There are several steps to crafting homespun yarn starting from raw fleece to washed, carded and dyed fibers to the finished product.—CYNDI WOOD PHOTO

If a material is pliable and can be made into strips, chances are it’s been spun.

Dog hair, recycled sari silk, plastic bags and bamboo are just a few of the unusual materials that have found their way onto spinning wheels.

But for most Maine spinners, there is just something about working with a local fleece.

“It’s like a religion and an addiction,” said Susanne Grosjean, a spinner and rug weaver.

She and her husband Charlie own Hog Bay Pottery in Franklin.

Ms. Grosjean has been spinning since 1970. During early forays into the craft, she used a drop spindle to make yarn. This primitive piece of spinning technology is small and handheld.

“They’re all the rage right now because they are very small and very cheap,” Ms. Grosjean said.

More serious spinners invest in a wheel, which can range in price from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Grosjean and many other members of the Wednesday Spinners, a Down East spinning group, use Louet wheels. These spinning wheels are less expensive than other models and, she says, they “really crank out the yarn.”

But to get to the spinning, a lot of preparation is required.

A spinner can buy a fleece fresh off the sheep (or llama, alpaca, goat, rabbit…) or opt for already-washed and processed fiber. There are several fiber mills in the state that prepare wool.

Do-it-yourselfers begin by washing the fleece in simmering water and soap. It is possible to spin unwashed “in the grease” wool, but this can be hard on the wheel. Washing the wool removes lanolin, the oily substance that waterproofs the animal. When washing, spinners must be careful not to agitate the wool, which would cause the fabric to felt.

Ms. Grosjean often dries washed wool on her roof in the summer.

From this point, the wool can be dyed or carded. Carding is basically organizing the fleece so that all fibers run in the same direction and can easily be fed into the spinning wheel. This can be done with a hand or drum carder. Some spinners skip this step and “spin from the locks” with uncarded wool. Ms. Grosjean cards because, she said, it makes her spinning more efficient.

Wool can be dyed before or after spinning. Chemical and natural dyes are available. Many spinners grow their own dye plants such as indigo, weld and madder.

Julie Havener, who sells her homespun wool and knit hats at SevenArts in the Maine Grind in Ellsworth, lets her 4-year-old daughter dye fleece with sugar-free Kool-Aid.

Most spinners have well-established sources for fleece.

“I buy most of mine raw and most of it in Maine,” Ms. Havener said.

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s Common Ground Fair in Unity is another major resource.

The Wednesday Spinners have attended the fair for 31 years. At the fair, novice spinners can watch demonstrations and purchase starter supplies.

Ms. Havener learned to spin 15 years ago.

One of her first lessons was to learn to make different motions with her hands and feet at the same time. Spinners must feed fiber into a spinning wheel by hand while controlling the wheel’s speed with foot pedals.

Spinning, which has been practiced for thousands of years, is becoming increasingly popular today. Ms. Havener links the increased interest in spinning with the recent knitting fad.

“I think more and more young people are doing it,” she said.

Due to all the work that goes into preparation and the cost of material; homespun wool is typically more expensive than machine produced.

For Ms. Havener, homespun has character that can’t be found in store-bought yarn.

Cynthia Thayer, who co-owns Darthia Farm in Gouldsboro, said the rich colors and texture of homespun products cannot be rivaled.

“They have real depth and sheen to them that non-homespun things don’t have,” Ms. Thayer said. “It has a sort of richness.”

She added that people who think they are allergic to wool are often allergic to chemicals used to remove lanolin from the fiber. Homespun knits will not irritate their allergies, she said.

Home spinning often leaves a little lanolin in the wool, which helps waterproof it, Ms. Thayer said.

She and other members of the Wednesday Spinners are passionate about their craft.

The group members met last week at the Brooklin home of Judy Wick; they meet weekly at each other’s homes.

Last week, 18 women sat shoulder-to-shoulder at their wheels chatting about family, politics and current events. At times, the conversation even turned to spinning.

Despite regular meetings for more than 30 years, the group is not a formal one.

“We’ve never had officers or anything like that,” said Penelope Olson of Appleton. “We’ve never had dues.”

The group went into business in 2002, when members put together a calendar titled “Wearing Wool: Celebrating the Ancient Art of Spinning and the Ageless Beauty of Women.” Wednesday Spinners posed in the calendar wearing knit caps, scarves and little else. Proceeds topped $100,000, $10,000 of which was donated to breast cancer research.

Last week, members debated the merits of printing another calendar. One of the main arguments against it was that work on the last calendar turned informal spinning sessions into business meetings.

The women, it seems, prefer to be left to their spinning.

Kate Henry of Southwest Harbor scoops abandoned bits of wool off the floor after each Wednesday session. She spins the fibers into a vibrant multicolored yarn.

“It really actually reminds me of the day,” she said.