October Teaching Schedule!

Here are my scheduled classes for October. They will all be held at Passionknit (3355 Yonge St., Toronto 416-322-0688). Please email or call for more information.

Be Square!
This ongoing class will focus on learning knitting and crochet stitches from basic to advanced. We will be focusing on a new stitch each week, and over the weeks, will create several stitch sample squares that can then be pieced together to make a blanket. Each week you will receive a new handout explaining the stitch. Pick out your favorite Passionknit yarn and get cracking! This class will be ongoing and will alternate weeks between knitting and crochet. Come to one or several! $30 plus materials.

Monday October 5, 9 – 11am (Knitting – The Moss Stitch)Monday October 19, 9 – 11am (Crochet – Singles and Doubles)Monday October 26, 9 – 11am (Knitting – Garter Stitch Triangles)

Entrelac Tutorial spells F-U-N!
WOW your friends! It looks complicated but, shhh, it isn’t! Once you learn the basic technique, Entrelac is a wonderful and versatile stitch. This class will focus on casting on, picking up stitches and casting off for creating a beautiful Entrelac pattern. We will go over everything to make a small reference sample. $30 plus materials.

Monday October 5, 12 – 2pm


Amigurumi – the Craze is here!
Amigurumi is a Japanese crochet craze! They are adorable and simple crocheted toys. In this class we will focus on creating an adorable little mouse. “Squeeks” will teach you how to begin, increase, decrease and finish using a typical shape to create all sorts of crocheted friends. Basic knowledge of pattern reading and familiarity with holding a crochet hook would be beneficial. $30 plus materials.

Monday October 19, 12 – 2pm
Thursday October 29, 7 – 9pm


Mod Entrelac Alice Band!
If you’ve dabbled with enterlac, this is the class for you! We will be knitting a groovy winter ear warmer that will help perfect your technique. This project is the perfect size for your TTC knitting bag and will certainly jazz up your winter wardrobe. $30 plus materials.

Wednesday October 14, 7 – 9pm
Monday October 26, 12 – 2pm



Crochet-a-long With Noro
Curious about crochet? Interested in enhancing your knitting through expanding your craft knowledge? If so, let’s get together and learn a basic granny square to create a beautiful afghan inspired by Noro Designer Marcia Davis. Any and every Noro colourway is like a delicious candy surprise! You can choose the weight and colourway of Kureyon that suits you. In the class we’ll go over the pattern, look at some samples and start your granny square – then you’ll be on your way to hooking up something comfy! Basic knowledge of pattern reading and familiarity with holding a crochet hook would be beneficial. $30 plus materials,

Thursday October 22, 7 – 9pm


Passionknit Stitcher’ Night: Come and “Unwind”!
Need advice on a project? Want to socialize with other fibre fanatics? Come join us at Passionknit the last Wednesday evening of every month for a fun knitting night. (Free)

Wednesday October 28, 7 – 9pm

Tanis Fibre Arts!

Tanis Fiber Arts and the lovely Tanis herself had a booth next to the Passionknit booth last weekend at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's fair. I had seen her wonderfully dyed yarns at Greenwood Quiltery about a year ago and have loved them ever since. It was great to finally meet her! I was excited she purchased one of my Sparkle Fresh Beret kits, but not only that, she gave it a good blogging! (that sounds dirty, but it could also be a good new expression).

Going Well! Fibre Fun! Victorian Hair Art!

I have been settling into my new life in Toronto and preparing for my classes to start at Passionknit. I have a very full teaching schedule this quarter. I will be posting the class schedule here in the next few days. Meanwhile, I am busy making samples and creating handouts.

I have been working on several of my own projects too. I created a pattern and sample called "The Sparkle Fresh Beret". It's a fun one! Fun to make and to wear. Here it is:


I've also been working on a few Noro projects! One is the two ball scarf that everyone made ages ago. The other (which I don't have a picture of yet) is out of the new Noro book. It's a cool book because it shows into their factory, how they make their yarns and where the fibre comes from. Intersting for those who love Noro and for those who like seeing where stuff comes from and how stuff is made. Anyway, it's made out of a new yarn they have just released called "Bonbori". It's a seed stitch cape. I'm excited about it but want to complete more before I post a picture. Here is a picture of my scarf, I've come a lot further on it over the past few days though...


