Green Mountain Fiber Festival

We're a week out from the fiber festival put on by White River Yarns so I thought I'd give a little preview.

The Green Mountain Fiber Festival is being held for the sixth year running, on November 15 and 16 in the Wilder Center in Wilder, VT; it's 9-5 Saturday and 9-3 Sunday. Admission is free and there will be vendors of all things knitting and spinning, with raffles as well as sales. In addition there are classes all day both days. To sign up for a class contact Karen at White River Yarns - hopefully any you want still have spots left!

You can read full course descriptions online, but here are the times, cost, materials list, and class size limit for each. I'd double-check the times for spinning if those courses interest you.

Beginning Spinning
Saturday 10 am-1 pm, Sunday 10 am-1 pm
Barbara Tonnissen and Gillian Fuqua, The Wool Shed, Worchester, VT
$40; bring your spinning wheel and roving to spin. Limited to 8.

Color in Spinning
Saturday 1-4 pm, Sunday 10 am-1 pm
Gillian Fuqua, The Wool Shed, Worchester, VT
$40; bring your spinning wheel, at least three bobbins, a lazy kate, and roving to spin. Limited to 8.

Spinning Beyond the Basics
Saturday 10 am-1 pm, Sunday 10 am-1 pm
Barbara Tonnissen, The Wool Shed, Worchester, VT
$40; bring your spinning wheel and roving to spin. Limited to 8.

Finishing Your Projects
Saturday 10 am to noon
Karen Caple, White River Yarns, White River Junction VT
$40; bring homework swatches, a blunt tip tapestry needle, and double pointed needles the same size as used for homework swatches. Swatches: three each of two types, all worked using light-colored smooth yarn that yields 4-5 stitches per inch. Type 1: Cast on 20 stitches, work in stockinette for 4", bind off leaving 18" tail attached. Type 2: Cast on 20 stitches, work in stockinette for 3", do not bind off - leave stitches on needle or stitch holder with 1 yd yarn attached. Limited to 10.

Steeking
Saturday 11 am-2 pm
Deborah Hodges, Country Woolens, Lebanon NH
$45; bring a 6" square stockinette swatch in light-colored worsted weight, six yards of contrasting color worsted weight yarn, scissors and tapestry needles. Limited to 10.

Knitting Beyond the Basics
Saturday 1-4 pm
Karen Caple, White River Yarns, White River Junction VT
$40; bring light and dark worsted weight yarn, size 8 needles, darning needle, crochet hook size F or G, four 6" square swatches in stockinette. Limited to 10.

Join-As-You Go Knitting
Saturday 10-11:30 am and 3-4:30 pm
Christiane Burkhard, Lismi Knits, Mansfield Center CT
$35; bring a few balls of worsted weight yarn (at least 6g per ball), a set of double pointed needles and a circular needle in your usual size for worsted weight, and a set of double pointed needles one size smaller than the others. Limited to 12.

What Yarn Should I Choose?
Sunday 11 am-12:30 pm
Christiane Burkhard, Lismi Knits, Mansfield Center CT
$30; bring yarn from your stash that you want to use, but can't figure out for what.

Solving Knitting Problems
Sunday 11 am-2 pm
Karen Caple, White River Yarns, White River Junction VT
$45; bring dark and light worsted weight yarn, darning needle, crochet hook, four 6" square swatches in stockinette, and any knitting that has problems you can't diagnose. Limited to 10.

So much to do this weekend!

American Craft Week starts tomorrow, and Vermont is a big participant. From the Vermont Crafts Council open studio directory for Windsor and Orange counties, I found silk painting in Hartland and studios that include fiber crafts in Woodstock and Randolph. That's separate from the Vermont North By Hand open studio tour, which includes three weavers and a coatmaker.

On top of that, Vermont Sheep and Wool is this weekend at the Tunbridge fairgrounds. There will be demonstrations and classes about all things wool-related, from raising wool-bearing animals to shearing to spinning to knitting, weaving, and felting.

