Librarians spin wool, fellowship at Marshall-Lyon County Library
By Mavis Fodness
Twice a month, a community group with a funny name meets at the Marshall-Lyon County Library on C Street in downtown Marshall.
The group’s name, Fellowship of the StRings, is derived from the fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien “Fellowship of the Rings.” The name combines the love of literature and interest in the fiber arts by library workers Jenny Parkhurst and Kaia Nowatzki.
The two, who have worked together for the past four years, discovered a shared interest of the needle arts and started Fellowship of the StRings as part of the library’s community outreach programming.
Membership is not limited to a specific needle art and has a purposely broad focus.
“We felt it was more inclusive — you have quilters who deal with thread, you have crocheters who deal with yarn or some types of fiber that’s been put into string — and allows space for less common string arts,” Nowatzki said.
Fellowship of the StRings, which began in January 2025, currently has 15 in-person members and 45 online followers on the group’s social media site of the same name.
The site describes the group as “every day folks who dabble in the fiber arts or who otherwise want to learn the many journeys that a simple string can take.”
The group welcomes those who knit, crochet, embroider, felt, macrame, spin, weave, quilt and anyone interested in broadening their knowledge in the fiber arts.
As a result, Parkhurst and Nowatzki organized last year’s lesson titled “Farm to Fiber,” which gave members plenty of hands-on experience in processing sheep’s wool into usable yarn.
The start-to-finish lesson began with experiencing the sheep shearing process through pictures and videos taken by a local sheep owner. With the donated wool, members cleaned, washed and dried the wool by hand. They then carded (straightening the wool’s fiber through a manual combing process) and treading the fibers into a spinning wheel.
Adding color to the yarn was discussed.
“You do have the option to dying it before you spin,” said Parkhurst, who began working at the library seven years ago. “You can dye it as wool or dye it as yarn. There’s not a wrong way of doing it.”
As children, Parkhurst and Nowatzki were introduced to sewing, embroidery, crocheting and knitting.
In college, Parkhurst broadened her interest in fiber by joining a living history group. There she learned to make thread by using a drop spindle. Parkhurst is often seen with transportable pocket-sized rod and disk.
“I have been known to be waiting in line for an appointment and have my drop spindle out. It’s starts a conversation,” she said, frequently pulling out a second drop spindle for others to try spinning.
At home, Parkhurst works with a spinning wheel, an activity Nowatzki said she’s just beginning to master. Nowatzki also appreciates where the natural fibers originate.
“I like that I can make my own yarn,” said Nowatzki, who grew up in Luverne and currently lives in Marshall. “I like being able to take fiber from an animal and turn it into something you can utilize and make things.”
Sheep’s wool is not the only material utilized by Parkhurst.
She’s been experimenting with other animal hair on her acreage near Russell.
“Over the last four years, I’ve started spinning wool out of different breeds of sheep,” she said.
Parkhurst has spun wool from llamas, alpacas and a camel. She’s also experimenting with spinning fiber from plants.
As a community reference, the Marshall-Lyon County Library has many how-to books thanks to the interest shown in the Fellowship of the StRings.
Parkhurst, who is one of the library’s collections assistants, has curated various books and reference materials on fiber arts to be checked out by patrons. Nowatzki, in the library’s customer care, can search for any of those reference materials.
As for the Fellowship of the StRings, the group meets the second and fourth Mondays of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the library.
The interest shown in the first “Farm to Fiber” lesson means more will be offered.
“We didn’t get quite as in-depth as we wanted to with the process because we had a lot of fiber to process,” Nowatzki said. “There’s definitely interest in the area.”
Twice a month, a community group with a funny name meets at the Marshall-Lyon County Library on C Street in downtown Marshall.
The group’s name, Fellowship of the StRings, is derived from the fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien “Fellowship of the Rings.” The name combines the love of literature and interest in the fiber arts by library workers Jenny Parkhurst and Kaia Nowatzki.
The two, who have worked together for the past four years, discovered a shared interest of the needle arts and started Fellowship of the StRings as part of the library’s community outreach programming.
Membership is not limited to a specific needle art and has a purposely broad focus.
“We felt it was more inclusive — you have quilters who deal with thread, you have crocheters who deal with yarn or some types of fiber that’s been put into string — and allows space for less common string arts,” Nowatzki said.
Fellowship of the StRings, which began in January 2025, currently has 15 in-person members and 45 online followers on the group’s social media site of the same name.
The site describes the group as “every day folks who dabble in the fiber arts or who otherwise want to learn the many journeys that a simple string can take.”
The group welcomes those who knit, crochet, embroider, felt, macrame, spin, weave, quilt and anyone interested in broadening their knowledge in the fiber arts.
As a result, Parkhurst and Nowatzki organized last year’s lesson titled “Farm to Fiber,” which gave members plenty of hands-on experience in processing sheep’s wool into usable yarn.
The start-to-finish lesson began with experiencing the sheep shearing process through pictures and videos taken by a local sheep owner. With the donated wool, members cleaned, washed and dried the wool by hand. They then carded (straightening the wool’s fiber through a manual combing process) and treading the fibers into a spinning wheel.
Adding color to the yarn was discussed.
“You do have the option to dying it before you spin,” said Parkhurst, who began working at the library seven years ago. “You can dye it as wool or dye it as yarn. There’s not a wrong way of doing it.”
As children, Parkhurst and Nowatzki were introduced to sewing, embroidery, crocheting and knitting.
In college, Parkhurst broadened her interest in fiber by joining a living history group. There she learned to make thread by using a drop spindle. Parkhurst is often seen with transportable pocket-sized rod and disk.
“I have been known to be waiting in line for an appointment and have my drop spindle out. It’s starts a conversation,” she said, frequently pulling out a second drop spindle for others to try spinning.
At home, Parkhurst works with a spinning wheel, an activity Nowatzki said she’s just beginning to master. Nowatzki also appreciates where the natural fibers originate.
“I like that I can make my own yarn,” said Nowatzki, who grew up in Luverne and currently lives in Marshall. “I like being able to take fiber from an animal and turn it into something you can utilize and make things.”
Sheep’s wool is not the only material utilized by Parkhurst.
She’s been experimenting with other animal hair on her acreage near Russell.
“Over the last four years, I’ve started spinning wool out of different breeds of sheep,” she said.
Parkhurst has spun wool from llamas, alpacas and a camel. She’s also experimenting with spinning fiber from plants.
As a community reference, the Marshall-Lyon County Library has many how-to books thanks to the interest shown in the Fellowship of the StRings.
Parkhurst, who is one of the library’s collections assistants, has curated various books and reference materials on fiber arts to be checked out by patrons. Nowatzki, in the library’s customer care, can search for any of those reference materials.
As for the Fellowship of the StRings, the group meets the second and fourth Mondays of the month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the library.
The interest shown in the first “Farm to Fiber” lesson means more will be offered.
“We didn’t get quite as in-depth as we wanted to with the process because we had a lot of fiber to process,” Nowatzki said. “There’s definitely interest in the area.”
