Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Fiber College 2010, Searsport, Maine

This is one of the fun things about fiber festivals: glorious hand-dyed yarn. The yarn pictured above is from Linda Whiting's Pinestar Studio.

And here's another fun thing about fiber festivals: meeting hand-knitwear designers. Below is the delightful Mary Jane Mucklestone. (Notice the adorable beagle in the background! He was a sweetie!) Go to Mary Jane's website and read about her wonderful trip to Shetland. Mary Jane gave a class at Fiber College.
Here she is looking over the fiber books from Village Books in Washington, Maine. My friend Karen Jelenfy of Village Books and I shared a booth. Karen has great fiber books!
The lovely yarns below are hand-dyed by Heather, owner (and fiberista!) of Highland Handmades. I first met Heather at Maine's Fiber Frolic last spring and was happy to have her booth next to ours at Fiber College. We vendors have fun.
Pictured below is Debbie of Purple Fleece in Stockton Springs, Maine giving an impromptu spinning demonstration. She is a master spinner.
And dyer. Pictured below are Debbie's luscious hand-dyed sock weight yarns. Check out her spinning wheels. Spinning is addictive and calming, says Karen, who has plunged into the world of spinning.
The charming felted hats below are made by Michelle DeLucia of Sunshine Daydream Farm in Brownfield, Maine.
Michelle uses native, natural plant dyes.
Beautiful!
Michelle had this charming felted bag for sale in her booth, too.
There was even a lovely vegetable garden nearby.
Fiber College takes place at the scenic Searsport Shores Ocean Campground.

These photos wouldn't have been possible without the loan of a camera from Debbie, my friend at Purple Fleece, who kindly loaned me hers after I realized mine wasn't working (thank you Debbie!)

Saturday, September 18th, Karen will bring Knitting Out Loud audiobooks to Country Knitters and Spinners Fiber Festival in Presque Isle, Maine.

Saturday and Sunday, September 18 & 19, I will bring Knitting Out Loud audiobooks to the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival in Hemlock, New York.

Hope to see you there! Happy Fall!
-Kathy


6 comments:

Heather said...

It was so nice to see you again! I will definitely attempt to get to Commmon Ground this year to say hi. Thanks for the kind words here - and for making it a great weekend.

Karen said...

Great post, Kathy! Thanks for the mention(s)! I had a lot of fun.

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

How incredibly lucky you are to go to all these festivals!!!! Thank you for sharing all your pictures and the treasures you spy while on these outings.

clairz said...

What a wonderful tour. It made me realize I need to find some fiber arts festivals here in New Mexico!

Knitting Out Loud said...

Thank you all for your kind words.

Heather, looking forward to seeing you at Common Ground Fair!

Karen, have a wonderful time at the Northern Maine Fiber Fest this weekend in Presque Isle! They are going to celebrate "Spin in Public" day.

Mr. Puffy's KB: Yes, I do feel very lucky to go to these sheep and wool festivals. Right now I'm on my way to the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival in Hemlock, NY. It's always a wonderful adventure!

Clairz, I just googled "NM fiber arts festivals" and found them in Farmington and Albuquerque.

raining sheep said...

for one, I love the sweater M.J. is wearing in the top pick and secondly I am drooling over the colors of all that wonderful hand-dyed yarn in the first image. I am not even daring to set foot in a yarn store.