This weekend I spend an afternoon at the Shepherd’s Harvest Festival in Lake Elmo MN. It’s a haven for fiber geeks. Several buildings packed with yarn, fleece, spinning wheels, spinners, weavers, knitters and more. Then walk across the fairgrounds a little way and it is barns full of sheep, goats, llamas and more. I taught two mini versions of my “technology for artists” classes in a 4H barn with no internet connection, but despite that, I think they went really well! (Hello class!) I didn’t take a camera with me, so no photos of the sheep!

We also had a couple of cute visitors over the weekend. My nephew, who just turned 6 months old, and his mommy came up for his first trip to the big city. We went to a couple of greenhouses and hung around the house with Lucy. Evidently, when you are 6 months old, Lucy is the funniest thing ever. Every time she would look his way, he would burst out giggling.

This week should be a little quieter. I finished my Pioneer sweater and it is drying from blocking right now. Pictures soon. It turned out great, although I did a couple of modifications.

It’s also time for another book report! Recently finished:

Dissolution, Dark Fire and Sovereign by C.J. Sansom.
Mysteries set in the time of King Henry VIII, just after he had beheaded Anne Boleyn. Having watched The Tudors recently, I was instantly familiar with all kinds of characters from these books. Matthew Shardlake, the main character, is a lawyer who gets noticed by “those with power” far too often for his piece of mind. Great mysteries with lots of interesting incidental characters. The King and the Court are really minor characters, which I like. Often these kinds of mysteries have a talented commoner interacting with the King or Queen and this was a nice change. Matthew deals with underlings who are grasping to stay powerful and often they do not care how that might cause problems for those they order around. I look forward to reading more.

Firebird by Mercedes Lackey. A retelling of a classic fairy tale, another favorite genre. This one was a very easy read. Our main character, Ilya, is clever, the ending has a nice twist, the story had a very classic feel. I am not familiar with the Firebird story, but it had that traditional kind of feeling. I usually like Mercedes Lackey’s writing and this was no exception.

Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn. I loved the first two. The third was equally compelling. I read it nearly in one sitting. Lady Julia epitomizes “curiosity killed the cat” as she herself acknowledges in this book. I would call these a romantic mystery. Once again, great twists to the plot, witty writing that make me laugh out loud. The covers to these books in paperback are ridiculous -don’t let that turn you off. They are smarter than they look.

The Snow Queen by Mercedes Lackey. Part of her “Tales of the 500 Kingdoms series”, which is truly delightful. The series follows fairy godmothers and the kingdoms they oversee. Not true fairies, but clever magically talented girls who find themselves doing an unusual job. The “Tradition” is a magical force that tries to recognize bits of traditional fairy tales happening to regular people and then it jumps in and tries to force their story fit the fairy tale. A girl with a grumpy stepmother can find herself reliving the Cinderella story. Light, funny and packed with snippets and characters of fairy tales, which makes it fun.

Friday, I spent the day learning to marble on fabric and paper. A very thin layer of acrylic paint is floated on top of a layer of carageenan. You drop the paint with an eye dropper and then pull long combs through it to create the patterns. I had a great time in class – it was so much fun to just be a student for a change.

These are scans of fabric pieces that I did. The fabric is alot easier than the paper and I got better results, but the alum (mordant) in the fabric contaminates your carageenan tank and the way to get it back in balance is to do a couple of pieces of paper in between your fabric pieces. I mostly cut up my paper pieces in to small bits to use as thank you cards.

Some more beautiful work by my students in Idaho.

(I didn’t bring the camera cable, so you will have to use your imaginations on this one!)

I have arrived in Idaho. It is beautifully sunny and warm enough to go walking without a heavy jacket – pure bliss. I taught wet and dry felting today. The day flew by and the students were all fantastic! (Hello students!) We made beads, sushi, flat inlay pieces, needle felted surface embellishment and a flock of needle felted birds. Plus we did a little bit of koolaid dyed wool just for fun.

I have to say that I would come back and teach here any time. The house and classroom are great.

Shibori dyes tomorrow. I am off to put the scarves in the laundry now. Photos when I get back.

Look what I found:

Teens can learn two fun Japanese crafts in one evening at this unusual workshop offered by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts.

Becka Rahn, Education Director at the Textile Center of Minnesota, will show you how to use shibori, a traditional form of tie dye, to design and dye your own bandanna. She’ll demonstrate four or five traditional patterns that you can combine as you wish to create your own one-of-a-kind wearable art.

While the dyes set, you’ll learn kumihimo, the art of making an eight-stranded braid used to accessorize a kimono or decorate a samurai sword. Warning: Kumihimo is highly addictive—make a bracelet or two and you’ll be totally hooked!

Guest instructor Becka Rahn is a self proclaimed jack-of-all-trades when it comes to textile art. She has taught classes in everything from felting to tie dye to beginning tatting (that’s lace-making, not tattooing!). Becka has taught at the Textile Center of Minnesota for more than four years, making art with everyone from toddlers to grandmas. In her spare time, she specializes in creating puppets and whimsical embroidered pieces. You can see more of Beckas work at www.beckarahn.com.

Teen Workshops are designed to be fun, creative, artistic activities just for teens. All Teen Workshops are done in partnership with Yak!

Thank you Sun Valley Online! If you are visiting from there, I hope to see you in one of my classes!