MDSW! After! Party!

There's much a-happening around Sheep and Wool. Have you seen this MDSW After Party? It is bound to be loads of crazy fun!

You should go sign up now! It's just a measly $6 for the first 50 people, for snacks, door prizes, and a cash bar! The ravelry party last year was totally fun, and this one's sure to be rad!

HYP Vendors at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

Many of our wonderful vendors from this year's Homespun Yarn Party will also have their wares available at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. The Festival is on May 2 and 3 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. If you've never been, prepare to be amazed! In addition to a multitude of fiber vendors, there are also live animals, demonstrations, food, classes, an equipment auction, raw fleece show and sale... check out the festival website and the MDSW Ravelry group for more information.

We'll update this post as we learn where our vendors will be but here's a preliminary list:

Dancing Leaf Farm (Outside, S05)

Potosi Sheep/Persimmon Tree Farms (Outside, S03)

Spirit Trail Fiber Works (Main, A30)

Cloverhill Yarn Shop (Main D1, D3) will feature 23 independent yarnies including Dragonfly Fiber Designs, Felt Forest, Folktale Fibers, GnomeGarden, Neighborhood Fiber Co., Sanguine Gryphon, Serendipitous Ewe, Shelby's Designs, Three Irish Girls, Woolarina, Wullenstudio, and more!

Thank You!!

Today's event was a great success. Thank you to our vendors, our sponsors, our wonderful volunteers, and everyone who came out to shop and learn and play.

If you took photos, please share them with our Flickr Group!



We did have a few items left behind. You can reach the Great Room at 301-490-1668 or the Savage Mill offices at 800-788-6455 or info@savagemill.com to inquire about lost & found. If they are unable to help you find a lost item, please email us at yarnparty@gmail.com.

Second Annual Homespun Yarn Party! March 15, 2009

We had a great time last year - this year will be bigger and better!

What: Yarn Party! Check out local yarn vendors, sit and knit, meet new people!

Who: All your favorite local yarn dyers and spinners, plus some extra crafty goodness! And all our knitting/crocheting/spinning friends (you!) of course!!

Where: Historic Savage Mill |8600 Foundry Street, Savage, MD 20763 | Just off I-95, plenty of parking!

When: Sunday, March 15, 2009 - 12 PM to 5 PM *Note the extended hour*

Why: Who needs an excuse to get together and craft?! We wanted to get together and spread some fiber love!

In addition to some great crafty vendors, we'll also have:

• free lessons on knitting, crochet, spinning, and maybe more
• fabulous door prizes to be given away throughout the event
• crafty goody bags for participants (while supplies last)
• weather-permitting, a sit and spin/crochet/knit area out on the deck

And we'll be collecting knitted and crocheted items for local charities!

Admission is FREE!

Special thanks to Knit-a-Gogo, Spinster Yarns & Fibers, A Tangled Skein, the organizing committee, and everyone who is helping make the Yarn Party possible. Please see the blog sidebar for a full listing of vendors and sponsors.

Who's where?

1, 2...Dragonfly Fibers & Sanguine Gryphon
3...CatJu Designs
4...Cedarland Farm
5...Rock Creek Yarn
6, 7...Dancing Leaf Farm
8, 9...Spirit Trail Fibers
10...Serendipitous Ewe
11...Crash Into Ewe
12...Alpacas of Windswept Farm
13, 14...Loop & Treadle to the Metal
15, 16...Neighborhood Fiber Co.
17, 18...Three Irish Girls
19...Wild Hare Fibers
20...Blue Ribbon Accoyo Alpacas
21...Cosyknits
22...Knitterly Things
23...Woolarina
24...This Chickadee
25...Brookmere Alpacas & Cedar Wool Farm
26...Mid Valley Fibers
27...Folktale Fibers
28...Feederbrook Farm & Potosi Farm
29...Felt Forest & Gnomegarden
30...Pocket Meadow Farm
31...Alpacas of Maryland at Peaceful Hollow Farm
32...Shelby's Designs
33...{Craftgasm}
34...Avalon Springs Farm & Flying Goat Farm
35...Kozy Kitty Bags & Sheila Rovelstad /Wullenstudio
36...Biggs & Featherbelle

So where is this Yarn Party?!

