Karen Ames
I am an avid artist who never met a craft I didn’t like! I raise a flock of fine wool sheep and since I hate to waste anything, I learned how to spin and weave with the wool. This rabbit hole has led to a maze of adjacent uses for wool as well as opportunities for learning and experimenting. I enjoy sharing what I’m learning and tempting others to join me in the adventure!
Needle Felt Spring Birds (Friday PM)
Needle Felt Spring Birds (Saturday AM)
Color Me Happy
Michelle Salyers and Linda Williams
Our mission as a collaborative fiber arts studio is to bring joy to others with naturally dyed fiber and yarn, and to foster creativity, community, and connection to the natural world through this work.
Hand Painting Mini-skeins with Natural Dyes (Saturday AM)
Donna Jo Copeland
Donna Jo Copeland, farmeress, owner of Breezy Manor Farm in Mooresville, Indiana, has been raising and working with wools over half a century….angora bunnies, angora goats, sheep. Honoring the ways of her Scottish ancestors, she weaves their legacy into the various fiber paths she pursues.
Rug Hook an Enchanted Forest (Friday AM)
Mariya Gerhardt
I am a fiber artist – felt maker and knitter. When I discovered wet felting, I was hooked by its magic when a fabric, a living image, is born from a bunch of scattered fibers of wool, silk and other fibers. I have been doing wet felting over 7 years and still a lot of experimenting and discovery for me. I like to work with natural fiber, raw fleeces, use a lot of recycled material like – silk, cotton and viscose fabric and fiber. I have been obsessed with exploring the possibilities of felting and would love to share the joy of creating with others.
Felted Calla Lily Flower Necklace (Friday PM)
Nuno Felted Scarf (Saturday PM)
Ellen German
I’m a wife and mom to 3 grown children. Moving to the Greencastle area with the remnants of my daughter’s 4-H sheep project, I was determined to learn how to use the wool those Suffolk sheep kept producing. I began weaving after a rug weaving day at a Brown County weaving studio on a Union rug loom. These are fantastic looms which I now use. As a shepherd with a large supply of raw wool and a growing stash of handspun yarns, I began knitting on the Addi circular machine while sitting with my husband watching football. I am excited to share my Addi addiction with people at my workshops and my weaving passion with my warping class.
Intro to Addi Circular Machine Knitting (Friday AM)
Sectional Warping (Friday PM)
Jennifer Johnson
Hello! I’m Jennifer Johnson, Weaver, Teacher, Fiber Artist. Weaving is my passion; teaching is my gifting. I am continually fascinated by what the human spirit can create! My students range in age from 4 years to 97 years.
Crochet an Emotional Support Chick (Friday AM)
Bands on the Run! Weaving Warp-faced Plain Weave Bands (Friday PM)
Dorset Button Posy (Saturday AM)
Hardanger Embroidery Scissor/Needle Case (Saturday PM)
Justin Near
I am a Nashville fiber artist and homeschooler who has a passion for sustainability and supporting local and regional communities and economies. Fiber arts have been my passion since I was a child, and I am now knee-deep in the fiber community, teaching at fiber festivals, writing about fiber, and developing a soon-to-be regional fiber business. I hope to pass on that love and passion to as many people as possible so that they, too, can experience the magic and beauty of working with raw, natural materials.
Drop Spindle Spinning and Plying (Friday AM)
Drop Spindle Spinning and Plying (Saturday AM)
Upcycling Sweaters (Friday PM)
Upcycling Sweaters (Saturday PM)
Bex Oliger
I grew up in my mother’s (Carol Leigh Brack-Kaiser) Hillcreek Fiber Studio where I learned to weave and dye at a young age. I helped design and weave several of the projects in my mother’s book, The Continuous Strand Weaving Method, and assisted at numerous natural dye workshops featured in Nature Provides: Rainbows of Color. I am now a knitwear designer and tech editor; knitting, weaving, and natural dyeing instructor and consultant; and co-own Hillcreek Yarn & Fiber, LLC in Columbia, MO.
Color Effects in Continuous Strand Weaving (Saturday PM)
Vanda Paladino
I’m a mother of two kids and two dogs who grew up in Lafayette. I currently work in IT in Indianapolis, although I’m a classical civilizations and museum expert by training. I’ve been spinning off and on for 20 years, knitting for a few more, and know just enough crochet to be dangerous. I’m a process based spinner who often lets the fiber decide what it wants to be, and I love working with vibrant colors. I will forever consider myself a spinning student as there are just so many things to try. When I’m not spinning I love to play board games and Dungeons and Dragons.
New Spinner’s Sampler (Saturday PM)
Claire Reagan
Turning a Heel in Knitting (Saturday AM)
