Adventure Center Students Learn To Spin

By Eliza Hallabeck

It is an art, as Kate LaPlante explained to Children’s Adventure Center, Inc, students on Tuesday, March 24, while she sat before a spinning wheel with wool in hand.

“It’s an educational service,” Ms LaPlante said before starting the demonstration for the children. “It’s an education program, but we do have fun.”

Ms LaPlante said she comes from a village where spinning is still used. Ms LaPlante is Hungarian, and brought her spinning wheel with her when she moved to the United States.

Now, as she travels across the state, the ex-Newtown resident said she enjoys doing demonstrations for seniors and children the most.

“The children are fascinated,” she said.

When she began the presentation at the Children’s Adventure Center, she told the students that spinning wool begins with the sheep. She then demonstrated the use of a spindle to turn wool into thread, and had each child create his or her own bracelet out of wool.

Ms LaPlante uses a traditional Ashford spinning wheel, made in New Zealand, to give the demonstrations, and is known as Lazy Kate for her demonstrations.

Ms LaPlante said she teaches the children that mistakes are beautiful, and wool, lumpy bumpy wool, into objects creates unique pieces of art. “See how imperfect?” she asked the students after pulling the wool together in the form of yarn. “But it’s beautiful.”