Countdown
Left 'Til The Festival
Now Accepting Fiber Arts Instructor Proposals
See Classes - Wonders of Wool
September 10-12, 2021
Now Accepting Fiber Arts Instructor Proposals
See Classes - Wonders of Wool
September 9-12, 2021
September 9-12, 2021
Info Coming.
Lynne Bergschultz - Fredonia, WI
660 – Make Your Own Drop Spindle
840 – Polymer Pattern Bracelets
Lynne Bergschultz is a former illustrator, designer and art educator who worked in polymer clay for many years. Her buttons which have been published in national magazines and are sold at festivals, shops and galleries. Lynne sincerely enjoys sharing her passion for polymer with her students and works hard to encourage individual creativity.
Rhonda Berman - Omaha, NE
501, 602 – Zipply Art: Zipper Needle Felted Art
Rhonda is primarily a fiber and mixed media artist. She started designing with zippers and needle felting about 4 years ago and since has written two books on the topic as well as designing many broach patterns and framed pieces.
Rhonda has taught workshops at Fiber Fairs across the Midwest including the Scotts Bluff Valley Fiber Arts Fair, NE; the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival and the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival.
She has also held workshops in her home and various yarn shops in Nebraska and Iowa, as well as demonstrations at local Guild groups. Rhonda loves sharing her passion for experimentation with others and watching the spark of creativity light up someone’s face.
Melissa Bohrtz- Sobieski, WI
540 – Fiber Art Textile Pendant
560 – Carding for Texture
841 – Core Spinning
Melissa is one half of the fiber arts duo that runs Hello Purl. She has been carding and creating textured art yarns since she began spinning in 2010. She loves to blend colors and textures in her fiber work. She also knits, weaves, does hand embroidery and mixed media art focusing on stitching and textile incorporation. In addition to her fiber arts business Hello Purl Melissa enjoys spending time on her little homestead with her husband, two boys, small flock of chickens and four cats.
Kelly Brandt – Lake Odessa, MI
541 – Introduction to Locker Hooking
561 – The Beaded Dorset Button
601 – Caped Crusader Brimmed Hat (SATURDAY ALL-DAY & SUNDAY MORNING)
Kelly started on her wool craft odyssey in 1975 with four heritage Horned Dorset sheep that came to her five-acre homestead in Lake Odessa "just to keep the pasture down". As an accomplished seamstress, she used her wool harvest in wool-filled comforters, but soon taught herself to locker hook, spin, and felt. She first got involved in FiberFest in Hastings in the early 1980s and has been teaching since 1985 in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. She is a published author and has won artistic awards for her work using wool and llama fiber from her family flocks. Through her fiber-based cottage business, Team Effort Artisans, Kelly has shown and sold fine wool craft at shows, galleries, and festivals. Starting in 2020, she will offer private classes at her new studio/barn outside Lake Odessa. Prospective students are invited to contact her with questions about the content of her classes at kellybrandt@yahoo.com or at 616-374-7176
M. Theresa Brown – Franklinton, NC
404 – Ecoprint on Silk and Wool
502 – Ecoprint in Color on Silk and Wool
640 – Easy Dye Silk Scarves
M. Theresa Brown is a long-time professional portrait artist whose art career embraces many areas of the Arts. Her years of printmaking and color work led her to explore the fiber arts. Using many similar skills and accumulated knowledge, she evolved as a hand painter, felter and ecoprinter on natural fibers. She uses natural dyes and low impact synthetic dyes and merges them into unique, beautiful designs on silk, wool, paper and even leather. She turns her transformed work into artisanal clothing, accessories and art. Her articles and designs in the fiber arts have appeared in international publications such as "No Serial Number" and "Belle Armoire". She has created many “How To” DVDs and eBooks in the visual arts in conjunction with the national art chain, Jerry’s-Art-a-Rama. She has been an instructor at many fiber art shows including Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Southeastern Animal Fiber Fest, Carolina Fiber Fest, Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival, Michigan Fiber Fest and many upcoming new venues. She and her artist husband, Stephen Filarsky reside in rural NC with their alpacas, chickens and family dogs!
