Janet Heenan and Cheryl Lowe share a love of wool, fibre and the slow, skilled art of spinning.

The two fibre artists, who both began spinning in the late 1970s, are members of the local spinning group and continue to enjoy working with wool in a range of creative ways.

Their early spinning days began with raw fleece, which had to be washed, dried and carefully prepared before it could be used.

The process was rewarding, but time consuming, leaving less time for the spinning itself.

They later purchased a bale of show fleeces from Robert Harding, of Glendonald Merino Stud at Boyeo. The bale was scoured in Geelong before being processed at Goldfields Mohair Farm, Lockwood, near Bendigo.

The fleece was processed into tops, where most of the short fibres are removed, leaving a soft, rope-like fibre ready to spin.

Janet and Cheryl then dye the wool tops themselves, sometimes adding exotic fibres such as silk, mohair and alpaca to create different textures and effects.

Janet, who works under the name Spintastic, prefers to spin and knit with fine fibres. She enjoys adding exotic fibres to create soft, fine yarn, which she uses to make hats, mitts and small shawls.

She also enjoys the challenge of lace knitting and learning new techniques, and has recently begun creating 2D needle-felted pictures using dyed wool tops to achieve colour and detail.

Cheryl spins a variety of yarn thicknesses depending on what she plans to knit. She also adds exotic fibres to her yarn and uses it to make hats, headbands and scarves.

Together, Janet and Cheryl’s work reflects patience, skill and a deep appreciation for traditional fibre craft – with a modern creative twist.

This article appeared in the Nhill Free Press & Kaniva Times, 13 May 2026.