Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival
A celebration of fiber arts and old-time artisan skills!
Held in Franklin, Indiana, at the Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds
250 Fairground St, Franklin, IN 46131
Free Parking & Free Admission
2023 Vendor Marketplace:
Friday, June 2nd 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 3rd 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Service animals only, please.
Saturday Morning Workshops
9:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.
Barn to Yarn: Build Your Dream Fiber Farm
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $65 / Full Price $75
Total length of time: 2 hours
Instructor's Name: Claudia Brefeld
Instructor's Business: Cedar Hill Fiber Farm
Instructor's Website: www.cedarhillfiberfarm.com
Description: For hand spinners or anyone dreaming of growing their own fiber, this workshop will lead you step-by-step to finding the perfect fiber animal to meet your needs. Fiber farming on all scales, including sheep, Angora rabbits, Angora goats, alpacas, and more will be discussed, covering their care, personalities, harvesting, processing, and using their fleeces. Participants will take a hands-on look at fleeces in various stages of processing and will leave with a sampler pack of several of the fibers discussed in the workshop.
Items Included: Printed materials and sampler of fibers discussed in the workshop
Student Provides: None
Prerequisites: None
Minimum Age of Participants: 12
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.
Colorwork and Steek It!
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $65 / Full Price $75
Total length of time: 2 hours
Instructor's Name: Kelli Slack
Instructor's Business: Was BlackSheep Fiber Emporium, is now A Twisted Picot
Instructor's Website: www.atwistedpicot.com & www.kellislackdesigns.com
Description: Learn colorwork and tackle the scary idea of cutting your knitting with this workshop. Using the Baa-ble Mug Cosy pattern, in this workshop you will practice knitting in the round, two color rib, two color stranded knitting, and steeking. Students will learn colorwork during workshop and practice steeking on a sample piece.
Items Included: Includes- handouts, yarn, pattern, foam block, felting needle
Student Provides: Supplies: Students should bring a range of needles in sizes from US 2-8, tapestry needle, scissors, tape measure, writing implement or note taking item(s), and kit
Prerequisites: Skills: Students should know basic knitting skills such as: casting on, binding off, knit stitch, purl stitch, increases, and decreases.
Minimum Age of Participants: 16
Additional info: Homework: 20 stitch swatch in 100% wool (not superwash), with alternating stripes of 4 rows each. Swatch should be 20 rows long and may be knit in any weight from fingering to worsted.
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Txoatile Spindle
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $80 / Full Price: $90
Total length of time: 3 hours
Instructor's Name: Robin Goatey
Instructor's Business: The Dancing Goats
Instructor’s Website: www.thedancinggoats.com
Description: The Txoatile Spindle is a new Spool Form Spindle based on a ancient archaic model from Spain from the Basque region, the Txoatile was originally a Drop Spindle…Mine are made as a versatile Support Spindle, the kit comes with one Spindle Stick and One Whorl.
Items Included: Txaotile Spindle Kit
Student Provides: None
Prerequisites: Basic drop spinning skills
Minimum Age of Participants: 18
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Freestyle Weaving for the Creative Spirit
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $85 / Full Price $95
Total length of time: 3 hours
Instructor's Name: Liza Q. Wirtz
Instructor's Business: The Foldout Cat
Instructor's Website: www.foldoutcat.com
Description: Weave your heart! Learn to weave freestyle and free-spirited on a simple floor loom. Honor your own inner sense of beauty and truth as you play with color, texture, and technique, and come away with a unique piece of woven art. Students will learn the basic skills of freestyle weaving on a highly approachable and easy-to-use two-harness SAORI floor loom. A few simple weaving techniques will be taught, but the emphasis of the workshop will be on exploration of color and texture in the service of personal expression. Students will take home what they weave.
Items Included: Use of warped SAORI loom and associated tools (shuttles, bobbins, etc.); wide variety of weaving materials, plus access to and use of various different weaving materials: yarn in a variety of fibers, colors, and textures, beads, wire, embroidery floss, Mylar, fabric scraps, fiber, etc.
Student Provides: No participant-provided materials required: instructor will provide all tools and materials. If students want to bring something personally meaningful to them to incorporate into their weaving if possible, they're welcome--indeed, encouraged--to do so. Some past examples: specialty paper, pieces of jewelry (this is a fun use for unmatched earrings!), dyed or undyed fiber, leftover quantities of treasured yarn too small to knit or crochet a finished item with. Otherwise, students just need to bring their willingness to experiment and explore--and to practice imperfection!
