Passing it on
Tracy Million Simmons - Special to the Gazette
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Tracy Million Simmons
Maranda Scheller and Raegen Root, both of Emporia, sort through dyed wool on April 26 to find colors for their felting project.
Twenty-two young people gathered in Emporia on Saturday for Fiber Fun Day, an event hosted by Barbara Say, Lyon County 4-H fiber arts leader, and supported by businesses from across the nation with donations of everything from yarn and embroidery thread to crochet hooks and knitting needles.
Several members of local weaving and knitters guilds joined Say to teach the one-day workshop, which included lessons in spinning, weaving, felting, crocheting, quilting, embroidery and macramé.
“Fiber projects are mostly easy,” said 8-year-old Maranda Scheller. “Except for knitting.
“Knitting is hard for people with small hands.”
Maranda has spent two years delving into fiber arts through 4-H and has shown weaving and sewing projects in the local county fair.
Sue Sielert taught the kids how to card wool and spin using drop spindles. Sielert said working with fibers is really more art than a craft. She has worked at spinning off and on for 25 years now.
“At first you just spin and spin,” she says. “Now I’m trying to focus on projects with more of an end goal, a purpose.”
Sielert showed off her current work in progress, variegated green yarn that she plans to use to make a scarf. She’s still thinking about the material she will ply with the yarn. Shiny green thread is one option.
Visualizing the endless possibilities is one way you can really see these kids have learned from their mentors.
“I want a dry erase board for my headboard,” said 17-year-old Kristen Garcia as she and Tiffany Scarberry, 18, discussed how they tackle to-do inspirations for new projects that seemed to grow in leaps and bounds as the day progressed.
“If I could just have a place to jot down all my thoughts at night without having to get out of bed,” she said.
Garcia completed a one foot by one foot square of woven green and purple ribbons. Sample ribbon weavings had been made into bags, but Garcia thought a clutch purse would be a neat idea. She also rolled her felting project into a long tube instead of mashing it flat. She had felted beads in mind as an end product.
Donna Young and Tracey Graham spent much of the day teaching small groups of kids how to wield crochet needles.
“Teaching crochet can be hard,” Graham said. “Most of us have been doing this since we were little. You just do this and that and it’s done. You really have to stop and think about how to tell someone else to do it.”
“I pretty much didn’t know how to do any of this stuff until today,” said Kaman Simmons, 7, a first-year 4-H member who plans to weave a rug for the county fair. His crochet skills had progressed from non-existent at the beginning of the day to nearly half of a clothes hanger covered with crocheted, turquoise blue yarn by day’s end.
Young pointed out that every fiber artist has a different technique. There is always something new to learn and as proof, while the kids were taking a break, Young escaped to Sielert’s area for a quick lesson in spinning.
When one young girl asked if the macramé sample was supposed to be flat or twisted Young answered, “however you want it to be. That’s just it. Your preference.”
Say’s interest in heritage arts dates back to her own 4-H experiences as a youth. She has been active with area youths as a mother and 4-H leader for 20 years now. Many of her fiber projects begin with wool from her own sheep. Nine new lambs have been born into her flock this spring. Her daughter, Emily Say, who also taught at the workshop on Saturday, said her mom is one of those people who can crochet and knit with equal skill.
“Some people say you can do one or the other well, but Mom can do both,” Emily said.
Say believes it is important to keep the heritage arts alive and that’s why she continues to dedicate time to teaching fiber skills to youth even though her own kids are grown and are no longer 4-H club members.
As well as being fun, Say said, “There is a process and artistry of using your hands to create something. It’s a source of pride, to make your own. I want to pass that on.”
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