A True Renaissance Woman in Our Midst:
Stephenie Gaustad
By Cathy Koos and Jan Wynolds
Pictures courtesy Jan Wynholds, Janice Johnson, Cat
Mother, grandmother, wife, artist, author, lifelong teacher, musician, friend. A true Renaissance woman in our midst. How else to describe the amazing woman we all came to know and love – Stephenie Gaustad.
Ren Faire, undated
Arrived on this mortal plane as a Leo on August 5, 1948, and departed from us on February 11, 2025. We know she is singing and dancing under the stars with her beloved Alden.
Steph and Jan
I met Stephenie though the Del Oro Spinners and Weavers Guild, where she was a founding member. She deeply enriched my textile life with loving encouragement.
THE EARLY DAYS
Her early life was spent in and around Burbank and the San Fernando Valley where she graduated from Grant High School, and later at UC Irvine in 1969, where she studied fine art. After a sojourn in central California, Stephenie found her way to the Bay Area and its rich textile and art environment.
Steph, Grant High School Prom
MUSIC
Surrounded by music, Stephenie variously played the banjo, mandolin, piano, guitar, and hammered and country dulcimer. Her musical repertoire ranged from the Beatles and Dylan to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. From the classics to Irish folk tunes. When Steph moved to Amador County, she soon found Tom and Ann Sharkey and they put together a little band and played local gigs.
Music led to dancing; Stephenie, Laura Carpender, and other friends would get together and dance of an evening and they especially loved the long summer evenings of Friday Night Dancin’ in the Streets in Amador City.
Judging, LambTown
Family Fun
PRANKS and HUMOR
Ever the prankster, one of Steph’s college art projects was to create a simulacrum of herself. Using her own body measurements, she named her bestie “Ruth,” and Ruth soon became Steph’s traveling companion, popping up and making appearances, much to the delight of all.
A’ la Tom Sawyer, Steph persuaded her cousin, Liz, to help her polish Nan’s kitchen floor. All for wholesome fun!
One highlight every autumn was our Del Oro guild trip to Dillon Beach. Now if you have never been to Dillon Beach, you need to know about the pirate statue. Commanding a seaward view, one year his allure was too great to be ignored. During our carpool to the beach, we knitted and crocheted a grand assortment of scarves, caps, and leg warmers. “At midnight, we ride!” (well, we walked) down to the pirate to improve his sartorial appearance.
The Dillon Beach Pirate, Janice Johnson
Another Dillon outing saw Steph teaching us to walk like a model – not an easy task in stocking feet. “It’s all in the hips,” she encouraged us. “One foot directly in front of the other.”
Next morning, we were strongly encouraged to remove said garb and “be on your way!”
THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA YEARS
The early 1980s found Stephenie in the Berkeley area. Through friends at Straw into Gold, she met the love of her life, Alden Amos. Ever the romantic, Alden’s engagement gift was a pistol. After a chapel wedding in Carson City, they made their home together in Amador County; first on Shake Ridge Road and then their permanent home on Upper Previtali. Here the two life-mates pursued their love of woodworking, textiles and writing.
TEACHING and WRITING
Always the teacher willing to share her gifts, Stephenie taught at a number of venues over the years both in person, on Zoom during Covid, and in writing at conferences like Handweavers Guild of America, Conference of Northern California Handweavers, Association of Northwest Guilds, SOAR (Spin Off Annual Retreat); individual guild workshops; and judging events like Dixon Lambtown and the Black Sheep Gathering.
At a recent guild meeting, member Hilary reminisced about Stephenie teaching her as a 4H’er how to spin. Guild members are also spinning some of Steph’s fiber for a Sheep to Shawl demo item.
Once, years ago, I was the weaver for the Lambtown Sheep to Shawl. Plagued by a sticky loom, Steph jumped in to help with a good fist thump after each throw of the shuttle. She used to say that if you couldn’t fix it with oil, use a hammer, or a firm smack.
A prolific writer for periodicals like Handwoven, SpinOff, Piecework, and Ply, Stephenie also produced videos for Long Thread Media, Interweave Press and Linda Ligon. She wrote and illustrated a number of books including The Practical Spinners Guide: Cotton, Flax, Hemp, and A Spinner’s Dozen. She also illustrated Alden’s Big Book of Handspinning.
Articles include Hemp Tales (CNChnet); Singles Yarn Appreciation Day (Handwoven, April 2023).
A prolific designer of patterns, many of Stephenie’s originals such as the Helix Scarf and Flax Flower Reticule can be found on Ravelry and Jane Austen Knits (2011).
We can once again hear Steph’s lovely, lilting voice on Long Thread Podcast (Season 4, Episode 8, 2022) https://longthreadmedia.com/podcast
We now bid a fare-thee-well with Steph and Alden’s YouTube rendition of An Ode to Woad.
