up with the demand!
Here is the story she relays to me... I live on a large 80 acre acreage. My neighbor and I in December bought 6 little cordial sheep. So soon I’ll have my own fibres too! I travel to Australia once a year to visit family, bringing fine merino wool back with me to spin and weave. Lots of wool scarves, shawls and tea towels. So many different types of natural wools... superwash wool that can be thrown into the washer and dryer.