Savage Mill is a super cute old complex that was once a fiber mill. It's got spinning areas, carding areas, weaving areas, and a cotton shed. You can read more about the history and renovation here. It's the perfect venue to hold us and our fiber fanatics!

Savage is just north of Laurel - directions are provided on their website here. It's pretty convenient from I-95.

Once you're at the mill, we'll be in the Great Room. There are maps around once you're in the door, so it shouldn't be hard to find us! I find parking easiest in the west lot - it gets pretty crowded in the closer lots!



Also, take some time to check out all the great antiques and furniture! There's a used book store, craft and scrapbooking stores, and more to see! If you get hungry, there are plenty of options! Save room for a delicious french pastry at Bonapartes! If the weather is nice, go for (or send your family on) a walk on the Savage Mill Trail!

Charity Crafting, Classes, and Demonstrations

Charity: Knitters and Crocheters Care

We're excited to have Knitters and Crocheters Care coming to the event to coordinate some charity knitting. We'll have some interactive crafting during the event: bring squares for children and baby blankets and we'll assemble 'em into blankets while we are there. Squares should be either 7" by 9", or 8" square. There will be donated yarn on hand if you want to work on this project. You are also welcome to bring extra yarn or finished items for donation - baby hats, animal blankets, memory pillows ... just about anything is welcome.

Free Classes

Our free classes will be at the introductory level, so come prepared to pick up a new skill. We'll have sessions on knitting, crochet, and spinning on a drop spindle. Classes will be announced before they begin, and will be limited by space availability at our class tables on a first come, first served basis. We will have yarn, needles and some hooks available, but you will need to provide your own spindle and fiber for the spinning class. Several vendors will have spindles available for purchase at the event.

Fun Demos

Space and weather permitting, we will be presenting some informal demonstrations during the event as well. Watch yarn be created before your eyes, or try your hand at spinning on a wheel or drop spindle. We plan to have several different models available for you to look at, and our spinning instructor would be happy to discuss lessons if you get hooked.

Kasey Evick, Biggs & Featherbelle

1. What is your website? and email?
www.biggsandfeather.com
info@biggsandfeather.com

3. Where are you located?
Baltimore, MD

4. What do you make?
soaps, lip balm, body butter bars, bath soaks, body scrubs, belly balm and gift sets




5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
yes

6. How did you get into making stuff?
We started out by making Christmas gifts for friends and family.

7. How long have you been doing this?
6 years

8. Where do you find inspiration?
Our first source of inspiration was from Martha Stewart. We were reading a Martha Stewart Magazine about making soap and got inspired to make Christmas gifts. It soon blossomed into a full time soap making business. Now we get our inspiration from the wonderful scents and properties of natural ingredients.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
Just keep on truckin. There is no right or wrong way to go about a business. Making mistakes is ok. Ask questions and ask for help. We have just figured out things as we go along and take it slow.

Barry and Mary Clark, Alpacas of Maryland at Peaceful Hollow Farm

1. What is your website? and email?
www.alpacasofmaryland.com
alpacasofmaryland@yahoo.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
alpacasofmaryland

3. Where are you located?
Westminster, MD

4. What do you make?
We make alpacas! We breed them for their ultra soft fine warm fleece and have it spun into yarn. We also have the raw fleeces available for spinning.



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
Yes

6. How did you get into making stuff?
We started with the alpacas, then after a short lesson, I practiced spinning for two years, and after that learned knitting and crocheting. I'm still very new at both, but am finishing my first feather and fan pattern scarf.

7. How long have you been doing this?
Been raising alpacas for over five years. Spinning for two years, and knitting and crocheting for about two months.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
The wonderful soft yarn from my own animals is so inspiring. I love the natural color, and knowing which animal I am working with is very special.. I'm also inspired by the people in this whole fiber community.. It's as though a whole new group of very kind folks have appeared in my life just when I can really appreciate them.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
Sometimes the opening of a life path happens in the most subtle way. After falling in love with the farm that we eventually bought, we fell in love with alpacas. That has led us to the most wonderful experiences and life style we could imagine. I'm raising these peaceful loving animals every day and hopefully learning to create things of beauty. Life just keeps giving surprising gifts in abundance.

A Tangled Skein

Special Thanks to Larry Paulson and Cheryl Hoffman of A Tangled Skein for supporting the Homespun Yarn Party!




