3rd Annual Fiber Art Show

I am very please to say that this year we raised $1288 via the Fiber Art Show, which brings the total amount contributed to the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in our 3 years to just over $4,000. A really nice amount for a little event like ours.

 

The next Art Show will be held in the fall of 2008, so start thinking about what you want to enter now. Remember: it need not be fancy. The goal here is two-fold: to raise money for a worthy cause (breast cancer research) and to inspire others. As you can see by the photos, entries were at all levels. While fancy knitting, for example, may have a “Wow!” factor, it might be out of the immediate reach of a new knitter and the cute-but-not-so-hard-to-knit felt purse may be more inspirational. So, don’t hesitate to enter next time around – everyone loves to see your work! In fact, I think it is pretty cool to have so many hand crafted pieces in one place. As I gazed at the collection during the week it was up I wondered just how many HOURS the group collectively represented. It was mind-boggling!

 

Now, take a stroll through the show and meet some of the winners:

 

 

These are the winners who attended the evening awards ceremony:

 

L to R:  Sabine, Sybil, Gayle, Maureen, Judy

 

L to R: Sally (Grand Prize winner), Jae, Martha, Doug (knitter supporter) & Jill

 

2007 Fiber Art Show Award Recipients

(Note, if an individual won in more than one category, they were awarded only one prize, with the exception of the winner of the Grand Prize. Staff members are judged in their own category and are not eligible for the Grand Prize.)

 

Category                 Judge’s Choice              People’s Choice

Felted                      Joyce Gasior                   Lisa DemianS

hawl                         Lisa Demian                    Lisa Demian

First Project              Sybil Williams                 Sybil Williams

Handbags                 Judy Dinneweth               Judy Dinneweth

Handspun/Handknit   Maureen Keenan             Maureen Keenan

Hat                          Sally Pituch                    Sally Pituch

Most Artful                Dorothy Dusenbury          Dea Chesnutt

Scarf                        Jill Bastian                      Jill Bastian

Socks & Mitts           Indra Mertens                  Indra Mertens

Sweater - FI              Sally Pituch                   

Sweater - Lace          Tress Bare                     

Sweater - Etc.           Sabine Mills                   

Sweater Overall                                               Dea Chesnutt

Skein (Spinning)        Martha Y                         Martha Y

Woven                      Lori Rapp                        Lori Rapp

Grand Prize              Sally Pituch                   

Staff                         Jae K.                            Gayle Durkin

 

 

A HUGE thank you to these companies for providing gifts for our winners:Brown Sheep Co., Bryson Distributing (one of our notions vendors), Cascade Yarns, Fantail Fibres (yarns from New Zealand), Henry’s Attic (naturally colored fibers), Interweave Press, Jaggerspun (coned yarns), Lantern Moon, Louet Sales, Mountain Colors, Russi Sales (distributor of Heirloom yarns), Schacht Spindle Co.,  Stonehedge Fiber Mill, South West Trading Co. (SoySilk™, Water’s Edge Jewelry (fancy stitch markers), Westingbridge (Chiao Goo bamboo needles), XRX - Knitter’s Magazine.  

To market to market

This weekend is the annual “big event” for yarn shop owners, “The Needle Arts Market.” Big it is. The entire convention hall at the Columbus Convention Center is full of companies that sell product to knitting and needlepoint shops. For first timers, it is incredible. It’s not like a consumer show. You don’t actually use money here or walk away with anything you’ve purchased. Rather, it is time to place orders, gather samples, see what trends are, meet up with friends from across the country and, generally, be a bit overwhelmed and a lot tired with the busy-ness and importance of it all.

We arrived late on Thursday, because I taught all day Friday, which was pretty cool in itself. I taught two sessions titled, “Spinning for Knitters.” In the morning I had 12 students and in the afternoon I had 20. Phew! Thank goodness I brought a helper — one of our instructors, Pat Kreiling. In addition to being a Master Knitter, Pat is an avid spindler so she was able to be an extra set of eyes and hands as students worked their way through making two balls of singles and then plying them. Virtually all left with a small skein of yarn, which is an accomplishment in only three hours. My session was sponsored by the Spinning & Weaving Association.

 

In order to get the most out of Market, it is important to have a plan. Once we registered, we poured over the event book – and it is a book. More than a quarter of an inch thick, it is packed with advertisements and overview of each of the exhibitors. The first step is to read and highlight those that I needed to see and those that I thought would be interesting to see. Next was to transfer these notes to the event map. We ended up with nearly 60 exhibitors noted as places that we wanted to see — from a list of nearly 500 exhibitors occupying about 900 booth spaces!

 

Next step was to start pounding the pavement! My plan of attack was to make very few purchases on Saturday and to simply gather information so I could make purchases with intelligence instead of emotion on Sunday. I was able (miraculously) to pretty much stick with that. Yesterday I did buy some notions – including the new and improved Bryspun circular needles, books, and, okay, I knuckled under – one significant yarn purchase.

 I am a huge Jamieson’s fan – we’ve got nearly all the colors of their Spindrift yarn (two ply for
Fair Isle sweaters and other color work), Chunky Marl – used in knit jackets, and now . . . drum roll please . . . their “Simply Shetland Lambswool & Cashmere.” It is a DK weight yarn that comes in “the colors of Scotland” and is very, very nice. It retains the crispness of their traditional wool, but its softness factor is enhanced via the addition of cashmere. I’ve ordered enough of it (30 balls of every color) so that you will be able to have what you need when you need it to make some of the fabulous sweaters we previewed from the soon-to-be-released Simply Shetland 4 book.

After the Market closed yesterday, we joined the crew from “ . . . have you any wool?” in Berkley and compared notes. Trends that we agreed on were: wraps are hot, there was more color work than ever before, socks have arrived, and products for accessorizing your knitting are hot. Think leather handles, bags that are already made with pre-punched holes in the leather for attaching your own knit pieces, pre-made flowers for decorating felt bags . . . you get the idea. After hashing things out over dinner, we headed back to the room to debrief. Now, you’d think it would be time to “die in place.” Nope. I worked til nearly midnight organizing our findings, deciding what should and could be bought (there’s always that nasty budget to keep in mind!), and making painful decisions that we really don’t NEED fancy fibers like Yak ($32 a skein for less than 200 yards worsted weight) or buffalo down yarn (much more pricey) or qiviut (the most expensive).

 

So, now with decisions made, we are getting ready to return to the show floor and place our orders. A sneak preview: lots of new sock yarns; a new mohair from Australia that is, to quote Pat, “the nicest mohair I’ve ever seen”; a new Schaeffer yarn (just LOVE the owner, she is a dear), a handpainted worsted weight cotton that feels heavenly; a new alpaca yarn from Alpaca With a Twist, Punch – check out the colors on their website; premade bags for adding your knitting (perfect for freeform knitting).