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Knitting, crocheting, carding, felting, spinning, dyeing … fiber artists from across the four states gathered in Neosho to learn new techniques during Fiber Daze this weekend.
All aspects of wool preparation were covered during the conference, but attendees also discussed spinning Angora rabbit fur and working with silk and advanced knitting techniques. A market room showcased different fibers, yarns and tools of the trade.
Exhibitor and attendee DeAnna Neale said she is primarily a weaver. She also raises animals on her farm and watching the process from beginning to end, she said, is fulfilling.
“When you raise the animal, collect the fiber, clean it, spin it and make a finished project … there’s something very satisfying about that,” Neale said.
The Fiber Daze conference was sponsored by Lincoln University branch of the Newton County Extension Office, the Fiber Folks of Southwest Missouri and Crowder College. Many of those involved in the Fiber Folks guild raise their own animals and process the fiber said Dr. Jodie Pennington, Neosho-based small ruminant specialist extension agent through Lincoln University. While Newton County does not have a larger proportion of sheep or Angora goats than other parts of the state, there is a large variety, Pennington said. Setting a conference in this area allows people who would not be able to travel to other conferences across the state learn more about fiber processing and the arts.
“It’s more economical if it’s here at your back door,” Pennington said. “It’s a lot easier than driving 100 miles or more.”
The classes are also for beginners.
Last year, Kayela Crocker, decided to crochet a project in her advanced art class at Wheaton High School, so when her art teacher was given a scholarship to the fiber conference, Crocker was selected to represent her school.
At Fiber Daze she discovered Kumihimo braiding, which originated in Japan. The 18-year-old senior said she would share the technique at school, pulling out an example of her work.
“You can do so many different things with it,” Crocker said, “You can experiment with it.”
Scheduled for knitting, needle tatting and rug making classes, Crocker said she plans to enjoy her new hobbies.
“It’s not just knitting or crocheting things,” said Adrienne “Annie” Rieck, “it’s all these pieces that come together.”
Society moves fast today, Rieck said, but when she sits down and spins or knits it’s her time. During Friday’s conference she coaxed a piece of burgundy and green wool into a one-ply yarn on a small spinning wheel.
Knitting, crocheting, carding, felting, spinning, dyeing … fiber artists from across the four states gathered in Neosho to learn new techniques during Fiber Daze this weekend.
All aspects of wool preparation were covered during the conference, but attendees also discussed spinning Angora rabbit fur and working with silk and advanced knitting techniques. A market room showcased different fibers, yarns and tools of the trade.
Exhibitor and attendee DeAnna Neale said she is primarily a weaver. She also raises animals on her farm and watching the process from beginning to end, she said, is fulfilling.
“When you raise the animal, collect the fiber, clean it, spin it and make a finished project … there’s something very satisfying about that,” Neale said.
The Fiber Daze conference was sponsored by Lincoln University branch of the Newton County Extension Office, the Fiber Folks of Southwest Missouri and Crowder College. Many of those involved in the Fiber Folks guild raise their own animals and process the fiber said Dr. Jodie Pennington, Neosho-based small ruminant specialist extension agent through Lincoln University. While Newton County does not have a larger proportion of sheep or Angora goats than other parts of the state, there is a large variety, Pennington said. Setting a conference in this area allows people who would not be able to travel to other conferences across the state learn more about fiber processing and the arts.
“It’s more economical if it’s here at your back door,” Pennington said. “It’s a lot easier than driving 100 miles or more.”
The classes are also for beginners.
Last year, Kayela Crocker, decided to crochet a project in her advanced art class at Wheaton High School, so when her art teacher was given a scholarship to the fiber conference, Crocker was selected to represent her school.
At Fiber Daze she discovered Kumihimo braiding, which originated in Japan. The 18-year-old senior said she would share the technique at school, pulling out an example of her work.
“You can do so many different things with it,” Crocker said, “You can experiment with it.”
Scheduled for knitting, needle tatting and rug making classes, Crocker said she plans to enjoy her new hobbies.
“It’s not just knitting or crocheting things,” said Adrienne “Annie” Rieck, “it’s all these pieces that come together.”
Society moves fast today, Rieck said, but when she sits down and spins or knits it’s her time. During Friday’s conference she coaxed a piece of burgundy and green wool into a one-ply yarn on a small spinning wheel.
“It’s an awesome hobby,” she said. “Literally at your fingertips you create something that functional and beautiful.”
Instructor Dr. Helen Swartz, 29-year fiber veteran and small ruminant specialist extension agent through Lincoln University, said spinning is a great way to “unwind” after a tough day at work.
While acrylic or commercial yarns are widely available, spinning your own allows blending of fibers, like silk or various weights of wool, together to create a unique product.
“You can never buy that in the store,” Swartz said, “It’s just one-of-a-kind.”
The cost for a specialized yarn is not that much more than other options, said exhibitor and instructor Darlene Megli. She sells an $8 silk cap of fiber that when pulled into strands will make enough slubby silk yarn to knit a narrow scarf. What you never get more of is time, Megli said.
“If you’re going to put your time into it you might as well put your money into something that’s going to feel really, really nice,” she said.
Neale recently introduced a friend to homespun yarns and the friend said she would never buy production yarns again.
“There’s just something in your soul, something you feel about the natural fiber,” Neale said.
She feels the economy has driven people toward more traditional, more natural products and is actually seeing an increased interest in her wares.
“People want to go back to the way things were and make things greener,” Neale said. “I think people are searching.”
The process of developing the fibers adds value to the raw materials farmers produce, Swartz said, wool may cost 50 cents a pound, but by the time they’ve turned it into yarn it could cost $10 a pound. A finished art piece, like a wool rug, could fetch $500 from a $1.50 in raw materials. Not only are they working with quality fibers and creating heirlooms, it is an art, Swartz said.
“It takes creativity,” she said.
She was an oil painter before she took up the fiber arts. Oil-painting is flat, not three-dimensional, she noted. Yet when she is making yarn she can spin by touch and watch TV at the same time.
Swartz hopes the Neosho conference will continue next year and expand to 200 participants, rivaling other fiber retreats in the state.
Rieck, who traveled from Chicago to join the group, said Missouri is hotbed of fiber activity.
“I think of myself as a fiber artist, I really do. This is a big piece of how I express myself creatively,” Rieck said. “I think when you find the things that make your heart sing those are the things you have to do. When the student is ready the teacher appears.”
