We are very excited to have a separate room with treats from Zeke’s Coffee, places to sit and knit and chat, and tables showcasing these great fiber arts organizations:

Steel City Fiber Collective
The Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh
South Hills Knitting Guild
Washington Spinners and Weavers Guild
Weaver’s Guild of Pittsburgh

I would also like to mention the following local businesses who we appreciate and enjoy

Natural Stitches
Kid Ewe Knot
Natural Stitches
Spool
Center for Creative Reuse

Name: Nikki Bush
Business: Peppermint Knits
Website: etsy.com/shop/peppermintknitsllc

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I learned to knit in 2012 and it was the gateway drug into the fiber world.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
I really love the dyed braids because it not only gives you a chance to work with color when making them but as a spinner, it gives you so many ways to manipulate color at the wheel.

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
I learned to spin last year and it was life-altering. I hope to encourage other knitters/crocheters to try making their own yarn as it is so satisfying to create and then use.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
Enthusiastic Enabling

Name: Sarah Teigler
Business: One Sly Fox
Website: oneslyfox.etsy.com

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I’ve always been someone who needs to keep my hands busy. Because of this my Nana taught me to knit, my Grandmother to crochet, and it just built from there. I’ve worked with a lot of different materials over time, but yarn has always been a favorite.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
Of my own, I am pretty proud of my TARDIS stitch markers, yes I have my own set (or three). Of other people’s works, I love Butterfly Girl Designs’ Riot batt. So many pretty colors and it spins like a dream!

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
Ordinary tools honestly bother me. I don’t like plain things when it’s possible to make something that serves the same purpose, but has character, color, life! Tools don’t have to be dull or plain, why not use something flashy, bright or colorful if it makes you happy? I want to make the tools that have that life, that make people happy to use them.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
Dropped stitch? What dropped stitch? There’s no dropped stitch.

Did you know you can get awesome yarn, fiber etc from our vendors for volunteering? I am still in need of some volunteers.

I could use a couple more people for load out/sweeping from 4-5:30

And a few people to keep an eye on the give-away, take-away table from 12-2, and 2-4. This particular job is just sitting around knitting or gabbing.

If you’re a particularly social person, you could also stand around in the hallways and direct traffic.  If you want to volunteer, just email.  We can find a place for you – cosymakes@gmail.com.

Name: Jeanne Stevenson
Business name: Destination Yarn
Website: destinationyarn.com

What got you interested in your art of choice?
I was an avid (possibly obsessed) knitter and wanted to learn as much about the craft as possible – dying yarn was a natural next step. I dyed yarn for all of the knitters in my life for Christmas that year and discovered my passion.

Do you have a favorite item or colorway?
My current favorites are the “Adventure” colorways – my stipple dyes. That technique is so popular right now and it’s easy to see why – the yarn it produces is beautiful!

What is something you strive to offer the fiber arts community?
A unique perspective on color. Because I dye with places in mind every one of my skeins has a story.

What is your fiber arts superpower?
Turning places into yarn!

Don’t forget to register for Carol Scheftic’s Button Making Class! Learn to make your own silver buttons. We need at least a few more folks for this class to happen. More information can be found here. We need registrations in by Sunday evening so Carol can order clay.

Name: Trisha Eliason
Business: Gypsy Stardust Yarn and Fiber
Web Site: etsy.com/shop/GypsyStardustFiber

How I became interested:
I come from a long line of creative women; painters, artists, sewers, crocheters, so when I began knitting they provided me with lots of support and encouragement. I began knitting when I was pregnant with my first child. Three children later, I have tackled socks, sweaters, cables, intarsia and fair isle. I have developed a love for drop spinning and an eye for dyeing. I love coming up with unique color ways that fit my magic and fantasy theme.

Do I have a favorite color way or item:
That’s a tough one. I love purples, blues, and greens, but my “Poison Apple” color way, in red and black, is definitely my guilty pleasure! I’m also pretty fond of my hand spun yarns because of the time it takes to spin them.

What do I strive to offer:
My goal is to offer unique and whimsical color ways that inspire creativity and a love of myth and fantasy.

What is my fiber arts super power:
That I manage to raise three small children AND find enough time to dye, spin, and knit!

Name: Gwen Brown
Business: Gwen Erin Natural Fibers
Website: http://www.gwenerin.com

Something for everyone from beginners to the seasoned fiber artist.
Knitters, crocheters, weavers … handspun yarn in handdyed and natural colors
Felters and spinners … handdyed locks, carded batts, roving, combed top.

There will be a room set aside at this Indie Knit and Spin for sitting and chatting, sipping Zeke’s coffee and treats and checking out the following awesome fiber arts organizations:

The Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh
Steel City Fiber Collective
South Hills Knitting Guild
The Weaver’s Guild

Make sure to stop in and check them all out!

Name: Kelly Straub
Business: Shirsty Cat Designs
Website: www.shirstycat.com

We all love the colors of our yarns. We love the vibrant reds and the deep blues. We love the greens we otherwise only see in growing things in the early summer when the sun is up but not too hot. We love the pretty shade of brown that happens where just the right shade of purple blends with that perfect tone of amber. At the shows I vend at, I stand there and watch as people see my yarns and I hear “Oohh, look at the colors!” and the first thing everyone does is reach out and touch them. They squeeze the skeins of yarn and braids of roving and run the silk hankies against their skin. Felters ask if roving is super wash or not with hope in their voices and knitters look for specifically sock yarn for that little bit of nylon. We love the colors, but we also love our fibers. It was that love of fiber that once left me with a bruise on my butt and a new appreciation for each and every yard of lace weight Merino.

When I first took up knitting I started as many did with acrylics. I soon found wool fibers and never looked back. I loved the feel of the wool in my hands and the way it worked on the needles. I learned about other fibers like camel and alpaca. The more I learned the more I wanted to learn. Eventually my passion for fiber led me to spinning and the thrill of actually making my own yarn. The day came when I wanted to learn more about the bats and roving I had, so I got ahold of a fleece and learned how to clean and card it by hand. Needless to say a drum carder is on my wish list. Then one day I wanted to learn more about that fleece I got, so when the chance to learn shearing came up I found myself sitting on a sheep when she decided to go for a walk in the middle of her hair cut. I love fiber.

So the next time you find yourselves in a yarn shop and think to yourself “Oohh, the colors” and you reach your hand out to feel them remember; none of those sunset pinks or clear sky blues or emerald greens would be there without all those wonderful fibers spun out to hold them. So Hooray for Fiber! And Hooray to all you wonderful Fiber Junkies like me who appreciate them! Hopefully most of you are a little saner than me and don’t end up riding a sheep!