Spinning a yarn, literally, has become a favorite pastime of a growing number of Americans. In 1970, there were perhaps 1,500 to 2,000 people in the United States who spun their own yarn, using a hand ...

4-H volunteer Lindsay McHugh, right, assists Aileen Gravot, 12, and her mom Christine make a macrame bracelet during a 4-H Yarn Club meeting, in Pitman, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. Linda McHugh’s Pitman ...

The gears, belts and drums of the 65-year-old wool-processing machine began to turn, slowly at first, then faster and faster as it started singing its high-pitched song. "Ready!" Brad Strohm hollered, ...

PUTNEY — In 1980, Claire Wilson, a soft-spoken Quaker now in her 90s and still living in Putney, met in a study group of 12 or so folks at the home of Paul and Dorothea Stockwell in West Brattleboro.