Coming October 20-22, 2023

Here is a correction to the initial version of this blog on SAFF! 9/19/2023

Don't be fooled by this link as I was:

https://saffsite.org/event-information/ where you see a link at the bottom to ...event-schedule/  where "coming in October" is displayed.  That link was never updated

INSTEAD make sure you click on the "SAFF 2023 Information" in red at the TOP of the page.  This is what you will see (below).  Be sure to sign up for classes.

In the pull down menu you will see the correct links but they won't be correct in the boxed links lower on the page.

So many things to do and see.  What to do first?  It depends on what interests you most: classes, events such as sheep herding, demonstrations?  Walk into a auditorium space and be knocked over by the grand, copious, extensive, unbelievable vendor displays of fiber for felting and spinning, yarns to knit and crochet, yarn shops moved lock stock and barrel to the vending space (it seems to me), rug hooking, weaving, hand made fiber items, tools for working with fiber, and so on. 

I like to visit the animals and hear the sounds they make.  Totally weird and amazing if you never have heard them. And of course, each breed of sheep or goat, for example, looks so different.  How about an angora goat (mohair) compared with a Jacob conservation breed sheep (wool)?

As a knitting and crocheting enthusiast I have spent previous years at the SAFF trying out different yarns. I bought my first merino roving there with the notion that I might like to try felting.  That's not the only possible new hobby that I saw demonstrated.  At a spot where the vendor was working on an Australian Locker Hooking project, I found she sold all the necessary materials for joining in.  

I have also established an ongoing relationship with vendors that don't  live close by.  I wanted more of a particular type of knubby cotton yarn that I haven't seen in stores and was able to order more. 

Do you want to buy a fleece and start from scratch?  This is a good place to shop and experience the array of choices. 

Lots of other vendors sell finished products in addition to offering raw materials and you might fall in love with some beautifully knitted baby booties as I did.

Are you competitive?  Enter the competition by clicking here. There are lots of categories to chose from.

*! Seek out the Local Cloth table which will have information on our non-profit organization centered in Asheville.

• Local Cloth is a non-profit whose motto is "growing the fiber economy".
• The surrounding 100 mile radius comprises our Blue Ridge Mountain Fiber Shed where our members, including the farmers and artists, live and work. 
• And, Local Cloth volunteers will be running free "Make and Take" mini-workshops there.

SAFF starts on the Friday; classes start early on Thursday (no retail or events events).

Note for the SAFF that at the Ag Center only gate 7 is open. On the Events page at the SAFF webpage you will find entry price and directions to the Ag Center in Fletcher where the SAFF fair is held.

Caps for Cancer at the NC Mountain State Fair is now posted online.  The fair runs September 8-17, 2023 at the WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher where the caps we have been working on will be displayed. 

This competition event is in its first year at the fair and should run at least the next three years.  Caps are entered in the competition or are just plain donated.  All of the caps will be delivered to the Messina Cancer Centers of Western North Carolina.  

We (Judi Jetson, Martha Brandon, Katya Krenov-Hoke, and Susette Shiver) have been making hats over the summer.  We are finished!  I delivered 26 hats to the Fairgound yesterday Sept 5 under the name of Local Cloth  While there, I saw the display site as hats were being added.

Our group made a straightforward donation, so the hats will be displayed but not judged. 

The display is in the EXPO building:

Here are our hats!

5/16/23 last updated

Dear HC friends

We are starting our second collaborative project. If you want to join in and I don't know about it yet (you haven't received an email), let me know by emailing Susette Shiver.

Tori is going to start, Since she was interested in knowing the order beforehand, lets all think about it and sign up below (It's not binding!!  We are a flexible group): think about whether you care to be in the early vs. latter stages of the project.  If no one wants the 2. position I am happy to take it on, Tori, as you are just down the road!

Remember, we aren't in any rush or deadline, and each artist adds after the piece "speaks to them"! As before, I will finish and prepare for hanging unless someone else volunteers.

1. Tori, thinking "Japanese kimono fabrics and maybe some Sashiko"

2. Susette

3. Katya

4. Paddy

5. Ceil

6. Rebecca

7. Mary

Carolyne has been busy on Thursdays and so has decided not to participate in this second collaborative project.  

Tori began with silk pieces and slow-stitched appliques.  Susette took up the piece and added stitched hemispheres.  The stitching yarn is undyed silk/cotton (45%/55%, respectively). The navy linen was discharged in the presence of indigo to create the pattern.

