Name: Rebecca Shepler
Business: Dusty Tree Soap
Website: www.dustytree.com and on Facebook as Dusty Tree Soap

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I’m a ‘retired’ archaeologist who used to spend her days happily sitting in pits of dirt, squinting at tiny pieces of fragments in rather dirty hands all day. I used to get paid to play in the dirt – it was a dream job really, but if I think back it was also research. Research on how cleaning products would scrub away a days worth of digging while most also scrubbed away the natural oils in my skin. I used to have really sensitive hands, dry cracked knuckles and cuticles. Who knows what type of store bought products I was using and thought nothing of it. Fast forward years and I had kids, I knew right away I wanted to use pure natural soaps to cleanse their brand new skin. Nothing but the best for my babies. So I made my own soap, a rather utilitarian object, but I always experiment with different herbs & oils to create winning combinations.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I have two – my Pumpkin Charcoal Soap that I use daily as a facial soap. It contains bamboo activated charcoal, tea tree essential oil and pumpkin puree. My other favorite is Shea + Clay. Which contains raw unrefined organic shea butter, Moroccan red clay and lavender essential oil – a winner for my dry skin.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
I strive to provide them with a better way to cleanse their skin. Dusty Tree Soap is vegan handcrafted soap made using edible vegetable oils, pure essential oils and nothing synthetic. I leave out palm and soy oils too. I made a pledge to myself that I would never put anything into my soaps that I didn’t feel good about.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
I don’t think I really have a superpower any different than most knitters other than after working in a yarn shop for a bit I have an unusually keen knack for fixing mistakes.

Name: Allena Williams
Business: StarKnits
Website: www.StarKnits.net

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I have always enjoyed making things with my hands, when I started to knit I wanted something to keep my yarn off the floor. And I love fabric.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I’m a big lover of my WIPs and Box Bags they’re so useful for more than just projects.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
I hope that every knitter/crocheter/spinner stops using plastic bags to carry around their projects. and I hope to enable them to always have a project with them.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
To protect projects one fantastic happy bag at a time.

Name: Stephanie Alford
Business: SpaceCadet
Website: spacecadetyarn.com

I’ve always been crazy about the fiber arts, even when I didn’t realise I was. I saw a woman spinning at a historical re-enactment when I was 11 and begged my mother for lessons (it didn’t stick, she started me off carding and that was no fun). I taught myself to knit at age 19 (from a book, no YouTube back then), then had another go at spinning and fell in love (and still never carded my fleeces), dabbled in weaving, and then tried dyeing. ​ …And ​

that was it then. ​Dyeing just feels right, like it was made for me and me for it. The colours always seem to come so easily, and end result makes me curl my toes with joy. I still love all the other fiber arts I’ve tried but, with dyeing, I really do feel like I’ve found my happy place.

I love our one-of-a-kind colourways. We dye entirely from primary colours, mixing each shade by hand, and so we do a great deal of colour exploration and experimentation in the studio. And that results in a lot of colours that we’ll never repeat again. I adore each and every one, and am always so excited when a customer finds one that is a perfect fit for them.

My fiber arts superpower might be that I can take almost any colour and reverse-engineer it to produce it from primaries. I do it all the time in the studio — find a colour I love, sit and stare at it for a little while, then go over to the dyepots and mix the proportions of primary colours that I think will hit it. And do you know what? If I don’t get it the first time or the second… well, I’ve never had it go beyond the third try. By then, I’ve always cracked it and got the colour I want.

Name: Keri Fosbrink
Business name: Youghiogheny Yarns
Website: http://youghioghenyyarns.weebly.com/

What got you interested in your art of choice?
My grandmother attempted to teach me to crochet when I was 8, but like most children I had interests elsewhere. Her lessons just didn’t stick. I re-taught myself to crochet several years ago and fell in love with knitting shortly after. Dyeing yarn has been a growing passion. I love experimenting with different techniques and colorways. My belief is that every project deserves the perfect yarn.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I’m a fan of instant gratification projects. As a result, I love our worsted and bulky weight yarns. They’re just so soft and squishy! I can’t really pick one favorite colorway though. I love them all!

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
We are committed to creating beautiful hand dyed and hand painted yarns crafted in small batches for all your knitting, crocheting and weaving needs.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
My superpower would have to be my ability to teach myself any skill I need to know. I haven’t met a project I couldn’t handle. I also love to pass that knowledge on to others. My friends and family have all benefited from this over the years.

Button Making Workshop, 10-12:30, $37

The silver material, project handouts, and various consumables we will use are included in the materials fee. The exact materials fee will depend on how many buttons of what size you choose to make; experience has shown that to likely be around $35 per person.

Did you miss the button making workshop in November? Then you’re in luck! It’s being offered again. To register, send an email to cosymakes@gmail.com.

You found the perfect artisanal yarn or other great fiber product. You spent time fashioning it into a marvelous hand-made item. Now it’s time to take the next step and add your very own hand-made buttons as closures or embellishments!

In this workshop you (yes, you!) will create your own fine silver buttons. We’ll use a relatively new technique involving reclaimed metals in a finely powdered form. They come mixed with an organic binder and water to yield a substance that feels almost like a silky-soft clay. You will roll this over a textured surface to impress a design. We’ll have pastry cutters and decorative scissors you can use to cut the outlines of your buttons, and you’ll learn how to smooth out the edges, add the necessary holes, and finish the surface so it will have a beautiful shine.