Heidi Bukoski – Sand Lake, MI
503 – Naalbinding Mittens
603 – Chinese Knotted Frog Closures
Heidi grew up in an artistic household. She learned to sew and knit as a child. In high school, her mother taught her to weave, which she studied further in college. At that time, she added dyeing and spinning to her repertoire. She has spent her life increasing her knowledge of different techniques. She has experimented with most fiber processes and loves to combine them to achieve her desired end. While weaving and felting are still her main focus, the last 15 years she has become more serious about jewelry and working with wire in various ways; including making it. She conducted her first workshops in the mid-70s, took time off for family and children, and now teaches throughout the Midwest.
Penny Cetner – Richmond, IL
463 – Streaming Leaves Lace Scarf
663 – Domino Felted Bucket Bag/Knitted & Felted
844 – Toothbrush Rug
Penny Cetner is an owner of Wool, Warp and Wheel along with her husband Rob. They have been in business for 18 years and teach many practices of fiber arts. Penny is a Level One Master Knitter and is pressing on for Level Two. She has taught various knitting, crochet and spinning classes.
Christina Drennen Coghill - Merrillville, IN
543 – Cobweb Felted Scarf
562 – Dyeing Gradient Yarns & Self-Striping Yarns – The Easy and Repeatable Way!
Christina Drennen Coghill is a lifelong crafter. She learned to spin yarn over 20 years ago. Spinning soon led to hand processing fibers, then dyeing. Christina is a certified Redding Method dyer and instructor. She has branched out into dyeing many different fibers, yarns, and even other items. Christina loves being outside and hanging out with her family, and her dog. When not crafting Christina enjoys a good craft beer or a great glass of wine.
Linda Conroy – Stoughton, WI
605 – Coiled Baskets: Pine Needle and Sweet Grass
806 – From the Garden: Herbal and Milk-Based Soapmaking From A to Z
Linda M. Conroy is an herbalist as well as naturalist. She works with plants to create beauty, health and function. She has been making baskets for 20 years. She offers classes and workshops across the country and as well as the Midwest. As an herbalist and community organizer she is the founder of Moonwise Herbs as well as The Midwest Women\'s Herbal Conference. For more information see www.moonwiseherbs.com
Brigitte DeMaster – Oostburg, WI
510 – Rigid Heddle Weaving
Brigitte has owned and operated Bahr Creek Llamas & Fiber Studio for 21 years. She's taught spinning, knitting, weaving, needle felting, and loves everything about the fiber arts. She's a lifelong student of fiber arts and eager to share what she's learned.
Nelly DeVault – Alexandria, IN
508 – Let’s Make Batts!
610 – Breeds Around the World
Nelly is a fiber artist from central Indiana who took one drop spindle lesson and was hooked! She purchased a raw fleece shortly after and was spinning for a sweater at her first spinning anniversary. “For me, the desire to create textiles from ‘scratch’ was an immediate priority and continues to be a guiding passion.” Nelly loves to learn about and experience the many wonderful breeds of sheep. She has experimented extensively with blending fibers, and teaches blending techniques from the beginning of the fiber prep process to blending while knitting. She has raised bombyx caterpillars to learn about silk, and alpacas to acquire unlimited spinning fiber. She is an experiential learner and teacher and wants to travel with as many friends on the fiber journey as possible! Nelly lives in Alexandria, Indiana, and teaches classes and workshops in her home area, as well as Bloomington, IN, northeastern Ohio, and this spring and summer at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival and the Michigan Fiber Festival, respectively.
