It’s almost time for the 2026 Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival and I have an fun opportunity for you! We have a great team coordinating another Sheep-to-Shawl Showcase event on Sunday, Sept 13, from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. In addition to several participating teams, the event will once again feature hands-on tables so Festival-goers can try rigid heddle weaving, hand and drum carding, drop spindling, etc. These activities were a huge hit last year!! So huge, the coordinators were … Continue reading →
A space is waiting for YOU in this class! Plying sometimes comes as an afterthought to the spinner. It’s just “what we do” to our singles. However, plying is a specific skill set for the handspinner and an important tool in the design and construction of handspun yarns. We can ply for a specific yarn structure, to create a unique yarn design, to blend fibers and to build color. But this class is a two-fer! If you want to get … Continue reading →
Registration is now open for the 2026 Fall Spinners/Weavers retreat! October 29-Nov 2 at Holy Wisdom Monastery and Retreat Center in Middleton WI. You’ll find all of the details and a link to register on our events page at https://fibergarden.com/event/2026-fall-spinners-weavers-retreat/. Spaces are filling fast. If you’ve been thinking “I’d like to attend a retreat sometime”…how about now??
Continue reading →Experience our recent week of rigid heddle weaving exploring color at Sievers on beautiful Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin. Weaving, dinners together at quaint Island restaurants, and even daily calisthenics (memories from the 1960’s!) left us with many special memories! Enjoy!
Our story in photos of our week spent spinning at The Clearing Folk School in Ellison Bay in Door County, Wisconsin. June 18-24, 2023. Spinners Boot Camp focused on skills in drafting fibers, understanding ratios, spinning fine and bulky yarns, and fiber preparation and spinning techniques for woolen and worsted style yarns. Armed with their new knowledge and skills, spinners designed and spun yarn for their selected knitting and weaving projects. View another fun video of our boot camp “drills” … Continue reading →
July 25-30, 2022 at Sievers School of Fiber Arts! Rigid heddle weaving. Five beginners; five “beyonders”. Lots of weaving…lots of learning…lots of good evening dinners together…lots of memories made. Thank you to the ten weavers who spent their week inspiring me with all of the beautiful pieces they created at this wonderful place on Washington Island, WI!
It’s been two and a half years since we gathered as spinners for one of our biannual retreats…since the fall of 2019, to be exact. Then we had a pandemic. A long, isolating pandemic. Until…finally…it became safe to gather again. Of course, there was a new set of safety protocols as an extra layer of protection for everyone. But at long last, we were back together again. And how sweet it was! The Cloquet Forestry Center in Cloquet MN was a new venue for us and it fit our needs perfectly starting with the very accomodating staff, to the private lodging rooms, a comfortable gathering space, and absolutely delicious meals. And we sat at our spinning wheels and visited and spun beautiful yarns and renewed old friendships and built new ones. Enjoy these highlights. And if you are a hand spinner and would like to join us for a retreat, be sure and check out the events page!
Ten weavers, most new to the rigid heddle loom, spent a week with me on beautiful Washington Island in Door County, Wisconsin in July! All I can say is WOW! These weavers took full advantage of their five days. Beginning with a simple scarf to learn the basics of warping and weaving on a rigid heddle loom, they went on to weave samplers to learn pick-up and various hand-manipulated laces and embellishments. And then they were unleashed to weave projects of their own choosing. And weave they did!!! Enjoy these photos of their Sievers weaving retreat…
For more information on Sievers School of Fiber Arts, visit their website and become inspired!
After a very long wait, the Fiber Garden is ready to welcome fiber friends back for workshops! Although our October workshop is currently filled, cancellations have left us with one space available in the August 20-22, 2021 workshop coming up soon! If you want to learn to weave on a multi-shaft/harness loom, we would love to have you join us. Likewise, we welcome “beyond beginning” weavers to participate in any of the other workshops offered during the weekend. For full details and a link to register, visit the event page.
It was a “first” for Sievers and a “first” for many in the class. The rigid heddle Sievers class of 2019 has concluded and everyone was a “Sievers Achiever”! We pushed the limits of this loom to the max with plain weave, pick-up, lace, krokbragd, double heddles, clasped warp and more! Enjoy this video review of our week and plan to join us next year on inspiring Washington Island, Door County, Wisconsin. This year was the first…of many…for rigid heddle on the Island!
