Back by popular demand: our St Distaff’s Day Celebration!
If you missed our St Distaff Day 2026 Celebration, don’t get your fibers in a twist!
Videos of the Event: We will be posting 7 episodes over the next few weeks.
Part 1: Elaine Larsen, from the Northeast Handspinners Association, talks about a “fleece to socks” project she completed using Dorset and Cheviot fleeces.
Part 2: Martha Owen presents from the John C Campbell Folk School (folkschool.org) in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, and tells us about its spinning offerings – plus her own life filled with sheep and wool.
This is a free, drop-in online event to celebrate the history of handspinning – a day to gather, share stories, and celebrate the craft. Just like last year, there will be guest speakers and door prizes! Our celebration will be hosted by David Heustess and Gigi Matthews.
St. Distaff’s Day, also known as Roc Day, is is a day when European women would resume spinning after the Christmas festivities and is a symbol of the importance of spinning in the medieval era. There was no actual Saint Distaff; the name is a fictional one – a symbolic representation of the distaff, the stick used to hold fibers while spinning thread and yarn, which was central to women’s household work for centuries.
Questions about Distaff Day? Please email David Heustess at virtual@mafafiber.org