There don't seem to be any Craft Week events in the eastern half of the Upper Valley, but the next League of New Hampshire Craftsmen exhibit in Hanover includes art embroidery.

Fall Classes for Kids and Teens

Here is the promised post on classes for everyone preschool to high school. Note that most of Artistree's adult classes allow enrollment of anyone age 12 or older, and that the definition of "adult" for purposes of Sew-op classes is 14 or older. Other locations would probably be amenable to older teenagers participating in adult classes, but I didn't find any posted policies. See the previous post for those class listings.


Artistree, South Pomfret, VT:

• Knitting and Fiber Art: Level I, for ages 7 and up.
  Two offerings, each five Tuesdays 4:30-5:30: Sept 16-Oct 14 and Oct 28-Dec 2.
  
  
• Knitting and Fiber Arts: Level II, for ages 7 and up.
  Two offerings, each five Tuesdays: Sept 16-Oct 14 4:30-5:30, and Oct 28-Dec 2 3:30-4:15.
  
  
• Sewing, for ages 8 and up.
  Two offerings, each five Thursdays 3:30-5:30: Sep 18-Oct 16 and Oct 30-Dec 4.
  
  
• Tween Fashion Studio, for ages 9 and up.
  Alternating Saturdays, Sep 27-Nov 22 10-noon. May sign up for all five or a la carte.
  
  
• Doodle Stitch: Beginning Embroidery, for ages 9 and up.
  Three Wednesdays 3:30-5, Oct 29-Nov 12.

AVA Gallery, Lebanon, NH:

• Ancient Myths in Sculpture, Costume, and Paint, for ages 5-8.
  Five Wednesdays 3:30-5:30, Sep 17-Oct 15.
  Member enrollment, non-member enrollment.
  
  
• Gift Making: Placemats, Pet Mats, Bookmarks and Coasters (fabric painting), for all ages.
  Saturday Dec 13, 1-5.

Upper Valley Sew-op, White River Junction, VT:

Some classes are described on the Sew-op webpage; descriptions for the rest should gradually appear on the Co-op's events calendar, under which you'll find a form to sign up for Sew-op classes online.

• Basic Sewing for Kids, Part 1.
  Thursday Oct 9, 1-3.
  
  
• Basic Sewing for Kids, Part 2.
  Thursday Oct 23, 1-3.
  
  
• Doll Clothes.
  Four offerings all 10-noon: Friday Nov 7, Saturday Nov 8, Monday Dec 29, Tuesday Dec 30.
  

In addition, there is an Open Hours expressly for kids, 1-3 on Wednesday Oct 29.

Upcoming Events

There is so much going on this fall that I've separated the classes for kids and teens into their own (forthcoming) post and put the adult classes behind a cut. First some non-class events:

The Sew-op is having a "taking session" on Thursday, September 4, from 2-4 PM. Like our yard sale, it's an effort to downsize our stash in advance of our reopening for the fall. The selection is reduced but so are the prices - unlike the yard sale, everything will be free.

The Tunbridge World's Fair is coming up September 11-14. There are always lovely quilts, knitted and crocheted items, embroidery works, and other eye candy. If you want to participate, you'll have to be perky for pre-registration (Sep 1) but you can register on the spot Sep 10 as long as you have no more than 5 items and show up before 5:00 (pre-registered items may be dropped off until 6:30). Here are the details.

Further down the road, Vermont North By Hand is having their Open Studio Tour October 4-5. Most of the participants do not work with fiber, but there are three weavers and a coatmaker among the nineteen of them. The majority of studios are in Corinth, with the rest in an arc to its east. See the online map or look for a red pamphlet about the event.

Finally, White River Yarn's sixth annual Green Mountain Fiber Festival is November 15-16 at the Wilder Center.

