Slow down. Live better. Make yarn.
There was a discussion on one of the fiber arts groups on Facebook this morning about “cheating” by using a knitting loom. When your hobby is already practicing an old-fashioned back-to-basics skill like spinning or knitting, how basic does it have to be? Do we rank the “basicness” of our hobbies? Do we judge others based on whether they are struggling as much as we are for our art?
What is eco printing? This is a form of natural dyeing using direct-to-fabric or -paper printing from leaves, stems or flowers. Almost all plants have some color in them that can be transferred directly...
I’m delighted to present a guest blog written by Heather Wallace on her Sheep to Shawl journey. Like many of us in the fiber arts, she was first captivated by handspinning when she saw a...
Let’s get up close with some wool, silk, and mohair Nuno felt fibers. Really, really close. I’ll show you some fibers under a microscope. I always wanted to see the difference between types of...
There is a gray-haired lady, graceful and attractive, sitting in the waiting room with her head bent down, unabashedly sporting a protruding magnification visor which gives her the incongruous air of a mad scientist....
I’ve been playing. Obsessing, really. I broke out the Indigo and started to experiment this week. I wanted to try the Shibori tie-dyeing process using all natural dyes. You see, Indigo is kind of...
Have you ever been curious to know if you can spin dog hair into yarn? When people hear that someone has been spinning dog hair, reactions range from disgust, disbelief, and nose-wrinkling to excitement, enthusiasm,...
It’s time to reevaluate the 500 year old idea that art is only for the richest people, and it’s only art if it is made with the traditional art media of painting, or bronze or marble sculpting.
I recently posted on Facebook asking friends for plastic netting that wrapped a ham or turkey. I use them with my drum carder for a nifty little trick to lift the wool off the...
"My name is Kelley, and I've been a fiber artist for over 50 years. I am a maker, a writer, an actor, a storyteller, and a teacher, with a degree in History. I teach all types of fiber art, to students of all ages, including spinning, dyeing, eco-printing, felting, knitting, tatting, embroidery, basket making, crocheting, weaving, and papermaking. I raised sheep and goats for over 12 years. I currently live in an old stone church in beautiful Colorado with my boyfriend, 4 cats, one hounddog, a Bernedoodle, and a noisy conure parrot...but no sheep at all.
