Fall Fiber Classes & Festivals

I love to read about everyone's adventures at various fiber classes and festivals as an armchair traveler, while at the same time knowing that I have my own rounds of interesting and fun places. My fall schedule is even busier than usual!


I started my autumn adventures by teaching a weaving class at the Campbell Folk School - 18th Century Household Textiles. My invaluable assistant Lucy Best was on hand to help with the ten students and we had a very busy week.


This class covers 6 different historic textiles: napery, coverlets, carpets, blankets, towels and lindsey woolsey. That is a lot of different warps for one short week, but the students soldiered through and wove some beautiful samples!



Then I taught two days of spinning classes at our local Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival: Traditional Wool Preparation, Point Spinning on spindle and great wheel and Handpaint Magic - spinning with handpainted rovings. I love teaching spinning classes and it was a real pleasure to work with small groups after the busy weaving class!



I also got to help Sue Bundy and the Loudoun Needleworkers gals with the jurying of the fleece sale for SVFF on Friday. I love wool from the sheep to the yarn, and it was delightful to roll out fleece after fleece, look them over and comment on each one.




And of course I fell in love with one or two... namely a Rambouillet/Finn/Corriedale and a Rambouillet/Corriedale/Border Leicester, both from Patchwork Pastures Farm in Luray Virginia. They were both large fleeces and I split them with a friend and also sold a fleece I had purchased and had processed from last year, so my total fleece inventory somehow remains stable!

I did enhance my spinning tools collection rather significantly at SVFF - I bought two beautiful spindles from The Spanish Peacock along with two nostepinnes.

Then on Sunday I heard there was a used Kromski Polonaise for sale. This turned out to be a display model from Michelle Reilly of Wool N' Quilts, an old fiber friend. Very little deliberation was required - I've been lusting after this wheel since I spun on one for several days last January. Isn't she a beauty?


And a few lovely handpainted braids from Creatively Dyed Yarns - I am such a sucker for good color. I'd like to spin the pair of Merino/Silk/Cashmere at the bottom as a fractal for a large scarf or shawl.


So - next comes a day of teaching my Handpaint Magic Spinning class at the Fall Fiber Festival Sunday 10/2, an afternoon wool waulking for the Waterford Weavers at the Waterford Fair 10/9 and then I head down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to teach a weaving class for the Outer Banks Guild. As this falls on our wedding anniversary weekend, my husband will come along and we'll stay for an extra day or two and enjoy the beach in off season.

Then I get two free weekends - whew! - before I fly to Cleveland to teach Acadian Weaving for the Medina Guild, and I will finish off the year with a local weekend knitting class - Modular Knitting - for the Blue Ridge Spinners & Weavers Guild.

I added my teaching schedule in a sidebar a few months ago and I will try to keep this updated. When possible, there is a link for the guild or school. Most of these classes are open to non-members or the general public as well as guild members, so feel free to contact the organization or leave a comment if you are interested in a particular class!