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Posts from the ‘Test Your Skills’ Category

2012 Skein and Garment > Best in Show

Nancy Sigmon of Raleigh took Best in Show with this beautiful child’s knitted sweater. Here’s how she did it:

“I wanted to make a sweater for my daughter totally from scratch using fiber from my small flock of Romneys and two sweet Angora goats. After having the animals sheared, I washed the fibers and let them air-dry in a hammock. With a Louet drum carder, I blended equal amounts by weight of wool and mohair. I spun and plyed the natural colored yarn with my Schact wheel. The plyed yarn was 12 wpi.

Following Elizabeth Zimmerman’s percentage system, I knitted the sweater
in the round, adding Fair Isle designs in the yoke with my handspun 100% wool yarns that were leftover from other projects. They had been dyed with
Gaywool dyes.

Amazingly, I finished the sweater before my daughter outgrew it!”

Congratulations, Nancy!

 

Skein and Garment Winners

Click to view a list of the categories and winners’ names. Many thanks to everyone who entered their beautiful work!

From North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

Click the image for a larger view.

Author! Author!

Meet these authors at CFF.

Marcy Smith

Allie Pleiter

Charles Gandy

Jane Edwards & Renee' Pappas

Carol Leigh Brack-Kaiser

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcy Smith—Best of Interweave Crochet

Allie Pleiter—Homefront Hero

Tom Hudgin—The Andros Connection

Charles Gandy—The Embellished Sock

Jane Edwards & Renee’ Pappas—Jelly Bean Finds Her Special Place

Carol Leigh Brack-Kaiser—Continuous Strand Weaving Method,
Techniques and Projects

 

Know Where Clothing Comes From?

Mom’s Making Me Go to FiberFest

Hurry!

Only four more days of Early Bird pricing for classes.

Continuous Strand Weaving on a triangle loom

 

R U Going?

What’s New?

If you attended Carolina FiberFest in previous years, you’ll find even more ways to fuel your fiber passion in 2012. If this is your first time, get ready for big fun at every turn.

Mark Your Calendar

Plans are underway for Carolina FiberFest with more of what you loved in 2011 plus new ways to fuel your fiber passions. Mark you calendar for May 18—20 at the Jim Graham Building, NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.

Explore the World of Fiber Arts
Make yourself at home in the Fiber Arts Village. Go for the gold in the Fiber Olympics: fastest needles and fastest spinning wheels will own the honors. Take a class or two or three. Show off your handwork in the Continuous Strand Weaving contest, the Skein and Garment competition and the Sheep to Shawl contest. Rub elbows with fellow fiber fanatics. Shop for those special somethings—yarn, roving, tools, patterns, accessories—that make you say gotta have that.

Sponsor opportunities are available.

Visit here often for updates and tell everybody!

 

More = More

Next May, half of the Graham Bldg will belong to CFF, with 47,500 square feet of fiber heaven. That’s 15,000 more than 2011′s event.

More space    more shopping + more demos + more activities + more friends. Way more fun!

Test Your Skills

Continuous Strand Weaving Contest
sponsored by Carol Leigh’s Hillcreek Fiber Studio

Show off those mad skills. Have fun doing it with Continuous Strand Weaving.

Put together a team of two to four people to weave a shawl in five hours (or less) on a six-foot triangle loom.

Judging will be based on speed, quality of weaving, design and team presentation. Earn extra points by using handspun or hand-dyed yarn.

Bragging rights will be awarded. Cash prizes will be given. They could be yours. Get the hot skinny with the  contest guidelines.

Questions? Contact Carolyn Beasley at CarolinaFiberFest@hotmail.com

 

Fiber Olympics
Race against the clock for a chance to win fame and booty.
With two ways to go head-to-head, you’ll have plenty of shots to take ribbons home.

Fastest Needles and Fastest Wheel are open to all ages. A $1.00 entry fee benefits
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Prefer to cheer on your favorite? That’s great. What’s a champion without fans?

Fastest Needles > extreme knitting
Contestants will provide their own #6 needles.
Yarn will be provided.
Before timing begins, contestants will cast on 30 stitches
using any method.
Contestants will knit for 10 minutes.
The knitter with the most stitches wins!

Fastest Wheel > rev up your spinning and kick into high gear
Contestants will provide their own wheel (not electric).
Roving will be provided.
Contestants will spin for 20 minutes.
The spinner with the most yards wins!

 

 

Sheep to Shawl Contest
sponsored by Yarn Tree Studio

Ready for extreme team sport?

Start with a beautiful washed fleece.

Card or comb the fiber.

Spin it.

Ply it. Then weave it into a stunning shawl. All in six hours or less. Five-member teams of otherwise sane people—carders, spinners and one weaver—will do just that.

Competition will be fierce as teams work under pressure, against potential perils such as scraped knuckles, broken tension bands, backaches and curious onlookers with complex questions. The first shawl to cross the finish line will score major points. Judges will also award points for teamwork and craftsmanship. Cash prizes will be given.

Complete the Rules of Engagement, put together a team of fiber pals and practice practice practice.

Sheep to Shawl demonstrates to the public how fibers were traditionally prepared and how clothing, home furnishings and accessories were produced in the past. The goal is to promote greater interest in all aspects of creating fabric and emphasize the historical importance of the
fiber arts.

Game on.

Want to know more?
Sheryl Wicklund
can help.
countryspinner@hotmail.com

 

Skein & Garment Competition
sponsored by Ol’ North State Knitting Guild

Calling all amateur fiber artists!

This is your opportunity to shine. Display your creations. Receive recognition and valuable feedback. Winners will bask in the glory and take home fiber booty.

Whether you’re new to the wonderful world of fiber or learned at your grandmother’s knee, you’ll want to participate.

The possibilities range from handspun skeins to finished objects that are knitted, crocheted, woven, fulled, felted or tatted using handspun or commercial yarn or thread. You may enter more than one category.

Time goes quickly, so start planning and creating. See the guidelines for complete details.

Keep good notes. Information you supply with your entry is used by the judges in their decisions. Go on, read the guidelines fill out an entry form. Be a contender.

Questions? Talk to Elsie.
Elsie Siebelink
lcongo66@yahoo.com

 

 

2011 Skein and Garment
Nancy Sigmon of Raleigh took Best in Show in weaving with the wrap, pictured at left. Read how she did it.

“I processed the raw fibers from my Romney sheep and Angora rabbit: scouring, carding, dyeing, spinning and plying the wool yarn, clipping the rabbit, then spinning and plying the Angora yarn. I warped my Glimakra countermarche loom with the yarns and wove the wrap adapting a weaving draft for a baby blanket from Handwoven’s Design Collection 14, a plain weave with turned spots.  Gray yarns are 100% wool dyed with Gaywool dyes. White yarns are 100% Angora. The finished wrap is 14″ x 80″ including fringe.”