Susan R. Frame - Osseo, WI
801 – Learning Kumihimo, Lucet & Slentre to Make Braids and Cords
Susan Frame was inspired to learn how to weave from her Uncle Harold’s woven purses and cloth completed in the 50s and 60s. With that fascination, she took her first weaving class in 1982 at UW-River Falls and has continued her lessons at locations around the Midwest. For the past 22 years, Susan has had the pleasure of teaching many different types of weaving techniques at the Fiber Garden in Black River Falls WI. Susan is a teacher who enjoys working with students as they explore the joys and challenges of weaving. She lives on a hobby farm near Osseo, WI with her husband, a growing collection of looms and a herd of llamas.
Nancy Frantz - Elkhart Lake, WI
402 – Beginning Weaving on a 4-Shaft Loom TWO-DAY CLASS
Since 1985 Nancy has shared her love of weaving and fiber arts with hundreds of students through the Sheboygan Recreation Dept., from beginners to advanced students -ages 6 - 86! She has also presented weaving programs for various guilds and teaches during the summer at Sievers School of Fiber Arts. She has won several Merit Awards at the Sheboygan County Fair and in addition she has won various awards at WHI Annual Shows and MWA Conferences, including two “Weaving for the Home” Awards of Excellence from Interweave Press. Her work has been juried into the JMK Arts Six Counties Shows. A very active member of the Sheboygan Shuttlecraft Guild, Nancy was also Co-Chair of the 2005 Midwest Weavers Conference.
Brenna Furger - Milwaukee, WI
505 – Introduction to Freeform Crochet
Brenna Furger has been crocheting for over 22 years since she created the “ugliest blanket in the world”. In 2012, she took her love of crochet to new heights and began the Etsy business Crochet539. In 2015, she continued her connection to the craft community by creating a crochet blog, Crochet539.com, where she highlights her work and her process. Brenna began teaching crochet classes through Milwaukee Recreation and fell in love with the instruction side of the craft. She finds that her students inspire her to grow as an artist as much as she hopes to inspire them. She found Freeform crochet in 2017 and has been hooked ever since. Brenna looks at Freeform as the Wild West of crochet and that her exploration of the craft is never ending. She hopes to bring the beauty of freeform to the forefront of the crochet community.
Mary Germain – Shorewood, WI
641 – Short-Row Triangle Cuffs
661 – Eek…. Steeks!
802 – Latvian Mittens á la Irma
Mary Germain is a fiber artist who remains focused on knitting that is inspired by her travels to Estonia and Latvia. She’s also been a spinner, quilter, rug hooker, jeweler, metalworker, weaver, and a shop owner.
“My fiber journey started at a young age when I learned to knit and sew. In high school, I focused on college prep classes and didn’t discover until years later when I was looking at my high school yearbook that there were actually weaving looms in my school. I had no idea! Weaving came much later when my husband-to-be and I attended a frame loom weaving class together at the yarn shop that I would ultimately own – The Wool Works, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Spinning, quilting, rug hooking, jewelry, and metalwork have all grabbed my attention over the years, but knitting is my main focus.”
Robin Goatey - Sandoval, IL
544 – Introduction to Tapestry
563 – Intermediate Tapestry
Robin is an award-winning full time festival craftsman working Fiber Festivals in the Midwest, having recently served as Instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Inspired by Tolkien’s Legendarium, he started carving Ents, Wizards and Castles after reading the Hobbit four decades ago. Woodcarving, Wood Turning, Hand Built Ceramics, Hot and Cold Glass, Copper Smithing, Enameling, Broom Making, Tool Making, Spinning and Navajo Style Weaving are current specialties. Teaching the Traditional Crafts is a passion. He also conducts a lively online trade in Heirloom Quality Hand Made Fiber Tools.
Mary Jo Harris - Madison, WI
405 – Beginning Chair Caning
545 – Portuguese Style Knitting
564 – Two-Color Knitting: Portuguese Style
Mary Jo Harris lives in the knitting Mecca of Madison, WI. She has been a teacher all of her adult life and has formally taught knitting for the last ten years at various sheep and wool festivals, fiber festivals, Knit-Ins, Madison College, and the Wisconsin Craft Market.
