Our Class Coordinator has lined up a wonderful selection of classes for us to choose from!

Two class periods are included in the cost of registration. A class period is one Friday afternoon, one Saturday morning, and one Saturday afternoon. If a class offered covers two periods, for example a Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon, that would be the allowed two class selections you can choose and cannot be separated. At registration, please note they are listed as Part 1 and Part 2; if you sign up for part 1, please sign up for part 2 and not another class, except for a wait list class that doesn’t conflict wit the 2 period class..

BUT WAIT…..you can sign up for a third WAIT LIST CLASS! So if you have signed up for 2 class periods and want to take a third, you can sign up for one on a wait list. If the class you selected as your third option does not fill up to the max class number the instructor has indicated, you may be in that class. The instructor will be notified and you will hear from the instructor like any other class. You may not select WAIT LIST for a 2 period class. Please see the “Wait List” option at Registration.

Please make your selections at registration. REMEMBER, your class selection isn’t guaranteed until payment is received.

Friday Afternoon

Make your own paper from cattail heads and leaves. Learn how to prepare foraged fibers and recycled paper to make pulp, then use a mold and deckle to make your own handmade paper. You will have the chance to add your own ingredients to make your paper special. Examples include a torn old letter, poem or book page, bits of yarn or cloth, dried flowers or leaves, herbs, tea, or tissue paper. *Paper will dry overnight and be ready to take home at the end of the retreat.

Materials fee to be paid by student to teacher: $20
Equipment needed to participate: Personal inclusions (optional)
Level of expertise for student to enroll in class: No experience necessary

Learn color mixing and dye a set of pre-run silk scarf warps that you can weave into a one-of-a-kind accessory for yourself or a gift.

Working with multiple warps of 20/2 silk @ 28 epi for a Twill setting, you will design your color sequence and paint your warp. The result will be a scarf with staggered colors to take home and weave. Potential weave structures will be discussed. No Experience Required.

Materials fee: One scarf $30; Two scarves $60.00; Materials include pre-run warps, dyes, gloves, instructions, ect. Instructor will contact you in advance to get your warp order.

The bobble stitch creates such a fun and well insulated trivet. The finished size is about 9” square. During class we’ll get a good start on this project and you’ll have enough information to finish it on your own. Students should have experience with Chain, Single Crochet, Double Crochet.

Materials Fee: Students can provide their own materials or they can buy from the instructor. Worsted Weight Cotton Yarn: ~185 yards ($7 solid color, $8 variegated) Crochet Hook: 4.5mm ($10) 

Those Vikings were so clever!  In this class, we’ll take a break from marauding and knit instead.  Viking Knitting (a.k.a. Trichinopoly Chain) is a simple technique that looks complicated.  It resembles twisted stitch I-cord but the process is, confusingly, more like sewing and is done with a minimum of simple tools.  We’ll explore the basics and the result will be a lovely bracelet. 

Materials fee: $5.00 to be paid by student to teacher; All the supplies and handouts will be provided. Equipment needed to participate; Tools will be provided, too, but if the student would like to bring their own small needle nose pliers and wire cutters that would be helpful. 

Humans have been spinning fiber together to make strong string, yarn and rope for thousands of years.  The technique is simple, portable and gives you infinite control and variation in creating yarns.  The tools needed are simple, can be inexpensive and available to anyone.  They are infinitely portable and can produce any type of yarn that a spinning wheel can.  

Students will learn to spin on a drop spindle and learn a bit about both the top and bottom whorl and a support spindle.  Bring your own spindle and fiber or spindles and fiber will be available for purchase.

Experience:  No experience required Spindle for purchase:  $20 or student can bring their own Fiber for purchase:  $3/oz. or student can bring their own

Saturday Morning

Shaft Switching on a table loom using Jason Collingwood’s technique. Weavers will bring a pre-warped 4 harness table loom that has been set up according to specific directions sent out before the class.  In the class they will learn how to set up the shaft switching on their loom and weave a small mat or runner using the technique.  There will also be an overview of other shaft switching techniques. 

Each student will need to bring a four harness table loom pre-warped with rug warp, extra rug warp for headers, two contrasting colors of bulky yarn( 2 oz.each),( or two colors of contrasting fabric, 1 yard each cut into 1 inch strips), two small flat shuttles, and a scissors. Each student will need to know how to warp their loom. No shaft switching experience is needed.

There will be a $5 fee for the handout and the open end pins to be used.    

Create a contemporary twist on a traditional wool drying basket!  We will weave the base and sides using a simple twill pattern.   Leather handles and wooden feet finish up this very useful basket.   Measures: 12” X 12” X 8” high w/feet. 

Bring a dish pan/small bucket, old towel, measuring tape, spray bottle, pencil, and any basketry tools you have.  Don’t worry,  I will have plenty of tools to share also.

Level: Advanced beginner Material fee: $45.00

Learn how to dye yarn skeins that can create a painted warp appearance. Color theory for dyeing is followed by dyeing a couple of skeins to take home. The instructor will also demonstrate how to maximize the color sequence when running a warp. How to choose weft yarns to compliment your hand-dyed skeins will be discussed.