An obsession I've been mulling about and researching is Victorian Hair Art. I don't know what fascinates me more, the delicate work, that it's hair, the idea that it is a keepsake from a loved one. Some samples, if you don't mind.....




Hair and fibre is my number one thing, obviously, and I spend a lot of time thinking about why. Studying hairdressing and microscopically examining hair, what makes it curly or straight, what makes it have colour or no colour and extrapolating that into how important styles have been to different culture over the ages. Styles denoting stature, where you from, all that! Then thinking about analizing hair from humans or animals and being able to tell their health, medications, DNA, genetics all from one tiny strand... Well, I'm rambling! I've started hand-spinning with human and animal blends. It's very intersting and I plan on writing more about it as my projects develop. For now, here are some pics of skeins. I have both blended the human and animal and then spun it, I've added while spinning and I've added while plying....

Moving!

I haven't forgot about Fibre Person. I have just moved from the "farm" to the "city" to follow my fibre dreams. I am now working at a wonderful new knitting shop in Toronto called Passionkint. I'm super excited and will be teaching lots of classes in the very near future.



I'll be back with a full post very soon... Just need a moving/switching jobs breather!!!



PS I think my favorite word is Habedashery. It's just a perfect sounding word, very soothing...

Spinning Rocky!

Having an Angora Goat has been a real treat. Rocky was born in the spring of 2008. He was a real pest his whole "kid-hood" always running to the door of the barn when someone came in. Very curious little guy! His mom sadly died of a lung infection and he has always stuck close to his twin sister. He is a very friendly goat and still comes over to the gate whenever I go into the barn. He loves eating apples and hanging with his aunts and sisters who I have dubbed "the Rockettes".

When he was a kid, I called him Muffin but once he was a little older and had to be "fixed" I decided that a really butch name would be more suitable and so Rocky he became (or, as my dear friend Jenne calls him, Mr. Rocky P. Muffin). As an aside, a neutered male Angora Goat's coat stays very soft and silky and yields more than an adult female. He hangs with the females and his horns have stopped growing. They stick out and are thick like a buck's horns but aren't as spectacular or curly as an intact buck. He is a very gentle and funny soul...

He has been shorn twice, once in the fall of 2008 and once in the spring of 2009. I blended his kid shearing in a 80% mohair 20% wool blend using Blue Faced Leicester as the wool. The latest clipping I blended in a 60% mohair, 40% wool blend using Polwarth as the wool. I am spinning a bunch of singles that I will make into a lace weight two ply and a sport weight three ply. I have a few projects in mind but this last clip alone yielded 6 1/2 pounds of roving! I have a lot!

One would think that "angora" would be what the fibre from the Angora Goat is called but, in fact, the Angora goat gives us mohair. Angora is the region the goat originated (modern day Turkey). We get "mohair" from the Angora Goat. The word "mohair" means "choice" in Arabic (or, "top drawer", as I like to say). Mohair is a very soft silky hair fibre. It grows in ringlets and is smooth, soft and shiny. Mohair works best when blended with wool because it is so smooth and has very small scales along the shaft, while wool, has very defined scales that grip and have lots of shape memory. When blended, mohair brings the fabric a wonderful sheen and softness, it also creates a nice halo effect over time which can create some pretty neat effects when dyed.

Here are some pictures of Rocky (before and after his shearing), his roving, yarn I'm spinning and Mr. Rocky P. Muffin and his beautiful Rockettes enjoying the sun....

Wellington Fibres Mill and Farm

I have spent the past year working at a “green” fibre-processing mill in Elora, ON. During my time at the mill I have been submerged in the fibre arts. I have in designed machine made and hand-spun yarn lines, I host mill and farm tours on a regular basis, work on community outreach and teaching. The wonderful owners (Lorne and Donna) also gave me a pet angora goat! His name is Rocky. I enjoy spinning his fleece very much. Here are some pics of the mill and Rocky.

Yes, Puppets and Stop Motion Animation!

I also make puppets, marionettes and enjoy shooting stop motion animations...