Kathy Goldner is an entrepreneur who looks as though she were chosen to play the role on a television show…she simply looks like a brilliant business woman before you even hear her speak! You can have a sneak peak at the selection of books she produces at Knitting Out Loud. This year she’ll have a booth in the Shopper’s Boulevard and recently she responded to the following interview questions:

1. We know that interest in textiles and fibers evolve over time. What is your currant passion? Did you start directly with this form of the art or did you progress through a series of interests? Directly to knitting!
2. What or who fired your initial flames of artistry? My German Jewish grandmother, a WWII immigrant and Freudian psychoanalyst. She couldn’t cook, but she taught me how to knit.
3. Where do you find your inspiration? Travel, gardens, museums, children’s paintings… From knitting books!
4. What’s your biggest challenge? Time. studio space, money, recognition…
5. What’s the biggest payoff? The wonderful feel of knitting! Working in this folk tradition with gorgeous yarns.
6. Emotions are a major driver of our passions…does your art make you satisfied from the moment you start or are there moments of anxiety as the process evolves…do you see the finished product differently as time passes? Yes! To both questions. One always learns something new. I love the process.
7. What best describes your personal learning style? Your personal teaching style? Unconventional.
8. What would a perfect fiber shop look like? Do you have any favorite haunts that come close? I love my local yarn shops: Purple Fleece in Stockton Springs and Heavenly Socks in Belfast. They are both perfect!
9. How will those who wander through the Fiber College grounds best recognize you? I will be wearing a Knitting Out Loud tee shirt.
10. In a perfect world, how would you spend your time? Where would your passions take you if there were no restraints? I am very happy right now.

Bad Girls Spinning Club/Taught by Linda Scharf on Sunday Morning
In Linda’s own words:

Smokin' Fiber

Well, we won’t be sneaking outside to smoke, but maybe our wheels will be
smokin’. Let’s hope so!

If I’m going to take the time to spin fibers, I’d like the time to be well
spent, and for me this means that I am fully engaged with the process,
enveloped in curiosity, wonder and learning. Let’s work/play in this 2
hours that we have together to remember what you want out of spinning and
practice it.

Organic Greens

We’ll be creating original yarns and remembering what the process is for
engaging deeply with our Selves, the materials and tools. We’ll be very
aware of our senses and we’ll be tapping into our core to find methods for
doing this on our own. We’ll learn some techniques for working with
perceived failure, feeling stuck and more.

Break'n out of the box

It’s best if you can take a half hour to an hour with yourself in the week
before we meet to ask yourself what it is that you want to learn about
spinning. Is it to stay inspired to spin, to explore new materials, to
learn new and old techniques and/or to figure out what to do with your
yarn after you spin it? If you can make some notes and bring your notebook
to class, then we can find out what we have in common and also, where each
has unique concerns.

Who says you can't do that?

My background is in art. You can see my work at my site: Stoneleafmoon
(http://www.stoneleafmoon.com) A long time meditation practice and
interest in the spiritual/energetic aspects of life influence my art. I
enjoy spinning fibers because it’s a good way for me to combine sculpture,
painting and a love of color.

All colors look great together!

Whether you’ve been creating dynamic yarns for a while or feel like your
spinning mojo got lost somewhere along the way, you’ll go away energized
by the time we’ve all spent together!

Susan is the kind of woman who can see a pile of chaotic colors and blend them into combinations that

Wet Felted Horse

bathe your eyes with pleasure. Not to be forced into a box, Susan is a quilter, weaver, book artist and at Fiber College she’ll be sharing her felting skills on Saturday afternoon in the Felted Paintings Class.

Recently she shared a bit of her life with us:

I have returned to school, the University of Southern Maine to study
Fine Art. I decided I wanted to create painted warps to weave shawls
or wraps that would be worn as clothing or used as a cozy blanket. I
have always loved the repetitive, meditative quality of weaving, so I
often choose the simplest weaves, plain or twill.

As a teacher, I provide simple plans and encourage students to
experiment from there. I like to use materials to their best
advantage, in ways that best shows them off and that they are best
suited for. I make suggestions and hope to contribute to growth of
knowledge about materials and techniques.

