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On July 15, 2008 the spinning community lost one of its treasured members. Ruth Schooley, aka TwistedSpinster, passed away from complications due to a foot injury. “When an elder dies, a library burns to the ground” is a phrase I heard from Jeanine at SOAR last year, and this is how I feel about Ruth. She was such a repository of knowledge that is now lost to us. I am sad for myself and mad that I didn’t spend more time with her while I had the chance. Ruth had a particular passion for both cotton and natural dyes, and was famous in our home guild for her giant cotton trees that she grew in her backyard and her legendary dye days which were full of experimentation and laughter. Ruth was well known and beloved in the online community from before the time of the world wide web, and was a vital participant and owner of several fiber mailing lists.

As I think back over the time that I knew this remarkable woman, I have so many great memories of her; giggly stories at fiber conferences as we stayed up late in the lobby spinning and telling our stories, her inspired Ashford Traditional with the modified sewing machine motor driving the flyer that made me wish I had been so inventive, her emails with incredibly complicated chemistry questions about plant pigments, and the day she bought 20 pounds of a cotton/denim mix from me that she spun up in about a week. I remember her strength in adversity, her composure in the face of tragedy and her genuine optimism. Ruth was always kind to everyone, and she had such a quick wit and wicked twinkle when she got some scheme going. Ruth had so much passion for what she did, along with an intrepid spirit and a joie de vivre, that is rarely equaled. We have truly lost one of the best of us.

The Ruth Schooley Project

After Ruth passed away, I realized what a remarkable member of the spinning community she really was. Because she was part of my home guild I had sort of taken her for granted. In spite of all the people Ruth knew, it was also amazing to me the number of people who didn't know Ruth and now would never meet her. I realized there are many other remarkable men and women out there in the spinning community who quietly, or not so quietly, embody the spirit of our craft with their inquisitive minds, nimble fingers, generous hearts and creative spirits. Each issue we would like to highlight one of these remarkable people so that the spinning community can get to know the treasures of your guild! If you would like to nominate someone to the Ruth Schooley Project, please email