Classes for adults

General notes: if I say, for instance, "5 Saturdays" but give a date range containing six Saturdays, there's a skipped Saturday in there. See the linked description for details. "Alternating" means every other, beginning and ending with the listed dates.

Quilting retreats

Unlike the knitting retreats, quilt retreats seem to take a summer vacation. There is a convention this very weekend, though: the World Quilt Show, New England XII at the Radisson Center, Manchester, NH August 14-17. There will be classes, exhibits, competition, shopping, and an ice cream social. A quilt appraiser will be on site so you can have quilts appraised for insurance purposes (by appointment and with a fee). Registration is $20 plus fees for individual workshops and lectures.

If you speak French, there's a French language quilting retreat in September from Quilting in Vermont, at the Strong House Inn, Vergennes, VT.

The remaining retreats are all in November, but it appears there's a tendency for them to fill very much ahead of time, so it's not too early to think about them.

• Quilting in Vermont also has some no-teacher retreats (the first starting Oct 31) and advanced landscape quilting.
• There is a Quilters' Workshop, at the Colonial House, Weston, VT, on the pattern Attic Window.
• There are two Quilting Retreats at Calumet, in Ossipee, NH, each to learn a particular pattern.
• Pearl Hill Quilts retreats at the Silver Fox Inn, Waterville Valley, NH (in White Mountain National Forest, about 90 minutes from Hanover) has a weekday retreat.
• And finally, Mount Washington B&B Quilting Retreats, in Shelburne, NH, has three retreats (the first starting Oct 31), which are Mystery Quilt, Learn to Quilt, and UFO Finishing.

For future reference, quilting events all across New England are listed at the Rising Star Quilters Guild events page. QuiltersResources.net is a website for quilt shows and events internationally; their New Hampshire page is quite a bit more complete than their Vermont page, but both may be worth a look.

Two fibery reasons...

...to go to WRJ's First Friday tomorrow. There's always a lot of live music, art exhibits and artist studios, but this month there are two events happening on topic with this blog.

1. Tag Sale at the Sew-Op: As Jenn mentioned, we are cleaning house! Come augment your stash with fabric, yarn, vintage sewing patterns, buttons, and trims. We also have some kits, sewing machines, empty sewing machine cabinets, calligraphy books, thread organizers, and other miscellaneous crafty and sewing items. A few things will be individually priced and the rest will be by the bag (different sizes of bags available). For inspiration see our previous post, on crafting with secondhand materials.
   
   The sale runs Friday August 1st, 4-6pm, and Saturday August 2nd, 10am-2pm.
   
   
2. The Creation: Local DJ Shara Dee, wearing a white dress sewn by Robina D'Arcy-Fox of Fancy Felix Theatrical, will create music with Mr. Grim (Chris Boncoddo). During the music Robina will paint Shara and add fabric embellishments to her outfit while Maria Lara Dailey of Aquilino Arts paints a giant canvas behind them. The event will be filmed and turned into a time-lapse video. Decorating a dress on a person in motion should be an interesting challenge.
   
   The Creation is Friday August 1, 5:30-8pm, in front of Fancy Felix (58 N. Main).

You'll find Facebook pages for all these things: Sew-op tag sale, The Creation, and WRJ First Fridays. Perhaps I shall see you there!

[Disclosure: I may also be described as "of Aquilino Arts."]

Big yarny events

There are three multi-day events happening yet this summer. I knew about one, but the others came from the Northern Lights Knitting Guild's newsletter.

The soonest is a convention called The Knit and Crochet Show, sponsored by the Crochet Guild of America and the Knitting Guild Association. It runs July 23-27 in Manchester, NH, with lots of classes, shopping, meet-ups and other events. Pre-registration is closed, but you can still fill out the registration form in advance to speed things up at the door. It's hard to say what the cost is because all the pieces cost separately; if all you want to do is shop for a day and you're not a CGOA or KGA member, it's just $5 (if you are a member, it's free).

