Newsletter: Feature

from Julie Ballard Hyndford, Farmingirlnow on Ravelry

On April 3, 2021 a small crank in was held at the Praxis Fiber Studio on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. This fiber Arts studio was founded in 2013 and they describe themselves as “A community textile workshop offering a gallery, classes and studio space to all interested in learning textile arts.”

The inside of the workshop space is well lit and expansive. There is a large room filled with many full-sized weaving looms which are used for their classes. There is an area which is used to dye fiber and there is a library with books that cover all areas of the Fiber Crafts. There were also numerous spinning wheels and other fiber crafting tools throughout the facility. This crank in was hosted by Denise who obtained permission for the use of the facility. All attendees observed COVID protocol by spacing our machines several feet apart and by wearing face masks at all times.

It was exciting to see all the all of the different makes and models of CSMs. There were Erlbacher Gearhart machines (Julie and Janie), a vintage Gearhart (Deb), a New Zealand Autoknitter (Denise) a vintage Canadian Autoknitter (Emily) and some vintage Legare’s (Donna, Nancy, Polly). All machines were in great working order and everyone was ready to get cranking and learn something new!

Eight (8) people attended the crank-in, all with varying degrees of experience. Everyone was eager to help one another. And there were many accomplishments that day—for instance Emily made her first successful tube and Polly hung her first hem.

It was interesting to see the many ways people transported their machines. Some machines were in rolling tool carts; some were in original wooden boxes; and some traveled using other creative methods such as plastic crates and buckets.

Denise led a small class on yarn dying which was fun and left us all with new respect and admiration for those skilled hand dyers who know exactly how to make the gorgeous hand dyed yarn which we all love to look at and use.

The conversations were inspiring as everyone shared information such as where they buy yarn, if they had ever been to a crank in before, what online resources they use, what skills they hope to learn and what items they hope to make someday.

Attendees traveled from varying distances to attend this crank in—some from as little as a few blocks and others driving from one to two hours away.

As the afternoon grew late, we began to pack up our machines and as we said goodbyes to our new friends we talked about the prospect of future crank-ins and the possibility of someday hosting a Sock School workshop in our area.

If you have the opportunity to safely attend a crank-in, in person, please do! Whether it is a large or a small gathering, it will be well worth going to. Because our CSMs are so heavy and awkward to move, in general we are cranking on our machines at home and by ourselves – which is lovely in its own way. But by attending a crank-in in person you will likely find that you will hear about products and resources that will be new to you. You may learn a new technique. And if you are a beginner, you may be surprised to find out, as I did, that you actually know more than you thought you did and that you can actually help others as they begin their journey with their own CSMs!