Hands (Wool Spinning in Donegal)

My grandmother was born in 1900 and would still make socks and bed slippers in 1980 for me .crocheted and perfect fitting.she would also darn and patch things till they were completely worn out,and then use them as rags, not like todays people but living through two wars made them cherish all possessions

I am a knitter and spinner. There are lots of us out there that do this as a hobby. I grew cotton out of my garden spun it and made a skirt and table runner.

Fortunately, as of the 2000's +, knitting and spinning has made a resurgence, though it was gaining popularity in the early 1990's, and then fell in the mid 1990's to quilting. I am glad I kept up both spinning and knitting all of my life, because many women come to my home now, to learn or re-learn these wonderful hobbies. I could hardly move around the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show this year (2018), because of all the people who came to it. These hobbies are a great pleasure.

That's exactly where my grandparents are from in Donegal.

So much respect for the ladies in this video, doing such hard work in dresses and heels and making it look effortless! They are the epitome of Ladylike, bless them!

My great-grandmother was born and raised on a farm. My mother has a baby sweater that was my grandfather’s, it is made from wool from the farm sheep. It is still soft, feels much cozier than anything today.

The good old days

I have been spinning on a modern wheel for over 25 years, as a hobby. It is meditative. I noticed when my family was younger, the sound of the wheel in the evening was calming and became a prelude to the children’s bedtime routine. I appreciate that this video shows in detail spinning on a great wheel. As I have recently acquired a great wheel, and the spinning technique for it is quite different than for the smaller wheels, watching this technique is very helpful. Spinning and weaving are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, which is no surprise - when life gets more complicated, we look for ways to simplify. Nostalgia for ancient crafts becomes popular again. Thanks for this video.

I am sad I will never get to meet them...Mrs. Carr is my hero!

This little movie triggered deep emotions in me.

I love this. The processing from cutting, to skirting, washing, carding to spinning laid out simply. I learned a lot.

Tumulty here,I've been raising sheep for over 20 years, mostly Suffolk. I wanted to thank you for your wonderful film, participation with lovely folks who really knew what they were doing. Here in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, not far from the Canadian Border, we don't have a huge demand for wool, but we do for lamb. So, with the help of your intstrctional video, we will be retracing the steps of our forefathers (and mothers) to reintroduce the timeless art of carding, cleaning, dying and spinning our wool. Sincerely,Patrick

Thankfully, there is a renewed interest in yarn making and sewing with this generation. I myself on a couple of spinning wheels and several drop spindles to make yarn. I am planning to learn weaving next. I loved this film. Thanks for sharing.

Loved this. We need to go back to the way things were that kept the family together, doing stuff like keeping sheep and spinning yarn, it's wonderful. We are depending on machinery do what we can do ourselves, making us obsolete. Sad. It looks like fun, we should keep the tradition of the old way and hand it down to our kids. This was wonderful, I really enjoyed this.

Growing up in the Appalachians these people remind me of the elders in my family and the old way of life. Yes here too in parts of America this way of living was common in certain areas of the southeast all the way up until the early 70's. Who knows we could be related. Thanks for sharing!

A new generation handspinner here. Soon to be master handspinner. Thanks to the skills and crafts people in this film there has been a revival in handspinning.

What an outstanding video on yarn making. I'm 76 years old and never could understand how yarn was made from wool using a spinning wheel.. I remember my grandmother who was from Sweden talking about making yarn. Her English wsn't good and my Swedish was poor so I never got a grasp on how it was done. Kudos to the producer.

What a delightful film - hard living but in many ways better than today!

Love this video of the sheep and women spinning.  I am a spinner and am a member of a spinner's guild.  So there are more than people might think-we still exist.  These ladies are my tribe!

I love the two lovely mama/Granny.Just wish them more health