Next up is Vermont Knit and Fiber Camp, August 8-11 at Kettle Pond Campground in Groton State Forest, about an hour mostly north from White River Junction. This is actually a camp; the campground has lean-tos, outhouses, and a hand-pump well. Because of that, though, the cost is low: the full three day stay runs $17.50 per person, including campsite registration and s'mores money. Knitters, crocheters, spinners, and anyone who does anything else with yarn or wants to learn how are welcome. It's basically a chance to get away and do your craft, though there will be a yarn/tools swap and Friday potluck dinner. (If this sounds good to you except for the camping part, there will be another retreat in February in a lodge.)

Finally, retreats all about knitting: Beth's Vermont Retreats with Beth Brown-Reinsel and Marilyn King. There are two, each held in the Dutton Farmhouse in Dummerston, VT (fifteen minutes north of Brattleboro), August 14-17 and August 21-24. Each costs $500 and includes classes in Scottish Sanquhar Gloves and the Danish Nattrøjer.

E-Textiles and other July events

All across Vermont, libraries are going to have STEAM events this summer. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, and it's the usual STEM with a creative twist. There's one class relevant to this blog by location and content: E-Textiles at the Quechee Library, July 26, 10 AM to 1 PM. It's for kids and families, best for middle school and up, and combines sewing with circuit design to incorporate LEDs into fabric. For more about the class, see the STEAM-e-zine; for information about signing up, visit the Quechee Library page. If you are further afield in Vermont, the STEAM-e-zine has an interactive map of programs all over the state.

What about other happenings? Many if not most of the Artistree classes from the previous listing are still ahead of us.

AVA Gallery's fabric doll making course (for children age 5-8, July 21-25, 1-4 PM) is still open. For more information and registration visit the member listing or the nonmember listing and scroll down a bit.

Some of the upcoming League of NH Craftsmen classes have filled; here are the ones still open:

• Cloaks and Shawls (and armor) summer camp for ages 8-10, July 21-25, 9 AM-noon
• The Wonderful World of Color Captured on Fabric summer camp for ages 8-10, July 28-August 1, 1-4 PM (one place left as of this writing)
• Transforming (t-shirts into other items) summer camp; ages 8-12: August 4-8, 1-4 PM; ages 8-10: August 18-22, 9 AM-noon
• Suminigashi (marbled dye technique) for adults, Saturday August 9, 2-5 PM

See the mixed media class page for Suminigashi and the summer camp section of the children's classes page for the rest.

The Upper Valley Sew-op has reduced hours in July and will be closed for the month of August except for a "yard sale" August 1-2 (more on that closer to the date). Most offerings in July are Open Hours, the free drop-in times to come use the Sew-ops tools and materials. Those occur every Wednesday afternoon 1-3 and two Saturday mornings 10-noon: the 12th and 26th. On Saturday the 19th 10-noon there is a kids' class for ages 7 and up: Make a Chalkboard Place Mat. For the description and a registration form visit the the Co-op's calendar page.

Quilting field trips

If you want to see some lovely quilts, there are two major events within day-trip distance.

The Vermont Quilt Festival is this weekend in Essex Junction, up near Burlington. There will be exhibits and classes on quilting skills, designing, and specific quilt patterns. The festival is open Friday and Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 9-3, and costs $12 for one day plus $10 for each additional day. Check out their website for all the details.

For looking only, you can visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which has a special exhibit until July 27 of the Pilgrim/Roy collection of quilts. The exhibition page has a slideshow of some of the quilts, which in person are accompanied by descriptions of the visual effects and aspects of color theory they exemplify (though these are historical quilts, made for household use). I'm intrigued by the inclusion of a section called "Optical Illusions."

If you go (or have been) let us know what you think!

Medieval crafting

The local Vermont branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Panther Vale, is hosting Panteria this weekend in Thetford. The SCA is dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th-century Europe (per their website), and Panteria is a weekend dedicated to the re-creation part.

