A local source of handspun...

I was at a knitting class yesterday, where another woman "of a certain age" - oh wait, that would be my age too - and her 9 year old daughter were learning to knit. Knit, purl, rib. Having difficulty casting on. The woman said that she was learning to knit because although she could already crochet, she could knit but not crochet at work. Where do you work? said I, curiosity piqued. Well, she works at a local historical site which represents Federal and colonial life -eighteenth century - and there is no evidence of crochet in the US before 1800. So she is allowed to knit, but not crochet, since it is not historically accurate. I was quite envious, too, when she mentioned that they are always spinning yarn, but nothing is ever done with the product - she would have pounds of material to work with. They even dye these wool yarns!