For the past seven years, she has included Chair Caning classes to her teaching repertoire and has taught local classes, in addition to classes at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival, Shepherd’s Harvest (in Minnesota), Missouri Fiber Retreat, and Michigan Fiber Festival. Under her designer name of Jo Harris, Mary Jo designs knitting patterns and has written a book entitled Double Knitting - Inside Out which is available through Amazon and Ravelry. An active member of the Madison Knitters’ Guild and an employee of the Wisconsin Craft Market, Mary Jo has an almost constant opportunity to discuss anything and everything knitting-related.
Linda Harwood - Ionia, MI
511 – Rug Hooking
Linda Harwood comes from a large working cattle and sheep farm in Michigan and has raised sheep most of her life. She is self-taught in the art of rug hooking. She has been hooking since the early 80s and teaching since the early 90s. Some of her inspiration is drawn from the Old-World animal paintings and country background. She loves working with color and starts with either recycled or new wool which she then over dyes. Linda has had her work published, and also has appeared on television. You can view some of her work at www.harwoodhookedonewe.com
Justine Heinrichs – Cedarburg, WI
504 – Needle Felted Rooster Wool Painting
604 – Felt a Beautiful Scene with Wet & Needle Felting
Justine Heinrichs is a musician and teacher of over 30 years. She discovered needle felting in January, 2017 and began taking commissions for pet portraits by the summer. It's been off to the races ever since. Justine won first place in the Novelty Division of the Make it with Wool competition and Best in Show in the Design Challenge at the 2019 Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. Justine's knowledge of teaching many different types of learners helps all levels of participants be successful. It is truly her joy to help others learn new things.
Stefania Isaacson - St. Charles, IL
506 – Dyeing with Natural Indigo
842 – Spinning for Socks
Stefania has been a life-long knitter, and started spinning and dying to supply herself with “the best yarns in the world”! She got her Certificate of Excellence in Hand Spinning from the Handweaver’s Guild of America in 1997. Since then, she has opened her own business called Handspun by Stefania and taught numerous workshops dealing in natural dyes, spinning, knitting, and basket making. She has spoken about the fiber arts to numerous groups, and has appeared on Home & Garden TV as a guest on the Carol Duvall Show. She sells handspun, natural hand dyed yarns, original knitting kits using her own yarns and patterns, hand dyed roving dyed with natural dyes, and handmade baskets. She was previously a high school English teacher, and now enjoys teaching spinning, dyeing, and knitting to fiber enthusiasts. Most recently, Stefania has authored a book on natural dyeing, titled
In Search of the Perfect Green–And Orange, Too!
Jill Johnson - Blair, WI
407 – Felted & Embellished Wall Hanging
803 – Embellished Felted Vessel s
Jill Johnson and her family recently moved to a ridge top near Blair, WI with their flock of fifty sheep and assorted other farm animals. As a farmer, Jill raises sheep to produce wool not just for her own fiber art, but also for other fiber enthusiasts throughout the county. Her sheep have produced many award-winning fleeces over the years and her fiber business, RiverWinds Farm, is known as a premier supplier of fine wool in the Midwest. In recent years, Jill has begun to purse her interest in the ancient art of wool felting. Bringing together her sheep’s wool and incorporating other traditional crafts like embroidery, dyeing, and beading to create original vessels and jewelry, Jill has found her own niche in the fiber art world. Having always enjoyed sharing the joys of sheep and wool with people, she is also excited to teach people about the amazing art and magic of wool felt in workshops and classes at fiber arts festivals and local demonstrations.
Deb Jones - Black River Falls, WI
408, 507, 606, 804 – Beginning Spinning
Deb is an enthusiastic hand spinner and teaches spinning workshops throughout the region, including at Sievers School of Fiber Arts and The Clearing. Deb is owner of The Fiber Garden, a year-round fiber arts school and shop that has been featured in such magazines as American Small Farm, Impressions, and Positive Thinking. She is also a travel consultant hosting travel tours focused on the fiber arts. For Deb it’s all a means to promote fiber arts and combine her love of spinning, dyeing, teaching and country living!