I am writing about it because, of course, the arts and skills of medieval Europe include a good deal of fiber craft. Of course there will be banners and period clothing, much of which will have been sewn by the person wearing or carrying it. There will be merchants with handmade items. The weekend has many planned activities, but members will also spend time as they would have in the medieval period, working on handcrafts. You'll likely see people embroidering, sewing, and spinning, and should feel free to ask questions.

The planned activities also include at least one fiber class: blackwork, a style of embroidery. There may also be one on nalbinding, a method of making fabric from yarn that far predates knitting, and perhaps some last minute classes on other fiber topics.

The practicalities: Panteria XIX runs from 2:00 Friday, May 23 to noon Monday, May 26 and is at Camp Farnsworth in Thetford. They request visitors attempt medieval garb but do not want that to be an obstacle to coming, and in fact have loaner costumes available. About those and about classes ask at the registration desk for the most up to date information. It is too late to sign up for the meal plan for the weekend, but individual meals are still available for purchase at registration. You can also cook on site, subject to some restrictions on fires. See the site rules/FAQ for more.

Many thanks to David O'Vitt for answering my questions and some I hadn't known to ask.

Upcoming Events

Somehow it escaped my awareness until this afternoon that this weekend is the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival, Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 9-4. It's in Deerfield, NH, east of Concord and about a 25 mile drive from the junction of I-89 and I-93. The NH Weavers Guild and NH Spinners and Dyers Guild will be demonstrating their crafts all day both days, and there are demonstrations and workshops on needle felting, wet felting, dyeing, and drop spindles.

While we're talking about events, a few more. Many of the entries in the previous installment are still current or upcoming, so check back there as well.

Upper Valley Sew-op:
The Sew-op's classes through June 2 were listed previously. There are a few scheduled after that, for adults unless otherwise stated:

• Custom Gadget Sleeves - sew to your item's measure with a few shaping and finishing options; June 9, 5:30-7:30 PM. Basic sewing skills required.
• Skirts - sew to your own measure; June 14, 10-noon. Basic sewing skills required.
• Tech Holder, for kids - make a pouch for your MP3 player; June 21, 10-noon.
• Letter Pockets, for kids 8+ and adults - sew a simple pocket for practicalities or treasures, while learning to top stitch and sew a buttonhole; June 21, 1-3 PM.
• Tic-Tac-Toe, for kids ages 7-12 - cut and sew a felt tic-tac-toe game, including a pocket to hold the pieces and ribbon ties to roll the game up; June 28, 10-noon.

Open hours in June are every Wednesday 1-3 PM, and Monday the 16th, 23rd, and 30th 5:30-7:30 PM.

Artistree:
Artistree, in Woodstock, has a number of fibery classes and camps this summer, including one tomorrow afternoon. They're roughly chronological below, but alphabetical on the website.

• Scribble Scarf Workshop, adults and 5+ - make a wool and silk scarf, aimed at Mother's Day; May 10, 10-noon.
• Silk Painting, adults and 12+ - tracing, dye resist, and painting; June 7, 9 AM-4 PM with hour lunch; may also register for 9-12 only.
• Fiber Arts Studio, ages 5+ - weekly studio of knitting, felting, knotting, and twisting; Wednesdays June 18-August 13, 1-3 PM. Register for individual sessions or the whole series.
• Simply Crafts, adults and 15+ - three sessions dedicated to different crafts: rag wreaths, easy canvas art, and nail and string art; June 28, July 26, and August 16, 10-noon. Register for individual sessions or the whole series.
• Dragons and Fiber Craft Camp, ages 7-12 - four days of felting, weaving, and sewing dragon-related items; June 30-July 3, 9-12 AM.
• Hand-sewn, Hand-made: Designing and Creating with Fabric, ages 7-12 - five days of creating textile accessories, learning fundamental hand sewing techniques along the way; July 7-11 or August 11-15, 1-3:30 PM.
• Fashion Camp, ages 8+ - five days of restyling clothing with sewing machines and embellishments; July 14-18, 9-noon.
• Zombie Sock Monkeys, 8+ and adult friends - just what it sounds like; July 19, 10 AM-12:30 PM.
• Shibori Scarves, adults and 16+ - Japanese dye-resist techniques of folding, pinching, and binding; August 9, 10 AM-12:30 PM.

