I was thrilled to be able to teach at the first annual Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma last week. I had a great time and thought you, dear reader, might like to see what happened at this conference.

I’ll start with the workshops I taught. The students were so much fun. I am not sure if this is a Pacific Northwest thing or if this particular show (which was Madrona until this year) just brings in people who are easy-going and eager to learn, but my classes were full of such bright souls. I taught Is Tapestry for Me? which was a 2-day beginning tapestry class. And I taught a one-day color class where we played with optical mixing.

(Note: There are many galleries in this post and if you get the blog via email they will show up as a long series of photos without captions. If you want to see the captions, just visit the post on my blog HERE.)

Teaching with the best

Because I teach so much online and my in-person events are mostly my personal retreats, I don’t get a lot of time to network with other fiber arts teachers. This retreat was special for me in part because I connected with teachers I haven’t seen in a few years and I met some people I’ve wanted to spend time with always. (I had to very deliberately squash my fan-girl tendencies when it came to Clara Parkes and Judith MacKenzie.)

I also had some good time with someone I see a little more often, Jillian Moreno. I met Jillian the first time I taught at YarnFest in Colorado. She swore she was internet stalking me, but I am pretty sure it was the other way around. Jillian is such a delight-filled being. She is also really good at saying nice things about my work to other people, so who wouldn’t love her? She is a fantastic and fun spinning teacher and she doesn’t get ruffled by pretty much anything. She is an editor at Ply and has written the most magical book, Yarnitecture. And if you want your very own chance to hang out with Jillian, we are teaching a retreat together in Colorado in June. Information is HERE.

There were so many other teachers here who were inspiring. Kate Larson, Janine Bajus, John Mullarkey (okay, he wasn’t teaching, but he made this thing happen and it was amazing!), Carson Demers (Knitting Comfortably), Franklin Habit, Sivia Harding, and so many more. I had a delightful chat with Ilisha Helfman, creator of Jazz Knitting (you should SEE the shawl she had on!!). Her mother was Muriel Nezhnie which of course was something I wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t been so kind as to come over and introduce herself as Muriel’s daughter. It was wonderful to hear about Muriel from someone who knew her best.

I had several fun moments with Deb Menz. She came into my classroom the first morning I was there and I had a moment of panic that this couldn’t possibly be Deb Menz standing in front of me but who on earth else could it be? She was here hanging out, taking a few classes, and enjoying some time with her buddy Sara Lamb (who gave me another heart-attack moment during the teacher meet-and-greet when she came over WITH Deb to say hello.) Deb’s books, ColorWorks and Color in Spinning are two of my favorite references for teaching. Color in Spinning is the best synthetic dye book I’ve found and I use it all the time. Unfortunately they are out of print, but see if you can find used copies. And Sara Lamb is a little bit of magic in the weaving world. It was fun to meet her in person. She wrote Spin to Weave.

Here is proof.

Rebecca Mezoff, Deb Menz, Sara Lamb at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat 2020

Demo day

On Saturday I did a demo day in the rotunda. I enjoyed talking to a stream of people and there were a few brave souls who actually tried tapestry weaving.

The fleece exhibit: Sheep Breeds, a World of Difference

This thing was unbelievable. It is a project of John Crane Studio and has been at various conferences. I wished I had about three hours to go through the whole thing and get to know these 73 sheep breeds a little better. There were trays with each type of fleece, a skein, and a knitted sample along with an informational sign about the breed. Sheep are so amazing!

Speaking of amazing sheep…

Clara Parkes gave the keynote for this conference. She talked about wool and how amazing it is. I can’t recommend her latest book, Vanishing Fleece, highly enough. Wool, this varied and versatile fiber that we all use so much, has been attacked by the media relentlessly in recent years. Our production systems for wool are fragile and we, as wool users and lovers, cannot stand idly by and allow our fiber to be attacked or it may disappear. So when you see a brand talk about idiotic things like how harmful sheering sheep is, make your voice heard! (Sheep have been domesticated, don’t shed for the most part, and absolutely have to be shorn for their health. Their wool is our benefit for taking it off their hands so to speak.)

Clara talked about many things in the keynote and she makes wool a fun subject in Vanishing Fleece. Do yourself a favor and buy Knitlandia while you’re at it. (You’re welcome).

Clara Parkes giving the keynote at Red Alder Fiber Arts Retreat, 2020

Tacoma

The mountain did come out. I saw it twice. Once walking to dinner with some other teachers and our speaker.. The other time was the beautiful sunny morning leaving Tacoma. I was on the 10th floor of the Hotel Murano with a view of Rainier.

I would have loved to see the Glass Museum. I was able to walk to it, but it is only open Wednesday through Saturday during hours I was working.