We’ll finish by 12:30; your instructor will then fire all the students’ buttons in a small electric kiln to remove the binder, until only the silver remains. The buttons may also be tumbled to a bright and shiny finish. You’ll be able to pick them up at the end of the day. (If you prefer, you may arrange a time to come pick them up another day, or request that your creations be mailed to you.)

Demonstrations will cover several designs about one inch across. Participants following that lead should be able to complete three fine silver buttons in the class. (Adjust the count up or down a bit if you prefer a different size.) For those who work fast and have enough interest in making more, additional packets of the silver material will be available for you to purchase to make extras.

And there’s no need to limit yourself to buttons! With just minor adjustments in the size and placement of the holes in your pieces, you can end up with bracelet charms, pendants, or earrings. The instructor’s sample buttons will be available for purchase at the end of the session. Class participants will have first choice, then they’ll be offered to others attending the Indie Knit & Spin event.

The instructor will have all the tools necessary. Participants don’t need to bring anything but their interest and enthusiasm.

Carol Scheftic is a certified metal clay artisan and an accredited metal clay teacher. She was born in Indiana and raised in Florida. After stints in several other locales, she moved from California to Pittsburgh. She has been here creating and teaching this process since 2006. She is a founding member of the Western PA Metal Clay Guild, and a member of both the Cranberry Artists Network and the Pittsburgh Society of Artists.

Her art jewelry pieces are available in galleries in western Pennsylvania and New York, and at open house events (four per year) in her studio. They have also been available at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in the gallery booths of Koolkat Designs and the Artsmiths of Pittsburgh.

She works out of a studio in the Wilkins School Community Center building in Swissvale, PA, where she regularly teaches private and semi-private lessons; she also teaches small group lessons at a variety of regional bead shops and galleries.

She is better at crochet than knitting, and loves making hairpin lace in particular. Most of the silver or bronze buttons she has made recently, however, have been used as closures on gemstone-and-leather bracelets. She looks forward to sparking your creativity in making these buttons, and to having you spark hers as you discuss the various ways you may use your lovely creations.

Amelia and Wiggles

Artisan Buttons

Crochet By Faye

Destination Yarn

Dusty Tree Soap

Fairy Tale Knits

Fibernymph Dye Works

Fiddlehead Fibers

Gwen Erin Natural Fibers

Gypsy Stardust Yarn and Fiber

HipStrings

iKNITiatives

Joanna’s Boutique

One Sly Fox

Peppermint Knits

Roving Acres Farm

Shirsty Cat Designs

SpaceCadet

StarKnits

Youghiogheny Yarns

Indie Knit and Spin marketplace will run 10-4 on Saturday the 6th of February, 2016 at the Wilkins School Community Center. In conjunction with this, there will be a lounge space with chairs for people to hang out and knit. A couple of guilds will have tables in that room and I’m hoping to contract with a local coffee shop to have beverages and treats.

To apply to be a vendor at the marketplace send an email to cosymakes@gmail.com with the name of your business and ‘IKS application Feb2016’ in the subject line

This is a juried show. All applications need to be in by December 1st in order to be considered. Notification of acceptance or not will be sent via email by December 7th. December 31st is the last day you can pull out of the show and get a refund.

Booths cost $50
Half Booths cost $25

Each vendor is also required to donate an item or two in order to lure in volunteers to help with the show.

Thank you Thank you Thank you! so much to all the

Vendors
Teachers
Volunteers
and
Shoppers.

IKS is dear to my heart and you all are the ones who make it happen!  See you all in February!
xoxo
Cosy

It’s not too late! Make the experience complete with one of our unique classes or attend a lecture. Learn about sheep breeds or natural dyeing. Figure out basic lace chart reading or how to alter patterns. Learn to write the designs in your head, dye some of your own yarn, or make beautiful metal/ceramic buttons!

Quick Classes – 30 minutes to an hour $5-10

11:15-11:45 Basic Chart Reading (lace)
12:00-1:00 Altering Patterns
2:00-2:30 Conservation Wool Breeds (lecture)
4:00-5:00 Dyeing Wool with Plants (lecture)

More information about quick classes here.

2 Hour Classes

1:30-3:30 Design It, Write It

More information about this class here.

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1-5 Dyeing

More information about Dyeing can be found here.

10-12:30 Button Making

More information about Button Making can be found here.

GUILDS
This year, I’m happy to announce, there will be a booth with display/demos from both the Weaver’s guild and then Fiber arts guild. Be sure to check it out!

PARKING
If you’ve never been to the show before, know that it is at a school in a residential area and that all parking is street parking. If you are worried about having to park a couple of blocks away, come later in the day when the show is less busy.

HANDICAP ACCESSIBILITY
This show is not handicap accessible. We are using the second floor of an old school and the community center has not been able to raise enough money to get an elevator yet.

GIVE-AWAY TAKE-AWAY TABLE
A table to get rid of the fiber arts stuff that you just have lying around collecting dust. And maybe to score something new that makes you happy. Books, patterns, needles, knitting, crochet or spinning supplies all welcome! You do not have to bring something to take something or take something if you bring something.

SNACKS
There will be snack table stocked by the vendors and teachers.

CLASSES
All information about classes can be found here.