OCEAN CITY – Ocean City’s first Fiber Fest event will be held for vendors to promote the natural fiber industry, whether it is wool, yarn, thread, fabric, wood or reed, and educate through classes taught by true artists.
OC Fiber Fest will take place next weekend, Feb. 7-9, at the Carousel Hotel on 117th Street. The festival will be on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Admission is $5 a day or $8 for the weekend with door prizes daily.
Event organizer Susan Childs has knit and been crafty most of her life, but she put her knitting needles down for a number years. She picked up knitting again when she and a friend at work began taking 15 minutes on lunch break to get some craft time in.
“I absolutely love it,” she said. “Knitting is a real stress reducer. I would come home at night and knit four or five rows. You can actually see something being started and finished.”
Childs got the idea to have a Fiber Fest when hear others’ interest in learning about knitting but being unable to find an open class or couldn’t attend classes.
“The interest is huge. It is an event perfect for a girl’s weekend … I am really excited about it,” she said.
OC Fiber Fest has been in the works for the past year but as it approaches the interest is starting to explode by both vendors and attendees.
A variety of classes will be offered, including a Market Tote Basket Workshop where students will learn basic basket construction techniques by crafting an ideal tote for shopping or work and a Small Tray Basket Workshop where students will learn techniques in how to craft a basket tray perfect for transporting hot casseroles to potluck dinners. There will also be classes in how to replace a zipper in a jacket or reconstruct an old sweater.
Vendors planning to attend include Ashton Studio Arts, Premium Hand Dyed Fibers & Fine Art, Cedarland Farm, Hand Carved Signs by Adam, Wool out of Wales, Lamar Bags, Unique Designs by Kathy, Red Lion Farm, The Wool Farm, Justifiably Julia, Vantel Pearls in the Oyster and Cranberry Creek Fibers.
Childs added the yarn stores in and around Ocean City will be holding their first “Wool Crawl” on Feb. 8. The scavenger hunt will lead participants to each store where they will get their crawl card stamped and return to Fiber Fest to enter the completed card for the door prize drawing. Participating Stores are Salty Yarns, A Little Bit Sheepish and Ocean Breeze Alpacas.
For more information, visit www.ocfiberfest.com or call Childs at 443-235-2926.