Photo courtesy of Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair
The Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) comes to Fletcher Friday, October 23, through Sunday, October 25, for its 32nd year welcoming fiber enthusiasts, artists, farmers, families and visitors of all ages. The show features vendors, competitions, demonstrations, workshops and exhibitions, and will be held at the WNC Agricultural Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Artist Melissa Gray began working seriously with fiber in 2000, and five years later started raising sheep for wool. Today, her flock contains Corriedales, Teeswaters and East Friesians. “I discovered along the way that the medium wool I was already producing from my own sheep was phenomenal for needle felting,” she says. “That led, first, to larger puppets, then, sculptural pieces and, eventually, to much more detailed fiber artwork and kits.”
For this fair, she will be teaching a class to create a three-dimensional needle felted sculpture of Tilly, the character from her children’s book, Tilly’s Mud Puddle. “Tilly is especially meaningful to me because the ornate chorus frog is an endangered species in North Carolina and is part of the North Carolina Zoo’s recovery work,” Gray says. “So the project brings together several things I care about—wool, fiber art, education, native wildlife and conservation.”
Julie Benac and Patrick Laurin have traveled to the festival for the last three years from Michigan, where they own Fresh Lotus Design, teaching weavers and fiber artists how to create fashions with their handwoven fabrics. “At SAFF this year, I’m excited to present my newest classes for sewing these fabrics, as well as designing with them,” says Benac. “There’s so much more you can do beyond those scarves you’ve been weaving! And even if you’ve never woven anything before, there’s a class for you, too, the very beginner.” The pair will be presenting plant-based yarns, bamboo yarn weaving kits, silk yarns and “some very interesting fiber blends.”
Angora rabbits. Photo courtesy of Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair
Cynthia Haney, of Cynthia Wood Spinner, will teach a handful of drop spinning classes. “Drop spindles are my first love,” she says. “My beginner class is Making Yarn on a Spindle. Then you can use a spindle to twist two or more strands of yarn together: plying. My class Plying Yarn on a Spindle covers that. Most yarn sold for knitting or crochet is plied.”
A knitter when she found fiber festivals, Haney decided to explore spinning. “I fell down the rabbit hole, bought my first fiber, assembled a simple drop spindle and tried spinning,” she says. Not satisfied with the performance of that tool, she studied spindles, learned how to use a lathe and turned her first spindle. “It was exactly the tool I needed to enjoy spinning yarn,” she says. She now makes and sells spindles and other fiber tools as well as teaching the art of spinning.
“One of the things I have always enjoyed about SAFF is how inclusive it is of the many different kinds of fiber animals and fiber arts,” says Gray. “It isn’t centered around only one breed, one technique or one definition of what fiber art should look like. There is room for spinning, weaving, felting, knitting, livestock, traditional work, sculptural work and all kinds of experimentation.”
Passes, cash only at the gate, are $5 per person for the day and $10 for entry on all three days. Children under 13 are admitted free. The WNC Agricultural Center is located at 761 Boylston Highway, Fletcher, and entry for the festival is through Gate 7. Learn more at SAFFSite.org.
