About

The plan was for a short jaunt: two authors would spend nine months putting together a small, pretty guide to wools, with color pictures of sheep and of locks of wool, along with summary information for quick reference use. 

Ha! Here’s the inside story of the little project that grew, and of the four years I spent researching, writing about, and spinning every animal-grown fiber the team could reasonably get its hands on. 

Come learn how I tore my life apart to put a book together. If I’d known in advance what the project would involve, I would never have said yes (the task was impossible). In retrospect, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. It was amazing and wonderful. 

Skill Level: Universal.

Ages: Ages 14+ Welcome.

Note: Students enrolled in Deborah Robson spinning workshop March 30-31 may attend this lecture for free.

Instructor Bio: Deborah Robson is a fiber generalist who specializes in spinning, knitting, and weaving, although she experiments with all aspects of textiles. She is the fiber author of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebookand of The Field Guide to Fleece, in collaboration with livestock expert Carol Ekarius. For fourteen years she served as an editor at Interweave Press, including twelve years as editor-in-chief of Spin-Off: The Magazine for Handspinners. At Interweave she initiated the Save the Sheep project and the book Handspun Treasures from Rare Wools. She also edited Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, has worked in trade, literary, and scholarly publishing, and has written for many publications, including PieceWork, Interweave Knits, Spin-Off,and The Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, as well as several fiber-related anthologies. Her textile designs have appeared in several magazines and collections. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and of the Colorado Authors’ League, and served two terms on the board of directors of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (now The Livestock Conservancy). Her current research focuses on the millennia of alliances between sheep and humans, emphasizing the fiber perspective and using Shetland sheep as an example of how the relationships have evolved, and she is publishing monographs on fiber-related topics. Websites related to her work are at independentstitch.com, www.DreamingofShetland.com (a site maintained by friends), www.DRobson.info, and www.Fleeceand Fiber.com.