   

Next, Katya, then Paddy!  Stay tuned.   

It is in Ceil's hands now, 7/6/2023

The final piece!

Theresa Stenersen, Franklin, NC, Member since 2022

Spelling Tuesday Farm, with a breeding flock of Icelandic sheep.

Theresa is one of those people that can have a full time job as an Child Care Health Consultant with a nursing background, be a fiber farmer with 18 Icelandic sheep in Franklin, and take classes and expand her fiber art repertoire in spinning and weaving.

Although her father’s mother and sisters were avid knitters (and crocheters, quilters, even doing some tatting!), Theresa didn’t really learn to knit until later in life.  However, the family was quite close and her grandmother who lived until 101 years old was attended by her knitting daughters at home every day. Down time was spent gathering round and knitting, remembers a young Theresa.

Her first zap of inspiration into the fiber world was actually what Theresa calls “reversed engineered”.  In the late 1990’s, she attended a sheepdog competition.  This inspired her.  But, to have a sheepdog, one first must have animals to herd. Once you have the sheep, you have a lot of fleeces, and so on.  (More later on the number of fleeces in various stages of processing that have been collected into her basement). 

Somewhere along the line, Theresa met her husband who is Norwegian and a software engineer.  She moved to Norway and lived there from 1999-2011. During this period, she knitted quite a few items to keep herself warm in that cold climate. 

As a means of sharing her life with her parents back in the states, and with the help of her husband, Theresa began her own knitting blog and website.  If you recall, during that era, the idea of blogging was just getting going and few blog sites were out there to enjoy. Soon a “web ring” developed of knitters with about 30 websites.  This was essentially a group of folks that became friends over the internet and around knitting.  Amy Singer, the instigator of knitty.com saw Theresa’s blogs and invited her to contribute technique articles, “Techniques with Theresa”.  Cool huh? 

Theresa has also contributed a pattern to Debbie Stohler’s “Stitch ‘n Bitch” and went on to start Norway’s version of Stitch ‘n Bitch (in Norwegian which she learned being plunged directly into the culture). She and a friend are currently hosting a Stitch ‘n Bitch in Franklin at the Rathskeller Coffee House and Pub on the first Sunday of every month.

Currently, Theresa and her husband live in her grandparent’s old house in Franklin.  This was where she became a fiber farmer following up on her interest in sheep dogs.  In Iceland, these sheep provide fiber, meat, and sheep’s milk. Did you know that there are four types of cheese that are traditionally made from sheep’s milk: Feta, Roquefort, Manchego, and Pecorino? More commonly in the United States, only fiber and meat are used from the sheep and that is what Theresa and her husband Sid provide. However, as I mentioned early on, much of the fiber from Theresa’s flock of Icelandic sheep have ended up in her basement. 

Recently, Theresa attended the first of the Fiber Farmer Listening Sessions at Local Cloth.  There she met Jonathon and Ben Hearn, a sheep shearing father/son team. (Their partner, Charlotte Crittenden, has been shearing for Spelling Tuesday farm for a few years now.)  She also networked with other farmers and artists. Theresa is hoping to move the fiber from her basement into projects and sales with the help of Local Cloth and its members.

Learning to spin and weave is taking up more of Theresa’s time at present so that she can begin to effectively use her own fiber.  Icelandic sheep are interesting in that their fiber consists of an under layer of short, soft fiber (thel) and a top layer of longer, coarser fiber (tog). These fibers can be separated, for example, using a comb or spun together into Lopi, which the Icelandic word for unspun or lightly spun yarn. Alone, the tog is quite useful for projects requiring greater strength such as in rugs, or as a weaving warp. Theresa has recently joined the Nonah Weavers in Macon County.  They have a large space and multiple looms available for use, and many experienced weavers who can provide mentoring.

Follow along on new adventures – and baby lambs! -  on Spelling Tuesday Farm’s Instagram account.

Interview by Susette Shiver

May 2023

We have finished our first Handwork Circle collaborative project! It is on display at Local Cloth Studio, 408 Depot St, Asheville NC. Note the circle!!  Also, can you find the brillig and the slithy toves? [Jabberwocky, by LEWIS CARROLL, "  ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  " ] They are thanks to Rebecca Norris, the literary type. These and all the other elements are interwoven into a piece that was created impromptu as we passed it from one to another and let it speak to us individually.

Google us at Local Cloth Handwork Circle to see blogs about our activity (or scroll through the blogs).