Materials fee: $20 per skein. The yarn is a fingering weight wool/silk blend suitable for weaving with or using for knitting or crochet. Includes the yarn, instructions and all dye supplies

Learn Tunisian Crochet… And there are more NEW stitches this year! Tunisian Crochet is great for stash-busting.  You can create with your handspun yarn or commercial yarn. You’ll learn what Tunisian Crochet is and why it is a useful alternative to knitting, traditional crochet, or as a complement. You may have heard Tunisian Crochet tends to curl.  You will learn how to make and work a foundation chain and row to help overcome this tendency for your finished piece. We will review the basics of Tunisian simple stitches and how to keep the edges of your work straight and you’ll learn how to bind off and finish your piece. 

Students may bring their own yarn and Tunisian Crochet hooks. Brenda will have hooks and yarns available for purchase at market rate. You will need a Tunisian or traditional crochet hook and handspun or commercial yarn to work up your  sample piece. A darning needle and scissors to work in your tail on your finished piece.

Materials fee: 0

Card weaving (also called tablet weaving) is a very ancient technique for weaving bands. It was used in Iron Age Europe as well as by the Vikings to weave headers for textiles woven on their warp-weighted looms. Cards (also called tablets) have a hole in each corner. One warp thread passes through each hole. Cards are usually 2.5-3.5 inches square.

The different sheds of the weaving are made by turning the cards forwards (the tops turn away from you) or backwards (the tops turn towards you). For each pick (row) of weaving we will make all the cards either forwards or backwards one quarter turn.

8/4 100% Cotton for Warp (You will chose Colors) I recommend using colours with high contrast to start so it’s easy to see what’s happening while you weave. And Weaving Cards.

Materials fee: $15.00 Paid to Diane Nelson at the time of class. Students should bring an inkle loom if they have one.

Plying yarns on the drop spindle isn’t difficult but there are often small balls of single ply that don’t add up when plying from multiple balls of yarn.  Doing a continous strand plying method allows you to use up the ball of single ply and have a beautiful, strong plied yarn with no leftover pieces.  Learn to do the Loop Plying (Navajo) method and the Andean 2 ply method on the drop spindle and up your spindle game!

Experience:  No experience required Spindle for purchase:  $20 or student can bring their own Material:  Bring at least 2 balls of single plied yarn for plying using different methods.

Saturday Afternoon

Create a contemporary twist on a traditional wool drying basket!  We will weave the base and sides using a simple twill pattern.   Leather handles and wooden feet finish up this very useful basket.   Measures: 12” X 12” X 8” high w/feet. 

Bring a dish pan/small bucket, old towel, measuring tape, spray bottle, pencil, and any basketry tools you have.  Don’t worry,  I will have plenty of tools to share also.

Come twine with me!  As we use a peg loom to make a sampler/hotpad, we will explore different methods of weft manipulation to change the appearance of our woven cloth.  No previous experience is needed.  Bring your own scissors.   Instructor will provide the peg loom and weaving materials for a $15.00 fee.

Crochet a pot holder or dish cloth and/or knit a dishcloth. Both make great kitchen tools and even greater toys for the grandchildren! Come knit or crochet with us. Make one of the featured projects or bring your own project to work on while hanging out with us.

For the project(s), bring a skein or two of cotton yarn. Size 8 (6 or 9 work too) knitting needles and/or size H ( I or J work too) crochet hook.  Skill level: any. These are very easy to start, repetitive patterns. Anyone can learn.  Material Cost: $1 for pattern printing.

Using a 16” strand of 6mm gemstones, 1.5mm leather cording, needle and thread, we will create this fun double wrap bracelet. Choose from a variety of kits that will be available. 

Materials Fee: $30 for the kit  Equipment Needed to Participate: All needed supplies will be provided.  Level of expertise for student to enroll in class: No prior experience needed 

Handspinning yarn is all about twist. In this class, we will explore the art and science of twist. “Twist is the magic glue that holds fibers together and transforms them into textiles.” – Judith MacKenzie.  The direction of twist matters, as well as the angle and the amount of twist needed in the singles and youe plied yarns. Setting twist and creating projects with twist in mind.  Yarn is all about twist. We will look at samples, discuss draft types, and look at your specific fiber’s characteristics… and how things like crimp matter. Of course, we will also talk twist per inch (TPI)and how to create consistency in your yarns. Think of how you intend to use your yarn…to knit, crochet, weave, or one of my favorites, Tunisian Crochet, and bring those tools with you for sampling.

Students can bring their 4 ounce painted roving (preferably a braid with at least 3 different colors). Brenda will have some fiber available for purchase during the class. Students need to bring a spinning wheel in good working condition and at least three empty bobbins, more if you want to ply more than a 2 ply yarn.  Also, bring your spinning bag with all the things you like to spin with. Mine holds my Niddy Noddy, Lazy Kate, Ball Winder, and an assortment of tools.

Material Cost: $0