Live Online Chats with Engaging Creators
Fiberside Chats are one-hour online (Zoom) sessions with special guests, giving us a peek into their world. These designers and creators will discuss their unique path, creative processes, latest projects—or whatever is inspiring them now. There will also be a Q&A session, giveaways, and other fun surprises for those who join! The gatherings are organized and hosted by our friends at Longmont Yarn Shoppe. The registration fee for each chat is only $20 USD and the proceeds support the guests and participating yarn shops such as ours.
How to register: Join Barb, Cynthia and the Yarniversity team! Register on Longmont Yarn Shoppe's website and find Yarniversity by River City Yarns in the drop down menu. Easy-peasy!
Details:
- January 26: Doodles: Design & Knit Custom Colorwork with Mix-and-Match Motifs by Jamie Lomax
- February 2: Sanquhar Knitting with May MacCormick
- February 16: Bringing Vintage Knitting to Life with Sydney Crabaugh
January 26: Doodles: Design & Knit Custom Colorwork with Mix-and-Match Motifs by Jamie Lomax
Doodles by Pacific Knit Co. are modern and whimsical colorwork motifs that enable knitters to design and knit exactly what they want! The Doodle Framework has three simple steps: 1) Pick your Pattern Shape, 2) Pick your Doodle Motifs, and 3) Pick your Yarn Colors. Then just start knitting! During this session, we’ll deep dive into each step and learn how to choose and modify your base pattern, how to re-create your master chart using Doodle motifs, and how to build cohesive yarn palettes that work for colorwork. Afterwards, you’ll have the confidence to create your own unique colorwork projects, which gives you endless customization with just one pattern!
BIO:
Jamie Lomax (she/her) is a Seattle-based knit designer dedicated to helping knitters learn how to knit design and knit something unique. She loves colorwork knitting and considers it to be like "doodling with yarn," in that a fiber-y illustration is created, line by line, as you knit the pattern. Her background in design, standards, and technical writing has led to creating a system of patterns, where all motifs and all pattern shapes can be used interchangeably. And experience with graphic design (as well as having ADHD) has created an accessible and user-friendly experience, which eventually translated into offering multiple forms of patterns from digital to printed card decks. After designing the first Doodle pattern in 2020, she's now taken the concept into over 25 themes and 11 base pattern shapes, and hopes to add even more as she continues to expand Doodles.
This is a live Zoom Event on Sunday, January 26th at 1:00pm EST, 12:00pm CST, 11:00am MST, 10:00am PST
Click here for more details and to register. We appreciate it very much if you register under "Yarniversity by River City Yarns".
February 2: May MacCormick presents: Sanquhar Pattern Designs - part of A' the Airts Community Arts Centre in Sanquhar, South West Scotland.
In the South West of Scotland, the knitting initiative known as the Sanquhar Pattern Designs project operates within the community arts centre. May MacCormick is one of the most renowned Sanquhar knitters in the world, with over fifty-five years of experience in creating the famous Sanquhar gloves. She is passionate about preserving the heritage of this unique pattern and has undertaken the significant task of meticulously documenting all sixteen patterns for the first time, ensuring they are preserved for future generations. Join us for this virtual visit to meet May, who will share the history of the pattern, discuss some of her experiences, and demonstrate how to knit the gloves. Additionally, Yvonne Barber, the Centre Manager, will provide a brief introduction to the project and highlight their recent creations, which include leg warmers, a hat, and a cardigan for a Highland Coo!, recently used for Visit Scotland.
BIOS:
May MacCormick was born and raised near Sanquhar, although she did not receive her education there. Her mother, an accomplished needlewoman, encouraged her interest in handcrafts from a young age. Fifty-five years ago, when she learned to knit Sanquhar gloves in the Duke pattern, it was only natural that May decided to try it herself. By chance, May married a man from Sanquhar, and when she moved there, a friend sparked her interest in the other fifteen patterns. Over the years, she has knitted countless gloves and other items, incorporated the patterns into various crafts, and met many interesting people along the way, finding herself in diverse places. May serves as the keynote speaker during our Sanquhar Knitting Visitor Tours. With extensive experience in giving talks and demonstrations, she also tutors Sanquhar glove knitting workshops and is currently in the process of recording the patterns, currently on number thirteen. These instruction books can be found in @atheairts Craft Shop. "I feel privileged to have been involved in this sometimes little-known but centuries-old tradition and to have made many friends through it."