Our second project is just beginning if you want to join in (email Susette Shiver).

The Handwork Circle piece on display at Local Cloth (at the back on the left of the studio).  The participants are embroidered around the edges.  

Susette is showing Judi Jetson elements of the piece.

_________________

This is an ongoing piece that will be finished when our new project is finished!!  The v-handwork group had the idea it would be fun to start a project that would be handed off in turns to all who wanted to join.  I started off by giving Carolyn Morrison some hand dyed linen pieces left from my previous projects.  

The order of participants: (in progress)

1. Susette Shiver
2. Carolyne Morrison
3.  Ceil Jensen
4. Katya Hoke
5. Paddy Lynch
6. Rebecca Norris
7. Tori Masaki

Photos:

1. Susette

2. Carolyne

3. Ceil

5.Paddy

7. Tori

This is a blog that is ongoing and will be updated with subsequent discussions, decisions, resources, patterns, etc as we move forward!  Check back periodically!

Feb 23, 2023

The handwork circle (both in-person and v-handwork settings) have been busy this year initiating two new projects.  The first, a collaborative fiber project I will blog about separately.  The second opportunity is to make caps for cancer patients that have received chemotherapy and lost hair.  

The subgroup of cap-makers from our handwork circle include: Martha Branden, Gail Cable, Katya Hoke, Susette Shiver, Ceil Jensen, Paddy Lynch, Mary Kelley, Kathleen Lewis, Tori Masaki, Victoria Robertson, and Sara (with tunis, we need her last name!!)

This year the NC Mountain State Fair (third largest in NC) occurs September 8-17, 2023.  A new category for competition is the "Caps for Cancer" in which all the caps will be donated to Messina Cancer Center in WNC.  

The information that we have at present is detailed in this pdf document.  Our group plans to enter in the Club Showcase Class including in the crochet, knitting, and constructed categories.

Yesterday, Thursday Feb 23, at our zoom v-handwork get-together, we discussed for the first time this project.  We all agreed that knitting colors for different cancers was "too much information".  Privacy might be preferred by the patients when out in public! 

Secondly, some of us prefer knitting or crocheting while others prefer constructing interpreted by us as sewing hats.  We will not use wool or chenille as suggested (see above pdf document link). The caps should be silk, soft baby acrylic possibly or cotton, tencel, or bamboo. 

We all like fleece hats, and Ceil has several that she wears that would be excellent to sew (with the serged seams to the outside so that the inside is perfectly smooth and soft) with perhaps a ribbon on the brim or other types of decorations added. The hat can be worn in various ways and looks almost like a beret but with a band that can be pulled down as far as you like. 

Silk caps or caps with a turban-like design with added embellishments were proposed as well as reversible, and other types. 

We closed agreeing that we all could try and identify hat styles, patterns, and resources to consult that might be useful.  Before launching into making multiples, we will make prototypes to test and discuss. And, we will strive to make hats of the recommended sizes with the dimensions listed in the above link. 

The deadline for delivery to the fair is August 25th, so the hats will be collected to one place and then delivered to the county fair on that date.  The fair organizers promise that all the hats will be displayed during the fair and then donated to Messina Cancer Center.  

______________

Hats for consideration prior to choosing ones for prototypes

Here are some hats for consideration:

1.  2.  

3.  4.   5.   6.   7.   

Resource:

Knots of Love website with patterns-all about cancer caps

Ravelry, Chemo Caps

The Spinning Study group of Local Cloth meets once per month to congregate, share spinning projects and a variety of fiber preparation and spinning techniques. 

This past Sunday afternoon the topic was how to diz.  I learned to spin during the 2020 pandemic with a couple of lessons to get me started. Since I was out-of-commission for a year I have missed many wonderful spinning study group sessions.  This particular diz event is my first time back in person at the Local Cloth studio with the group.  It seems everyone was interested as there was quite a crowd.  Most did not have much experience with the use of a diz to make roving, but several who did shared their knowledge and equipment.  We explored with hands on the  results from using a diz to make roving from blended fibers generated with a blending board, hackle, or a drum carder.  Sally Thomas showed us how to make diz directly from combed fiber still attached to the comb (Fig 1-3) . 

Time out!

What is a diz?  This link takes you to a Spin Off article with lots of information on the diz and what is used for.  Even more information on the design of dizzes and the outcome of using one that impacts the type and thickness of the yarn that is spun is found at this link.

Fig. 1. An example of a diz and a button that could be used as a diz.

