Rachel Bingham Bio

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Rachel Bingham is a self taught drop spindle spinner and has been spinning for 10 years. She first discovered the drop spindle while at the Common Ground Fair when she stumbled into the Peace Fleece tent. Watching an elderly Russian women spin for a few moments, she picked up a spinde and a bag of colored wool and headed home to give it a whorl. After months of making very chunky yarn and teaching herself how to make mittens while not using a pattern, she was told the wool she had first started spinning with was for felting not spinning. It's still her favorite wool and spindle to use. Later, she learned wheel spinning from a local spinning group. She has continued to knit hats and mittens without patterns and is now a home dyer, using solar energy, crockpots, Kool-Aid, and plants foraged around Munjoy Hill where she lives in Portland as well as acid dyes. Rachel teaches art to adults with disabilities at Creative Works Systems, a non-profit in Portland, ME. She holds a BA in Visual Art, and a BFA in Art Education and is planning on being an art teacher in the near future.