Want to learn more about natural fibers and wool? In this class, students will learn about plant and animal fibers and their attributes by examining their physical properties and processing those fibers from their raw form. We will examine a variety of fiber and wool breed samples and will discuss what we observe visually and tactilely and what attributes result from those observations. We will continue our observations and discussion while physically processing raw materials, walking through the various stages of processing wool – skirting, scouring (where we’ll talk about lanolin), picking, and carding (where we’ll talk about differences in yarn attributes that result from different methods of preparation).
Friday morning, 9 AM to 12 Noon
Fee: $45
Justin Near is a Nashville, TN fiber artist and homeschooler who has a passion for sustainability and supporting local and regional communities and economies. In recent years, Justin has become a regular instructor at regional fiber festivals, is an occasional writer with Ply magazine, and is developing an annual fiber industry conference with Souther Fiber. Growing up, Justin was surrounded by crocheting, knitting, embroidery, and sewing, and dabbled in many of those as well as closely related fiber arts. As an adult, not long after beginning their homeschool journey, a door into the fiber world was reopened at a young child’s birthday party where wool and spindles were the theme. In her day job, Justin builds, manages, and supports websites and has a strong love for learning new technology. This carries into the fiber arts world, which is very closely related to the sciences – dyeing and chemistry, spinning and physics, design and engineering, and weaving and programming – so Justin feels quite at home here and hopes to pass on that love and passion to as many people as possible so that they, too, can experience the magic and beauty of working with raw, natural materials.
$45.00
Out of stock
