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Home  Welcome! We are a fiber guild, a support group for fiber enthusiasts.  We are centered around the Fargo, North Dakota / Moorhead, Minnesota area.  We have members that spin, weave, dye, knit, felt, and do other fiber arts. Meeting Time and Place Meetings are the second Saturday of each month, from 10:00 AM to noon.  The meeting place may vary.  Informal gatherings also happen at random times. Calendar of Events: Spring and Summer Happenings This spring and summer present many exciting opportunities to hone our skills, show off our accomplishments, work on our challenge projects, and enjoy the friendships our fiber fascination brings. Consider trying something new this summer. Shepherd’s Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival May 12 – 13, 2012 Washington County Fairgrounds Lake Elmo, Minnesota Classes 2012 Class Registration will begin March 15, 2012, and end on May 5, 2012. Online class registrations must be paid through PayPal. Materials fees are listed with the class description and are payable to the instructor during class. For more information call Julie Mackenzie at 612-961-9625 or log on to shepherdsharvestfestival.org Moxie Happy Hour plus Moxie Java 115 4th Street South Moorhead, MN 5:00 - 8:30 p.m. Third Tuesday of the Month Come sit outside with a cool drink this summer. Bring your knitting or other fiber project. Enjoy a cup of joe and friendship. Moxie’s happy hour is from 5-7 p.m. All espresso drinks are half price. Tuesday, May 15th Tuesday, June 19th Tuesday, July 17th Tuesday, August 21st^t Tuesday, September 18th Return to Top NPFA Spring Luncheon Saturday, May 19^th Seasons Restaurant at Rose Creek 1500 East Rose Creek Parkway, Fargo 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Magic Balls Ready???? Set????? Let’s go!! to our annual spring luncheon. We will showcase the wondrous woolies, etc. created from our magic yarn balls at this luncheon. What? No yarn Ball or Completed project? No problem. This is a time to share or tell about any project that we’ve been working one this past year and a time to enjoy being together. Plan to wear your item (s), if possible, to show them to the group. The restaurant opens at 11:00 a.m. We will eat upstairs in the “Board Room” at noon and order from the menu. Luncheon entrees generally range from $10-12. Drinks extra. The menu is online at seasonsatrosecreek.com. We’ll have door prizes and we are looking forward to seeing our fabulous knitted placemats and flowering swags gracing the dining room table. We’ll also learn about our challenge project for next year. Please email Barb Gilder (gary-barb@msn.com) if you are planning to come so we can get an approximate count. People who attended the April annual meeting don’t need to reply as they are already accounted for. Return to Top Summer at the Log Cabin Davy Park, 210 8^th Street North Moorhead 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Those without a lake cabin, know the joy of the quiet city on Saturday mornings in the summer. This summer, hopefully (!!), we will meet at the Log Cabin Folk Art Center for our monthly meetings, as well as for the RiverArts evenings, the second Tuesday of each month. Hopefully (!!), because the dates have been requested, but not yet officially approved as of the date of this newsletter. An announcement will be made via email or snail mail if we need to change the location. The log cabin was built in 1859 along the Red River and served as a stagecoach stop on the Minnesota Stage Company's route. In 1878 Charles Whitcomb bought the cabin and moved it to 225 10th St. N., where it was used as a family home. It was eventually taken apart, but in the early 1930s the Moorhead Garden Club rebuilt the cabin in the 300 block of Fourth Street South. In 1999, local artists, Gloria Weisgram, Gary Paulsen and the City of Moorhead began to use it as a folk art center. It now resides in its original 1859 location in Davy Park. It seems fitting that we spend a few summer days there, making fiber folk art. Here are the dates. Please come for friendship and fun. Bring a potluck dish to share if you are able to stay for lunch. Saturday, June 9 Spinning, Knitting, Weaving and Pot Luck Lunch 10:30-2:00 Tuesday, June 12 River Arts, Games Galore, Thunder Ridge on Stage 4:30-8:30 Tuesday, July 10 River Arts, Entertainment To Be Announced 4:30-8:30 Saturday, July 14 Spinning Knitting, Weaving and Pot Luck Lunch 10:30-2:00 Tuesday, August 14 River Arts, Silverado on Stage 4:30-8:30 Saturday, August 25 Dyes and mordants for natural dyeing 10:30-2:00 Learn about natural dyes. Bring yarn or fiber To mordant for September 8th, Natural Dye Day at Sharon’s. Return to Top Red River Valley Fair The Red River Valley Fair will be held from