Prerequisites: No previous experience with weaving required (though experienced weavers are as welcome as complete novices). Freestyle weaving is intended to be accessible to everyone, no matter their level of skill or knowledge. Workshop open to students 8 years old and up; students must be tall enough to reach the floor pedals on the looms and able to focus for the duration of the workshop.
Minimum Age of Participants: 8
Additional info: Workshop is truly intended to be open to anyone who wants to try freestyle weaving, from the pure novice to the experienced weaver.
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Needle Felted Change Purse
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $60 / Full Price $70
Total length of time: 3 hours
Instructor's Name: Nancy Macali
Instructor's Business: Ohmi Fibers
Instructor's Website: www.ohmifibers.com
Description: Learn basic needle felting techniques! This half-day workshop will cover needle felting and the basic construction of a change purse. The hardware is included in the course material fee.
Items Included: Wool fiber, metal closures, purse patterns, glue, cording, felting needles, and directions.
Student Provides: Embroidery scissors, 2-3 flat head screw drivers (small in length – vary in width of the head), notebook, and pen.
Prerequisites: This is a beginning level course. If under 16 please have a parent or guardian attend with the minor.
Minimum Age of Participants: 14
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
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Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Dyeing With Indigo From Your Garden
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $60 / Full Price $70
Total length of time: 4 hours
Instructor's Name: Gina Levesque
Instructor's Business: Across Generations
Instructor's Website: etsy.com/shop/acrossgenerations
Description: Dyeing with fresh indigo leaves is a unique and rewarding experience. In this workshop we will explore various ways to use the indigo leaves for dyeing including making a vat from fresh leaves, dried leaves, and the process of extracting pigment from fermented leaves. Participants will be provided with fresh and dried indigo leaves, a silk scarf, wool yarn samples for dyeing, and a notebook of information to take home with them.
Items Included: Fresh and dried indigo leaves, silk scarves, wool yarn samples, notebooks of information for each student to take home
Student Provides: Wear older clothes or a dye apron
Prerequisites: None
Minimum Age of Participants: 16
Saturday Afternoon Workshops
1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Angora Rabbit Care & Fiber
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $50 / Full Price $60
Total length of time: 2 hours
Instructor's Name: Claudia Brefeld
Instructor's Business: Cedar Hill Fiber Farm
Instructor's Website: www.cedarhillfiberfarm.com
Description: A hands-on approach to all aspects of Angora rabbit care including selecting a rabbit, feeding, housing, handling, fiber harvesting and processing. The instructor will supply rabbits for the workshop to give students rabbit handling experience.
Items Included: Printed materials
Student Provides: None
Prerequisites: None
Minimum Age of Participants: 12
Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Mediaeval Spoon
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $50 / Full Price: $60
Total length of time: 2 hours
Instructor's Name: Robin Goatey
Instructor's Business: The Dancing Goats
Instructor’s Website: www.thedancinggoats.com
Description: The Mediaeval Spinning Spoon is another odd and forgotten Spinning Tool from Jolly Olde England. There were 2 different ways of using the Spinning Spoons. Some were for setting on and others were for clipping to belt or bodice. No matter their type, they made supported spinning lots more fun.
Items Included: Silver Plate Victorian Repurposed Spinning Spoon.
Student Provides: None
Prerequisites: Significant spinning skills
Minimum Age of Participants: 18
Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Beginning Mediterranean Knotted Lace
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $50 / Full Price $60
Total length of time: 2 hours
Instructor's Name: Kelli Slack
Instructor's Business: Was BlackSheep Fiber Emporium, is now A Twisted Picot
Instructor's Website: www.atwistedpicot.com & www.kellislackdesigns.com
Description: This lace goes by many names: Turkish oya, Bebilla, Armenian lace, Nazareth lace, and many others. In this workshop, we’ll learn the basics of making loops, making knots, reading patterns, and creating this ancient lace with nothing but a needle and thread. Our workshop time will focus on edgings, but may also touch on creating center-out doilies. Project will be made with size 40 thread. Workshop includes booklet, project bag, needle, and thread.
Items Included: Workshop includes booklet, project bag, needle, and thread.