Susan's hut weaving project

I learned to weave as an apprentice to master weaver, Carol
Schwartzott. She has since sold her looms and is creating amazing
artist books now. Although processing, spinning, dyeing and knitting
with local fibers have snuck back into her life. Back in the 70’s we
processed and wove with all natural fibers; wool, cotton, linen and
silk, creating symmetrical wall units and similar pillows with fleece,
roving or ultra bulky yarns growing out of the pieces. Carol’s work
was shown in the best galleries throughout the USA and a few in
Europe.

Threading a rio grande loom

Upon moving to Rhode Island, I worked at Hamilton Web, a mill creating
narrow, decorative webbing. I wound warps on narrow spools for nearly
a year. Later, I wove on enormous Jacquard looms combining silk,
cotton and rayon into colorful webs hundreds of yards long. Some were
covered with flowers, some were elastic and said, ‘Elvis” others were
sturdy and striped. Each loom was about 40 feet wide producing about
60 webs, simultaneously. Imagine the sound! Eventually, I worked in
the sample room where I learned to thread weighted Jacquard heddles,
ten at a time held in my left hand and pulling the thread through the
eye with my right. I shifted to a position in Pawtucket, RI, making
sample elastic waistbands for underwear.

I have often been asked to demonstrate weaving to schools when my kids
were little. This has led to teaching large groups. Some interesting
and unusual projects developed while trying to include observers in
the weaving process. I have had thousands of people help build a
number of woven structures in the Twig and Bamboo and Twig Hut
Construction Project. An entire fifth grade class at the Samuel
Slater School in Lincoln, RI participated, (250 students and even some
teachers!) in the Human Loom Project, weaving a structure 18 feet
wide, using humans as the heddles and shuttling through the opening on
hands and knees with a long strip of fabric as the weft.

Last week, I was in the Maine woods, at Flagstaff Lake, attending a
Meditation, Yoga and Art Retreat. There were over 30 of us in a group
led by David Harshada Wagner. I provided the art department. For the
past two years we created felted images, using hot water, soap and
agitation to felt. This is especially fun to do outdoors when you can
rinse your project and play with the cool water from a hose. This
year the art projects were self directed and many wonderful and
inventive objects were produced; a balsam fir pillow, a hand painted
blouse, a walking stick and a VooDoo doll of harvested grasses.

As the group straightened up our meditation space, I folded our dark,
warm, gray, felted, blankets. While doing this, I realized that I
find great comfort in textiles; holding them, feeling them. Maybe I
feel this way because it is something I did with my mom and it
signifies home, a clean, safe, and organized place where I am
protected from the elements.

felted landscape

I closed my studio in Bath some months ago. My looms and equipment
are carefully stored. I miss the action of weaving but have been
delighted to learn new techniques and use new materials at school. I
have been getting the most out of being around other artists for their
inspiration, support and critiques.

With all the wonderful fiber in Maine, I would love it if we could get
together and produce a product that is 100% North East; from growth,
harvest, process to production. I have weaving skills and know
production techniques but the business side of things is beyond me. I
would love to talk to others about the possibilities.

Liz Grover makes the world a better place…simply by being alive.  She’s so much of a fiber artist that anything she touches is inspiration towards a new project or a better way to take care of her animals.  She and partner Michaele will have a booth at the in the Shopper’s Boulevard with beautiful Angoras to meet and possibly purchase.  She’ll also be teaching a class on Friday at 3 PM, All about Angoras.  If you’ve even considered caring for one of these beautiful animals yourself, this is the class to take.

Fiber College Interview 2008:

1. We know that interest in textiles and fibers evolve over time. What is your current passion? **No matter what activity I’m engaged in: weaving ,spinning, knitting…I always find my passion with my farm. Right now my barn is full of baby angoras and my llama is training with me for packing. What fun!!!

