Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 25 Projects Inspired by America's Festivals [Hardcover]

Joanne Seiff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 9, 2009

For fiber lovers a festival is more than a setting for buying and selling materials - it's gathering place where artisans designers farmers and friends come together to teach learn share and celebrate this timeless art in a unique 21st-Century marketplace. HARDCOVER J Wiley And Sons Inc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Meet the people, sample the flavor, and experience the kinship through 11 unique events and more than 25 inspiring projects

Throughout history, we've gathered together in the market square. We're there to buy and sell, to get good deals on fibers, fabrics, fruits, vegetables, and bread, but we're also there to see friends, gossip, trade recipes, and admire new clothes. We've got an eye on each other's animals, and we're going to keep them from getting into any trouble. It's our chance to hold someone else's baby or to congratulate a new grandmother. It's a chance to connect, to touch, and to bond with others.

These days, it's easy to feel like we live in scary times, and sometimes we're less neighborly than we used to be. Our lives are filled with long distances and technology. We're more likely to make cyberfriends than visit with someone down the street. Our lives are full of work, school, and caretaking, but how many of us still live near our families? Our hometowns? How do we reach out to one another?

2010 Fiber Festivals mentioned in Fiber Gathering

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival
May 1^st & 2nd, 2010
Howard County Fairgrounds
2210 Fairground Road
West Friendship, MD 21794

New York Sheep and Wool Festival
October 16^th & 17^th, 2010
Dutchess County Fairgrounds
6550 Spring Brook Avenue
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival
May 8^th & 9^th, 2010
Hopkinton State Fairgrounds
392 Kearsarge Avenue
Contoocook, NH 03229

Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair
October 22nd, 23^rd, & 24^th, 2010
WNC Ag Center
1301 Fanning Bridge Road
Fletcher, NC 28732

Michigan Fiber Festival
August 21^st & 22nd, 2010
Allegan County Fairgrounds
150 Allegan County Fair Drive
Allegan, MI 49010

Black Sheep Gathering
June 18th, 19^th, & 20^th, 2010
Lane County Fairgrounds
796 W. 13th Avenue
Eugene OR 97402

Estes Park Wool Market
June 12^th & 13^th, 2010
500 Big Thompson Avenue
Estes Park, CO 80517

The Wool Festival at Taos
October 2^nd & 3^rd, 2010
Kit Carson Park
Paseo del Pueblo Norte
Taos, NM 87571

Review

...takes crafters to 11 of the largest and most popular fiber festivals in the US. Festival profiles provide crafters with vacation plans for the next several years, and the projects inspire readers to try something new. For all fiber artists. --Library Journal

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047028935X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470289358
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #299,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joanne Seiff lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She's a freelance writer, knitwear designer, educator, and fiber artist. Her writing and designs have appeared in a variety of newsstand magazines, including Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, and Spin-Off. She's written two books and contributed to several other fiber arts related anthologies, including the Lion Brand book Just Gifts and the KnitLit books.

Her handspinning and knitting have won awards at the North Carolina and Tennessee State Fairs and in two separate US Bank Celebration of the Arts Exhibitions. Her handspun yarn and knitted fiber art is exhibited and sold at galleries across the United States.

When she's not knitting, spinning or writing, she's outside walking Harry and Sally (her bird dogs) and spending time with her husband, an absentminded biology professor who studies butterfly genetics.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Festival Photos and Patterns, March 12, 2009

By 

Lynne E. (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 25 Projects Inspired by America's Festivals (Hardcover)

I really love this book, because it has wonderful photos of sheep and people and booths taken at the nation's major fiber festivals (e.g., Maryland Sheep and Wool), many great projects (for example, the Evergreen lace shawl, which I plan to knit), and lots of useful information (like how to wash a fleece, or start your own fiber gathering).

A preview of most of the projects is available on Ravelry (for the link, see Joanne's 3/2/09 blog post below on What I Did This Weekend). Be warned, the preview will make you want to buy the book!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Celebration of the Fiber Festival, May 8, 2009

By 

K Mack (Bainbridge Island, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 25 Projects Inspired by America's Festivals (Hardcover)

Fiber Gathering is a beautifully written snapshot of the phenomena known as the fiber festival in the United States. The reader is taken on a tour of 11 of America's greatest fiber festivals. Organized by region, it's an insightful look at what makes each of these festivals unique and cause for celebration.

Sensory images leap from the written descriptions. Ms. Seiff sets the scene so well that I felt I had traveled along to enjoy the unique vendor offerings, taste the food, listen to the performers, and smell the wool.

I think what makes this book unique is the fact that not only did the author actually visit and experience each festival first hand (many for the first time), she is a passionate fiber enthusiast and it comes through joyously in her written words. Jeff Marcus, her husband, accompanied her to the festivals and contributes a compelling photographic record of the journey.

Sidebar articles appear in each chapter detailing the processes and techniques often demonstrated at fiber festivals.

The book also contains more than 25 actual projects ranging from simple fingerless gloves to an intricate shawl. The cover appears to focus on these projects (which are all wonderful) but I believe the festival overviews are the essence and true delight of the book.

The rich tradition of regional fiber festivals is highlighted in her collection of narratives. She captures the spirit of why we gather and the layers of enjoyment one gets from attending such a festival: buying unique, one-of-a-kind materials, visiting with friends, and immersing oneself in the creative energy that only a gathering of fiber enthusiasts can create.

I'm so impressed with the quality of this book and the story it tells. It captures and documents the state of the fiber festival in the first decade of the 21st century. I can't help but imagine fiber enthusiasts 50 or 100 years from now pouring over the pages and marveling at the rich history we currently live.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guidebook and inspiration!, September 23, 2009

By 

K. Hertweck (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fiber Gathering: Knit, Crochet, Spin, and Dye More than 25 Projects Inspired by America's Festivals (Hardcover)

I have loved fiber (knitting and crochet) for a long time but have recently taken up handspinning as well. I am almost entirely self-taught, so good books are priceless for continuing my education. Fiber Gathering definitely fits the bill! This book provides everything I would expect from a pattern book, including beautiful but useful pictures for viewing the product and clear directions for making one for myself. It also includes directions for projects that can take fiber art to the next level...how to dye fiber and basic spinning instructions, for example. And to top it off, the basic premise of the book, combined with artfully arranged photos and a thoughtful narrative, provides ample inspiration for approaching fiber art from different directions, both geographically and culturally. I recently attended my first fiber festival, a small regional event, and took my copy of Fiber Gathering with me to read in the car. It provided the knowledge (and courage) needed to purchase and process my very first raw fleece. I will surely use this book as reference and for inspiration for years.