Susan Cossette spins her own yarn and creates wearable art from natural fibers in a studio named for her hometown.

In her talented hands, wool, mohair, alpaca, angora rabbit and silk turn into colorful scarves, hats, bags and more.

 Susan was born and raised in southern Connecticut in a multi-generational household where nothing was wasted. Recycling, reusing and repurposing came naturally.

“I grew up surrounded by a family of artists, musicians and creators,” says Susan, who credits her grandmother Pearl and Aunt Billie with teaching her to knit and do crewelwork as a child.

She graduated from the Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing in 1978 and became a nurse at age 21.

Gardening, canning, sewing and creating were part of everyday life after Susan married and had two children. She also opened a ceramics studio.

In 2007, she found her dream job working at Women to Women Health Care Center in Yarmouth, Maine. Susan was introduced to the magic of fiber creations while living in Maine.

“In 2008, my friend Sharon and I went to Common Ground Fair, which is where I discovered the spinning tent. There I met a woman making crocheted hats from fiber she had processed and dyed herself,” Susan recalls.

She left the fair with an armload of alpaca fleece. Within weeks, she bought a spinning wheel on Craigslist and taught herself to spin after watching YouTube videos. She learned to dye wool through trial and error, first using Kool Aid because the citric acid helps the dye adhere to the wool.

Susan moved to Florida in 2015 and has lived in The Villages since 2017. Of course, she brought all her fleeces and fibers with her and soon connected with like-minded crafters.

In her Pine Rock Park Studio, she spins and processes her own wool to incorporate into her fiber creations. 

“I made my first felted scarves and hats after moving here, and also began Nuno felting, which is a combination of wool and silk,” she explains. “I love the three-dimensional aspect of felt projects.”

 Susan has been a vendor at craft fairs in The Villages since 2018. She has a display booth at Gary Lee Sligh Fabric Studio in Leesburg and also teaches felting. 

“There’s something very satisfying about creating something with your hands out of raw materials,” says Susan.

https://www.facebook.com/blendingboardSusan

(Reach out on Facebook if you’re interested in felting classes.) 

Photos: Nicole Hamel