As someone who has been sewing for nearly four decades, has studied fashion design, and worked in a fabric store for most of his career, I consider sewing and textiles my main creative outlet. I’ve also been knitting for close to thirty years, and crocheting for two years, so yarn is also high on my list of passions. So, on March 30th, it was exciting to hop in the car and head out to the Cloverdale Agriplex to immerse myself in all things fibre-arts-related. Here’s what I learned…
The first thing I discovered was that interest in fibre arts is alive and thriving. When we arrived, we found that the main parking lot was full, so we had to zip over to the secondary parking lot. When we walked in the door, we found the venue abuzz. There were lots of people and every aisle had people milling about, making sure they didn’t miss anything the show had to offer.
The second thing I realized is that there is a lot more to fibre arts than my personal hobbies of knitting and crochet. Here is how Fibres West describes their show on their website:
“Interested in spinning, weaving, felting, knitting, rug hooking, lace making, dyeing, tapestry, basket weaving and other related fibre crafts? We promote local, Canadian fibre producers, fibre shops, independent artists, equipment producers, non-profit groups and weaving and spinning guilds. We hire Canadian teachers, and we invite vendors from BC, Alberta and beyond to join us.”
I was intrigued, if not overwhelmed, by the traditions outside of my experience, particularly anything to do with creating yarn. While I am used to purchasing pre-dyed and pre-spun yarn that is ready to be knit or crocheted, it was interesting to see how many booths were selling dyed roving and unspun fleece. Of course, that question came to my mind, “Do I have room for a spinning wheel?” The instant answer was, unfortunately, “no”, but it is definitely something to consider if I ever find myself with more space.
Another thing I saw, and that I’d seen demonstrated before, was lacemaking. There were a lot of people gathered around watching as the bobbins passed from hand to hand of the person demonstrating the technique. At first it is mesmerizing (and magical!), but I have to remind myself that some people may think the same thing, if they ever watched an experienced knitter tackle an intricate design. It all takes patience and hours of practice.
I would say that, for me, the most inspiring part of the show was all of the beautiful colours. In particular, the variegated, hand-dyed yarns are simply brilliant. There were rows and rows of these. Each one, more beautiful than the next. Without a project in mind, I didn’t dare buy anything, but their beauty may inspire me to make bolder colour choices on future projects. It also makes me think that I should explore more of the beautiful ombre and variegated yarns.
The final thing that needs to be mentioned is the myriad of tools and trinkets available at a show like this. I could have spent the whole day at a booth that was selling hand-made buttons. There were also booths featuring ceramic bowls to hold your yarns. There were beautifully intricate polymer clay stitch markers, and of course every knitting needle and crochet hook you could think of. I did end up purchasing a few ceramic ornaments that I couldn’t resist.
The show was a great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday. It seemed well organized and there were some beautiful door-prizes being offered. Next time I go, I will make sure to arrive early and maybe have a project in mind, so if I see some ‘must-have’ yarn, I’ll know how much to buy!
In the midst of all of the excitement, as usual, I forgot to grab any photos, but I have included a few from Fibres West’s website gallery, to illustrate a bit of what I experienced at the show. If you attended the show, let us know what the highlights were for you. To all of the fibre artists out there, please share some inspiration by letting us know what projects you’ve got on the go.