Yvonne Barber, originally from Liverpool, England, has served as the Centre Manager at A’ The Airts since July 2017. With over 25 years of experience in community-based education, training, and the arts, Yvonne is a dedicated Project Manager who is passionate about empowering individuals and enhancing their confidence and skills. She is committed to the Centre's success and to creating opportunities for everyone involved. The Centre won the Dumfries and Galloway Life Magazine awards for ‘Best Community Project’ in 2022. Also in 2022, Yvonne was recognised as one of the top 100 Women in Tourism, ranking among the top three in Dumfries and Galloway. Her work with the Upper Nithsdale Tourism Partnership and her commitment to involving local businesses in events at A’ The Airts have transformed Sanquhar into a must-visit destination in Upper Nithsdale, especially for the Sanquhar Knitting produced and sold on the premises. Through collaborations with various third-sector organisations in Dumfries and Galloway, she has established community connections that help propel the Centre forward. https://atheairts.org.uk/
This is a live Zoom Event on Sunday, February 2nd at 1:00pm EST, 12:00pm CST, 11:00am MST, 10:00am PST, 6:00pm GMT
Click here for more details and to register. We appreciate it very much if you register under "Yarniversity by River City Yarns".
February 16: Bringing Vintage Knitting to Life with Sydney Crabaugh
Join Sydney Crabaugh for a discussion on the history of fashionable knitwear and a glimpse into her online knitting school, Squid's School of Vintage Knitting! Sydney will guide you through a whistle-stop tour of handknitting history through the lens of fashion, looking closely at the changes in trends through the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. This era of knitting is brought to life again at her online knitting school through lectures, tutorial videos, styling advice, and vintage inspired knitting patterns. Sydney will talk through how the school came to be, showcase some recreated vintage knits from different decades, and will go over her distinctive approach to garment pattern construction. Unlike the "one-size-fits-all" grading in original vintage patterns, the school’s garment patterns use a special method of construction to create personalized, tailored garments that are fully size inclusive. Sydney will talk through this process and show you how her system can be implemented on both vintage and modern knitting patterns. Come along for a trip back in time and into the world of vintage knitting!
BIO:
Sydney Crabaugh (or @squidneyknits as she's known on Instagram) is a pattern designer, knitwear historian, tour guide, and the Headmistress of Squid's School of Vintage Knitting on Patreon. She has been knitting and studying fashion history for over fifteen years, and turned these passions into a career at Squid School, an online school devoted to the education and love of historical knitwear. The school provides a monthly knitting pattern inspired by various knitted items between 1860-1960, but updated with modern terminology and with full size inclusivity using Sydney's unique method of pattern writing. In addition to patterns, the school puts out a monthly knitting history lecture, technique video, vintage lifestyle or travel vlog, and a special true-vintage PDF booklet from Sydney's personal pattern archive.
When she's not in the Headmistress office, Sydney is teaming up with Rowan Tree Travel and Fibercraft to develop international knitting tours/ retreats that have a historical or vintage bent, often with elaborately themed and niche activities! With her entire career path spent in the fiber industry, Sydney has spent nearly half her life meeting other knitters and sharing fiber experiences, which she loves more than anything else in the world. Although rather nomadic by nature, she currently resides in Los Angeles with her fiancée (who thankfully puts up with her enormous yarn stash).
This is a live Zoom Event on Sunday, February 16th at 2:00pm EST, 1:00pm CST, 12:00pm MST, 11:00am PST, 8:00pm CET
Click here for more details and to register. We appreciate it very much if you register under "Yarniversity by River City Yarns".
Read these helpful tips before you register:
- You should sign up early to get a seat.
- Registration fees must be paid in advance to hold your seat.
- Registrations will close 3 hours before the event starting time.
- You will receive an online invitation and meeting identification code that you will need, from Longmont Yarn Shoppe in order to enter the event. This invitation will come within 24 hours of the event.
- As this is an online event, you need to have Zoom downloaded on a computer, tablet or mobile device. If using a computer, make sure you also have a webcam and microphone built in or attached.
- Refunds? Sorry, there are no refunds if you forget to sign in or cannot attend. A recording will be made available to paid registrants, with a seven day viewing time. So, no worries if you miss the live session!
- Date Changes or Cancellations: in the event the Fiberside Chat has to be cancelled due the the Guest not being able to attend, Longmont Fibers will make the best effort possible to immediately accommodate a new date. All participant registrations will be valid for the new date. In the event an alternative date is not available your registration will be refunded in full.
- Questions? Send an email to info@yarniversity.ca.