“Still Inventing:” A Fiber Arts Apprenticeship between Life-Long Friends

This article is published in the Fall 2023 issue of Goldenseal Magazine. It is written by West Virginia State Folklorist Jennie Williams and edited by Laiken Blankenship. The article is based on an interview recorded by the State Folklorist with the Folklife Apprenticeship pair on March 22, 2023.

Enrica McMillon (right) with her fiber arts apprentice and longtime friend Barbara Weaner. Photo by Jennie Williams, 2023.

Barbara Weaner and Enrica McMillon have been friends for nearly 50 years. In 1976, Barbara moved to a farm in Montrose where she and her husband still reside. At the time, Enrica made her home on nearby Laurel Mountain. “Thank God I met Enrica early on,” Barbara recalls. “[Enrica] knew how to do everything, and was very very generous with her knowledge… She would come over and visit and very nicely say things like ‘it would be a lot easier if you did it this way,’” Barbara laughs. They still get together after all these years, only now Enrica shares with Barbara skills and stories about fiber arts, including dyeing, spinning, and weaving through the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship program.

These days, Enrica’s Elkins home is filled with traditional tools, fleece and naturally dyed yarn, and works in progress. “My house has more UFOs than Area 51!” as Enrica jokingly refers to “unfinished objects.” Parked along the walls are antique walking wheels and smaller spinning wheels from West Virginia and many parts of the world, wheels made from found objects, baskets made of local plant materials she’s made or collected, and recycled denim as furniture upholstery. Just about everything on display, including a stunning traditional Swiss outfit, Enrica made by hand.

A traditional Swiss outfit, handmade by Enrica McMillon.

Born in Helvetia in 1952, Enrica “grew up with a foot in each century,” as she sees it. “There were still a lot of people living just as they had in 1900. It was normal life.” She first learned fiber arts traditions from her paternal grandmother Henrietta Hartmann Hofer, whose family was among Helvetia’s original Swiss settlers. Her maternal grandmother Susanna Cutright Vangilder lived a few miles down the road in Czar and could trace her ancestors back to West Virginia’s earliest settlers. Curious and observant, Enrica learned how her grandmothers practiced similar traditions in different ways. “Grandmothers have a way of talking about what they’re doing while they’re doing it.” Both spun, wove, quilted, and practiced needle arts. While young girls were expected to knit, crochet, and embroider, it wasn’t necessary for them to spin yarn, yet she begged her Swiss grandmother to teach her. “I like the fluidity of spinning,” she says. “It’s very hypnotic and very relaxing to me.” Spinning is rhythmic like dancing, and there are certain types of music one can listen to while spinning to keep time. “When you dance, you count.”

Enrica is resourceful, practical, and inventive. Her first venture into fiber arts was when she was four years old. Instead of taking a nap, she cut up her socks to make doll clothes but soon ran out of material. “My older brother was at school, but I knew he had a pair of socks that I could make into doll clothes.” She gave in to temptation and cut up his treasured Roy Rogers socks; he reminded her of this episode well into adulthood. Rather than punishing her, Enrica’s parents called upon her grandmothers, who allowed Enrica to select a wicker sewing basket with pink flowers on top and pink satin lining. They provided fabrics and taught her how to make real doll clothes. She still couldn’t resist cutting up her Sunday lace anklet socks, recalling, “I could make a white bride’s dress! And I did.”

A ladder back chair utilized as a loom. Enrica’s Aunt Genevieve Hofer helped found the Mountain Weavers Guild in Elkins in 1967 to help preserve traditions such as these.

Some traditional ways have been forgotten, Enrica and Barbara recognize. “A lot of the things . . . didn’t survive because the tools weren’t deemed special enough to save,” Enrica says. Some seem quite practical, such as using corncobs as spools or a ladder back chair as a loom. Enrica’s Aunt Genevieve Hofer helped found the Mountain Weavers Guild in Elkins in 1967 to help preserve traditions such as these. Barbara notes that it’s helpful to be part of an artist community like the guild. While books are useful, they aren’t as effective as learning from a teacher in person, and a two-week weaving class won’t teach you nearly as much as a longer apprenticeship with individual instruction. Enrica has researched 200 varieties of sheep from around the world and keeps a database of over 6,000 spinning wheels in an effort to preserve this traditional knowledge. She serves as a resource to others and has published in The Spinning Wheel Sleuth and Spin Off magazine.

Naturally-dyed yarn hangs in Enrica McMillon’s studio.

Barbara Weaner and Enrica McMillon in Enrica’s studio.

Enrica McMillon stands beside her loom.

Spinning wheels stand in Enrica McMillon’s living room.

Fiber arts can be highly technical and creatively freeing. “Sometimes I am very rule driven, very measured,” Enrica explains. “I know exactly what I want at the end and know exactly how to get there.” Enrica continually taps into and adapts the skillsets she learned from her grandmothers. “Enrica is always upping the ante,” Barbara observes. “It’s kind of mind blowing, actually.” Enrica has perfected using traditional methods of preparing fibers for weaving, but she experiments and can dye a colorful gradient into the fleece before arranging, spinning, and weaving it. By using a single skein of carefully dyed yarn, she is able to produce a scarf with a brilliant faux plaid effect without changing out different sets of colors. “I’m still inventing,” Enrica says.

A scarf and shawl made by Enrica McMillon. By using a single skein of carefully dyed yarn, she is able to produce a scarf with a brilliant faux plaid effect without changing out different sets of colors.

Enrica and Barbara work patiently together so Barbara can pick up essential techniques at her own pace. “Her creativity is not motivated by money,” Barbara says. Enrica playfully interrupts that she is motivated by “where am I going and what do I have to dress for.” Barbara deeply appreciates Enrica’s expertise and her “love and passion for the craft.” Enrica, meanwhile, excitedly prepares Barbara for skills that Barbara doesn’t always think she’s ready for yet. While she hadn’t practiced fiber arts consistently in her life, Barbara reflects, “[I felt] I should pick up again at 69 or 68 because why not? Why not learn it properly and try it and get past my own fears.” Their trusting and enduring friendship supports their ability to pass on traditions practiced by generations of grandmothers.

Enrica McMillon discusses fiber arts practices with attendees of the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship showcase hosted in Elkins on Sept. 9, 2023. Photo by Mike Keller.

Barbara Weaner shares about her fiber arts apprenticeship at the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship showcase hosted in Elkins on Sept. 9, 2023. Photo by Mike Keller.

A display of naturally dyed yarn and woven items created by Enrica McMillon and her fiber arts apprentice Barbara Weaner. Photo by Mike Keller, 2023.

A display of yarn skeins created by Enrica McMillon and her fiber arts apprentice Barbara Weaner. Photo by Mike Keller, 2023.

A display of weaving tools that belong to Enrica McMillon. Photo by Mike Keller, 2023.

Enrica McMillon demonstrates how to weave using a ladderback chair as a loom. Photo by Mike Keller, 2023.

Barbara Weaner shares stories about her fiber arts apprenticeship with Enrica McMillon at the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship showcase hosted in Elkins on Sept. 9, 2023. Photo by Mike Keller.

The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program is managed by the West Virginia Folklife Program at the West Virginia Humanities Council in Charleston and is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

To receive a print version, go to the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History website

Watch Enrica McMillon and Barbara Weaner talk about their experiences participating in the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship program during a showcase at the Phil Gainer Community Center in Elkins on September 9, 2023.