Madrona Fiber Arts is held every year around Valentine’s Day in Tacoma. The excitement starts early as attendees have their eyes on classes they want to take and are ready to pounce as soon as registration becomes available, since many of the classes fill up very quickly. Quite a few of our guild members have made this a tradition and have gone for many years; others are new to the experience. Here are several reviews that cover the gamut of attendees, from newbies to old hands, that may inspire you to get yourself to this eagerly-awaited event! There are more in the March newsletter too! If you have never been to the Madrona Festival and are thinking about attending next year, these ladies are a great resource for tips and information.
This was my first time at Madrona, having moved away from Oregon for work about the time it started 15 or so years ago. Though I am a seasoned knitting event attendee, I was delighted to find Madrona to be a very unique opportunity. The teachers are top notch and carefully prepared, the market very well curated with a limited number of the best vendors and the demonstrations varied and unique.
Carol Milne, the glass knitter, creates amazing knitted sculptures and her lecture on how she does it was detailed and exciting. She later was available in the Pavilion to let you get up close and personal with her work.
Franklin Habit’s classes fill fast so I was only able to get into his Plain Sewing which covered all I learned in 4th grade 4H but with a delightfully refreshing approach. The history of sewing he tossed in made the class perfect.
Janine Bajus’s Magic Ball presented a chance to grab into her Shetland Stash to create your own magic ball. Not only did I learn how to use a Magic Ball but more about color than ever before.
Margaret Radcliffe knows so much about knitting but it’s all in her books. Since I read her work thoroughly I was disappointed to find the Variegated class simply a repeat of her written work and then there was too much practice time for my taste.
The camaraderie amongst the participants makes this a very satisfying experience. I heard from some that Madrona is getting quite expensive but I rode the train and stayed in cheaper hotel which helped my budget. Believe me, I will be on my computer early on the day of the 2016 registration.
-Kathryn G.
This was my second year attending Madrona. I am a life-long knitter and a have recently begun spinning. This year all of the classes I took were spinning related.
Spinning Boucle Yarns with Sarah Andersen – This class was a great introduction to the range of looks and textures that can be achieved using the boucle structure. Sarah did a wonderful job of teaching to all experience levels in the room and paced the class so that everyone had time to complete samples of the three variations demonstrated. I left this class buzzing with ideas and the confidence to explore boucle further on my own.
Exotic Fiber Spindling with Amelia Garripoli – This was my first introduction to using an Akha Spindle (a center whorl spindle developed for spinning cotton). Amelia demonstrated a two phase approach that allows the spinner to spin short staple fibers gossamer fine on any top or center whorl spindle. Think park-and-draft turned on it’s ear. This class has doubled the utility of my spindle collection Amelia also showed us how to kick start (literally) our spindles, a trick I have not yet mastered but am smitten with just the same.
Luxurious Camel with Judith MacKenzie – Judith’s classes are always the most beautiful and seamless combination of technical instruction, history and biology lessons, all carried along with captivating storytelling. Add piles of creamy, soft camel down to that and you have an afternoon of spinning bliss.
-Kathleen B.
This year I decided to try to take two of Lucy Neatby’s classes at Madrona. I heard her speak at Sock Summit several years ago so I knew she was an entertaining speaker but I never realized what a great teacher she is.
In her “Top Down Hats” class she taught the Navajo plying technique to make fingering weight yarn into a bulky weight while knitting. The hat was fun and very quick to make. In her “Almost Saintly Knitting (So Very Holey)” class she taught several non traditional methods of creating holes in knitting. It was a fun and entertaining class which I enjoyed way more than I expected to.
-Sue L.
I’ve been attending the Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat for more than 10 years. It is always new and refreshing every year as the organizers strive to find the newest and best teachers mixed with those tried and true teachers with new class offerings. The problem with all the wonderful classes is to not overburden oneself. There are more than 85 class offerings and even more mini-class offerings of an hour and a half over the 4 day Retreat. After years of experiments, I have learned I do best with a 3 hour class each morning.
This year I had two classes with Amy Herzog. Jung reviewed her first book Knit to Flatter in the February Newsletter. I took her Mindful Modifications class. She is a terrific teacher and showed us how to make sweaters that fit us perfectly. After taking her class, I feel that I can alter almost any sweater pattern and make it fit my body. She spent considerable time talking about wearing ease and the how much to allow for each measurement. It all starts with having someone take your measurements. For more information and YouTube videos of how to measure www.amyherzogdesigns.com The measurement information is on the Custom Fit part of her website. I, also, took a finishing class from Amy and learned some new tricks for seaming.
I took a class from Franklin Habit in Knitted Plaid. He started the class with some color theory we could use selecting yarns for our plaid swatches. It was fun and while we knitted our swatches, he told us about the history of Tartans. He’s always well-prepared, smart and very entertaining. His classes are well-timed so each student can finish, or almost finish, the project.
-Patti I.