“It reminds me of my childhood watching Granny card and spin the wool, singing in Gaelic”

Concentrating hard !

. . .  wrote one our Friendship Club members this week after a second visit to the Club by talented Tara Coia from Dunollie House.    Members arrived at the Well to find bags of Yak and Camel wool alongside the traditional white and brown of local breeds, and they were soon encouraged to have a go at carding the wool, ready for spinning it into a fine cord which can then be knitted up.

Carding wool

While carding was relatively easy, members found co-ordinating feet and hands to spin the wool more of a challenge than expected !    However under Tara’s encouragement that “It’s just a matter of practice !” she was soon getting the hang of a skill that was handed down through generations of Scottish women.    As ‘modern’ women we were all happy to have a go at the portable hanging spindle but a bit amazed that our ancestors would’ve done this with a child on their hip while watching the sheep or stirring the pot for supper – but hey, women have always been good at multi-tasking !

Tara makes spinning look easy !