2. Did you start directly with this form of the art or did you progress through a series of interests? **Years ago I had angora rabbits because I loved everything about them-personality, and that fabulous fiber. I competed with them for 6 years before I learned to spin. My daughter,who was 16, finally taught me to spin! I do a variety of art forms.  I joke that my 15 minute attention span allows me to have a lot of projects going on.   Currently I am cleaning my sheep fleeces, spinning up more 100% angora and am preparing to paint a mural in exchange for my website : www.allaboutangoras.com

3. What or who fired your initial flames of artistry?**My dad was the first in instill a passion for art. He taught me to paint when I was in grade school and allowed me to have my own animals. Next my aunt ( my namesake)got a hold of me and taught me to knit at the age of 7. I minored in Fine Arts in college and became a certified art teacher 5 years ago. Fiber Arts and animals have become a part of who I am because of my early mentoring.

4. Where do you find your inspiration? Travel, gardens, museums, children’s paintings…**Form, texture and color anywhere!

5. What’s your biggest challenge? Time, studio space, money, recognition…** Time, for sure. I am 1 month into my 2nd business and fiber time is limited right now. But even on times off, there’s too do..weaving, spinning, needle felting, dyeing,knitting,… and too little time.

6. What’s the biggest payoff? **The changes that happen to me while engaged in a fiber project. The world fades away and you become part of the project..feeling the softness, seeing the subtle texturing and the”take your breath feeling” when it all comes out the way you never planned -better. I know this sounds corny but this right brain stuff is cool.

7. Emotions are a major driver of our passions…does your art make you satisfied from the moment you start or are there moments of anxiety as the process evolves…do you see the finished product differently as time passes? ** I’ve come to the decision that I won’t watch a t.v. shows with horror, and violence.And I wont do a project that stresses me out. This doesn’t mean that I don’t puzzle over it , become dissatisfied, but there’s too many things that bring joy…. so that’s what I do.

8. What best describes your personal learning style? Your personal teaching style?**I’m a talker-everyone confirms that! But for me to learn, I have to do it and do it and do it…………………………………. Now for teaching– Five years ago I left a teaching career of 23 years. I taught special needs kids so teaching to all learning styles was integral. I do teach spinning,weaving now. My classes have been very successful -so my students say. What fun we have together and you should see what they produce–NICE!

9. What would a perfect fiber shop look like? Do you have any favorite haunts that come close? **I have to be honest, I don’t shop for supplies. I have my own fiber! I guess I can’t really answer this. Though I am working on making my display like a little shop. (It’s a work in progress). I am adding little kiosks fora pattern display, fiber ect. I am slowly working away from tables. That’s the environment I enjoy. I just realized what a shameless plug I gave my booth. Oh well, come by and we’ll talk bunny!

10. How will those who wander through the Fiber College grounds best recognize you? *!*!*BUNNIES*!*!*! Micheale and I will have our angoras all around our white tent. We have a new, large sign- ALL ABOUT ANGORAS ( our new name). The large Angora Producers sign will also be hanging. Of course, inside you”ll find fabulous fiber, yarn, and accessories.
11. In a perfect world, how would you spend your time? Where would your passions take you if there were no restraints? **I’d be in the woods with my animals and be “playing” all day with enough money to get by. WAIT! I’m almost there.. I live in the woods with my animals. Is there a sponsor out there for me?

From Marian White, Land & Lamb Co (raising purebred Navajo-Churro sheep) (& Tunbridge Woolworks fiber processing) with Frank Tegethoff (weaver)

Fiber College Interview 2008:

