My Spinning passion

Fibers and threads techniques are my heritage. When I was 12, I  had the privilege to visit some museums in Paris, France and the Manufacture des Gobelins fascinated me  a lot. As a girl,  I could knit my socks, gloves, sweaters and so on. Crochet was for fun and embroidery for the family gifts.

Bobbin lacemaking has been my textile passion since the 70s  as nobody in the family could show me how to do it.
Because friends asked me to, I begun to teach bobbin lacemaking when we were living in the Congo from 1986 to 1992.
I am still teaching bobbin lace to adults and children for a local Foyer Rural and during a few  international workshops. That is why I met some Australian lacemakers who, by the way, asked me to come over in 2005 for a full month teaching and touring 4 lace clubs between Brisbane and Sydney. We still are in touch.
I noticed how the spinning technique was still alive in that part of the world  and I really wanted to learn it.

For Christmas 2006 I gifted myself with my first drop spindle, the Ashford Turkish one.
With the help of the Spin It book by Lee Raven and some carded wool for needle felting, I begun my first samples.

Then I bought the 2 books by Lexi Boeger, and  some rovings from Tricotin.com. I joined  the Yarn Museum on the net, found new vendors on the net and here I am, posting almost everyday on the Ravelry spinning threads.
My spinning evolved to top whorl drop spindles, home made.
Flore from www.tricotin.com has been really  helpful with her spinning lessons on the net and the monthly themes on her forum.
I could not often go  to the websites at that time, but the best yarn I did for her’s month theme was the yarn including  the roses of my garden.

Many thanks to Cindy from Studioloo as a Ravelry group moderator.
The Novelty and Art Yarn and Fiber Friday groups are very stimulating to challenge myself and I can get immediate feedback when I share  my pictures.

I studied for years, the difference between rovings, tops, fleeces, and locks and I learned some tips from my favorite vendors: Hollyeqq , Linda Koch, Daniela Kloppmann, Sandy Ryan to name a few of them, who so kindly  answered my questions and sell  such yummy goodies. With a lot of  other Etsy shops I can get a large range of stash and I love to browse.

I don’t focus on the old times  with nostalgia.  I love to explore the old techniques to bring them to  modern day needs, try to pass them on to the younger ones, and try just to create a link to the future, hoping these techniques will never die. They are our roots and they have to get new fruits.

Spinning art yarn is a thrilling way to begin a piece from the beginning, then I love to work this yarn with bobbin lace, kumihimo, crochet and knitting freeform and the list does not stop.   I say for short: free form fibers multi-techniques.

My daughter Héloïse is now hooked by the free form crochet that I taught to her and she became a French leader on the art,  with her blog  http://freecolors.blogs.marieclaireidees.com/
Every year I am involved in several international  art textile exhibitions and I work in public demonstrating several fiber techniques wishing to meet new passionate fibers lovers.

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Editors Notes:

You can find Marie-Christine’s shop on Etsy at www.mchg.etsy.com.
Her photos are on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mchg/
Or, you can find her as FibreFantaisie on Ravelry

Photo Notes: (Provided by Marie-Christine Gosse)
Photos 1 &2: Exposition international de Dentelles et Broderies à Cabourg-France 24-25 MAI 2009 organisée par
http://blondecaen.perso.libertysurf.fr/cabo019.htm#CABOURG
Photo 3 : Marie-Christine’s  first Turkish drop spindle 2007
Photo 4: Marie-Christine’s first sample spinning 2007
Photo 5: Yarn with Garden roses 2007
Photo 6: Metallic Yarn for Fiber Friday 2009
Photo 7 : Collage Alain 2007
Photo 8: Violettes 2009