fiber workshop series starts January 8th

 Marian helped me set up for a needle-felting workshop in October

 This season’s Arts & Crafts team is FIBER!
We will explore the many wondrous qualities and uses for WOOL, and meet other favorite fibers, too:  cotton, wood, silk, alpaca, and goat, of course!  Spinning, felting, weaving, dyeing, working, field trip! Tuesdays in January and February, 4:30-6:00 pm, with Valerie Goates

New Fiber Workshop Schedule

As a teacher, I really like the skill building of an 8-week workshop, and hope to return to that format, but have decided that a series of individual workshops will work better for our families at this time. The series will still build on a central theme or skill, but classes can be taken individually. 

Woo hoo for you:  it comes with a new pricing schedule, too!  The first class—whichever you may choose that to be-- is $15, and each subsequent class is $12, including supplies.  The whole series of eight classes is $90, and includes a complete fiber kit to use at home:  basket, felting needle, drop spindle, and WOOL!  Please preregister.

**until I get the time to redo our paypal shopping cart, an email to thewondercollective@gmail.com is the preferred registration!**

Ages?  8-adult!  We will be learning together, then working individually on open-ended projects that can stay simple or pile on detail, so the series will be suitable for a wide age range, and may be particularly nice to take TOGETHER.  Each class is limited to 8 total participants and will be more focused in subject matter and individual attention than are our wee workshops.
 
January 8^th:  Fiber exploration
We’ll play with a variety of fibers, and examine each with our hands and under the microscope.  I’ll explain some of the science and history of felting, and we’ll try it out with a felted soap project.
 

January 15^th:  Spinning

A local expert will demonstrate spinning wool on a spinning wheel, and we will make our own drop spindles and learn to use them.  We’ll card our own wool, and compare spinning that to commercial merino.  Full-season participants will start to build their fiber project baskets.

January 22^nd:  Needle-felting, 3D
Enter the flexible and fun world of needle-felting!  We will start with using cookie-cutter molds to guide the shaping of small pins, and make three-dimensional figures.

January 29^th:  using your yarn


We’ll use a combination of our handspun and commercial yarns to make a finger crochet scarf.  Becci kindly filled in while Valerie helped her baby sister with a new tiny arrival!

February 5^th:  Wet-felting
We’ll get happily messy, using soap, friction, and warm water to make bright wool balls, finger puppets built on forms, and rings.

February 12^th:
Sewing with recycled wool & 2-D needle felting embellishment
Use pieces from my hard-won felted wool collection and bits of loose roving to felt together an original and so excellent play scene:  beach, meadow, farm, or your own Shangri-La!  You may also decorate last week's wet-felted work or stitch a Valentine-themed little vessel.

February 19^th:  Dyeing & advanced spinning
We will use non-toxic plant and food dyes to safely dye wool to perfected custom shades, and use the downtime to spin and ply more balls of yarn.

February 26^th: Weaving & Series Exhibit
We’ll work on a slick little pocket project with our own and commercial yarns.  Tonight’s class will be followed (6:00 pm!) with our series exhibit:  we’ll invite all participants back for a short reception, sheep & goat cookies, and display of this season’s projects.

And there will be a field trip.  Details later.  Email me if you want to be sure not to miss it!