Spin masters: Wool enthusiasts of every stripe gather at Red Lion Templin in Post Falls

A whole lot of spinning was going on Saturday at the Red Lion Templin’s Hotel in Post Falls, but there were no bicycles and no exercise was involved.

It was wool being spun into yarn that drew hundreds of people to the 25th annual Spin-In hosted by the Coeur d’Alene Log Cabin Spinner’s Guild. People also came for demonstrations, camaraderie and the chance to buy raw wool by the bagful.

Cindy Morrill said she’s been coming to the event for the past 10 years.

“Usually I come here to knit and crochet,” she said, though she confessed to doing some shopping as well.

Morrill said she enjoys creating with her hands. “What’s not to enjoy?” she said. “Knitting, spinning and crocheting relax me.”

Saturday, she was teaching her daughter’s friend, Jaclynn Wright, how to spin her own yarn.

“I love crocheting,” Wright said. “I’m just fascinated with people being able to use their own material. It’s something to add to my craft repertoire.”

The Log Cabin Spinner’s Guild hosts several educational classes and workshops in the community every year in addition to putting on gatherings of club members.

“Education is one of our goals,” organizer Colleen East said.

East is one of many who makes her own yarn. The fiber must be washed, picked to fluff it up, carded to get the strands straight, dyed and then spun into yarn.

“I like the challenge of it,” she said. “You have to pay attention to it, so it gets your mind off of whatever it wants to be on.”

Some people prefer to create shawls, scarves, socks and other items with commercially spun yarn, however. “Different people like different things,” East said.

Rickie van Berkum of Raven Ridge Fiber Arts was selling hand-painted woolen silk fiber in a variety of vibrant colors.

Hand painting results in a variegated color rather than the one solid shade created by dyeing.

“You get a nice complex color, but not too complex,” van Berkum said.

The Montana resident paints her fibers in colors inspired by the photographs of Montana landscapes and wildlife taken by her husband. The color inspired by a red fox is called Vixen, and there is also a bright blue based on the mountain bluebird.

Van Berkum said she’s been coming to the event in Post Falls for the past five years.

“I have customers that come in and look for me,” she said. “Sometimes they bring in pieces they made from my yarn. It just takes me down. It’s like seeing my baby.”