Patsy Zawistoski enjoys all the possibilities of creating with handspun yarns. She has enjoyed every facet of textiles since learning sewing as a 4th grader and weaving as a new bride. Twenty-some years ago, she taught herself to spin and has been spinning ever since. Patsy earned her COE Certificate of Excellence in Handspinning from the Handweavers Guild of America (1985), plus a Master's Certificate (1987) for her study "Spinning Novelty Yarns for Use as Warp." She is constantly exploring and refining her spinning techniques. She was recently named "most excellent spinnin' guru.calm" by her students.
In 2002, Patsy, her husband Rich, Mother-in-law Edith, and the cats moved to Elk Grove Village, just west of O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The new area provides easy access to the airport, new guilds and the opportunity to appreciate? the wind at times.
A widely-traveled lecturer and teacher, Patsy accepts up to two workshops a month. She has taught classes for various guilds, shops, community arts programs, conferences, SOAR '88, '95, and '97 and Convergence '90, '92, '96, '00, '02 and '06. In 2004 she taught in New Zealand, and in 2005 returned to Canada where she taught in '92 and '02.
Victorian Video Productions produced three spinning workshops as video or DVD featuring Patsy as the teacher. These have recieved excellent reviews and are a terrific way to learn to spin or review your spinning techniques. The DVDs were released in 2006.
Fiber magazines often feature her articles. The latest was for the New Zealand magazine Creative Fibre, "The Top Ten Questions on Twist: Understanding Twist Forward and Backward". Previously she authored a column "Ask Ms Spinster,"in Spin-Off and continues to answer questions on line. The "Teaching Circuit," a series of 5 articles about improving teaching techniques was published in HGA's Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot.
An accomplished textile artist and seamstress, Patsy creates unique liturgical weavings and appliqués for use by churches across the nation. Her work is recognized for its use of color through a wide variety of styles. As mother of the bride on October 7, 2000, she designed and created her daughter Ann's silk shantung dress and handspun cashmere/silk shawl. Six years later she celebrated being a grandmother to a beautiful grand daughter Zoe who was born fall of 2006. 2007 brings the celebration of a Hindu-Lutheran wedding for her son Carl.