Knotty Knews
May 2010
Knotty Knews
May 2010
What’s New!
This years annual FibreFest is around the corner and KBN is the Cahsmere sponsor this year! At the market day we will continue to have a shaded seating area and a small kids area as well. As well we will be hosting a spin-off, two categories - spinning on a wheel or a drop spindle. How much yardage can you eek out of 0.5 ounces of merino/silk blend that we will be providing? A prize will be awarded in each category. Entry fee will be by donation.
Other news, have you heard of the Linen Project?
The Transition Towns movement seeks to discover, learn and maintain skills that will help future generations survive and enjoy life in the low carbon future (little or no cheap energy). Here in Victoria they are attempting to collect a group of creative and motivated people to produce a small amount of linen so as to learn and at the same time preserve the skills and knowledge required to produce this wonderful fibre. They are looking for people who would be interested in joining us in this exciting project. They have the right kind of flax seeds, have identified some small plots of land to begin this project and hope to get the seeds in the ground this month. They are looking for eager bodies and minds to help with the work and the learning. No experience necessary.
We have quite a few new items for dyeing, spinning, knitting and felting!
Exotic spinning fibres, my favourite being the camel and tussah silk blend.
As well, we now carry Aurelia's Topknots!
Gaia's Colors - some really nice ones, get them while they are around!
New Gaywool Dyes - check out the shade card here
Did You Know…
Indigo .. the only true source for dyeing fibres blue. Common as a weed, but
with special preparation can be used to dye cotton, wool and silk. It takes
about 200kg to produce 1kg of indigo powder. Indigo is created through a fermentation
process, so falls in the same realm as bread and wine making. On my last visit
to Maiwa I picked up a 1 kg of Indigo and have started an all natural vat at
home with bran and soda ash.... perhaps one day you might see some naturally
dyed indigo products at the shop, if the indigo spirits prevail! This is an
interesting video I found online if you are intertested in learning
more.
Hours
We are open 7 days a week, Mondays- Saturdays, 9:30am-5:30pm and on Sundays
from 10am - 5pm. Please note that we will be closed Sunday May 23rd and 24th,
ead.our apologies for any inconvience this may cause. We do have a Nuno felting
class that day which will still be going ahead.
Some beautiful hand dyed and felted cuff made by Ryan
Monthly Socials
This month's social is Friday May 21st, 6:30-9pm. Our Saori loom, drum carder
and spinning wheels are available for use for free during this time. Please
note we will be closed from 5:30-6:30pm for a quick dinner break.
Classes
We continue to offer our regular classes and some new ones:
Gnome by Tierre
Wonders On the Web - Links that we have come across or people have sent to us:
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For more of what’s new, please visit our blog!
From,
Stephanie and Ryan
Knotty By Nature Fibre Arts
1816 Government St.
Victoria, BC V8T 4N5