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Students learn to spin, creates materials from scratch |
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Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
 Cassandra F. Liuzzo, junior art education major, spins her own wool to create yarn. Photo by Anna Donlan
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by ALISON MEANEY
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Every Appalachian State University student is probably familiar with the feeling of reaching the end of a long project - but for a handful of students, they feel this satisfaction by wearing their finished pieces around campus- the knit.
Some knitters have picked up the art of spinning and dying their own yarn, which is then used to produce a unique product they create from start to finish.
“People should think about the things they wear and where it comes from,” junior art education major
Casandra F. Liuzzo said. “I want to make as much of the stuff that I wear as I can.”
Liuzzo said she fell in love with the process of spinning after seeing a demonstration in the Plemmons
Student Union.
She began teaching herself to spin this semester for an assignment in her Fibers IV class.
“It’s really fulfilling to start with a bag of wool and end up with a finished project,” Liuzzo said. “It’s a
lost art in a world that’s so manufactured.”
Some students may wonder why anyone would want to take the time to knit a hat or mittens in the first
place, let alone make their own yarn.
For sophomore womens studies major Emily L. Schreck, fiber arts have always been part of her life.
Schreck grew up in a house that revolved around the fiber arts.
She and her mother shared a house with one loom and about 20-drop spindles and five spinning wheels
they used to spin yarn.
Schreck’s mother was president of the Peachtree Hand Spinners Guild in Atlanta and in 2006, they
opened up a yarn, spinning supplies and bookstore called Knitch with her mother’s best friend from the guild.
“It’s tedious when you first start to learn because your hands don’t know what they’re doing, but when
you get the hang of it, it’s really relaxing,” Schreck said.
“The fun part is the process, but the finished project is great, especially when it turns out perfect and
then you get to show it off,” she said. “People will comment on your great knitted hat and you can say, ‘I made it.’”
She said it’s great to knit and spin in Boone because you feel part of the Appalachian culture.
Some of Schreck’s favorite knitting books include those from the “Stitch n’ Bitch” series by Debbie
Stoller and “Mason Dixion Knitting: The Curious Knitter’s Guide” by Kay Gardiner.
Liuzzo said the process of creating yarn includes preparing the wool, separating it into strips, drafting
string, and finally dying it if desired.
Those who wish can also support locals who make a living through this activity.
Babs Ausherman, a former marketing professor at Appalachian State, is in the process of expanding
her yarn business, Miss Babs, which is based in Mountain City, Tenn.
She has channeled her love of color into a yarn-dying business that produces black and gold colored
skeins, among countless other colors, for Appalachian student knitters.
She said her workshop is always open by appointment to students interested in learning about dying
their own yarn.
Ausherman’s hand-dyed yarn and Schreck’s favorite knitting books are available locally at Laura’s
Yarn-Tastic, located at 162 Boone Docks St. in Boone, and also through her Web site,
www.missbabs.com.
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