   

What is a hackle? A quick search found these interesting links, from Majacraft, a maker of spinning tools, and from Spin Off and one on blending colors using a hackle.  I have so much reading to do.  But, we just jumped in and everyone tried several approaches.

Fig. 2. A hackle for blending fiber.

What is a blending board?  Here is a YouTube movie from Ashford illustrating blending different colors or types of fibers using the blending board.  Of course Spin Off magazine has an excellent article on generating rolags for spinning yarn using a blending board. We used the diz to create roving instead of rolags.

What is a drum carder? Here are some photos of various drum carders.  Drum carders can be manual crank or electric, you apply fiber at one end and a small drum aids loading of the fibers onto a larger drum. The action of the drum blends and aligns the fibers.

Judi Jetson chose Corriedale locks and aligned them blunt cut end to tip end.  Then Sally Thomas demonstrated loading locks onto the comb and combed locks using two combs to transfer fiber back and forth. This eventually resulted in neatly combed fiber (see below).  

Next, Sally used the diz to pull fiber from the comb. Sally has a wonderful small kit of dizzes in different colors with tiny to larger holes. 

Fig. 3. Judi Jetson sorting locks blunt cut end to tip for loading comb; first lock placed on comb blunt end to back of comb, tip in left hand.

  

 Fig 4. Combing the fiber, and locking down the fiber-loaded comb to the table.

        

Fig. 5. To start dizzing, a crochet hook is used to pull fiber through the hole; just starting to pull fibers through hole; a later stage when dizzing is nearly complete.

    

Fig. 6. A fine roving that is easy to spin is the result.

I blended off-white Shetland wool with small amounts of various colors i wool on a small drum carder.  Then I used a washer (found in a tool box) to diz roving off of the drum carder. The Shetland I had purchased locally from Hidaway Farms Shetlands & Icelandics, Hendersonville, NC. 

Fig. 7. Shetland roving; blended fiber from drum carder  which was dizzed straight from the drum carder; spinning the fiber; yarn spun and plyed using the chain ply technique.

    

Fig. 8.  The spinning study group in action.

  

 

Photos by Susette Shiver and Kathleen Lewis

Vendor Spotlight:
Betty Hilton-Nash, BHN Designs

Since Betty was 8 years old and her mother taught her how to sew, she has been a textile person. In addition to being a tapestry weaver for the past 30 years, one of her textile explorations involves dyeing silk, rayon and bamboo scarves and rayon tunics.

She has always been fascinated with color, its effect on the eye and the emotions. She starts with a white scarf and adds color randomly, and with intent, using Shibori resist techniques. She loves the spontaneity of the process. She works intuitively, reacting to the first color applied in deciding what color to apply next. She has recently added rayon tunics, which she dyes using a 3-color immersion process, employing block resist or banded resist Shibori techniques for a decorative element. She uses primarily fiber reactive dyes along with indigo.

A scarf is the perfect size canvas on which to record a creative moment. It forces the artist to put their first and best effort on the fabric. The scarf allows the wearer to express their creativity in pairing with an outfit as well as experiencing the luxury of fine fabrics next to their skin. She has been pairing these scarves with the new tunic line to achieve a complete look for the buyer.

Betty sells silk scarves, rayon tunics and skirts, bamboo socks and small tapestries in the shop.

Image above: Betty Hilton-Nash

Jim "Bo" and Martha Branden, Weaverville, NC
Members since 2021 and 2019, respectively

Martha and Bo Branden are an easy-going couple with a playful spirit whom you may have already met at Local Cloth activities. Last month I had a chance to get on a zoom with Martha and Bo, members of Local Cloth since 2019. They joined after they relocated from Charlotte to a beautiful home in Weaverville. There they indulge in the glorious sunrises and dramatic sunsets over the French Broad River valley and the mountains to the north. “I want to know I’m in the mountains,” said Bo to describe their motivation for their uniquely placed home. 

Their home, designed by Bo, is the center for the couple’s on-going stream of creativity and design. The upstairs holds Martha’s studio with a specially designed closet for storage of her stash. Can we really call it a closet? It is floor to ceiling with the ultimate in custom-designed shelves to organize all of Martha’s fiber needs – yes, it was designed by Bo.

