Meet the people, sample the flavor, and experience the kinship through 11 unique events and more than 25 inspiring projects
Throughout history, we've gathered together in the market square. We're there to buy and sell, to get good deals on fibers, fabrics, fruits, vegetables, and bread, but we're also there to see friends, gossip, trade recipes, and admire new clothes. We've got an eye on each other's animals, and we're going to keep them from getting into any trouble. It's our chance to hold someone else's baby or to congratulate a new grandmother. It's a chance to connect, to touch, and to bond with others.
These days, it's easy to feel like we live in scary times, and sometimes we're less neighborly than we used to be. Our lives are filled with long distances and technology. We're more likely to make cyberfriends than visit with someone down the street. Our lives are full of work, school, and caretaking, but how many of us still live near our families? Our hometowns? How do we reach out to one another?
—From the Introduction
Introduction.
Northeast.
Chapter 1: Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.
The Food.
Sheep Dog Demonstrations.
Mary Jane Socks.
Spirited Entrelac Polo.
Learning to Hand Dye Multicolored Yarn.
Chapter 2: New York State Sheep and Wool Festival.
New York Wine and Cheese.
Festive Fingerless Mitts.
Deep V.
The Curious Ewe.
Chapter 3: New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival.
What’s NEAOBA?
Apple Crisp Recipe.
Unmistakably Warm Cowl.
Natural Alpaca Ruana.
South.
Chapter 4: Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair.
Asheville.
Quick Felted Sweater Bag.
Blossom.
Chapter 5: The Tennessee State Fair: A Spinning Competition and Fleece Auction.
How to Wash Fleece: A General Guide.
Spinning for Speed.
Midwest.
Chapter 6: Michigan Fiber Festival.
Kumihimo.
Inexpensive Tools for Spinning: A Drop Spindle.
Inexpensive Tools for Knitting: Knitting Needles.
Creating a Skein.
Chapter 7: Heart of America Sheep Show and Fiber Fest.
The New U.S. Lamb Market.
Sit Upon: A Crocheted Wool Roving Seat Pad.
Icelandic Winter Cap.
Chapter 8: Shearing Day.
Preparing for and Helping at a Sheep Shearing.
Skirting a Fleece.
West.
Chapter 9: Black Sheep Gathering.
The Woolen Mill.
Fishtail Vest.
Evergreen.
Chapter 10: Estes Park Wool Market.
Lamb’s for Lunch.
Mountain Ripple Socks.
Men’s Crochet Mock Cable Sweater.
Chapter 11: The Wool Festival at Taos.
New Mexico Weaving Traditions.
Navajo-Churro Sheep.
A Trio of Southwestern-Style Pillows.
Chapter 12: Conclusions: Building Your Own Fiber Gathering.
Thick & Thin Baby Coat & Cap.
Classy Aran Long Skirt.
Andean Plying.
Techniques.
Resources.
Index.
Joanne Seiff is a freelance writer, knitwear designer, educator, and fiber artist. Her writing and designs have appeared in Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, Better Homes and Gardens' Knit It!, Spin-Off, Belle Armoire, and Wild Fibers magazines; in the KnitPicks Yarn Catalog; in the Lion Brand Book, Just Gifts and the KnitLit books; and online at Knitty.com and Handspinners.com. She has won awards and sold handspun yarn nationwide. In December 2005, her handspun and handknitted art was part of a juried exhibition at the Kiana Malekzadeh Gallery in New York City.
For fiber lovers, a festival is more than a setting for buying and selling materials—it's a gathering place where artisans, designers, farmers, and friends come together to teach, learn, share, and celebrate this timeless art in a unique 21st-Century marketplace.
Join author Joanne Seiff as she details the rich heritage, sprawling agriculture, and unique flavor of eleven fiber events throughout the U.S. From the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival to Oregon's Black Sheep Gathering—and lots of others in between—you'll get a taste of what each festival has to offer through a rich mix of photography, essays, lore, and even a local recipe. Talented designers have contributed top-of-the-line patterns for you to knit, crochet, spin, felt, hook, and dye your own distinctive masterpieces using fibers that are ubiquitous to each festival. Whether you're working with a sophisticated mohair-silk blend or skirting a fleece on shearing day, the twenty-five projects in this book are representative of the best of America's fiber festivals.
Perfect for the armchair traveler and fiber enthusiast alike, Fiber Gathering lets you bring America's most celebrated festivals into your heart and home—and inspires you to create clothing, art, and meaning from these time-honored crafts.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Distributor: John Wiley & Sons
Publication Date: 03-09-2009
Pages: 176
Measurements: 266.70mm X 224.0mm X 20.299mm X 32.64oz
