The Spunsters

The Spunsters: Lovers of Fiber Arts

There is much to recommend fiber arts as a creative outlet. It has the vibrant colors of painting without the mess of cleaning brushes. It won’t cut or burn like stained glass, and it won’t dry out your hands like pottery. In fact, if you are working with a fleece right off the sheep, you will get your lanolin in spades. For these and many other reasons, a group of New River Valley ladies get together to share in this endeavor, calling themselves the

Text by Becky Hepler Photos by Kristie Lea Photography

Spunsters. The group started after a spinning class was offered at the Y back in the early 1990s. They enjoyed each other’s company very much and loved spinning together. It turned out, there was a group that met at night, and some joined them. As more retired, they started meeting in the day time. At first, the Spunsters met in private homes, and then in library community rooms. Since the library did not allow long-term reservations, they went back to home visits until discovering that the Blacksburg Rec Center allows that. Thus, every Thursday that the rec center is open, these friends meet to spin, knit, crochet, weave, trade ideas, get help with problems, discuss books they’ve read and maintain longstanding friendships. It is this social attitude that delights Joanne Lisa-Strauch. She learned to spin in New Jersey before