Martha is a self-taught fiber enthusiast, with the exception of weaving. She enjoyed a class at John C. Campbell learning to weave “a scarf in a weekend”. This was just after she retired from her job as a paramedic. Martha commented that if she found a few moments while on duty as a paramedic, working a few stitches helped manage the pressures of the job. She searched out Local Cloth when they moved to Weaverville, seeking that fiber community connection in her new world of western NC. Since she was a young girl, Martha has always had her hands involved in some craft. Her aunt taught her to knit, and while in high school, Martha and her cousin supported each other as they knit their first sweaters. 

Downstairs, visitors are laughingly greeted into Bo’s workshop with his welcome “by authorized admission only”. It’s his space for making ‘man glitter’.  “I make sawdust to see what’s inside.” He defines Martha’s knitting as “…beating two sticks in the air until something falls off!”  He like the pure enjoyment of the challenge to do something different: candle holders, French rolling pins, cubed wooden boxes…, plus every style shuttle or other needle workers’ tools that Martha can suggest. For Bo the possibilities are unlimited.

The couple collaborates on items such as the wooden bow ties that Jim creates; Martha sews the middle loop and neck band.  Bo has a lathe and makes most of the square and wood rounds including wooden beads that Martha uses in her jewelry designs that combines seed beads and other gemstones.  The couple helped with skirting fleeces last summer which were part of the production for the Blue Ridge Blanket project. You can find Bo volunteering in the retail store where his wooden shuttles and other tools are sold.

It’s been a love affair ever since. Last question, who changes the light bulbs in the house?

Answer: whoever finds it first!

Interview by Colleen Troy. 

DISPLAY

Caroline Williford, with the support of Judi Jetson, has been working hard to display and promote the blankets locally and in surrounding areas of WNC.  Voting for favorite blankets is an important part of these displays as it gives insight into which blankets should be part of larger production runs.  

Marketing coupled with well-placed displays will establish wholesale and retail interest in blanket sales.  It will also instill a desire to buy in individuals who pass by.  A combination of the attraction of beautiful craftsmanship, the desire to acquire local, handmade products, and the motivation to support local fiber farmers, dyers, weavers and small mills will drive sales of Blue Ridge Blankets. These factors have already worked on me and others at Local Cloth.  All of us are anxious to buy blankets for home.  At some point, probably after other blankets are produced, the display blankets may be auctioned to raise money for further development of the Blue Ridge Blanket project.

Displays:

• Blankets with voting from Autumn 2022 at the Local Cloth studio, 408 Depot St., Asheville, NC. Now that the blankets have moved to other sites, the Blue Ridge Blanket display at the LC studio has been changed.  Please come on down and take a look; browse and shop while you are there.

• The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands on October 13-16, 2022, and Blue Ridge blankets & Craft Corner at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival (SAFF) Oct 21-23, 2022, with voting.

• I-26 West NC Welcome Center Blanket Display is now open and will be on display for 6 months (Jan-Jun, 2023).  Directions from Asheville: North on I-26, exit at Wolf Laurel, come back south toward Weaverville and the Welcome Center is on the right. 

• Opening Jan 26, 2023,two blankets will be on display at the Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University as part of a larger show.  

• February 17-19, 2023, the Blue Ridge Blankets will be on display at the Grovewood Gallery during the Arts + Crafts Conference. Following the conference, a few of the blankets will remain on display at the gallery.

Yarn ready to be shipped from the Green Mountain Spinnery. 

I-26 West NC Welcome Center Blanket Display

Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University

PRODUCTION

In order to scale up production of the blankets and get the process out of the hands of volunteers and into the hands of small businesses as the process is developed, LC obtained estimates from dyers to dye the processed yarn. Melanie Wilder, of Warren Wilson College, has been selected as the lead dyer.  Once the first batch of yarn is dyed it will be shipped to Peggy Hart of Bedfellows Blankets who will be doing the weaving of the first full production run of blankets.  The second round of yarn will be dyed later in the spring, and the weaving completed by independent weavers in our Fibershed.

DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORT

A microgrant, recently obtained from Fibershed provides funds for a secondary project:  Blue Ridge Blankets: Mapping and Expanding Value Added Opportunities for Fiber Animal Farmers in WNC.  With this project, we will create an updated map and database of fiber farmers and fiber processors in our region, bring fiber farmers together to discuss their assets and identify challenges to developing a more robust entrepreneurial environment, and create systems, based on our findings, to support fiber farmers in expanding value-added operations on their farms, and as a result, reinvigorate our region’s fiber economy.  We will hold three meetings with Farmers in late February / early March, in three different regions of our fibershed.  Stay tuned for details.