Texture is an easy and fun technique to learn and execute on the rigid heddle loom! Using a simple pick up stick and your fingertips, you can easily add sections of texture to your woven projects for a pop of visual interest or create a beautiful all-over textured fabric.
Join us as Lois Wagner, owner and teacher at Fiber Fun Studio, leads us in creating a sampler that will introduce rigid heddle weavers the how-to behind Leno lace, Brooks Bouquet, Danish medallions, Spanish lace, in lay, and pinwheels.
Required Equipment & Materials: Rigid Heddle Loom with 7.5 or 8 dpi heddle – warped on your own before class 2 shuttles Worsted weight yarn in cotton, wool or wool blend in 2 different SOLID colors pick up stick (these may be bought from Lois on the day of the workshop – please bring cash or checks) table fork (yes, like out of your silverware drawer!) scissors Small crochet hook (size US C, D or E)
A warping plan and other preparation details will be sent to all who register.
Space for this workshop is limited to 10 students.
Unfortunately, we will have to postpone our presentation on Shetland sheep, as our shepherdess has a fever and no desire to share (she has no symptoms consistent with coronavirus!).
We will still have the stash sale in the morning and the business meeting, including information about elections, as planned.
All the details are on our website! Thank you for understanding!
At 1:00, we will hear from Shave ’em to Save ’em Shepherdess Keba Hitzeman of Innisfree on the Stillwater farm. Keba raises Shetland sheep bred for handspinning-quality fleece, as well as makes beautiful pottery. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to check out her goods!
We will also have the nominating committee will present their report, which includes their recommended slate of officers for the 2020-2021 Guild year. Nominations will also be heard from the floor.
Keba Hitzeman is a woman with an armload of hats she (most days!) enjoys wearing – baseball fan, beekeeper, caregiver, chicken wrangler, daughter, farmer, fiber artist (spinner, knitter, weaver), gamer, gardener, herbalist, musician, nature-lover, potter, shepherdess, teacher, wife. In another life, she taught Spanish in several high schools and colleges in the area. She currently spends her days in the middle of her certified Organic 185 acre farm in Miami County, tending her flock of sheep and goats (registered Shetlands, a mixture of hair sheep, registered Kinder goats and some “Craigslist specials”), working on never-ending farm maintenance projects, serving on the Ohio Food Policy Network steering committee, processing and spinning wool, volunteering with OEFFA, watching the grass grow, and, in true farmer style, complaining about the weather.
Are you planning some spring cleaning? KonMari-ing your stash? Maybe cleaning to make room for more stash?
Join our Spring Stash Sale!
We will have table space available for anyone looking to buy or sell yarns for all fiber crafts, handspun yarn, fabric, fiber tools, fleeces, notions bags – any items that are fiber arts related!
If you are interested in reserving a table to sell fiber arts-related materials, please email [email protected] for details.
Admission for shoppers is free! All are welcome!
We recommend bringing cash or checks, as each seller will have their own preferred method of payments.
Bring your fiber and bring your friends for the Spring 2020 Fiber Retreat! Bring a dish to share, lunch will be around noon! Tabled and chairs provided.
Let’s talk about sweaters. You love sweaters but struggle to get the exact fit that you want. Or maybe the fit is mostly right and there’s always one thing that’s off. Or maybe you’d love to make a sweater perfect for you (or someone else) but are too intimidated by the thought of changing anything in the pattern to even try. I’m here to help you realize that making garments that fit you is not that hard. In fact, once you know what to look out for anyone can do it.
We will start with a presentation and follow with a workshop. The presentation will cover the basics of what you need to know to get a good fit. We will talk about fabric characteristics, gauge, ease, measurements, sizing charts and more. Understanding these basic points will get you well on your way to making garments that fit you well. The points will be presented mostly in a knitting context but are universal enough that you can apply them to weaving and sewing projects as well.
In the workshop we will take the points discussed in the presentation and apply them to a real world example. We will all use the same basic knitted sweater design and work through how to adjust the pattern to get the best individualized fit for each student. Each student will learn how to take a detailed set of personal body measurements and will leave with their own set of measurements. We will discuss swatching, how to make a gauge swatch, how to measure gauge, how to read pattern schematics, ease, how to compare your desired garment measurements to the patterns finished measurements, how and why to adjust the pattern in certain areas for desired fit, and how to do some simple math to get us to the best fit. Let’s go make some well fitting sweaters!
This presentation and workshop are based in theory so students do not need to bring any special materials with them. Pen and paper for taking notes are enough. The teacher will provide class handouts, measurement worksheets, and copies of the sweater pattern for the workshop.
Space for this workshop is limited to 10 students.
One morning in 2004 Kathryn rolled over in bed and thought “I have to knit.” She didn’t know how, so she found a local yarn store, bought Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘n Bitch book, super bulky yarn and size 13 needles. Knitting has been a central part of her life ever since. This passion for yarn and needles led to Kathryn working at Knitters Mercantile for 4 years. She was also one half of the former design duo of Quirky Bird Knits for 4 years. She discovered a love for teaching at the Merc and has taught at 614 Knit Studio and Yarnbyrds as well. Kathryn has taught a wide range of classes – from intensive beginning knitting to brioche to socks (and much more). Her passion is for sweaters and for adjusting patterns to suit the needs of each person. Kathryn works for county government during the day and is mom to two little girls. She is also a history nerd, a lover of period dramas, a spinner, a dyer, a beginning weaver, an optimistic gardener, and a practitioner of Ashtanga yoga. You can often find her plotting and planning how to get her girls (and sometimes her labrador) into as many hand knit items as possible.
