Fibre Week 2013

Creativity is intelligence having fun.
        ~Albert Einstein 

Registration for Fibre Week 2013 opened yesterday! Fibre Week is held at Olds College in Olds, Alberta (Canada), a bit north of Calgary, for five days every spring. 

Fiber arts of all kinds are represented: weaving, spinning, felting, dyeing, basketry! Classes range from those for beginners to some advanced or hard-to-find classes (sprang, anyone?) It's a fiber-lover's fantasy week! Five different fleece competitions and shows (alpaca, cashmere, llama, mohair, and wool); a fashion show; a pub night (loosen those creative juices); the master spinner program, which consists of 6 progressive levels of study, and the master weaver program courses are held this week, along with the annual conference of the Hand Weavers, Spinners & Dyers of Alberta; and a thoughtful series of yoga, stretching, and massage sessions are scheduled. 

Forget the Housewives of Beverly Hills kind of spa--Fibre Week is my kind of place!

I'm teaching three different classes:

• Mini-Fair Isle Yoke Cardigan--over two days we will cover everything you need to know about making a well-fitted Fair Isle yoke sweater by working on this doll-sized version, including details such as adding short rows to create a comfortable neck, adding garter bands, choosing simple colors for the yoke design, and using the crocheted steek, along with instructions for knitting an adult version. June 22-23.

• Colour Outside the Lines: Tam--a one-day class exploring how color is used in Fair Isle. Each student will explore color principles with an 8-color kit and a classic tam pattern. Each tam will be unique! By the end of the class, students will know how to design classic banded Fair Isle patterns. June 21.

• Choosing Colours for Fair Isle Designs: Working from a Source of Inspiration--Have you had an idea for a Fair Isle design that just doesn't seem to work out? Over two days we will explore methods for choosing colors successfully and with fewer dead ends. You will learn to translate colors in a photograph or painting to yarn choices for Fair Isle motifs. We will start with speed swatching for color and then add colors to motifs in a step-by-step fashion in hat patterns I provide. By the end of the workshop you will have the skills to realize those sweater dreams! June 24-25.

I'm excited about teaching at Fibre Week for another reason: the Bajus family emigrated to Canada from Germany in 1849. They founded the Bajus Brewery in Kingston, Ontario--the building still stands as condominiums, but the sons dispersed across Canada (if you meet a Bajus in Manitoba, you are meeting one of my relatives). My great-grandfather became a ship's captain and customs agent in Vancouver, British Columbia; from there my grandfather moved to Seattle in the early 1920s. Every other year as I was growing up my cousin and I got to travel to Victoria to spend a week with relatives; I remember vividly the Canadian candy bars, the little souvenirs we purchased, and the silver totem pole I got for my charm bracelet. Since moving to California I cannot tell you how many people ask me if I'm Canadian because of my speech patterns--they think it's the vowels, but I know it's just because I am so fond of my deep roots! 

Come join me!

Comments

[Chris]

Love the doll sweater. I wish I still had my dark haired doll that looked just like the one you picture. If I still had her, I would be tempted to make that sweater. I've never steeked anything! BTW: I was born in Elliot Lake, Ontario. If you meet any Wrigglesworths - in either Ontario or BC - he's probably my cousin.

[D Louise]

Can't make the linky work.