Fiber Gathering

Book excerpt: Meet the people, sample the flavor, and experience the kinship through 11 unique events and more than 25 inspiring projects. Yarn enthusiasts from coast to coast are embracing fiber festivals with gusto, from New York's Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival to Oregon's Black Sheep Gathering. This large-format, full-color book is a stunning visual celebration of eleven fiber festivals throughout the U.S., showcasing the rich marketplace and sprawling agricultural exhibits that attract visitors in astounding numbers. Perfect as a coffee table book, it also includes instructions for creating 25 unique knitting, crocheting, spinning, and dyeing projects that reflect the rural couture of these popular gatherings. Fiber Gathering brings America's most celebrated festivals into readers' hearts and homes—and inspires them to create clothing, art, and meaning from these time-honored crafts. Throughout history, we've gathered together in the market square. We're there to buy and sell, to get good deals on fibers, fabrics, fruits, vegetables, and bread, but we're also there to see friends, gossip, trade recipes, and admire new clothes. We've got an eye on each other's animals, and we're going to keep them from getting into any trouble. It's our chance to hold someone else's baby or to congratulate a new grandmother. It's a chance to connect, to touch, and to bond with others.