Name: Nora, Anna, Cheryl, Becca
Business: Steel City Fiber Collective
Website: steelcityfiber.com

The Steel City Fiber Collective is a makerspace for fiber arts and crafts in Shadyside. Visit us if you’re a weaver, spinner, knitter, dyer, felter, braider or want to become one. We can help you learn a new craft, try new equipment, or find more fiber friends!

Project bags hand sewn by Handknits by Susan, a Pittsburgher, knitter, and regular attendee of knit night at the Collective!

Hand dyed yarn and hand made knit-themed pottery

Hand dyed yarn hanging on the wall of yarn in the SCFC shop. All the pretty colors come from our dye lab!

One of our members spinning in action. We’ll bring handspun yarn to IKS for people who want truly unique yarn!

Name: Karen Bachman
Business: iKNITiatives
Website: etsy.com/shop/iknitiatives and iknitiatives.com

iKNITiatives offers small batch unique and OOAk hand-dyed yarns and fibers.
Whether you enjoy gradients, mini skeins, wools for felting or spinning, or sock yarns, iKNITiatives has something for the knitter, crocheter, spinner, or needle artist that would be sure to please.

I’m excited to announce the vendors for the February 2017 show.

Artisan Buttons

Dusty Tree Soap

Fairy Tale Knits

Fibernymph Dye Works

Fiddlehead Fibers

Gwen Erin Natural Fibers

Gypsy Stardust

HipStrings

iKNITiatives

Joanna’s Boutique

Lattes & Llamas

One Sly Fox

Peppermint Knits

Roving Acres Farm

SpaceCadet

StarKnits

Steel City Fiber Collective

Wren and Rita

Youghiogheny Yarns

On a side note, this will be the final IKS I (Cosette Cornelius-Bates, in case you don’t know me) will be organizing. I’m passing the show onto the lovely folks at HipStrings.  Please introduce yourself to them at the show!

Indie Knit and Spin is this Saturday! Here are some highlights you won’t want to miss

FREE book for the first 100 people who come through the door

Demos
Make sure to check out awesome demos offered by the vendors! They will be in the classroom on the first floor.  Afterthought heels, spinning wheel tensions and so much more!

Raffle
We will be raffling off great prizes from our vendors at 12 and 2 in the upstairs hallway. These raffles will include these big prizes along with lots of other smaller prizes. Each person who comes through the door gets one raffle ticket.

Give-away take-away and Snack tables
These will be found in the upstairs hallway. The snack foods are provided by the vendors. The give-away take-away table is a place to get rid of fiber arts goods. Just put stuff on the table and walk away, or browse the other stuff and pick up something you need.

Drum Carding
Make sure to check out the Build-A-Batt station at the Steel City Fiber Collective booth.

Here’s all the info on the show. See you there!

Make sure to check out our fun fiber arts demos and talks!  These take place in a big classroom on the first floor.

11 – Washington Spinners and Weavers Guild – come find out what they’re all about!

11:30 – Afterthought Heel demo with Lisa of Fibernymph Dye Works

12 – RAFFLE upstairs in the hall

12:30 – Needle Felting demo with Beth of Roving Acres Farm

1 – Eastern European Knitting demo with Joanna of Joanna’s Boutique

1:30 – Hand Carding demo with Jess of Fiddlehead Fibers and Nikki of Peppermint Knits

2 – RAFFLE upstairs in the hall

2:30 – Magic Cast-on for socks with Allena of Star Knits

3 – Spinning Wheel Tensions – explained and demonstrated with the Steel City Fiber Collective

One-month membership (worth $65)!

Benefits of Membership

Use any of our equipment, tools, or space while we are open
20% discount on classes at SCFC
Reduced consignment fee for selling in the shop
10% discount on shop items
$5/hr room rental for your groups
snazzy membership card

The space includes a dye room, spinning room, loom room, and so much more! They also offer amazing classes.

Name: Nora, Anna, Cheryl, Becca
Business: Steel City Fiber Collective
Website: steelcityfiber.com

What is your current favorite color or color combination? We’re all obsessed with teal.

Or if you make something else, your favorite whatever as applies to that.  What are you into right now?  Cheryl is spinning gold, Nora is dyeing as much as possible, Anna is finishing up a wensleydale-to-sweater project, and Becca’s loving the craftivism embroidered affirmations (https://www.instagram.com/p/BKrPU5EA-JL/?taken-by=steelcityfiber)!

SCFC ladies in the spinning room at the collective. We have lots of different kinds of wheels for you to try and will be demoing how different tension styles on wheels work.

Drum carder in action. At our booth we will have a Build-A-Batt station – pay by weight and blend your own batt!

Assorted Yinzer Sock yarn – hand-dyed by SCFC members.

Name: Emily Eckel
Business: Artisan Buttons
Website: etsy.com/shop/ArtisanButtons

Artisan Buttons offers a selection of buttons not found in the big box stores.
My buttons are hand crafted from recycled or locally sourced materials.  If you are looking for special buttons to complete your project come see me at Indy Knit and Spin.

I make reclaimed hardwood buttons from old rulers, instrument boxes, furniture, children’s blocks and wood workers’ scraps.  The buttons are made in series and when the source material is exhausted the series is complete.  For this reason all of the wood buttons are limited editions.

My hand dyed recycled buttons are salvaged from button collections of friends, or purchased at thrift shops and estate sales.  These white or light colored buttons are carefully cleaned and sorted.  Then they are dyed in a hot dye process and rinsed obsessively.  They all take the dye a bit differently and no two are exactly the same.  The colors are rich.

I also make buttons using pre industrial revolution techniques such as needle weaving embroidery floss onto rings.  The Dorset cross wheel design is an example of one of these beautiful patterns.  This technique was once a closely guarded secret among the button makers living in a small area in England.  Their way of earning a living ended with the industrial revolution.

Name: Roberta Freund
Business: Steel City Stitcher
Website(s): www.steelcitystitcher.etsy.com

What color or color combo are you into right now? What can’t you get enough of?
I feel drawn to blues and greens when purchasing yarn and fiber but when I’m making bags for the shop I’m much more adventurous with fabric pairings.  I also love when my customers request something special because they always come up with great ideas!

Name: Joanna Romaniuk
Business: Joanna’s Boutique
Website: etsy.com/shop/JoannasBoutique

What color or color combination are you currently into? What can’t you get enough of?
My current favorite color is chartreuse, even if I’m using it less than turquoise. I’m into dyeing roving with silk and bamboo mixed in it. It has a brilliance and depth of color. And spins really easy.

Collage: roving, hand spun yarns, buttons, sari silk, teeswater locks