Ep 3:Grace O'Neill @VanaWillemiel

Weaving Community w/Amy D. McKnight

Today’s guest is an Irish fiber-smith based in Limerick City in the Republic of Ireland. She went to art college to study printmaking but her path took a turn and led her into the world of bookbinding. A few years later she picked up knitting needles and the art of knitting and started traveling around the world.

It was on her trip to Australia that she learned to spin, was gifted a spinning wheel which she shipped back to Ireland, packed in fleece, of course. Upon arriving back in Ireland she joined the Irish Guild of Weavers Spinners and dyers and took her first rigid heddle weaving class with master weaver Marie Ni Neachtain.

With that, she plunged into the rich history of the Irish cottage industry of spinning and weaving and is continuing the tradition by making wearable clothes from the cloth she weaves on her rigid heddle loom.

Not content to keep the fiber crafting goodness to herself, she is sharing the love of fiber creation with others through craft retreats and classes.

You can find her all around the internet as VanaWillemeil on Instagram and Youtube and you can learn more about her retreats and classes by visiting her website babblestravellingyarns.com