Whidbey Weavers Guild to host 53rd annual Spin-In at Oak Harbor High School

Oak Harbor High School will turn into a working fiber studio when the Whidbey Weavers Guild stages its 53rd annual Spin-In on April 18 and 19, bringing wheels, spindles, looms, wool and steady conversation into one of the island’s best-known public schools. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days and is built around more than shopping or browsing. It is a chance to watch fiber arts being made up close, join the circle and compare techniques in real time.

The guild says it has more than 170 members, ranging from beginners and hobbyists to nationally recognized fiber artists and teachers. That mix has helped make Spin-In a fixture for Whidbey Island’s crafting community, with about 25 vendors, group spinning, workshops and a marketplace that opens free to the public Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is $25 for the full weekend, with an optional $15 fiber pack. Coffee and tea will be provided, and attendees are asked to bring their own lunch.

Donna Schutt, one of the event chairs, has said the point of Spin-In is connection, and the weekend is structured around that idea. Participants are encouraged to bring a wheel, e-spinner or spindle and spin alongside one another, with battery packs recommended for e-spinner users. The event is not limited to experienced hands. Visitors who do not spin are still welcome to walk the marketplace, watch demonstrations and see how raw fiber becomes yarn, cloth and finished work.

This year’s featured presenter is Jacey Boggs Faulkner, who is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. Saturday and lead a hands-on Sunday workshop titled Worsted to Woolen. Faulkner owns and edits PLY and WEFT magazines and has spent more than 20 years working in fiber arts. She has taught around the world and helped launch the PLY Spinners Guild and WEFT Magazine, making her a draw for both longtime guild members and newer spinners looking for instruction.

The weekend also includes a liquidation table for used equipment and a People’s Choice competition with awards for Best Overall Handspun Skein and Best Item Created with Handspun. Behind all of it is a guild with deep Island County roots. The organization traces its origins to a 1965 textile exhibit at the Coupeville Recreation Hall, when Mary Ellen Littke, Thelma Brown and Doris Macomber brought looms and photographs to demonstrate weaving.

That history still shows up in the island’s fiber culture, where some guild members raise sheep, alpacas, llamas, goats and dogs to harvest fiber. The Spin-In has become a regional draw as well, bringing visitors from off-island to Oak Harbor and giving residents a rare chance to see the craft community at work, not behind glass, but in motion.