1. What is your website? email?
www.atangledskein.com; fineyarns@aol.com

2. What is your Ravelry name/group?
Group: A Tangled Skein

3. Where are you located and what are your hours?
5200 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 101, Hyattsville, MD 20781 (Our mailng address is Baltimore Avenue [Route 1], but the entrance is on Gallatin Street.) Hours: Closed Monday. Tuesday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Sit and Stitch from 7 to 9 p.m.); Thursday & Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

4. What kinds of things do you carry?
Lots of yarn, including Noro, Art Yarns, Schaeffer, Neighborhood Fiber Company, Malabrigo, Berocco, and many others; good selection of books and individual patterns

5. How long have you been in business, and what inspired you to open a LYS?
We celebrated our second anniversary this January. Previously, we did editing (primarily academic books) and writing (primarily about energy and transportation), and we were looking for something new. The lack of a yarn shop nearby seemed to be a hint as to what our next step could be.

6. What's your favorite thing about having a LYS?
Meeting our customers. They’re such a creative, interesting people. And we like having the shop be a community gathering place. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the workday is spent surrounded by piles and piles of wonderful colored yarn.)

Kathy Reading, Catju Designs

1. What is your website?
www.catjudesigns.com

2. What is your Ravelry.com username?
Kathy is not on Ravelry, but Cindy is - her username is busybead1.

3. Where are you located?
Near Baltimore MD

4. What do you make?
Handcrafted Artisan jewelry using gemstones, Swarovski crystals, and whatever interesting beads and findings I can get my hands on.
Cindy McDonnell will also be at the booth with her crystal hearts and birthstone bracelets.



5. Do you make jewelry full-time?
No

6. How did you get into making stuff?
My sister gave me a jewelry making kit for my birthday one year and I've been hooked ever since.

7. How long have you been doing this?
Over 15 years

8. Where do you find inspiration?
From just about everything - I am always looking for interesting color combinations and techniques that I haven't see before. I also am intrigued by the ever changing jewelry fashion trends.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
I once had a customer who came back to get a bracelet fixed - her dog had chewed it up. She was very upset that the dog had gotten to it, but I was just glad that it didn't end up as an expensive trip to the vet. Luckily I still had beads to repair it.

Melissa Esposito, {craftgasm}

1. What is your website? and email?
My Etsy shop: craftgasm.etsy.com My blog: craftgasmdc.blogspot.com My e-mail: craftgasm@gmail.com

2. Your ravelry.com username? (If you are on Ravelry)
I am not on Ravelry, as I am not talented enough with fibers to warrant it. :)
editor's note - i bet we can fix that on sunday!

3. Where are you located?
I'm in Columbia Heights in DC.

4. What do you make?
I make sustainable, upcycled paper goods (and occasionally other random items) from found and otherwise scavenged materials.



5. Do you make [your items] full-time?
I do not. Unfortunately handmade ain't paying my bills (yet). I'm a bicycle advocate by day, crafter extraordinaire by nights and weekends. Sort of like your cell phone plan.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
This is probably a threefold answer: 1) My mother and I were always making, repainting, or reusing things when I was younger. Looking back, it was likely a byproduct of broke-single-motherdom, but she was very creative anyway, so it always had me thinking about different ways to repurpose things. 2) I wrote an obscene amount of letters for a teenager coming of age along with the digital era, and always found myself drawn to cute stationery, of which I still maintain a huge collection. And I think I'm singlehandedly responsible for the USPS still being somewhat afloat. 3) I'm an... "enthusiastic" environmentalist. (I maaaay have once got in a screaming match with a jerkface I worked with who was trying to throw away brand new company folders just because they had an old logo on them [I won].) It was only a matter of time before these things came together as {craftgasm}.

7. How long have you been doing this?
I've been making items as gifts for friends and family for years (being a broke college student brings out one's creativity), but I've only been selling products online and at shows for about six months or so. There are only so many upcycled journals and notecard sets that my friends want as birthday and Christmas gifts.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
An easy answer would be "everywhere" but I especially love the contrast between vintage office accoutrements (old ledgers, yellowing labels, and supply cabinet stamps) and charming adorability (squirrels and other woodland creatures). It's the old vs. the new-again, as well as the urban vs. rural. Maybe it's because I was born in the country and now love the city life?

