Paula Flannery will present a program titled “Spinning Cotton with a Charka and a Spinning Wheel” at the next meeting of the Humboldt Handweavers and Spinners Guild Thursday at 6:45 p.m. at the Wharfinger Building, 1 Marina Way in Eureka. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Flannery is a spinner, knitter and crocheter. She enjoys making dolls and blankets and spinning on her three spinning wheels. She raised sheep and wool for handspinning for over 40 years.

For the last 20 years, Flannery has taught knitting, crocheting and spinning in Humboldt County. She judges entries in the natural fibers division at the Humboldt County Fair and officiates the spinning contests at both the county fair and Natural Fiber Fair. She is also a trained farrier, a sheep shearer and teaches horseback riding.

Flannery is a mother and grandmother, and a resident of Bayside where she lives on her property with her husband, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.

Folks attending this program will learn to make their own cotton yarn. Flannery will make it easy with demos and tips and will talk about spinning on the charka, a small book-sized device developed by Mahatma Gandhi. Cotton can be spun on a regular spinning wheel as well, so bring your wheel along. Flannery will provide all the fiber and instruction.

Courtesy: Times Standard