Throughout the ages, women have gathered formally and informally to knit, sew or spin. In the Colonial era they assembled, sometimes by the hundreds, to take part in spinning contests, vying to produce a record number of skeins in a specific amount of time. Women got together at quilting bees to fashion quilts for friends headed west to settle or for those about to be married. They met as members of church societies to knit leper bandages, to crochet blankets for impoverished mothers or to knit for servicemen and -women. But sometimes they got together for the simple pleasure of plying the needle in the agreeable company of other like-minded women, to stitch without a cause.

Such gatherings still take place and women show up at the appointed place to indulge in what they enjoy. So it is from 1 to 3 p.m. each Friday at the Page Farm and Home Museum at the University of Maine. Those who knit, sew, spin, crochet, quilt, tat or do any other type of stitching may stop by during those hours to ply the needle or work with fiber in the company of others engaged in similar activity.

When I sat in on a session a few weeks ago, Sandy Boynton was there with her New Zealand spinning wheel, a low-to-the-floor, portable apparatus made of pale-colored wood. The wheel turned soundlessly as Boynton spun a fine thread in a dark blue merino and mohair blend. Soon, she moved onto the next step, plying what she had already spun with another spool of equally fine-spun thread.

“This is pretty much what I do,” she said. In other words, spinning is her business. She sells her hand-spun yarn at an Orono yarn shop and has approached Purl Soho in New York City about spinning for that yarn company. “I learned to spin 16 years ago,” she said. “I bought the wheel, I bought the roving. I got everything I needed. But I had no idea what to do with it. I used the wheel as an ornament for quite a while,” she said, laughing at the memory.

Eventually, Boynton found her way to Judy Kirk, who in the 1980s owned The Damsel Fly yarn shop in Orono. Kirk, Boynton said, is responsible for teaching many area women the art of spinning.

As Boynton’s wheel and spindles turned, I took up a white wool sock I was knitting. It has an eyelet lace, ankle-high top. Knitting is slow going for me these days. If I knit more than a few rows, I get a flare-up of knitter’s elbow. But when I reached the point where I had to stop, it was interesting to watch Mary Bird wind skeins of handspun yarn in shades of raspberry – dyed with Kool-Aid – into a fat ball.

She cast on stitches and using four double-point knitting needles began to knit one of her baskets. She brought two completed baskets for show-and-tell. The pouch-shaped pieces are felted and decorated with bead dangles. Into each piece, which vary in size, she inserts a glass container, such as a baby food jar. Each lovely basket may serve as a vase or “keeper” for artist brushes, pencils and pens, or a place to collect pennies, sea glass or other treasures.

A few minutes later, Sharon Fitzgerald arrived with her quilting. She is making a wall hanging in the May basket pattern in shades of mauve, rose, green and pale gold. The piece was held taut as a drum in a large circular hoop. She made careful running stitches through the three layers, outlining the May basket pattern. She is a member of the Orono Quilters group that meets each month to work on projects and to share their love of the art.

One is never too young to be exposed to the needle arts. Young Sterling, 2, arrived in a stroller propelled by his mother, Dorothy Tanaka. He had his tool kit with him, a collection of toys that included a hammer, a screwdriver and a pretend electric drill. He was wearing a pair of lion mittens with shaggy manes his mother knit for him. Tanaka said she is learning to spin using a drop spindle, but on this day, she had her hands full with Sterling’s buoyant energy and too many other things on her afternoon agenda to stop more than a few minutes.

Dropping in for as long as you like or have time for is one of the appealing aspects of doing needlework at the Page Farm and Home Museum. You show up with or without your current project. You stay as long as your schedule permits and while you are there, you learn how others heard and answered the call of knitting, spinning, weaving or other needlecraft. You chat about the history of needlework. You meet those who are learning a new technique and those who are accomplished in a specific area of needlework. You get acquainted and socialize.

It’s fitting that these needlework sessions are held at the museum, which preserves the ways of farm life a century or more ago, when needlework was an everyday part of life.

The Friday afternoon needlework gatherings are open to any needleworker who wants to drop by. To learn more about the sessions, call the Page Farm and Home Museum at 581-4100. To learn more about the Orono Quilters, call Sharon Fitzgerald at 866-7226.

Snippets

Those who sew will find much food for thought and inspiration at www.sewing.org. The Web site offers many free patterns in these categories: babies, bridal, charitable, fashion, fun, holiday, home, men, purses, quilting, pets and teens.

ahamlin@bangordailynews.net

990-8153