Hi, I am Melody Murter from Hardin, Montana. By day I am a busy Nurse Practitioner enjoying my patients, and always wishing for more time to play with fiber. I have been inspired by spinning and weaving for years as I watched the Navajo elders spinning with a stick and weaving in the deserts of northern New Mexico in the 1980s. As a nurse, I was able to travel to some of the most remote places on the Navajo lands. I received my first wheel in 1992, a good ol’ Ashford Traditional. I processed and spun my own Colombia and Rambouillet wool from our small flock with the enthusiastic help of my two year old daughter, who is a great fiber artist and pharmacy student. I had no teachers, no YouTube, or internet at our farm, so I learned the hard way about washing, dying, and felting, but what fun! I have learned so much from others – like Maggie Casey – since then. My daughter and I have attended the Estes Park wool market annually since she was 11 to learn new methods and processes.
I love big and lofty yarns the most, but with the right fiber, I also love to spin a fine yarn. I recently won “Best use of Homespun” at the Intermountain Weavers conference in Durango, Colorado in July. Two years ago in Estes Park I won for a skein of homespun lofty. I have three wheels in the house now, along with five looms, and of course, I am always longing for more.