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Fall Fiber Fair
November 9, 2019 - November 10, 2019
Fall Fiber Fair held in conjunction with Sycamore Shoals
Colonial Harvest Celebration
Saturday, November 9 from 10 am – 4 pm Sunday, November 10 from 10 am – 3 pm
With cooling temperatures and signs of changing seasons about us, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park is readying for our annual Colonial Harvest Celebration, Militia Muster, and Fall Fiber Fair!
We welcome re-enactors from the Washington County Militia and fiber enthusiasts from across the Tri-Cities and beyond as we plan for an educational weekend filled with history, tradition, and fiber arts demonstrations, workshops, and sales.
The Fiber Fair will take place in the Sycamore Shoals Visitors Center. Both days will offer the opportunity to take in spinning, weaving, and hand carding demonstrations, in addition to visiting with a variety of vendors who will have handmade items for sale.
If you are interested in learning a skill, consider registering for one of our workshops – you can register by calling 423-543-5808:
Class Title: Introduction to Triangle (triloom) Weaving
Saturday & Sunday, November 9 & 10 @ 1 pm each day
Description:
In this class, participants will be introduced to “continuous strand weaving” and shown how to create woven triangles from yarn and piece them together to make a variety of shapes and sizes. No prior experience required. Looms will be provided for use during the class and will also be available for sale. Class size is limited to 4. The cost is $10 to cover materials.
Instructor:
Louise Nuttle is the owner of Nuttle Fiber Art & Design, a fiber arts studio located at Skillville in Johnson City where she practices and teaches weaving, spinning and felt-making. She is a proud member of The Knotty Ladies, the Overmountain Weavers’ Guild, the Handweavers Guild of American, and Local Cloth, a non-profit organization based in Asheville, NC, dedicated to supporting and sustaining the fiber and textile arts economy of the Blue Ridge Mountains region. You can find her on Facebook @nuttlefiberart and on Instagram @louise_nuttle.
Drop Spindle –
Saturday & Sunday, November 9 & 10 at 11 am
Instructor: Laura Whitfield
Cost: $30 includes supplies
Details: This class will give a brief overview on the history and current popularity of drop spindling, as well as a basic description of the types of spindles available and suitable for fibers. We will have hands on practice of spindle control and drafting.
We are happy to have a wide variety of artists and vendors who will be offering their items for sale during this event. Their talents consist of products made from handspun and dyed yarns, dryer balls, needle and wet felted items, cornhusk dolls, hand knitted and crochet items, boot inserts, jewelry, and kumihimo, just to name a few! Also available will be felt sheets, fiber color packs, drop spindles, knitting needles, and crochet hooks. A variety of fibers are offered for sale including batts, roving, and skeins of alpaca, merino, silk, linen, cotton, wool, and more. In addition, Amie Greene will be spinning with angora rabbit fleece straight from the rabbit!
This year’s vendors are Amie Greene of Spinning Beauty who will demonstrate, Collette Cook, Denise Digh of Cloudslaine Farm Studio, Sharon Walker & Amy Palmer of Wooly Mittens 4 Ewe, Renee Gray of Alpaca Outbacka, Laura Whitefield of Isley Creek Farm, Rudi & Arlene Angelmaier of Dragonfly Dreams, Too, John Plutchak, Corrine Hewett, Louise Nuttle of Only the Finest, and John Plutchak.
At Fort Watauga, the Washington County Militia, the host living history organization of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, will be engaged in 18th century festivities as we enjoy a time of friendship and thanksgiving amidst a frontier harvest celebration. In Colonial America, before Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday, each colony or community observed days of thanksgiving usually after the harvest had been brought in or after a significant military victory.
Militia activities throughout the weekend will include; a reading of colonial governor Richard Caswell’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, open hearth cooking, flintlock musket and rifle demonstrations, and many more aspects of daily life on the colonial American frontier.
For additional information please call the park at 423-543-5808
