Sponsor: Every year there is a special place, on a lake in New Hampshire, where people gather to explore their creativity, healing and community. This place is called Squam. Behind this goodness is one remarkable woman by the name of Elizabeth Duvivier, someone who’s sought out to find her path and enlightenment in this creative world, bringing souls together and taking just as much away from each experience as those who attend. The Spring Squam retreat is taking place this June, complete with twinkle lights, generous teachers, sweet walks through the woods, vintage cottages, laughter on the dock, some very incredible workshops and ending with the Squam Art Fair and Ravelry Reverly. Join classes with incredible fiber folks like Gudrun Johnston, Kate Atherley, Andrea Rangel, Kristine Vejar, and Mary Jane Mucklestone to name just a few. And there is still time to register and make your travel plans to attend this June retreat, so visit squamartworkshops.com for more info on this incredible retreat and to register.
Fiber folk: Romi Hill first caught my attention on Instagram a few years ago when I came across of photo of her cowboy boots paired with some beautiful yarn. As time went on became more and more fascinated with this seemingly extensive cowboy boots collection and even more so with her incredible knack for composition and color theory and of course, knitwear designs. Lace knitting has always appeared intimidating to me, but seeing Romi’s designs come to life has been an increasing temptation and getting to know her more, and her sweet spirit has only been even more encouraging. I hope you enjoy getting to know this amazing woman and the story behind all she does, as much as I have. You can find Romi at designsbyromi.com, her latest book “New Lace Knitting” and patterns on Ravelry and on Instagram @romidesigns.
Sponsor: A Verb for Keeping Warm is a utopia of fiber and fabric, with the most incredible collection of yarn and goods, including their own exquisite naturally dyed yarns. Kristine, the owner and her team, have created a one of a kind holistic learning and making environment. I took my first spinning class from Verb when I was living in San Francisco and I was always amazed at the wonderful and informative events Kristine hosted and was a part of, including Fibershed, an organization key in my knowledge around wool. Most recently Kristine released her first book “The Modern Natural Dyer”, a comprehensive guide to dyeing silk, wool, linen and cotton at home, a gorgeous visual journey through natural dyeing accompanied by a collection of diy projects. In addition to her book, she’s released natural dye project kits for the projects found in the book and you can also find individual natural dyeing supplies at averbforkeepingwarm.com. If you’re in the bay area or just passing through, make sure to make A Verb for Keeping Warm a destination. You can find their online shop and class list at averbforkeepingwarm.com and follow them on Instagram @avfkw
Fiber friends: This past week one of our Man on the Street members and fiber friend Kerry Robb released her Natural Home Collection, a collection of patterns using all natural, organic and otherwise ethical yarns to make beautiful and functional items for your home. You’ll find patterns for felted Lopi bowl using Hinterland’s Churro Lopi, Hemp Scrubbies using Darn Good Yarn’s Hemp and Nettle yarn, and a Linen placemat using Quince and Co’s Kestrel yarn. These are just gorgeous Kerry, you should be so proud. And if you’d like to make her felted bowls pattern, you can find Hinterland’s Churro Lopi in my shop, woolfulmercantile.com
Giveaway: The winner of last weeks giveaway is Mary Moury, you’ve won the West Water Tunic pattern from Squam, designed by Samantha Lamb and a $30 gift card towards fabric at Fancy Tiger Crafts. Congratulations!
The giveaway this week is sponsored by Romi Hill and Elemental Affects and they’re giving away a Mayhaps Shawl kit, which includes Romi’s beautiful Shetland Hap inspired shawl along with the Elemental Affects Shetland Rustic lace yarn to complete the pattern. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post.
Music by Jónsi.
