Linda Price said she was about ready to chop her spinning wheel into kindling when she first tried spinning yarn from her angora goats in the 1970s.
That was until she joined a guild in her then-home of Michigan, where she learned from other fiber artists how to work with hair and turn it into yarn, also picking up knitting skills along the way.
Now, she and a group of Kenai Peninsula fiber artists are hoping to pass that knowledge onto other local makers, through the Fireweed Fiber Guild.
“I’ve been doing this stuff for 37 years,” Price said. “But there’s people that want to get into it and don’t know how to start. And that’s where we come in.”
The guild hosts monthly Saturday meetings and special weekly workshops every Thursday, which they call “The Gatherings,” at an empty retail space in Soldotna.
Those are chances to learn new fiber arts related skills, like spinning, wool sorting and wool dyeing.
There’s a lot of different elements to fiber art, said Nancy Field, with the guild. She said it means something different to everyone.
“For me, it’s fiber arts for doing practical gifts for my grand kids, or I just love to spin,” Field said. “And it always surprises me, still, when people say, ‘Oh I really like that.’ Really? I had so much fun doing that.”
At the last few meetings, they’ve experimented with different kinds of dyes. A big pad in the corner of the room listed chemical formulas from last week’s workshop, when they made their own. Another week, they dyed with Kool-Aid.
This week, Field tried out commercial dyes on a mix of llama hair from her own herd at Llama Hill Farm, and wool from Lancashire Farms in Soldotna.
She dipped a skein of yarn into the baths as her granddaughter, Olivia, looked on. Nearby, a batch of already dyed wool dried on a rack, sporting a spectrum of blue hues.
“So we’ll just let that cook for a little bit and see what happens,” Field said. “It’s always a surprise.”
Price, who runs Alaska Socksation Farms, said fiber art is something she wasn’t able to impart onto her kids, who she said weren't interested in learning.
“ I’d like somebody to learn it,” she said. “And I have like 14 spinning wheels. So if somebody’s interested, they can come and try them out, take them home if they want."
Price said fiber arts are having a bit of a renaissance. She thinks younger people are appreciating the form more — which she sees in the growing membership of the Fireweed Fiber Guild itself. And even though she said learning from another person is still the best thing, she said novices can find most of what they need online, on YouTube.
“I guess it’s not — I don't even know the term. Like, ‘backwoodsey’ anymore?” she said. “I think it’s evolved into more of things that people are really open to in the community now."
And she said the renewed interest is validating.
“To view fiber arts as a craft, a real craft — not just a hobby," she said. "It’s a craft that you learn and you gain skills in."
For Price, those skills were hard fought. There was a steep learning curve at the beginning.
She laughed remembering how, when she was first learning to knit in the 70s, she’d buy yarn from the store — not realizing her herd of angora goats could be used for that same purpose.
And it wasn’t easy learning how to raise goats, either. Many of her goats died on her her first year.
But she said there are farmers and fiber artists on the peninsula who have skills they want to pass down so others don’t make those same mistakes.
“We like to be the teachers, and we like young people,” Price said.
Field said it’s also nice to have companionship, and a place to get together.
“Because I would be doing this at home, but it’s sure much more fun to have a couple other people join you,” Field said.
Gatherings are open to anyone who’s interested, no matter their skill level or medium. They meet every Thursday at 5 at the building behind State Farm and Cabin Fever Creations on Kenai Ave. in Soldotna.
