Experienced yarn workers and beginners are invited to join a tight-knit group of women at The Athens County Women’s Art Guild spin-ins, hosted every other Saturday of the month.
The local women’s art group meets to engage in knitting, crocheting, gossiping and practicing the old-world art of spinning their own yarn.
“We needed a place for women to come hang out and be artsy-crafty,” said Nancy Baur, president of the group.
Baur and Kelly Lawrence formed the group when they saw a need in Athens for an outlet allowing women of all ages to gather and focus on the arts, Baur said. ATHCO focuses on whatever art forms the members find interesting, and anything from pottery to button-making to handcrafted tiaras is explored.
The spin-ins let the women explore crafting yarn by using wheels or handheld spindles. The yarn is made of local fibers taken from Alpacas, Icelandic sheep and Angora rabbits.
Blackhavens Farm, as well as other Ohio fiber farms, contacts the women regularly asking to work with or donate material to them, Baur said.
“Around here, we’re really lucky because we have so many local fiber people,” Baur said.
The knitting community thrives more in Athens than people know, she added. Most of the women also attend knitting meetings Wednesday nights, and the group often takes field trips to fiber festivals and knitting retreats in the Hocking Hills.
“It just kind of blossomed, and now we have all kinds of people who’ve joined,” Baur said.
The group of women has its hands in various forms of art and crafts throughout Ohio, and many work with Starbrick galleries or other art supporters to showcase their works at art shows or gallery walks.
“There’s always someone there that’s done it who says, ‘I can teach ya,’” said Lawrence, the group’s secretary as well as professional artist herself.
The spin-ins run from 1 to 4 p.m. at the ARTS/West building, located on West State Street. The spin-ins will be held tomorrow, March 26, and April 9 and 23 with more dates to come in May.
“Anyone who wants to come and sit down, we’ll teach them,” Baur said.
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