Holin Kennen – Evansville, WI
546 – “Muppet Barf” – Simultaneous Spinning of Multiple Rovings
Holin Kennen is an award-winning spinner with 35 years of experience in spinning and teaching about wool, spinning wheels, and fiber. She is the co-coordinator of the WSWF Fleece Show and has been a fleece judge there from 2016 - 2019. Holin is the owner of The Dancing Lamb and offers workshops on a wide variety of historic crafts and skills.
Letty Klein – Kalamazoo, MI
403 – The Shepherd’s Rug TWO DAY CLASS
Letty Klein has been making custom braided rugs from roving for over 20 years. She has raised Karakul sheep since 1982 on Pine Lane Farm near Kalamazoo Michigan, and has judged sheep and fleece shows all across the country. She recently retired from the Michigan Sheep Producers Association Board of Directors after many years of service. A graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Microbiology, she is a retired research scientist from Upjohn/Pfizer Animal Health. She has a regular column in the Black Sheep Newsletter and has taught rug braiding workshops across the country since the book "The Shepherd's Rug" was published in 2006.
Bethanea A Kottwitz - Hartford, WI
843 – Needle Felted Ornaments
Bethanea Kottwitz has been a crafter and artist for her whole life. Her introduction in fiber started 15 years ago when she learned how to sew. Since then, she has expanded her knowledge to many other fiber crafts. Bethanea was introduced into the world of needle felting over 10 years ago (at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival) and fell in love with wool. She now enjoys spinning, both wet and needle felting, dyeing, crocheting, and her newest love inkle weaving. Bethanea has raised both angora rabbits and poodles which she uses for her own ‘fiber’ herd.
Karen Kottwitz – Hartford, WI
565 – Penny Candle Mat
Karen learned to sew when she was a child from her mother and has continued to add other fiber skills through the years. She enjoys sewing, crocheting, wool spinning and embroidery to name a few. Adding new skills with fiber is always a new and fun adventure and she has many on her bucket list. She enjoys sharing her skills and the love of fiber with other people.
Kathy Krause - Clintonville, WI
643 – Over-Dyeing That “Odd” Skein
662 – Wool Appliqué Plus
The Krause’s started the family’s llama farm, Pine Knoll Llamas located in Clintonville, back in 1988. Her passion for fiber started with a llama outing where Kathy saw llama fiber being combed. An “internal switch” was flipped on that she says changed her life forever! She shears her own llamas and processes her own wools/fibers. Kathy states that she loves every aspect of wool and all levels of processing, saying, “There’s no greater THRILL than to take a fleece and to work with it to see the finished product.” She is one of the founders of Fiber Thing, an event that was held annually in Shawano, Wisconsin and still remains a committee member of the current Fiber thing event now called “Winter Weekend Warm-up”. In 2010, Kathy and her husband Richard, opened a retail yarn/spinning shop called The Copper Llama. The shop is located on their property in an old restored 1300 sq. ft. shed which offers a full line of yarns and accessories, roving and fibers for the knitter/spinner/felter.
Bev Larson - Lafayette, IN
409 – The Crazy Fiber Woman Basket or the Plain Jane
I have been weaving since 1988 and teaching since 1999. I love to share the joy of basket weaving with those around me and have done so by teaching in Indiana, Illinois, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and the Caribbean on the Basket Weaving Cruises. Making basket weaving fun, relaxing, and inspiring is my goal. In 2003 I won the Eiteljorg Museums Weavers Challenge. In 2009 I added broom making as an outshoot of weaving and it too in now a passion. In 2016 I received the honor of being named an Indian Artisan by the State of Indiana for both broom making and basket weaving.
Nancy Macali – Munroe Falls, OH
460 – Tapestry - Beginning Level
509 – Experimenting with Dye
Hello! My name is Nancy Macali. I have been teaching for 44 years and taught high school for 35 years. Throughout my retirement I have continued to give workshops and guest lectures. My love of fibers started in my youth living next-door to my grandmother. She taught me to knit, sew, and garden. I continued my pursuit of fiber knowledge throughout college to present day.