July 10^th to 15^th this year. Be sure to check out their website at redrivervalleyfair.com to get the latest information about activities and entry categories for the fiber arts. This is a great place to show others the creative side of fiber arts and an opportunity to win prizes for entries. Return to Top Viking Village Heritage Hjemkomst Center, Moorhead, MN Friday, June 22, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, June 23, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. This year, the Viking Village will combine with the Scandinavian Hjemkomst Festival in June, for a larger, more entertaining Nordic Festival. The fiber arts demonstration will show a range of activities from the Viking age to the present day. In the Viking Village, demonstrations and other activities educating the public about Viking life, as well as sampling Viking Era food, linking chain mail, playing era games and more! The guild members and friends will demonstrate the types of activities and materials needed to produce clothing in the Viking Age. Vikings kept sheep and were great weavers. They wore clothes made from linen and wool and silk. We don’t know if they produced linen clothing, but we do know that they regularly traded for linen, and silk, but wool was their main clothing. Guild members need to wear a Viking authentic costume. Members can make their own or select one from a rack available at the Hjemkomst Center. Return to Top Fiber Arts Fest Saturday, August 11 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Sunday, August 12 Noon – 5:00 p.m. Rheault Farm, 2902 25^th Street South, Fargo The purpose of Fiber Arts Fest is to have fun with fiber. We'll meet others who work with textiles, and educate the public through interactive demonstrations. This will be a relaxed, informal weekend the whole family can enjoy. Our guild will be demonstrating both days. Any fiber project you are working on would be welcome. We will also be participating in a sheep to shawl event, probably to be held on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you are interested in joining a team, please contact Julie Slaby at julie@piecesofstring.net. The festival is a one-stop source for information about local fiber activities, groups, businesses, and classes. For more information check out fiberartsfest.com Return to Top Fiber Challenge 2011 Magic Ball Challenge Our 2012 Fiber Guild Challenge will be to make a magic ball out of remnants of yarn that we have and create a special garment or other item with it. We have all winter to work on it and we will have a “fashion show” at our spring luncheon in May. Rarely do we use up every inch of yarn that we buy for a project. Eventually, most of us are overwhelmed with leftovers. Making up a “magic ball” is an excellent way to use up our extra yarn and create a beautiful knitted, woven, felted or sewn item. Start by going through your stash and picking out a minimum of 8 yarns. They may be of a similar color or texture scheme, or the same gauge, but it’s not entirely necessary. Once you’ve picked your yarns, assemble them around you. Take your first skein, pull out a random length of yarn (1-3 yards) and cut it. Wind this yarn into a ball. Then pick a second skein, pull out a slightly different length of it, and cut it. Tie the two yarns together by holding both ends together and tying an overhand knot. Video instructions for making a magic ball are on YouTube. Search “Instructional Knitting Video Magic Ball”. Continue picking different yarns and different lengths, and adding it to your ball. Eventually you’ll have a large ball made up of random combinations of assorted yarns. This is the magic ball. If knitting with the magic ball, select a needle size that is the average for the types of yarns selected. If there is a big difference in yarn sizes, selecting a large needle will result in open, lace-like areas where the yarn is finer. Using smaller needles results in a tighter fabric that will have periodic bulky spots. Even then, it may take some trial and error to find the needle size that is best. The fun begins when creating with the Magic Ball. Straight stockinette stitch helps the tied ends stay on the back side of the work, keeping the front flat and colorful or will give the finished piece texture by keeping the tied ends on the front of the work. A striped effect can be produced by keeping all the yarns the same length. The longer the strand, the larger the band of color in the finished garment. Adding a small amount of bright contrast here and there produces an effect similar to that of sunlight glowing from behind a cloud. Some ideas for Magic Ball knitting include: · Pillows · Sweaters and Vests (see Kaffe Fassett’s designs) · Bags or Purses · Hats · Scarves · Stuffed Animals · Etc. Return to Top