1. We know that interest in textiles and fibers evolve over time.  What is your currant passion?  Did you start directly with this form of the art or did you progress through a series of interests? Textiles, fabric and color evolved into a passion as I traveled extensively in my first working life.  With my first farm (a whopping 4.7 acres huge) an open pasture led me to grazers and there I was, raising sheep and just loving textiles.  A major job opportunity introduced me to Navajo-Churro sheep and my dedication was complete: this rare and wonderful wool breed thrives in Vermont, bringing rugged individualism (of personality as well as of color) to everything the fiber touches: weaving, felting, knitting…..[visit both www.landlamb.com and www.navajo-churrosheep.com]
2. What or who fired your initial flames of artistry? My mother taught me to knit somewhere around age five (”busy hands are happy hands”) and this just evolved with my fiber enthusiasms
3. What’s your biggest challenge?   Time and money are obstacles to us all, and there is the constant challenge of learning new techniques all the while managing the flock’s consistency with diversity
4. What’s the biggest payoff? By far my biggest pleasure is watching new fiber enthusiasts begin raising their own Churro sheep— because I know, from this jumping-off point, fiber and textiles will nourish them for decades.
5. Emotions are a major driver of our passions…does your art make you satisfied from the moment you start or are there moments of anxiety as the process evolves…do you see the finished product differently as time passes? My ‘art?’  Oh I am never ‘satisfied.’  From raising the sheep cleaning the fiber through textile creation: everything tickles with questions of what would this look like if I had tried…..  It is what leads to more art, different colors, re-using material another way.  Growth & discovery.
6. What best describes your personal learning style?   I learn best by asking questions then actually doing.  Reading doesn’t stick in the same way as puzzling things out.  Often I try to recreate a ‘look’ and find I have stumbled into something quite different but even more interesting.  Consequently, I am always, always available for people with Churro sheep questions: behavior, health, fiber, fencing, feeders… just blog to me through www.landlamb.com’s ‘Buzz’
7. What would a perfect fiber shop look like?   My favorite fiber shop is Rio Grande Weavers in Santa Fe, NM.  They have an [endless] wall of color as high as my reach full of natural and dyed colors.  Rooms of completed weavings— rugs large & small, wall hangings and art.  I am inspired beyond awe by the talents of the artists who display.
8. How will those who wander through the Fiber College grounds best recognize you?  Weather-permitting I hope to bring sheep but I will definitely have a small loom with Frank at the business end.  Also, there will be a banner saying Tunbridge Woolworks for anyone with fiber to be processed (for information visit www.TunbridgeWoolworks.com)

1. Answers from Frank:  I am a production-oriented weaver, working exclusively with natural fibers, locally obtained if possible— like Marian’s Navajo-Churro.  I ended up here after a long journey beginning with knitting and needlework.  My initial flames I blame on my grandmothers and for me form follows function:  I find the individual pieces push me towards the fiber and structure they want.  For me, the BIG payoff is when someone asks for something special or for teaching.  But, still, I find satisfaction in each step of the process even though there is always some anxiety.  Because my mantra is Practice makes better, this covers everything!

My favorite fiber shop would be primarily focused on weavers.  Nothing would be in limited quantities or out of stock.  Brassard’s in Quebec comes close.  A strong second would be Vav Stuga in Shelburn Falls, MA run by Becky Ashendon.

In the ideal world I would only study, travel, teaching.  My individual studio would grow to a cooperative workshop.  And time would slip by, each moment garnished with yet more inspiration!

Laurie is someone you’d love to have living next door.  She’s artistic, patient, funny and a wonderful teacher.  This year she’ll be teaching Recycled Rag Rugs on Friday afternoon…save your old flannel bedsheets for this fun and useful project.  During the weekend, Laurie will also be hosting a crochet clinic for anyone who wants to bring a project, problem or question…or just learn about this fun and under publicized needle art.

Recently we sent her a list of question and this is what she had to say:

I have had my fingers in anything and everything fiber and art since I was little and sewing doll clothes.  For many years I stitched in private for myself and friends, but I’ve gained chutzpah with age so now I proclaim myself an artist.  My current passion is creating in crochet with local yarns.  Other projects are happening in crochet and embroidery using recycled fabric and fun things from the hardware store.

And some quick answers to questions I could ponder and discuss for hours:

When teaching I like small groups so I can give as much personal attention as possible because everyone learns differently.   

What do you need more of? Time, studio space, money, recognition.
Inspiration comes from everywhere and nowhere.  It’s often related to a perceived challange; How can I make this work?;  How can I make this everday thing beautiful?.  Sometimes I just do what the materials tell me to do.

