FiberCamp Boston 2013
Did you think I was on the sofa, eating bon bons and watching “Downton Abby“? Mais, non! (Alright, I did spend the last two Sunday evenings with knitting and hot chocolate, watching season 3). Fabric and yarn excitement and shifting priorities made the last three months simply sizzle.
Currently, the waning fireworks are from the Common Cod Fiber Guild’s Ignite Craft and FiberCamp… three days of creative energy, company and the opportunity to share with others. On Friday night, I spoke at Ignite about the wonders of FiberCamp.
I offered to facilitate three sessions at the FiberCamp itself:
- Making a Log Cabin Quilt Block (here’s my handout CreateLogCabinBlock)
- Creating a Duct Tape Mannequin
- Fair Isle Knitting (I had no idea there was such trepidation about this topic!)
There was also time to show Sheeri around her new sewing machine, fetch coffee, label rooms, browse the pop up vendors like Dirty Water Dyeworks (a skein from Stephanie is a FiberCamp tradition!), pick up that incredibly crazy “52 Pick Up” pattern from Fallingblox and some teal hand spun from SnowMoon3.
Good thing stash reduction was not a New Year’s resolution.
I treasured the session led by Jen Stark of BlueAlvarez, where she shared the Excel spreadsheet she’d developed to streamline pattern grading for knitwear design. Jen is a creative and thorough designer who has experience, education and “the eye.” Fit, function and statement flow from her designs. Wow! The SAORI Weaving session was at the same time, and I thought perhaps I would follow the “rule of 2 feet” and try to stop by both sessions, but I was totally absorbed with the possibilities and ease for sweater design. What a great session Jen led.
Thank goodness I was able to enjoy Mihoko’s presentation the night before at Ignite Craft… I’ll be sure to share the video when it is posted.
Amy King of Spunky Eclectic led a bunch of sessions on Saturday and I managed to catch a bit of making patterns from existing clothing. I have, on occasion, been burned by mistakes while doing this. Most of these could have been avoided by placing my pattern paper on top of a soft surface (say carpet) and pricking important lines with T pins. Now why hadn’t I ever thought of that?
Whatever the session, it was fun to dive in and see what might happen next. I crocheted aliens, overheard tips on thrummed mittens, and just enjoyed the company of the other FiberCampers.
Now it’s back to my regularly programmed life and posting about other fiberlicious projects in my studio.