As an artist and creator, I am skilled in weaving, knitting, felting, dyeing, spinning, sewing, and other various techniques. I am passionate about sharing my knowledge with others and encourage the exchange of creative discourse.
Ingrid McMasters – Stoughton, WI
440 – Spinning for Consistency
464 – Understanding Your Wheel Ratios
846 – Spinning Dog Fibers
Ingrid McMasters and her husband, Peter, are the owners of Spry Whimsy Fiber Arts in Stoughton, WI. Ingrid has been spinning since 2004. She finished the Old’s College Master Spinner Certificate Program the summer of 2017 with her In Depth Study on “Domestic Dog Fiber Characteristics for Hand Spinning.” She teaches spinning at the store and at fiber festivals. She is a fiber evangelist and loves discussing the technical qualities of fiber types and their possible uses in end products.
Kiyoshi Mino - Chicago, IL
401 – Needle Felted Wolf THREE-DAY CLASS
I am a needle felt artist based in Chicago, IL. I discovered needle felting by accident when my wife and I were attending a yearlong organic farmer training program before starting our own farm. I immediately fell in love with it. I loved to draw as a kid but had never tried any form of sculpture before. It was very exciting to me to be able to draw in three dimensions with nothing but a needle and a clump of wool. I have always loved animals of all kinds and because wool is a type of animal fur itself, it is the perfect medium for realistically sculpting mammal fur and bird feathers. In my work I focus on wild animal species which I try to render as faithfully as possible. I believe that almost all animals have unique personalities and emotional complexity just like humans and my goal when depicting wild animals is to try and convey this idea by capturing these unique personalities. I have given workshops in the US, China, Chile, Belgium and the Nether lands My work has been exhibited in Shanghai, Boston and New York City and featured in the New York Times T Magazine, Fiber Art Now, Fast Company Design, and New York Magazine.
Chiaki O’Brien - Bloomington, MN
542 – Kaleidoscope Designed Furoshiki Dyeing
566 – Bengala Stenciled Tote Bag
607 – Saori Weaving – Discover Yourself!
845 – Saori Weaving – Learn to Let Go!
Chiaki O‘Brien is a SAORI Leader Committee Certificate recipient. She worked as an instructor for the SAORI head office in Japan before moving to Minnesota in 2004. She’s an artist-in-residence at schools, as well as teaching at Shepherd’s Harvest (MN) and other fiber related festivals in the Midwest. In 2012, she was awarded a Jerome Fiber Artist Project Grant, allowing her to study Bengala Dyeing in Japan, and she now teaches this natural soil dye process as well. SAORI weaving taught her the way to create by following her heart. Her teaching goal: To convey the “Joy of Exploration” to students in her classes. Chiaki is a distributor for both Bengala Dye and SAORI Weaving. Chiaki operates Studio FUN from her home in Bloomington, MN. Website: saoristudiofun.com.
Anna W. Repke - Chillicothe, IL
406 – Landscape Felting
642 – Mini Felted Picture
It all started here at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool where I was over doing the sheep herding and sold a Border Collie to a fiber artist. With an Oil Painting background, it was an easy switch to felting, but oh so much more satisfying! I have gone from raising kids (10 in fact) and Border Collies, to being a Professional Artist and Grandma. I just finished my fifth year of doing Juried Art Shows and have been invited to Galleries and workshops all over the Midwest and Texas. I am meeting so many wonderful people and love my new role!
Laura Ricketts - Rochester, IN
644 – An Introduction to Sámi Knitting
664 –Advanced Sámi Knitted Mitten Techniques
Laura Ricketts lives in Indiana. She loves to play with color and design, and the knitting of the Sámi peoples in northern Scandinavia fits that bill while exciting her historically and culturally. She knits, crochets, spins, quilts, cross stitches, and has just started weaving and making bobbin lace. She has lectured and taught at Finnfest, Vesterheim Norwegian-American museum, ASI, and the Nordic Knitting Conference in Seattle. In between writing articles and patterns, she enjoys her three kids, tries to force meaningful time and keep track of their lives.
