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Events

Fiber February 2021

Overview

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the digital version of Fiber Week. Here's hoping we will be gathering in person February 14-21, 2022. Coursework and details will be announced in late October 2021. Subscribe to the North House email newsletter to stay up to date! Here's a look back at 2021:

Join us in February to celebrate the warmth and wonder of fiber crafts all month long. We’re offering an array of exciting online coursework as well as online webinars and other fun ways to engage. There will be something for everyone as we explore craft traditions from skinfell to knitting, felting to sprang!

Image for Fiber February Knit Alongs Sneak Peek

Fiber February Knit Alongs Sneak Peek

A free sneak-peak of the Knit-Along sessions later in February from the new Dappled Fern Fibers community arts venture in Grand Marais

Jan 14, 7-8pm CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Lunch and Learn: Swedish Weaving with Arianna Funk

Lunch and Learn: Swedish Weaving with Arianna Funk

Arianna will talk about what it's like to learn a skill and build a career in one's second language and the aspects of preserving a tradition that's not your own.

Feb 4, 12-1 CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Lunch and Learn: Norwegian Knitting in Time and Distance with Annemor Sundbø

Lunch and Learn: Norwegian Knitting in Time and Distance with Annemor Sundbø

Author Annemor Sundbø, the “sweater detective,” will join us for a Lunch and Learn webinar to share stories from her research into the most familiar and well-loved Norwegian knitwear. (Photo: Eva Kylland)

Feb 11. 12-1 CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Lunch and Learn: Contextualizing Textiles: Family Ties and Textile History with LaChaun Moore

Lunch and Learn: Contextualizing Textiles: Family Ties and Textile History with LaChaun Moore

Dive into LaChaun's ethnographic textile research focusing on the history of race and agriculture in the United States of America.

Feb 18, 12-1 CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Lunch and Learn: Stories from the Land - Landscape Quilts with Gwen Westerman

Lunch and Learn: Stories from the Land - Landscape Quilts with Gwen Westerman

From hand-dying fabric with snow to creating quilts that tell stories, Gwen Westerman incorporates the language and songs of her Dakota culture into her fiber art and poetry.  (Photo: Melanie Zacek of Quiltfolk)

Feb 24, 12-1 CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Wonders and Ways with Wool Webinar with Linda Johnson Morke

Wonders and Ways with Wool Webinar with Linda Johnson Morke

Starting with a scientific look at the fibers from different breeds of sheep and going to the many cultures wool has influenced, come learn the Wonders and Ways with Wool.

Feb 25, 7-8pm CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Fiber February Show and Share

Fiber February Show and Share

Show off the projects you've been working on, or just join the fun and see the amazing things others have to show.

Feb 26, 7-8pm CT | Learn More & Register

Image for Knit Alongs with Dappled Fern Fibers

Knit Alongs with Dappled Fern Fibers

Tackle a knitting project in a group setting in this Knit Alongs. $30 each.

Throughout February | Learn More & Register

Image for Online Coursework

Online Coursework

Creative mending, needle-felting, sprang sashes, handspinning and more! Browse our selection of online fiber arts courses.

Throughout February | Learn More & Register

Event Details

Free Webinars & Lunch and Learns

Fiber February Knit Alongs Sneak Peek

Thursday January 14th, 7-8 pm CT

Have you heard? In February North House is teaming up with Dappled Fern Fibers, a new community fiber arts venture in Grand Marais, to host four virtual knit alongs! A knit along is a way for a group of knitters to work on the same project at the same time and learn from each other along the way. Join Dappled Fern founders Dorothy and Mary Ellen for a short webinar sharing information about the knit along options, how to participate, and an introduction to Dappled Fern Fibers. After the webinar, you’ll be all ready to sign up to participate in a knit-along.