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
I like playing with language and mashing words together to make portmanteaus, which is likely what led to my major in English. So I'd been adding "-gasm" to the end of words for a while when something was particularly awesome, and it just seemed natural to make the name of my business "craftgasm." However, I had to work up the nerve to tell my mother that I had decided on that name! She thought it was pretty funny, but I still haven't said it aloud to my respectable first-generation Italian grandfather. I call it "my Etsy shop" when the subject arises in his presence.

Julia Vesper, Knitterly Things

1. What is your website? and email?
knitterlythings.com
knitterlythings@gmail.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
KnitterlyThings

3. Where are you located?
Pittsburgh PA

4. What do you make?
Hand dyed yarns and fibers, specifically Vesper Self Striping Sock Yarn.

5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
Oh yes, all day every day!



6. How did you get into making stuff?
Through a general love and progression of knitting to spinning to dyeing. Enabled of course by knitting blogs!

7. How long have you been doing this?
Almost 4 years.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
In lots of things. generally the brighter the better, especially this time of year.

Karida Collins, Neighborhood Fiber Company

1. What is your website?
http://neighborhoodfiberco.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
karida

3. Where are you located?
Currently, I'm in Mount Rainier, MD

4. What do you make?
Hand-dyed yarns and fiber



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
Mostly, yes. I also work part-time at a coffee shop, teach knitting, and I finished a knitting book last year, Pints and Purls (Amazon link).

6. How did you get into making stuff?
After college, my best friend taught me how to knit and introduced me to Bust magazine. Since then, my main hobby (and social outlet) has been crafting, mostly knitting. At this point, my idea of a perfect party involves Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs, knitting, and liquor.

7. How long have you been doing this?
I've been doing Neighborhood Fiber Co. for the last 3 years.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
My inspiration comes from the natural and structural beauty of DC. The characteristics of the various neighborhoods, along with the residents and history are the basis for my colors.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
I used to be really bad at confining dye to the yarn and fiber. Most of my clothes have at least one stain. When I got my dog, Honey, I saw the turquoise tattoo from the rescue organization (to mark her as spayed), and spent a week thinking I accidentally dyed her.

Paula Pruessner, Woolarina

1. What is your website?
woolarina.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
woolarina

3. Where are you located?
Silver Spring, MD

4. What do you make?
I dye yarn and fiber, mostly. Occasionally I spin!



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
Unfortunately not yet! I'm a rocket scientist (sort of) at my day job.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
I've always made stuff. I studied engineering in college so that I could go to work making stuff. Unfortunately, engineers don't generally work with their hands these days, so I started knitting again. That lead to having extra hats and whatnot to sell at craft fairs, which led to dyeing and spinning! I haven't slowed down since!

7. How long have you been doing this?
I think 5 or 6 years now?

8. Where do you find inspiration?
I wish I could say I was an artist, that I had some knowledge of colors, that I reproduce colors I see in nature. I totally have no idea! All my colors are one-of-a-kind. I just add colors together until I find one that I like, and make variations of that for a bit until I find the next great color! I'm slowly moving on from the neon yellow/orange/lime/hot pink colors that I did for so long, but I'll always love the brights!

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
My husband now calls everything yarn or fiber-related "woolarinas"... as in: "Could you clean up your woolarinas from the couch?"



Paula was with us in 2008 too. You can read her bio here!

Sharon McMahon, Three Irish Girls

1. What is your website? and email?
www.ThreeIrishGirls.com
threeirishgirls@gmail.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
Surprisingly, it's ThreeIrishGirls!

3. Where are you located?
Rockville, MD

4. What do you make?
Handpainted yarn & fiber, learn to dye kits



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
Yes, in addition to my work as a teacher.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
I started doing custom knitting work for people, and the dyeing grew as an extension out of that. If you're interested in the full story, I'm working on it. You can start reading here: http://threeirishgirls.com/blog/?p=285

7. How long have you been doing this?
Three Years

8. Where do you find inspiration?
In nature, textiles, and dreams. That may sound hokey, but I actually do have dreams about color combinations!

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
Words of wisdom: There's no such things as too much yarn, only not enough time. Funny story: I once spilled a container of black dye solution, and it got all over my blonde hair. Not a look I intended to go for.