Kathy Sparks - Unionville, IN
410 – Expanding the Natural Dye Palette
547 – Spinning Oomingmak: Qiviut – The Arctic Treasure
567 – Flax to Linen - From the Garden to Yarn
608 – Foraging for Color
Kathy Sparks has been a natural dyer for almost 50 years. She forages and gathers materials from the Indiana countryside to use in her dye pots. By using historic dye materials such as cochineal, indigo and madder and other materials gathered from the garden, she is able to produce a wide range of colors. She is the author of The Song of the Muskox and her articles have appeared in SpinOff and Ply magazines. She is a popular clinician and has retired from a professional teaching career after 29 years in academia.
Kim Specht - Monticello, IA
645 – Drop Spindling - You Can Do It!
666 – Beginning Wet Felting
Kim lives on a farm near Prairieburg, Iowa. Kim recently retired from teaching but still can't find enough time in the day for the knitting, spinning, and felting she loves to do. And weaving is 'looming' in the not-too-distant future! Kim's Romney and Border Leicester fleeces have won awards at festivals in six states. At these festivals, she regularly attends classes taught by nationally known artists. Kim loves combining her love of teaching and the fiber arts.
Amy Tyler - Interlochen, MI
441 – Extended and Manipulated Slip Stitches
461 – Knitting Ribs and Welts
568 – Mechanics of Your Wheel
609 – Matching Yarn to Project and Project to Yarn
805 – Blending Board: Basics & More
Amy has degrees in modern dance, kinesiology, and physiology. Her art and science backgrounds give her a keen understanding of learning movement skills, composition, pattern recognition, and systematic exploration. She translates that understanding into practical approaches to spinning techniques, highlighting the creative dance and mechanical feat that is spinning. She teaches spinning and knitting at venues across the country and is well known for her animated and engaging teaching style. Amy has published articles in PLY Magazine and Spin-Off. You can find out more about her work on her website, www.stonesockfibers.com and on her Blog, stonesockblog.blogspot.com
Erin Whalen - Whitewater, WI
612 – Needle Felted HedgeHog
Erin is a long-time fiber artist who enjoys crocheting, spinning, weaving, needle felting and wet felting. She has been needle felting for over nine years. Several of her needle felted dolls were featured in Art Doll Quarterly magazine in 2019. She has also won several Reserve Champion awards in the Design Competition at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival with her needle felted and wet felted creations. Most of all, Erin loves teaching others. She has taught workshops at the Midwest Fiber Frolic, Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, and at Wool Warp and Wheel. Erin is an experienced and patient instructor and welcomes students of all skill levels
Elizabeth Whitton – Ann Arbor, MI
462 – Landscape Painting with Wool: Mountain Sunset
548 – Landscape Painting with Wool: Grazing Sheep
665 – Needle Felted Pumpkins
Elizabeth Whitton is a “mompreneur” who turned her love of wool into a thriving needle felting business called Felted Sky. A self-taught needle felter, she has a knack for designing beautiful small projects that can be easily taught. Felted Sky’s line of kits and supplies can now be found online and in 60 shops across the US and Canada. Elizabeth enjoys teaching needle felting because it is a fiber art that is great for stress-relief and sparking creativity and joy.
Emily Wohlscheid - Battle Creek, MI
411 – Wash & Dye: Sampling Wool Washes and Acid Dyes
611 – Spinning Textured Batts
Emily has loved fiber, jewelry, and sparkly things since she can remember. After receiving her BFA from Adrian College where she studied metalsmithing and textile techniques, she learned to spin as a way to get back in the classroom. Now she creates handcrafted jewelry and hand dyed fiber goods for her business, Bricolage Studios, and teaches classes and workshops throughout the United States on spinning, fiber preparation, and jewelry/metalsmithing.
Proposals submitted after February 1 will be held for consideration for the following year's classes.