Houston Fiber Fest

Our aim is to provide local fiber enthusiasts with the opportunity to celebrate the crafts they love — knitting, crochet, spinning, and weaving.

Class Schedule:

10:30 am – 6:00 pm (full day classes, 1.5 hour for lunch)
Lily Chin – The Savvy Pick-Up
Teacher: Lily Chin
Cost: $130
Description: Many knitters have trouble picking up stitches from an existing knit piece. How many stitches do you pick up? Where do you pick up from? Learn simple solutions for easing around curves. Make smoother transitions from cast on edges. See how picking up stitches ahead of time can even aid seaming! Even get an idea for creative uses of picking up after the fact within the fabric.

10:30 am – 6:00 pm:Gavriella Treminio – Designing 101
Teacher: Gavriella Treminio
Cost: $130
Description: If you are ready to take your fiber skills to the next level, join Gavriella for this 2 part course where you will learn the basics to designing your first pattern. You will be able to turn your swatch into a beautiful pattern that others can follow and make from. This course requires previous experience in knitting or crochet so please be mindful that you will not learn how to knit or crochet but instead learn the process of pattern writing from swatch to finish.

10:30 am – 1:30 pm:  Marla Morris – Intro to Cable Knitting
Teacher: Marla Morris
Cost: $55
Description: This introduction to cables is designed for fairly new knitters who can knit and purl and are ready to increase their skills.  I will present a variety of cable stitches, their uses, cable needles, and descriptions.  We will look at a chart and a written pattern for the same sample, learn how cable stitches appear on the chart, how they are used in patterns, then how to make them—with and without a cable needle.  A Powerpoint presentation and pattern are part of this class, originally designed for a knitting guild. The sample knit in class provides a swatch for the resulting wrister.   We will look at ways to easily fix mistakes, and use the swatch to decide which wrister size you should start.

10:30 am – 1:30 pm: Lesley Anne Robinson – Brioche Increases and Decreases
Teacher: Lesley Anne Robinson
Cost: $65
Description: In this class, you will learn the most commonly used two-color brioche increases and decreases needed to create gorgeous brioche lace fabric that will delight and inspire! We will briefly go over basic two-color brioche for a refresher, as well as how to choose the right yarn for your projects! We will be going over the increase and decrease stitches in detail together, while casting on a two-color brioche swatch. Let’s get brioche-ing!!

1:45 pm – 4:45 pm: Marti Swanson – Needle Felt Story Dolls
Cost: $70 + $15 materials fee = $85
Materials fee provides foam, needles, wool, locks, nepps and other embellishments to complete the story dolls.
Description: Inspired by the traditional Waldorf doll (also called Steiner doll) these needle felted dolls are simple in detail allowing the imagination to be the story teller. Easy beginners class to learn the basic techniques of needle felting including building a solid core, working on an armature and working with finish details.

3:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Lesley Anne Robinson – Fixing & Finishing Brioche
Cost: $65
Description: Gain confidence with your brioche knitting by learning how to fix mistakes, pick up dropped stitches, place lifelines, and add those finishing touches to your brioche projects! Feel free to bring any of your brioche projects you might want to fix or finish, or you can sit back and treat this as a lecture!

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Melissa Shupak – Drop Spinning 101
Cost: $25 + $15 materials fee = $40
Materials fee provides a top whorl drop spindle and 2oz of fiber.
Description: This is a beginner level introduction into drop spinning. Learn how to spin your own yarn! You will learn basic vocabulary, how to prepare your materials, how to spin and then ply, with time for practice and questions. The skills learned in drop spinning are a great first step to learning to use a spinning wheel. This is a practical hands-on class with instruction and practice time. Purchase of a drop spindle and practice fiber are included in the materials fee, but you are welcome to bring your own.

7:00 pm: Saturday night event
Lecture, Q & A, and book signing with Lesley Anne Robinson:
Designing in a Sea of Designers: There is room for all of us!
Cost: $10
Description: Lesley Anne Robinson, the designer behind Knit Graffiti Designs, will be talking about what it means to be a knitting pattern designer in the age of digital access, Ravelry, publications, and so much more! Lesley will talk about her own journey into designing, how she got started, and how she went from designing in her tiny living room with absolutely no yarn budget to becoming a published author. Lesley will also talk about a day in the life of a knitwear designer, what it takes to get started designing and teaching, being your own boss, and answer any questions you might have about what it’s like to design and teach what she loves.