DESPITE being an activity thought to be reserved for silver-haired retirees, nine-year-old Raoul Woodruff Becker loves nothing more than spending his afternoon behind a spinning wheel.

When he first saw his neighbour, Warwick Spinners and Weavers member Janice Flood, in action, Raoul was determined to master the foreign contraption.

“I've been doing it for about two months... it's fun and it's what I like to do,” Raoul said.

His spinning mentor Mrs Flood had so much confidence in him she entered his first work into the Boonah Show last week.

“Raoul got second place in the novice spinner skein of hand spun yarn wool,” Mrs Flood said.

And one mention of the $3 prize still brings a smile to Raoul's face.

“I was really happy; I wasn't totally sure but I thought I could get a second or third place,” he said.

Proud mum Cora Becker said she was not surprised when he took up the craft.

“My family is very arty... and he has always been very clever with his hands and has very good co-ordination,” she said.

“You have to remember to be slow with your hands and fast with your feet,” Raoul added.

His next project is French knitting, but the youngster has already mastered making felt and weaving.

“He was very intrigued and he loves contraptions,” Mrs Flood said.

“He uses a double treadle which is usually a bit fast for new spinners but not for him.”

Mrs Flood said it was exciting for her to see someone so young spinning.

“Also to see a boy doing it because the origins came from shepherds spinning in the fields because it gave them something to do when watching their flocks,” she said.

The Warwick Spinners and Weavers meet each Wednesday from 9.30am to 2.30pm and the second and fourth Monday of each month at 7pm at Slade School.