Student Provides: Supplies: Students should bring scissors, tape measure, highlighter tape or post-it notes or magnetic chart, writing implement or note taking item(s)
Prerequisites: Skill Level: Beginner, no knowledge required
Minimum Age of Participants: 16
Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
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Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Glam Knitting with Art Yarn
Total length of time: 3 hours
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $75 / Full Price $85
Instructor's Name: Martha Foster
Instructor's Business: Honeybunch Workshop
Instructor's Website: www.HoneybunchWS.com
Description: How often have you fiber artists heard, “But what do you do with the art yarn?”
This workshop will provide some answers - and teach advanced techniques for combining art yarns with other yarns to create wearables and other items to really show off the beauty of these gorgeous yarns (and your knitting skill!). Students will explore knitting that combines handmade art yarns with other weights, textures, and colors of yarn, and finish the workshop prepared to make a gorgeous GlamCowl - and with a start on that project, if time allows. Handspun art yarn of your choice, and a coordinating yarn, enough for a completed cowl, will be yours to keep. Needles will be provided for use during the workshop. Techniques can be applied to creating hats, mittens, scarves, tea cozies, pretty much anything you want!
The art yarns provided at the workshop are handspun by the instructor. Co-proprieter of Honeybunch Workshop in Bloomington, Indiana, she likes a fiber arts challenge. She knitted an Aran Islands sweater* as a teenager, after being taught to knit by her dad (who grew up with two sisters). She has expanded her fiber arts work into dyeing, carding art batts, spinning, crochet, and an assortment of felting techniques. As the art yarn piled up in her studio, she began to think about how to use it in combination with other yarns (handspun and commercial) to make wearable/usable art. In this workshop, she will share the results of her research and invention, including her own techniques and a design for combining yarns to create beautiful wearables.
*The Aran pullover, now several decades old, is still with her.
Instruction:
- How to measure gauge for two or more yarns for combining
- Choosing needle size for combining different weight yarns
- Technique for combining yarns for a flat, even, finished piece
- Stitch patterns for showcasing art yarn
- Technique for tidy edging when using multiple yarn weights
- Refresher (if needed) on long-tail cast on
- Swatching for combining yarns
At the conclusion of the workshop, you will have skills, tools, and materials to create your own combined weight yarn cowl.
Available for sale at the workshop: Additional hand-dyed and hand-spun art yarns, some paired with commercial yarns; knitting needles for chunky yarns; additional patterns for using art yarns.
Items Included: Handmade art yarn of your choice and coordinating companion yarn, enough to complete a short scarf/cowl, pattern for a completed cowl, needles (circular or straight) for use at workshop, short ruler for use at workshop
Student Provides: Notebook and pen (optional)
Prerequisites: Intermediate knitting skills and a sense of adventure
Minimum Age of Participants: 17
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Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Macramé Planter
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $55 / Full Price $65
Total length of time: 3 hours
Instructor's Name: Heather Macali
Instructor's Business: Ohmi Fibers
Instructor's Website: www.heathermacali.com & www.ohmifibers.com
Description: Learn how to make a basic hanging macramé planter! This workshop will cover basic macramé knots, troubleshooting techniques, and offer suggestions to make your macramé unique.
Items Included: Wooden ring, macramé cord (variety of colors), and ceramic planter.
Student Provides: Scissors, notebook, and pen/pencil.
Prerequisites: This is a beginning level course. If under 16 please have a parent or guardian attend with the minor.
Minimum Age of Participants: 10
Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Peg Loom Weaving
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $70 / Full Price $80
Total length of time: 3 hours
Instructor's Name: Case Runyan
Instructor's Business: Aoire Maith Fibre Studios
Instructor's Website: www.aoiremaithfibrestudios.com
Description: Have you ever wanted to learn how to weave like our ancestors did? Try peg loom weaving – a highly portable and ancient form of weaving that requires no tension on the loom! Peg looms can be used to make rugs, table runners, blankets, scarves, mug rugs, seat cushions, trivets, and more! During the workshop, students will learn how to warp, begin and continue weaving, along with finishing out a weaving project. We will complete an 8” trivet during our workshop time using washed wool locks and roving. Students will be able to choose from multiple sheep breeds for their project, including Shave Em to Save Em endangered breeds to earn passport stickers (4oz required for sticker).
