Fiber Arts Summer Camp - Oxford MS

Lynn & I are getting very excited about all the fiber crafts we will be sharing with young people during Oxford's first Fiber Arts Summer Camp. Every Monday from June 4 until July 30, aspiring artists ages ten and up will create a unique piece of fiber art with different materials.

Fiber Arts Camp will be held at Knit 1 Oxford when the shop is closed so that eight children will have the space to themselves! Just some of the techniques we will cover are weaving, dyeing, knitting, crochet, beadwork, felting, embroidery, macrame, kumihimo, braiding & knotting, papermaking, dollmaking, and lots more. A few photos of the projects are below, as well as sample pieces our fabulous 'tester student' has tried out for us!

Click on the box to the right ("Fiber Camp") to link to Knit 1 Oxford for more information and to register.

This small purse was woven on a cardboard loom. In addition to learning new techniques, students will also learn how to make the tools necessary for several of the fiber crafts.


Here is a simple straw-woven barrette our student tester has made.


This is a straw woven belt. Students will learn the technique while making a barrette.


A crocheted fingerless mitt.

Felt bead making:

More Fiber Arts Summer Camp

More fiber crafts we will be learning this summer, including square stitch beaded bracelet, kumihimo braid in progress, macrame bracelet, perfect pompoms, God's Eyes, and, lastly, a photo of the small woven purse my tester student made.

Whatever could it be?

Hmm...no, it's not a big knitted Altoid!

It isn't a knitted Oreo cookie either...but that gives me an idea!

It is food though! Actually, that seems to be a theme in my recent knitting...which explains the tight pants...

Get your veggies!

Ta-da! All he needs is a little slice of tomato ;).

I wish I could claim credit for this clever craftiness, but I just provided the labor. The design credit all goes to Anna Hrachovec and her wonderful Mochimochi Land (click here)! This website is chockablock with clever cuteness - and I'm hooked.

Antique Valentines

I love old postcards, greeting cards, recipe booklets, and other ephemera. There is something very charming about finding a pretty, old postcard with writing on the back! It makes you think of a time when people wrote much more than we do now. I have some postcards that simply say "Hi" on the back, and others with affectionate and sometimes smart-alecky notes.

Lulu once gave me a little album of valentine cards she had found over in Stephentown, NY (I think). Here are two cards I recently found on a trip home, possibly at Nancy Dole Books & Ephemera in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. I love Nancy's second floor book shop -- small and cozy, lots of classic craft and knitting books that my sister and I race each other to, and a collection of well organized ephemera. I do wish I could go through the doors of that charming shop someday without a budget! Sigh.


This cute card has a mechanism that makes for a sweet surprise!

He is very nice!

Charlie did something very special for me on Valentine's Day -- he took the afternoon off from work and we went to tea in Tupelo! A newish antique shop, His and Hers, has opened Tea for T'Arts in the rear of the shop. Tips that are earned at tea are given to several arts organizations in Tupelo (ballet, symphony, etc.) Finger sandwiches were delicious; no scones but a pretty bowl of sweet potato chips; and little tiny tarts.

Our cards and presents to each other, Hoops & YoYo's and chocolate, of course. There is a chocolate shop in Memphis, Dinstuhls, which is conveniently close to a good bookstore, Booksellers at Laurelwood.

Mmmmm, here it comes!

Just me at the tea room.

A Tupelo bonus event! While stopped at a CVS, a fast train crossed this busy intersection. Five different engines!

Oxford Fiber Arts Festival - Linda Weghorst Opening Talk

The second Oxford Fiber Arts Festival is scheduled for January 20-22, 2012. Opening lecture Friday evening will be given by Linda Weghorst on "African Kente Cloth Weaving." Ms. Weghorst, a fiber artist, weaver and educator, visited Ghana, Africa in 2009 to study the artists and art of Kente cloth weavers. Samples of the cloth and other native crafts will be on view after the talk and slide show. Lecture is at 6:30 p.m.

Ms. Weghorst will also teach a Handwoven Jewelry workshop during the fiber festival, on Saturday, January 21 from 10-4. Pin loom weaving will be used to create elegant, one-of-a-kind pins and neckpieces. Trained as a professional artist at Ball State University and the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA, Fiber Arts), Ms. Weghorst has exhibited her work and taught workshops throughout the United States. Her tapestries have been commissioned for a wide range of public architectural settings, including corporate, government, university and religious institutions.

Here are two examples of Linda's Woven Jewelry pieces.



Angela Schneider weaves, knits, spins and does just about every textile technique. She teaches for shops and guilds and exhibits in art shows in Memphis and regionally. Angela always has multiple projects in progress and classes on the calendar, and she will be teaching two classes during the Fiber Arts Festival. Below is a photo of Wavy Wedges, a project which takes short-rows to the extreme with a trick of geometry to create a unique 'wavy wedges' scarf.

Knitting is simple, but with a twist that makes it anything but plain. Only basic knitting skill required – cast on, knit and bind off. Creative yarn selection makes the design pop. Supplies: 200 yds worsted-weight yarns: Solid, variegated, two colors or two balls of slow color-migrating yarn. Size 8 needles or size to get a comfortable gauge with selected yarns. This class is scheduled for 2-5 Saturday, January 21.

Angela will also teach Kumihimo Braiding, a traditional craft in many cultures. Braids can be used in many applications, from jewelry to accessories to home décor. Students will work with both hand-held disks and marudai (braiding stools). Everyone will start with a sampler braid and choose a pattern for a small project – bracelet or keychain. All supplies will be provided in a kit. This class is designed for ages 10 - adult, and will be held Saturday, January 21 from 9-12.

Below is a photo of two pieces, a bracelet and a necklace that I made after taking Angela's class. The necklace (choker style, with end caps at the back) was made with specialty yarns.

For more information and to register for Handwoven Jewelry, Wavy Wedges, Kumihimo and many other classes, contact Knit 1 Oxford at 662-238-2829.

There will be lots of make and take for kids at the festival, including finger knitting, yarn bombing, and God's Eye, below.

More animals at the festival! This year our vendors are bringing alpaca, pygora goats, angora rabbit, and a llama! Here is a photo of a baby alpaca I took at Cathy's ranch a year ago.

Lulu's Hats

My mother, Lulu, had a pretty good wardrobe of hats the last decade or so of her life. We invited people to take one of her hats at a reception we held in her honor after she passed away, and several people took a hat to remember Lulu by.

Here is Lulu in a hat that I now wear.

And here is a photo of Lulu, wearing a cute little pink number, sitting on Tom's bike in 2003. She looks very cute, like she is really ready to take off on that thing! There is a funny story behind this photo. I can send extra photos if requested.

Lately I have been building up my wardrobe of hats, having inherited Lulu's thinning hair genes. This past summer, on my drive up north, I stopped in Granville, Ohio and took a felt hat making class with Gail Maraman of Windy Crest Designs - click here. Gail is an artist in felt, and teaches classes in the history, culture, nature, and art of feltmaking, as well as the techniques for making traditional felt, nuno felt, watercolor felt, and needle felt.

I got a good start on my hat and finished it when I got home a month later. I did some more felting on the hat and realized it had shrunk more around the circumference, but the crown was a little tall. After I had needle felted yarn embellishment to the hat, to reduce the height of the hat I pinned folds into it, then starched and steamed it. After it had dried, folds intact, I then added a few beads and sequins. A buttonhole stitch was embroidered all around the edge of the brim. I like the way it turned out! Next year, on my way up north, I'm going to take more classes with Gail!