Joan Brasaemle's grandmother taught her to knit as a child, and a pair of socks was her first triumph. She's since graduated to making designer jackets, which she discovered more than 35 years ago on a trip to San Francisco.
"There were all these wonderful jackets that were in all different yarns and different colors and different stitches. They fascinated me," she recalls.
Brasaemle shares her love for creating with the seven other women of the Peninsula Art Academy's monthly Fiber Café group. They bond over knitting, quilting, crocheting, basketry, felting, weaving and spinning. Founded in 2005, the group is celebrating the fiber arts this month with the Crooked River Fiber Fling Aug. 4-7. The inaugural event, held at locations in and around Peninsula will bring together local and national fiber artisans. Here's what to expect.
A total of 23 workshops are scheduled. Learn how to work a spindle in just half a day, or if you're ambitious, spend two days learning to weave on a sculptural frame loom. "We wanted to bring some nationally known instructors ... to gain inspiration and technical ability," Brasaemle says.
"There's both boutique shopping and materials shopping [on Saturday and Sunday]," Brasaemle says. Yarns and quilting supplies will mingle with one-of-a-kind hats and handmade shawls. A $5 donation gets you access to 50 vendors.
"Fiber artists like to show off their work," Brasaemle says. The Fling will indulge that desire with a wearable art fashion show and a silent auction on Aug. 5. "We want them to be either designed or handmade by the artist," says Brasaemle, who will show off a knitted evening jacket she made.