Register in advance for this webinar

Lunch and Learn: Swedish Weaving with Arianna Funk

Thursday February 4th, Noon-1 CT

Weaving and other textile crafts are experiencing a wave of popularity in the West. The weaving collective Ariana is a member of, Studio Supersju, aims to keep weaving relevant and forward-thinking while being rooted in centuries of weaving practice in Sweden. Arianna will talk about what it's like to learn a skill and build a career in one's second language and about being a kulturbärare (a bearer of culture) when you're not from the tradition you're preserving.

Arianna E. Funk’s website is www.areclothesmodern.com and Studio Supersju's website is studiosupersju.com

Arianna's bio is available here: www.areclothesmodern.com/about

Register in advance for this webinar

Lunch and Learn: Norwegian Knitting in Time and Distance: Heirloom Sheep with Short Tails and a Rag Pile Heritage with Long Tales with Annemor Sundbø

Thursday February 11, Noon-1 CT

Author Annemor Sundbø, the “sweater detective,” will join us for a Lunch and Learn webinar to share stories from her research into the most familiar and well-loved Norwegian knitwear. For more than 25 years, Annemor has unraveled the history of knitting, following the thread all the way back to the very oldest tales, which feature a mix of cultural history, memory, myth and hypotheses. She will discuss her books Koftearven and Spelsau og Samspill, live from the Setesdalsmuseum, which features her exhibition. 

Register in advance for this webinar

Lunch and Learn: Contextualizing Textiles: Family Ties and Textile History with LaChaun Moore

Thursday February 18th noon-1 CT

Contextualizing Textiles: Family Ties and Textile History is a workshop and presentation with artist LaChaun Moore that starts with a dive into her ethnographic textile research which focuses on the history of race and agriculture in the United States of America. For the short workshop portion of this Lunch and Learn she asks participants about their first interaction with agriculture and to choose a garment from their closet in order to start a dialog about their personal connection to the fiber content and its context. 

LaChaun's bio:

“As an artist, I am available in response.”

LaChaun Moore is an interdisciplinary artist who engages the public with her ethnographic fiber making and research practice. Her practice focuses on plant species that are linked specifically to black and indigenous farmers who’ve been overlooked for their agricultural contributions and exploited for their ingenuity. She earned her BFA in Integrated Design at Parsons, The New School For Design with a focus on Alternative Fashion Strategies and Social Practice. There she began her grant funded research Perceptions of Cotton and Agriculture with in the African American Community awarded by the Tischman Environment and Design Center. On a small scale, she grows naturally colored cotton as well as ancestral indigo sourced from a Low Country plantation with goals to create a commercial scale sustainable brand with social constructive social awareness.  As part of her research LaChaun co-host's the WEAVE podcast.   She has interviewed a diverse group of sustainable farmers, fiber makers and weavers who all function with the same goal of creating a more equitable and sustainable fiber system. Her work envisions investigating, documenting and implementing ancestral knowledge as the start to chipping away at the inequalities within the fiber system that still reign today. 

Register in advance for this lunch and learn

Lunch and Learn: Stories from the Land - Landscape Quilts with Gwen Westerman

Wednesday February 24th, Noon-1pm CT

From hand-dying fabric with snow to creating quilts that tell stories, Gwen Westerman incorporates the language and songs of her Dakota culture into her fiber art and poetry. Learn more about how she took advantage of Minnesota winters to hand-dye fabric with a snow-resist process that was much easier than she anticipated, and her homeland informs her art.

Register in advance for this webinar

Wonders and Ways with Wool Webinar with Linda Johnson Morke

Thursday February 25th, 7-8 pm CT

Wool is wonderful! It has many properties that we can explore. Wool has history regarding nations and even currency. Wool can be silky soft for baby clothes or hard-wearing and course for a rug. Wool can be made into a lacy shawl or a closely felted covering for a yurt. How can one fiber do so many things? Starting with a scientific look at the fibers from different breeds of sheep and going to the many cultures wool has influenced, come learn the Wonders and Ways with Wool.

