I took a vacation last week and went to JC Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. What a wonderful place! If you have never been or heard of the folk school, check it out at www.folkschool.org. It is a fabulous place to take a workshop from great teachers. The reason I went was to take a fair isle knitting class from my favorite knitting teacher, Martha Owen. She owns the yarn shop near the school called “The Yarn Circle”. www.yarncircle.com. She also spins, knits, raises sheep, dances, tells stories and teaches knitting. I love her teaching style. Martha gave a history of fair isle knitting and then we dove into color. She explained about selecting the right yarn and colors for fair isle knitting.
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Martha explains about choosing colors.
Next we made swatches and tested out our needle size. With Shetland music playing in the back ground and taking ample tea breaks, we started in on our projects. Now at this point, you might be saying, “Why the heck is Cindy taking a knitting class?” Well, wait until you see some fair isle knitting! It is so close to our quilting patterns, you have to ask yourself, what came first the patchwork or the knitting?
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Patterns for knitting are so similiar to quilting!
Another great example…
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Looks like the “snowball” block to me!
One of the highlights of our class was a field trip to Martha’s farm. What fun to see the sheep that make the yarn that we buy! She raises many types of sheep. She has the wool carded and then spun (or she spins it herself) into wonderful unique yarn that you can purchase at her shop. We were delighted to purchase some of “Derrick’s” yarn that Martha spun herself. (You can also get some wonderful cream color from Eudora.)
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What a face!
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Derrick’s fleece is shades of gray.
I left the school relaxed and energized. I promise I’ll write part 2 of borders next week. Until then, relax, have a cup of tea and enjoy the flock!
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So much wool, so little time!