The work itself is a meditation for me.  I get in a zone with many projects where I hate taking time out for things like cleaning, yardwork, job, sleeping.

In an ideal world I’d have a patron to pay the bills and a companion who’s whole aim in life is to handle all the day-to-day for me so I can just create.

Freshman year in college, many years ago, I knit my first sweater - a short-sleeved cardigan in a yellow nylon yarn with an all-over Yarn-Over design - faithfully following

the Woman’s Day magazine directions to work the creation in 6 pieces: two fronts, one back, two sleeves, plus the tiny collar. Then came the struggle. The directions BRIEFLY read “seam the pieces together.” Well, these jigsaw shaped pieces had a mind of their own, especially the sleeves that did not want to be set-in! Persevering, the 6 pieces became one and was worn under a suit jacket a few times to hide the irregularity of the seaming and I became more and more convinced that there had to be another way to work sweaters seamlessly, as socks.

A thirty-year search ensued - through years of sewn-in raglans, (which behaved a bit better than set-ins), to seamless top-downs (which defy gravity) and finally in 1978 to Elizabeth Zimmermann’s bottom-up raglan worked to one’s own gauge. The latter feature a blessing as I had started to spin my own yarns that did not want to conform to the gauge of a “designer”. As Elizabeth did not purl, she very kindly granted me permission to take her basic design beyond its limiting high square neck that required only five very short purl rows. As they say, one idea led to another, and words led to more words, and directions led to more directions, teaching led to more teaching, and The Sweater Workshop Book came into being in 1983 published first by Interweave Press and now its second edition published by Down East Books.

This method of knitting “on your own” with any yarn, handspun or millspun, to your own gauge, offers the knitter complete freedom to create sweaters in many styles and sizes and frees one from relying on “patterns”. My one wish would be that all yarns came in skeins, big fat skeins that could be held and hugged and loved before use - not

in sterile small balls that require a myriad of ends to connect.

In this, my book’s 25^th Anniversary year, I marvel at its long life and have to thank all knitters who helped it achieve this great milestone by word of mouth recommendation.

The wonder of it all is that I still have that first sweater. Rather than pitch that labor of love, I had tossed it in a storage box with college prom gowns and discovered it one day cleaning the attic. It has since traveled with me as a sample of all the unnecessary aspects of knitting in pieces. And just this past summer, 58 years after the fact, I recreated the poor thing with nary a seam! Here’s to seamless enjoyable knitting!

Jackie will be teaching Designing Sweaters From Homespun on Saturday from 3-6PM…there are still spaces available in her class.

Passionate about life and expressive in her art work, Dolores Broberg is offering a class in Paper Beads (but they’re so much more) on Saturday morning.  Use what you learn to embellish jewelery, clothing, quilts and anything else that stays still long enough for a needle and thread or a drop of glue.

Her responses to our e-mail interview give you a peak into this wise woman’s mind.

3.Where do you find your inspiration?  Travel, gardens, museums,

children’s paintings…   Inspiration is to be found everywhere. If a set of colors, or a picture strikes sparks in my spirit, I tuck that idea away until it matures and I find a way to decant it into fiber. Sometimes it is a product of work with a client to bring an idea of theirs into life.

4.What’s your biggest challenge?  Time, studio space, money, recognition…   These days, it is the condition of my hands. I suffer tendinitis and have had to tailor my activities to the needs of my body. The ideas still flow freely and I do a lot of work in my mind. Fortunately, I can still do a lot of small movements, so fine work is still possible for me.

5.What’s the biggest payoff?      When my work touches someone else’s spirit.

6.Emotions are a major driver of our passions…does your art make you satisfied from the moment you start or are there moments of anxiety as the process evolves…do you see the finished product differently as time passes?   Often, I start with my heart in my mouth, not knowing if I will be able to produce what I am aiming for. When I get into the rhythm of the work, then it tends to flow and it tends to inform me where to go. Somewhere along the way, I will find the “real” reason I am doing the work, as the message contained with in it becomes clearer.