Linda's bio:

Linda has been a fiber enthusiast for the majority of her life. Knitting started at 5 years old and twisting her hair at an even younger age. Knitting led to spinning (something more that her hair) which led to sheep and rabbits. Felting led to different sheep, trips to Norway and Mongolia and a passion for understanding why wools felt differently. Being an engineer by training and curious by nature resulted in many years of fiber experimentation as an outlet for her creativity. A 10 year hiatus from the corporate world led to a line of fulled wool products sold both wholesale and retail.  A shepherd for more than 30 years, Linda has shepherded Navajo Churro, Border Leicester, Cheviot, Hampshire, Karakul, Finnish Landrace, Icelandic, Texel, Blue Faced Leicester (BFL),Tunis and Gotland sheep. Her current flock consists of Icelandic & BFL crosses, Karakul and Gotland sheep. Her latest project was directing the felting of a Mongolian yurt in Northern Minnesota. Linda currently lives on a farm in Isanti, MN and enjoys sharing what she has learned through classes and lectures.

Register in advance for this webinar

Fiber February Show and Share

Friday February 26th, 7-8 pm

A treasured element of our annual celebration of all things fiber is the Show and Share! We’re taking the party online this year and invite you to join us for an epic show and tell evening—feel free to bring something (that you made in a class, a knit along, or have just made recently) or attend just to see all the amazing things other folks have to show. We’ll spend about an hour together sharing things by holding them up to our cameras and ooo-ing, aaah-ing, and sharing stories. Curl up with your laptop, some cookies, and a project to share—all are welcome!

Sign up in advance to join us for the Show and Share

Knit Alongs with Dappled Fern Fibers!

Want some group support as you tackle a knitting project that will introduce you to new skills? A Knit Along is just that—you’ll sign up to knit a project and meet a few times during the month with other knitters working on the same project to show off your work in progress, ask questions, and encourage each other along the way. The new local fiber shop Dappled Fern Fibers is offering four knit alongs in February as part of Fiber Month. $30 each.

Check them out at the links below:

Latest Update: View recent changes →

Course Offerings

Needle Felted Critters: Online Course

Thu, Feb 4th, 2021
2pm-5pm
Instructor: Laura Berlage

Needle Felted Critters: Online Course

Thu, Feb 25th, 2021
2pm-5pm
Instructor: Laura Berlage

Creative Mend-Along: Online Course

Thu, Feb 4th, 2021
February 4th, 11th, and 18th, 7-8:30 pm CT
Instructor: Tasha Miller Griffith

Felted Crochet Wool Rug: Online Course

Fri, Feb 5th, 2021
10 am-noon CT each week for three weeks
Instructor: Laura Berlage

Introduction to Handspinning: Online Course

Wed, Feb 10th, 2021
February 10th, 17th, and 24th, 7-8:30 pm CT
Instructor: Andrea Myklebust

Himmeli: Finnish Geometric Mobiles Online Course

Wed, Feb 10th, 2021
2-4 pm on Wednesdays February 10th and 17th

Bead Embroidery: The Pin Series Online Course

Thu, Feb 11th, 2021
Feb 11th, 18th, 25th, 3-5pm CT
Instructor: Jo Wood

Introduction to Skinnfeller: Online Course

Fri, Feb 12th, 2021
2-4pm CT
Instructor: Karen Aakre

Interlacing Introduction: Historical Fiber Craft Online Course

Fri, Feb 12th, 2021
February 12th, 19th, 26th, 1-3 pm CT
Instructor: Carol James

Sámi Knitting Traditions: Birch Leaves Mittens Online Course

Fri, Feb 19th, 2021
2-4 pm CT on Fridays for two weeks
Instructor: Laura Ricketts

Finger Crocheted Blanket: Online Course

Sat, Feb 20th, 2021
10am-noon CT
Instructor: Teri Smith
Sat, Feb 27th, 2021
2-5 pm CT
Instructor: Laura Berlage