Lisa Check, Flying Goat Farm

1.What is your website? and email?
Our website is www.flyinggoatfarm.com
Our etsy store is www.flyinggoatfarm.etsy.com
My email address is goatherd@flyinggoatfarm.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
My ravelry name is goatherd

3. Where are you located?
We are located in Frederick, MD

4. What do you make?
We have white and colored angora goats. We have fleeces, locks (both dyed and undyed), roving, hand dyed yarns, scarves and fabric.



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
I wish I was doing this full-time but I am an elementary school teacher right now.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
I’ve always loved to create. I taught myself to weave, then dye and finally to spin about 20 years ago. I love to visualize my final product and then see it come to fruition.

7. How long have you been doing this?
I have been a fiber artist for 20 years but have been trying to make a business for about 1 year.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
It seems corny to say it but I get inspiration from intriguing color schemes and shapes from nature, magazines, and travel.



Flying Goat Farm will be sharing a booth with Avalon Spring Farm.

And Sew It Goes

Thank you to Carolyn Schoenian of And Sew it Goes for supporting the Homespun Yarn Party!


1. What is your website?
www.andsewitgoes.net

3. Where are you located and what are your hours?
Historic Savage Mill
Mon-Wed 10-6, Thurs-Sat 10-9, Sun 11-6


4. What kinds of things do you carry?
Right now we only have Cascade yarns but are adding as we go along.

5. How long have you been in business, and what prompted you to add yarn to your shop?
Have been in business for 5 ½ years as a quilt show and just added yarn Jan 09. We added the yarn because so many people came through Savage Mill asking for yarn. It’s a great addition to our fabric, wool, and felting.

6. What's your favorite thing about having a yarn shop?
Our favorite thing about having a yarn shop is having the yarn!! We are having so much fun with it! But then, who wouldn’t.

Karen Schlossberg, Avalon Springs Farm

1. What is your website? and email?
www.AvalonSpringsFarm.com www.AvalonSpringsFarm.etsy.com www.AvalonSpringsFarm.blogspot.com
email: Schlossk@comcast.net

3. Where are you located?
Mount Airy, Maryland

4. What do you make?
I sell both natural fleece and fiber and finished products. I have Angora Goats, and Colored Angora Goats, and Llamas, and Alpacas, in an array of natural colors and whites. I sell raw fiber, skirted & washed, and hand dyed (many colors). I sell roving and yarn as well.



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
My career has been in art education. Currently I am an at home Mom. I do the farming and fiber art full time from our farm at home.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
For the last decade+ I have had the farm with a focus on fiber animals and selling livestock. As an art teacher and artist I have always wanted to get into fiber & textile art, however, public school teaching was too much a demand on my time. Since I have been at home with children, I have finally begun to chase the dream.

7. How long have you been doing this?
Raising fiber animals for more than ten years, the fiber production more recently beginning in the last two years.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
I would say I am a colorist as an artist. I am thoroughly enjoying how well Angora goat fiber/Mohair absorbs dye, the colors are wonderful.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
--I have just started doing a blog. I have always have journal where I jot stories, ideas, thoughts, drawings, notes for photographs. The blog is a nice outlet to formalize some of this material.
--I have a Saturday, seasonal job working for a vendor, The Flower Lady, at the historic Farm Women's Cooperative Market of Bethesda. Indeed, customers love to hear funny things/endearing things about the farm and animals. I do sell a little bit of my own farm products there -- yarn, roving, hand dyed silk scarves.



Avalon Springs Farm will be sharing a booth with Flying Goat Farm.

Rebecca Duex, This Chickadee

1. What is your website? and email?
thischickadee.blogspot.com or thischickadee.etsy.com
email = thischickadee (at) gmail (dot) com

3. Your Ravelry.com username?
thischickadee

3. Where are you located?
arlington, va

4. What do you make?
aprons, totes, table linens, flights of fancy… and a new line of bags/accessories for knitters!



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
sewing is my full time job, but i also knit whenever i have a chance.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
i grew up watching my parents and grandparents making all sorts of magical things. it must have rubbed off!

7. How long have you been doing this?
this chickadee has been around for about a year and a half.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
everywhere. music, art, friends, etc… and necessity is indeed the mother of many of my inventions.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
it is so fantastic to have the opportunity to make a living by making things. i love what i do and i try to ensure that the love finds its way into every stitch.

Shelby Bidwell, Shelby's Designs

1. What is your website?
shelbyb.etsy.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
shelbyknits

3. Where are you located?
Germantown, MD

4. What do you make?
hand dyed yarn and stitch markers



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
No, I wish I did!!

