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Liz Grover held what looked like a small, pure-white cloud in her lap. Then it started kicking. “If they start panicking, just cover their eyes,” she instructed, inspiring quiet chuckling from the others in the room. “As beautiful as they are, they’re dummies, and they’ll think you’re gone, so they calm down.”
The suddenly relaxed cloud was in fact an Angora rabbit named Molly. She and other fluffy rabbits like her are the source of Angora wool – which was the focus of a two-hour workshop held at the Page Farm and Home Museum on Saturday.
Nine women attended the workshop, from university students with just a few months’ experience to veterans who spoke in a jargon that at times was as foreign as listening to mechanics talk shop. A rabbit brush with bristles that rotated – to reduce catching in the rabbit’s thick wool – attracted a great deal of interest. Grover shared secrets of where to purchase such a brush and how much it would cost.
The whole process was suffused with a myriad of unique tools and techniques. Grover walked the attendees through the process of creating Angora yarn, from harvesting the wool from the rabbits – which was less about shearing and more about simple light tugging, which removes the wool painlessly – to drafting, carding and finally spinning the yarn.
Some of the women came equipped with drop spindles, a simple device that resembles a top with an exaggerated handle. Others came with their own spinning wheels, which they operated with their feet with mesmerizing steadiness.
Grover explained she and her business partner, Michaele Bailey, each have their own techniques for spinning wool and “whatever works for you is what’s best.” This approach to her teaching created an intimate feeling in the group.
The work is tactile, and the lessons are hands-on.
Michelle Martin is a fourth-year anthropology student who recently became interested in the craft. “It’s good to have a lot of people around who know what they’re doing and are willing to share what they know,” she said.
The Page Farm and Home Museum set the scene for the workshop: The circle of spinners was surrounded by antique furniture, tools and other indications of almost-forgotten traditions. Grover’s personal experience spoke to the traditional agricultural background of spinning one’s own wool.
She gave a demonstration of inoculating a rabbit – giving it an antibiotic injection with a needle – and spent a good deal of time discussing Angora rabbit care, plus some of the intricacies of owning chickens, llamas, sheep and geese. While she and other Maine Angora producers give workshops anywhere from small settings to the Common Ground and Fryeburg fairs, she encouraged speaking with neighbors in the know.
“When you’re a farmer and you talk with other farmers, you find out what works.”
Participants were charged $10 for the more than two-hour lesson. Wool was provided, and at the end, attendees were given a free bag of prime wool from All About Angoras, the business that Grover co-owns.
The workshop was concerned with the importance of passing on a tradition rife with old-fashioned techniques and is part of Fiber Maine-ia, which is a series of Brown Bag Lectures that celebrate the “International Year of Natural Fiber” as declared by the United Nations.
The series is sponsored by UMaine Cooperative Extension and will last all year. Feb. 12 saw a presentation titled “Not Exactly Victoria’s Secret: An Informal History of Ladies’ Lingerie.” The next Fiber Maine-ia event, “Introduction to Bobbin Lace,” will take place March 14 at the Page Farm and Home Museum from 1 to 4 p.m.
For more information visit extension.umaine.edu/fibermaine-ia.
