Roc Day celebrated Saturday at Cape library
The Cape Coral Library promises to put a different spin on things in the halls and meeting rooms Saturday.
The Weavers of Char-Lee will hold their 12th annual Roc Day celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the library hallway.
Roc Day (also known as Distaff Day and named after the distaff on a spinning wheel which holds the wool or flax for spinning) is an international holiday where the spinners and weavers took their spinning equipment out of sorage after the holidays, according to Rose Young of the Weavers of Char-Lee, which consist of members from Charlotte and Lee counties.
“Supposedly the merry-making and the happiness and joy of Christmas ends Jan. 6 with the 12th night,” Young said. “We go merry-making, then go back to work.”
According to legend, in many European cultural traditions, women resumed their household work after the 12 days of Christmas. Women spent their evenings spinning on the wheel. During the day, they would carry a drop spindle with them. Spinning was the only means of turning raw wool, cotton or flax into thread, which could then be woven into cloth.
The event will include weavers working on looms and spinners working on spinning wheels at a frenetic pace following the hiatus, and hands-on activities for the public, Young said.
“They can try to spin and weave and take home a small product they made in the hands-on activities. It’s part of our educational mission to inform the world about them,” Young said.
There will also be a show and opening reception on Saturday called “Weaving Earth.” Share their joy and dazzling displays which will be featured throughout the library gallery.
Those with their own looms or spinners are invited to attend, as is the general public.
The event has enjoyed great popularity for more than a decade. The event has even grown to include the Fort Myers Library, which occurred on Thursday and included a public yarn-bombing in the plaza, Young said.
The Weavers of Char-Lee offer their own classes and Young offers them in her home studio in Cape Coral. Meetings are the third Tuesday of the month. Classes will be offered at the Cape Coral Library from Jan. 26-29. Those with looms must register.
For more information, contact the library at 533-4500.