Author: Margaret Brook

For fibre people, the sense of touch is particularly precious. We approach every project in great anticipation of the pleasures arising from those ineffable qualities described as sproing, squish, softness, and super yummy-licious-ness. The Festival is a hands-on experience. From the warmth and bounce of the living creatures growing the wool -- To the lanolin [...]

Teyana Neufeld used to live in south-western Manitoba, but she now qualifies as the person who travels the furthest to teach at the Manitoba Fibre Festival!  In her own words, here's some of her story  ----  While flying out of O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johanesburg last week, I was trying to decide whether or [...]

Introducing our fabulous 2019 custom colourway, a self-striping yarn dyed for the Festival by Allyson Schneider of "Dye for Ewe".  Allyson has named her creation "At the Ram's Head", as the colour inspiration is derived from our ram's head logo. This limited edition yarn will be for sale at the Festival merchandise table on September [...]

The Textile and Fibre Artists of Manitoba have selected Helen Knockaert as their featured artist during the Festival, September 13 & 14. Helen's work will be on display as part of the TFAM curated fibre art show, "Circles and Spirals". Helen Knockaert comes from the prairies.  She grew up on a farm in Manitoba.  It [...]

Janet Carroll is a Winnipeg based artist who works primarily in paper marbling and book binding.  Carroll’s work has been exhibited in Canada and elsewhere.  She has been a recipient of a Manitoba Arts Council Grant and has been an Artist-In-Residence at the Minnesota Center Book For Arts. We are honoured to have Janet teaching [...]

One of the highlights of the Festival is the Fleece Show and Sale, where fibre farmers compete in several classes for the honour of champion fleece, and where avid spinners and felters get to examine and buy whole raw fleeces. The show includes wool from many breeds of sheep as well as angora goat fleeces. [...]

Joanne Seiff is the author of "Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability". Knit Green offers information and ideas on how to be a more environmentally conscious knitter, from sourcing materials locally and using organic products, to supporting fair work and fair trade programs.  Since the book was written Joanne has continued to explore sustainability [...]

Artist Arlette Seib introduces her business, Wool Stone & Prairie  I guess I am a modern day shepherd of sorts, raising sheep on a piece of Saskatchewan prairie land and using the wool to create artwork of the daily scenes I am surrounded by. I produce 2D wall art and recently began making felted rugs and [...]

Big Oak Farm is near Morden, Manitoba. This is their first year as vendors at the Manitoba Fibre Festival, so Jennifer has written this introduction for us.   We sell Icelandic wool (Lopi yarn and raw) and pelts (lambskins) from our flock of 14 purebred Icelandic ewes and their offspring. In the future we will sell [...]

Lynn Gibson has always been driven to create.  Year-round she is sewing, knitting, and stitching. In the summer it’s common to find her making jam and jelly as well as woodworking.  Self-taught in virtually all crafts, Lynn always has multiple projects on the go. For the past five years, Lynn has specialized in repurposed wool projects, [...]

I am a fabric sculptor working with natural fibre fabrics to create whimsical pieces for both garden and home. Yes! I said garden! My pieces are uv and weather resistant and stand up to almost everything our Manitoba climate throws at it.  Frequently when I’m chatting with someone at a market I find myself looking [...]

Smash Knits is a curated collected of handdyed yarns, sewn & embroidery embellished project totes/pouches for knitters, crocheters, needleworkers and more, as well as an assortment of stitch markers, shawl cuffs, written patterns, and other tools of the trade. Ashlee Snell answers some queries about her business for this Festival new vendor profile: How did [...]