Rare and Exotic Yarns from Common Pets Instructor: Chris Dalziel Date/Time:   Saturday, April 16th, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Cost:   $70 (plus $4.90 GST ), for a total of $74.90 Experience Level: Advanced beginner to intermediate, participants should be comfortable with their spinning wheel and able to spin a balanced, 2 ply yarn on their wheel or their spindles. