Spinning & Weaving

Celia Gwynn
Known as ‘The Spinning Lady’

From the Brentwood / Chelmsford area of Essex

I’ve been SPINNING since the mid 1980’s after attending a weeks weaving holiday in south Wales. On my last day I had a go on the spinning wheel in the workshop following that my parents bought me a wheel & the rest as they say, is history. These days I mostly spin pure sheep wool. I make single skeins and packs comprising between 5 - 7 skeins to make larger garments. I have designed several knitting patterns for my yarns. There is a sleeveless slip over, a pashmina wrap and a shawl. I hand dye some of the packs whilst leaving others the natural colours. When I dye the packs of yarn I don’t make a note of where the dye is poured, how big a patch or how long its cooked, meaning each hand dyed pack is unique.

The wool I spin is from a variety of breeds of sheep and they all have their own texture so some will be softer than others. I don’t sell my hand spun yarns online because you can’t feel the textures. The colours also look different on the screen. I exhibit at a number of events and craft fairs during the year where all my yarns are displayed. I put the event details on the events page of my web site. I always demonstrate spinning the ancient 'Long Draw’ method when I’m at events so have become known as “The Spinning Lady’.

The only WEAVING I do now is making bookmarks on an INKLE LOOM which is one of the earliest looms. I use single and double strands of embroidery silk as this makes then fine enough not to break the binding of your books. I never make two bookmarks with the same weaving design so they are all individual, I stitch them onto a light card which makes them the ideal present as they are easy & light to post.

I make some seed bead necklaces that are woven with a very fine needle and special thread. Again no two necklaces are the same colours. They each have a magnet fastening, an idea I got as my mother had arthritis and couldn’t get her hands round her neck to fasten.

I belong to the following groups -:

The Mid Essex Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers - joined in the mid 1980’s
The Guild of Long Draw Spinners. Joined when it started in 2007
I am a former member of the ‘Essex Craft Guild’ joined in 1989 till 2025 when it folded.
Facebook - I joined the 'Essex & Borders Crafters Forum’ fb group when it started in 2020