7.What best describes your personal learning style?  Your personal teaching style?    I am good at giving direction to basic knowledge.  However, then, I encourage each individual”s creativity to take over. My favorite way of learning and teaching is through discovery. If I have done a good job I will have learned from my students

8.What would a perfect fiber shop look like?     My only requirements are that the products be available to eye and touch.    Do you have any favorite haunts that come close?    There are lots of them and a list would take too long.

9.How will those who wander through the Fiber College grounds best recognize you?    I don’t know. I’m pretty non-descript till I open my mouth.

10.In a perfect world, how would you spend your time?  Where would your passions take you if there were no restraints?     I am blessed to be able to live in a perfect world, for me, renewed, each day, with new challenges and sweet surprises. When things do not fall out as I expected or desired, then I seek what it is that the disjuncture can teach me. Life is a continual adventure.

Deb is a talented weaver, spinner and knitter…moreover, she’s a wonderful organizer and was a powerful force in organizing Fiber College 2006.  Most of the time you’ll find her in her studio/shop Purple Fleece in nearby Stockton Springs.  At the College she’ll be teaching a Drop Spindle class on Saturday morning and tending her booth in the Shopper’s Boulevard.

Artist’s Statement

There are few things in life that I become passionate about ? weaving
is one of them. It makes my heart soar. It drives away the blues that
like to settle in around January with the short days and frigid
temperatures. What could be cozier than weaving a blanket to keep me
warm on those cold winter days? Better yet, stepping out of bed in the
morning and feeling the texture of a closely woven and colorful rag
rug against the soles of my bare feet. Like I said, it?s my passion.

It all began back in 1984. My husband and I had just moved to
Minnesota from the East Coast. I knew very little about that area
except for Mary Tyler Moore tossing her beret in the air in
Minneapolis and Laura Ingalls? life on the prairie. (Both proved to be
excellent guides, by the way!) My husband?s job took him to
Scandinavia quite a bit and two weeks after arriving in Minneapolis, I
found myself alone in our apartment, without a job, friends, or any
notion of how to get around that metropolis. What did I do? I decided
it would be the perfect opportunity to learn how to weave. I signed up
for a class at The Weaver?s Guild and the adventure started a few
weeks later. I knew from the very first session that weaving was for me.

I was fascinated by the idea that I could make material out of string.
Centuries before, people had figured out that by passing one thread
over and under other threads, one could make cloth. That cloth could
have color, texture, pattern design, and all from string. I was going
to learn to weave on a multi-harness floor loom. Yes, there are many
other ways to weave such as frame loom weaving, potholder frames, a
back strap loom tied to a tree, inkle loom weaving, tapestry weaving,
and card weaving. The list goes on. With a multi-harness floor loom,
the world of pattern design opens wide.

I?ve been weaving now for 24 years. Since moving to coastal Maine six
years ago, I opened Purple Fleece, a retail fiber shop and studio. I
sell supplies to other fiber artists and teach private classes in
weaving, spinning, and knitting. These days I work primarily with
cotton, wool, and other natural fibers and prefer to make rugs and
wall hangings based upon Scandinavian weaving traditions. The Maine
coast provides the inspiration and exuberant colors for my work. I?ve
exhibited my weavings in Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and Maine and
I currently attend craft fairs throughout New England. Every day
brings new ideas and new weaving projects. The passion continues to
grow…

Terri Lipman is joining Fiber College for the first time this year and we’re excited about all she has to teach those interested in fabric manipulation for quilting, altered books, doll making, art to wear and the joy of playing with fabric.  Terri’s been active in the Fiber Arts Community since the late 1970’s and has had experience teaching, selling, developing and marketing the best of color and texture.   Although her focus this year is on texture and paint on fabric, don’t hesitate to talk to her about free form knitting and crocheting…a definite class for next year!  This year she’ll be teaching four hour class called Creating Art Cloth on Friday at 10 AM.

My days would be painting, drawing, dyeing, hiking, kayaking, swimming, snow shoeing, depending the season, with my friends.  I would attend art retreats and share art with others.

Visit http://earlylipman.blogspot.com or www.terrilipman.com for more information.