Upcoming Events

We've wanted since the beginning to be a source for upcoming event and class announcements, and there is no time like the present to dive into that. If you know of something coming up in the next few months that I'm missing, please announce it in the comments!

The topics below are: Yarn donation and sale to benefit COVER (White River Yarns), yarn swap (Upper Valley Knitting Guild), and upcoming classes (Upper Valley Sew-Op, AVA, League of NH Craftsmen). And don't forget about the fiddlehead craft challenge here on the blog.

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Re-Cover Store Fund Raiser, White River Yarns
Unwanted yarn, needles, notions, and bags will be collected April 15-May 15.
A yarn sale to benefit COVER will be held May 31, 8-2, at the Hotel Coolidge.
For more details see White River Yarns' webpage.

WR Yarns' latest newsletter also had summer hours, reduced from the winter and to take effect Memorial Day. We have updated the directory page.

Annual yarn swap, Upper Valley Knitting Guild
The UV Knitting Guild meetings are the 2nd Wednesday of each month, 7-9 PM at the Norwich Library. The May meeting, May 14th, will include their annual yarn (et cetera) swap: yarn, needles, books, and accessories. Bring the materials for that sweater you aren't going to get around to and pass them along to someone who will. To get on the newsletter list contact Phebe Whitworth, phebewhitworth at comcast dot net.

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Upcoming Classes

These are current to the best of my knowledge, but may change without notice, so always phone. (All classes below require registration in advance, anyway.)

AVA Gallery is offering a fabric doll making course for children age 5-8, July 21-25, 1-4 PM. AVA children's classes have separate enrollment pages for members and nonmembers, so for more information and registration visit the member listing or the nonmember listing (both for multiple offerings, so you'll have to scroll).

League of NH Craftsmen, adults:

• Beginning Tatting, Wednesdays June 4-25, 6-9 PM
• Suminigashi (marbled dye technique), Saturday August 9, 2-5 PM

See the mixed media class page for more details and registration.

League of NH Craftsmen, children and teens:

• Project Runway summer camp for ages 10-12, July 7-11, 1-4 PM
• Cloaks and Shawls (and armor) summer camp for ages 8-10, July 21-25, 9 AM-noon
• The Wonderful World of Color Captured on Fabric summer camp for ages 8-10, July 28-August 1, 1-4 PM
• Transforming (t-shirts into other items) summer camp; ages 8-12: August 4-8, 1-4 PM; ages 8-10: August 18-22, 9 AM-noon

See the summer camp section of the children's classes page for more details and registration.

Upper Valley Sew-Op:

• Learn to Crochet via Granny Squares, April 21, 5:30-7:30 PM
• Pants to Shorts, April 26, 10 AM-noon
• Girl's Smocked Sundress (adult class for child clothing), May 3, 10 AM-noon
• Basic Sewing, May 5, 5:30-7:30 PM
• Reversible Sundress (adult class for child clothing), May 17, 10 AM-noon
• Pajama Pants (adult class for clothing of size desired), June 2, 5:30-7:30 PM

For more information and to register, visit the Co-Op's calendar page. Payment for classes is currently only accepted at the class itself, via check or cash.

The Sew-op also has Open Hours, free drop-in sessions where someone is on hand who knows the Sew-op's materials and equipment and can help with projects. These are generally Mondays 5:30-7:30 PM when there is no class scheduled, Saturday 10 AM-noon when there is no class scheduled, and Wednesday 1-3 PM, but check the calendar -- in particular, the Sew-op is closed Memorial Day weekend and will be reducing its hours in July and August.