You can find Kathryn’s fiber arts projects on Ravelry.
Schedule of events: 11:00 – New Weavers Group 12:00 – Social Hour 1:00 – Meeting
New Weavers Group
This is a time to meet with other new weavers and pick the brains of some of our most experienced weavers! All are welcome.
Social Hour
Bring a lunch, catch up with a friend, or get to know a new member!
Meeting
Let’s talk about sweaters. You love sweaters but struggle to get the exact fit that you want. Or maybe the fit is mostly right and there’s always one thing that’s off. Or maybe you’d love to make a sweater perfect for you (or someone else) but are too intimidated by the thought of changing anything in the pattern to even try. I’m here to help you realize that making garments that fit you is not that hard. In fact, once you know what to look out for anyone can do it.
We will start with a presentation and follow with a workshop. The presentation will cover the basics of what you need to know to get a good fit. We will talk about fabric characteristics, gauge, ease, measurements, sizing charts and more. Understanding these basic points will get you well on your way to making garments that fit you well. The points will be presented mostly in a knitting context but are universal enough that you can apply them to weaving and sewing projects as well.
One morning in 2004 Kathryn rolled over in bed and thought “I have to knit.” She didn’t know how, so she found a local yarn store, bought Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘n Bitch book, super bulky yarn and size 13 needles. Knitting has been a central part of her life ever since. This passion for yarn and needles led to Kathryn working at Knitters Mercantile for 4 years. She was also one half of the former design duo of Quirky Bird Knits for 4 years. She discovered a love for teaching at the Merc and has taught at 614 Knit Studio and Yarnbyrds as well. Kathryn has taught a wide range of classes – from intensive beginning knitting to brioche to socks (and much more). Her passion is for sweaters and for adjusting patterns to suit the needs of each person. Kathryn works for county government during the day and is mom to two little girls. She is also a history nerd, a lover of period dramas, a spinner, a dyer, a beginning weaver, an optimistic gardener, and a practitioner of Ashtanga yoga. You can often find her plotting and planning how to get her girls (and sometimes her labrador) into as many hand knit items as possible.
You can find Kathryn’s fiber arts projects on Ravelry.
Learn how to create a woven tapestry with techniques taught by an accomplished tapestry weaver. In this class, you will learn weft facing weaving on a tapestry sampler frame. True tapestry has a weft facing weave and the warp disappears in the structure and packing of the weave. The goal for this class is to warp the little loom in the class and begin learning the technique of weft facing then joins and color shifts will be added.
Workshop cost is $130 – this includes a handcrafted tapestry loom for you to keep, warp thread, a beater fork and a tapestry needle. Students are responsible for bringing a variety of yarn weights and preferred colors to the class. Dyed long wool locks also add interest and students are welcome to bring those as well.
Teresa and her husband Robin both retired from corporate-type jobs and bought a small farm in central Illinois. She has enjoyed fiber arts for most of her life: sewing since her teens, rug hooking since 1980 and spinning and weaving since 1994. Since retirement, her focus has been on expanding and improving on her fiber skills and learning to care for her flock of Finn and Shetland sheep.
Robin is an award-winning full-time festival craftsman working Fiber Festivals in the Midwest, having recently served as Instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Inspired by Tolkien’s Legendarium, he started carving Ents, Wizards and Castles after reading the Hobbit four decades ago. Woodcarving, Woodturning, Hand Built Ceramics, Hot and Cold Glass, Coppersmithing, Enameling, Broom Making, Tool Making, Spinning & Navajo Style Weaving are current specialties. Teaching the Traditional Crafts is a passion. He also conducts a lively online trade in ‘Heirloom Quality Hand Made Fiber Tools’.
Guests Robin & Teresa Goatey will regale us with their wisdom about keeping sheep! Trunk show to follow their presentation!
Teresa and her husband Robin both retired from corporate-type jobs and bought a small farm in central Illinois. She has enjoyed fiber arts for most of her life: sewing since her teens, rug hooking since 1980 and spinning and weaving since 1994. Since retirement, her focus has been on expanding and improving on her fiber skills and learning to care for her flock of Finn and Shetland sheep.
Robin is an award-winning full-time festival craftsman working Fiber Festivals in the Midwest, having recently served as Instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Inspired by Tolkien’s Legendarium, he started carving Ents, Wizards and Castles after reading the Hobbit four decades ago. Woodcarving, Woodturning, Hand Built Ceramics, Hot and Cold Glass, Coppersmithing, Enameling, Broom Making, Tool Making, Spinning & Navajo Style Weaving are current specialties. Teaching the Traditional Crafts is a passion. He also conducts a lively online trade in ‘Heirloom Quality Hand Made Fiber Tools’.