Tammy Ivanco, of Manjusha Fibre Arts, shares her process of designing and dyeing this limited edition yarn. Each year a local dyer creates a colourway for us based on our wonderful ram’s head logo drawn by artist and shepherd Gerry Oliver.

The yarn will be available at our merchandise table at the Festival September 14 & 15.

Tammy has named this colourway “MB Sheep Thrill”. Here’s her story:

“MB Sheep Thrill – 2018 Custom Colourway Yarn”

“It was very exciting to create the Manitoba Fibre Festival 2018 Custom Colour.  This yearly event is something that I am very happy about – it started small and grew in ways that were hard to imagine even just a few years back.  The crew running the event have done a great job keeping it going and expanding it.  With this in mind, I was also very nervous!  The general direction for the Custom Colour was the Manitoba Fibre Festival Logo.  I had a high resolution copy on my Ipad and I could zoom in and out to think about the selections I would make. 

The sheep head is rather unique with a lot of colours, so had so many places for inspiration.  I thought I had my general plan very quickly, but in the end, the process was a bit all over the place because of the techniques I had been using, and then the modifications that came when the yarn decided it needed to be something else.   In the beginning the sheep head reminded me of my sheep and the colours I saw were harder, darker, and really based in the grey and black tones.  I did some test skeins on a heavy sock yarn and really liked them, but then when I held and started working with the yarn I was going to use for the Custom Colour, I revised my colour schemes.  The light and beautiful organic merino/nylon fingering weight yarn really called for the softer colours in the logo, with the expression of the darker ones less pronounced.  I have called this yarn base GAIA, which in Greek mythology is the personification of the Earth. Gaia, the goddess, is the mother of all life and was also the giver or gifts. I selected this base for the custom colour to the idea of making clothing from sustainable sources, but also to generally sing the praises of the Earth and the benefits we get.

The colours I selected were from the creamy golden yellows on the sheep horns and face, the rose grey on the face that shifted from pinks to greys, the black and teal curls of the sheep fleece, and finally the teal and orange of the eye.  I also wanted more white to capture some of the light curls of the fleece, and this made so much sense to me as a dyer because white fleece is so prominent and necessary in a dyer’s toolkit.

The technique I have been rather hooked on lately is based in knots, and maybe a little like the tie dyeing that some people have done.  This technique was used for the “Prairie Storm” yarn that became Heather Bailey’s inspiration for her “Prairie Wheat Shawl” in the Maker’s Challenge, as well as my “Polar Bear” and “At the Leg.” from the MBFF 2018 Mood Boards.  I really like how this technique creates a unique variegated yarn, with less obvious pooling, but that works for a range of patterns.  For the MBFF 2018 Custom Colour, I used a single knot that was in the same location on each skein, with the orientation the same in each dye pan used.  This allowed me to layer a blush pink and grey to give the mottled look of the logo sheep face, and have a bit of transitioning cream gold found in the head.  The fun part was that I could use the knot to have teal blue and black spattered in the white areas remaining with the base yarn colour around them, like the fleece curls.  A small bit of speckling with teals and orange captured some of the subtle teals throughout and the sheep eye. 

All in all, there were 10 different dye colours used to capture the logo colours I selected.  The yarn will work for shawls and socks, and a range of other items calling for a fingering weight.  It has a mix of colours that allow it to be part of a fade pattern, or just set against a solid from the selection.  I called the MBFF 2018 Custom Colour “MB Sheep Thrill”, and I have been knitting with some of it and I love it.  I hope others find it as fun and great to work with as I have.”

Thank you to Shelley Kent for preparing this piece in honour of Wayne Capar of Natural Knot Wood Designs. Wayne has been a vendor at the Manitoba Fibre Festival and other local fibre events for several years.  His passing is mourned by many in our community.

Sometimes in life you get really lucky and one-of-a-kind people cross your path and become a friend. Sometimes you are even luckier because they happen to be a talented craftsman and they sell their wares for us to buy. This was the case with Wayne Capar of Natural Knot Wood Design. Wayne passed away just recently and I was shocked and deeply saddened.

I met Wayne one summer day out at Pineridge Hollow at, of course, a Farmer’s Market  – because that is what Wayne did. He made beautiful wood gifts. I know the wood creations caught my eye first, but who could miss that mustache of his, really, and that smile.  Of course, that was followed with his attitude. You couldn’t talk to Wayne without coming away feeling a little happier with life. If Wayne and Kelly were at a craft sale, I always looked for them because, as I said, you felt better after spending a few (and sometimes quite a few) minutes chatting and shopping with Wayne.

His talent at wood working was amazing. He supplied us fibre people with some of the most beautiful one-of-a-kind tools to play with. I bought a Turkish drop spindle from Wayne and I knew when I bought it that it was more because it was made by Wayne and it was beautiful.  The chance of me becoming a spinner was remote, but I loved the wood and the talent it took to make it. There are many of us that have Wayne’s works of art and we need to hold these close in our hearts and our hands. Every time I use my nostepinne I think of the hassle, a good one, that Wayne gave me every time we met. Ever wonder why you create? Well leaving something behind that can be held and, even better, be used is a wonderful gift.  Now I have a bit of Wayne in my house: a nostepinne, a Turkish drop spindle, knitting needles, and my sheep ornament that hangs year round in my dining room.

Thank you my friend Wayne; you made my life better with what you made and who you are.

My name is Deana Wilson, and my business is Mammoth Yarn Studio. I am an indie Dyer and my mom Judy sews project bags!

It’s time to start introducing our new vendors for 2018, starting with Karen Luchak. You will find her at the Festival as The Frugal Designer.

Karen has been passionate about fabric and sewing since her youth. Her love for fibre arts eventually led her to a teaching career in Fashion Technology (Murdoch MacKay high school vocational program). The program included: illustration; pattern design; construction; and theory. After retiring from 36 years as a public-school educator, she sought out ways to express her creativity. As a result, she now undertakes theatrical costume making, staging homes and is continually pondering new projects.

Her current focus is on sustainability and reusing fabric remnants, old jewellery pieces, beads and buttons to build whimsical one of a kind fashion accessories. Karen is inspired by current artistic trends, interesting colours, pinterest, nature and by the work of her colleagues and peers. Current necklaces include pieces of driftwood gathered from exotic Lester Beach.

Karen is also sharing her talents with us by organizing a fashion show to be presented at the Festival. Stay tuned for more details about that!