First a professional teacher and then a spinner, Joan Ruane has been teaching spinning classes throughout the U.S., Canada, UK, and New Zealand since 1980. Active in local and regional Guilds, she has also owned and operated fiber shops in both Florida and Arizona. Joan has published cotton newsletters, written articles for fiber magazines and has published two DVD: Cotton Spinning Made Easy and Cotton Spinning With A Takli. She has republished Hand Spinning Cotton by Harry and Olive Linder, bringing it up to date with modern techniques. In 2015 she published the much needed Beginning Cotton Spinning on the Wheel workbook. She also worked closely on the spring 2016 Cotton issue of PLY Magazine. A note from the PLY team I have never met a woman I want to be more like than Joan Ruane. Not only is she a font of cotton and hemp knowledge but she's kind and patient and has more energy than all my kids combined. This lady is a treasure and her classes are not to be missed. I couldn't have even attempted the Cotton issue of PLY without her and it's still one of my favorites.