6. How did you get into making stuff?
I've been crafty since I was a kid. When I went to Maryland Sheep and Wool for the first time in 2005, I was in awe. I fell in love with all of the colors and textures, and wanted to learn how to dye yarn/fiber myself. After trying with KoolAid and Wilton dyes, I took a workshop with MamaE, and learned how to use acid dyes. I got bitten by the fiber bug big time, and couldn't stop!!

7. How long have you been doing this?
I've been dyeing for over 2 years now.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
Much of my inspiration comes from the magical world of Harry Potter. I use places, people, and magical items as a lot of my inspiration. And other times, I just have fun and see what I come up with. Nature is another big inspiration.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
I remember being 5, and going to the LYS in Hamburg, NY with my mom. I was taken with the color and texture even then. And after re-connecting with the fiber world after my daughter was born in 2004, it all came rushing back to me. For me, the color and texture is about memories. Remembering old ones, and making new ones.

Kate Chiocchio, Dragonfly Fiber Designs

1. What is your website?
DragonflyFibers.com and dragonflyfiberdesign.etsy.com

2. Your ravelry.com username?
DragonflyFibers

3. Where are you located?
I live in Kensington, MD

4. What do you make?
I create hand-dyed yarn and spinning fiber. I also love to hand-process fleeces and hand dye locks.



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
I work with yarn and fiber part-time. The rest of the time I am a clinical social worker and a mom.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
I've come to the conclusion that the drive to create is an essential human drive. Those of us who are aware of our need and ability make things are the lucky ones. I've almost always done something creative; after I turned 40 and fell in love with fiber, I became driven to knit, spin, and dye.

7. How long have you been doing this?
I've been knitting for 6 years (not counting when I was 8!), spinning for 4, and dyeing for almost four.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
I am inspired mostly by the natural world and the work of other fiber artists. I love to watch the way different fibers take color and to use those subtle differences.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
I guess I'm a social worker even as a fiber artist and business owner; I want everyone to realize that yes, you can create(knit, spin, felt, braid, weave, name it) and in fact, your life will be happier and richer for it. Sure, we all learn different things in different rates and in different ways. I've been converting knitter for years, and everyone learns in their own way. Trust yourself and be persistent!



Dragonfly Fibers and Sanguine Gryphon will be sharing a double booth. Kate was with us in 2008 too - you can read her bio here!

Gryphon Perkins, The Sanguine Gryphon

1. What is your website?
www.sanguinegryphon.com

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
SanguineGryphon

3. Where are you located?
Easton, MD

4. What do you make?
Yarn! (handpainted, and handpainted fiber, and patterns)



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
yup

6. How did you get into making stuff?
Kate (Dragonfly Fibers) taught me to dye, and I've been hooked since.

7. How long have you been doing this?
Knitting and designing, about 5 years. The business has been around 2.

8. Where do you find inspiration?
Bugs and things.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
I'm named after my business, not vice-versa.



Sanguine Gryphon and Dragonfly Fibers will be sharing a double booth. Gryphon was with us in 2008 too - you can read her bio here.

SharonFerg, Felt Forest

1. What is your website? and email?
FeltForest - www.sharonferg.etsy.com,
matryoshka@embarqmail.com,
flickr id: tiny matryoshka

2. Your Ravelry.com username?
matyroshka

3. Where are you located?
High Bridge, New Jersey

4. What do you make?
I make needle felted creatures and twigcraft to go with them, cages, sleds, beds...



5. Do you make fiber/yarn/etc. full-time?
I wish that I could needle felt full-time, but full time I am a mom and part time I work at my daughter's school as a teacher's assistant.

6. How did you get into making stuff?
We were a pretty crafty family so I've been making things all my life but as for needle felting I took a class on needle felting about 8 years ago and made a play mat for my daughter.

7. How long have you been doing this?
8 years

8. Where do you find inspiration?
Reading stories, fairytales, mythology to my girls mostly, forests, art, most everything.

9. Any funny stories, words of wisdom, something else to share about you or your business?
Don't try to open a bag of chocolates with a felting needle and NEVER leave your critters on your car dashboard when the cover on your heating vent is broken. I have the scars and a little angry gnome forever lodged in my heating system to prove it!