Items Included: Warp and 100% wool fiber to complete an 8” trivet
Student Provides: Bring your own peg loom, or looms will be available for purchase.
Prerequisites: A willingness to let tension go!
Minimum Age of Participants: 12
Saturday 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Continuing Your Freestyle Weaving Journey
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $85 / Full Price $95
Total length of time: 3 hours
Instructor's Name: Liza Q. Wirtz
Instructor's Business: The Foldout Cat
Instructor's Website: www.foldoutcat.com
Description: Weave your joy! Maybe you’ve done a little weaving in the freestyle world, and you find it speaks to your heart. Now you’re ready to learn some new techniques to add to your freespirited toolbox as you continue down your weaving path. Invite this workshop into your life! Students will learn various ways to add creativity and personal expression to warp and weft as they weave the fabric of their heart on a highly approachable and easy-to-use two-harness SAORI floor loom. Supplemental warps, interlaid and interlocked shapes, rya knots, loops and worms, and more creative choices await! Students will take home what they weave.
Items Included: Use of warped SAORI loom and associated tools (shuttles, bobbins, etc.); wide variety of weaving materials, plus access to and use of various different weaving materials: yarn in a variety of fibers, colors, and textures, beads, wire, embroidery floss, Mylar, fabric scraps, fiber, etc.
Student Provides: No participant-provided materials required: instructor will provide all tools and materials. If students want to bring something personally meaningful to them to incorporate into their weaving if possible, they're welcome--indeed, encouraged--to do so. Some past examples: specialty paper, pieces of jewelry (this is a fun use for unmatched earrings!), dyed or undyed fiber, leftover quantities of treasured yarn too small to knit or crochet a finished item with. Otherwise, students just need to bring their willingness to experiment and explore--and to practice imperfection!
Prerequisites: Workshop is designed for students who have a little weaving experience on any type of loom and want to add to their existing skill set. (Students who have taken a previous freestyle-weaving workshop with the instructor are encouraged to sign up.) However, students who have never woven before but need this workshop in their lives nonetheless should find the learning curve easy to climb. Workshop open to students 8 years old and up; students must be tall enough to reach the floor pedals on the looms and able to focus for the duration of the workshop.
Minimum Age of Participants: 8
Saturday Full Day Workshops
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. & 1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Rainbow Dyepot
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $60 / Full Price $70
Total length of time: 5 hours
Instructor's Name: Christina Drennen Coghill
Instructor's Business: CCspins and Things
Description: Let’s dye a rainbow all in 1 pot. This workshop will teach you how to dye multiple colors in 1 pot at the same time. We will be dyeing DK superwash yarn, but the same principles can be used to dye fiber. You will leave with 2 hand dyed skeins of yarn. You will also be given instructions on various other methods of dyeing yarns and fibers.
Items Included: 2 skeins of superwash DK yarn. All dyes and mordants, and assorted items needed to dye yarn. Students will have choices of numerous dye colors you use if they decide they want to dye a skein different then a rainbow. Students will receive handouts to bring home, along with instructor's contact information if they need after workshop support.
Student Provides: Students will need to bring a metal pot 10 to 12 inches wide 10 to 12 inches tall. Once used for dyeing you can not use it for food preparation. Students can also bring gloves and face masks to wear. Students should wear comfortable clothing and comfortable shoes
Prerequisites: None
Minimum Age of Participants: 13
Saturday 9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. & 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.
Beginning Chair Caning
Workshop Fee Per Student: Early Bird $90 / Full Price $100
Total length of time: 6 hours
Instructor's Name: Mary Jo Harris
Description: Ever wonder how a caned chair seat is made? Do you have one (or more) caned chair seats to replace? Then this is the workshop for you. In this workshop, participants will hand cane a wooden trivet using natural strand cane to learn the chair caning process. Other topics that will be discussed include:
- The difference between the various types of caning
- The different types of caning materials
- The 7-step method of hand caning
- How to care for caned furniture
- Chair caning resources
Items Included: The 7 step caning process and display materials. Trivet Kit: Kit includes trivet frame, caning pegs, natural strand cane, binder cane, and instruction booklet.
Student Provides: Small hand clippers or shears, small rag, spray bottle, bucket or tub (in addition to spray bottle), paper for notes, pen or pencil, an awl or ice pick.
Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of caning or caning skills needed
Minimum Age of Participants: 12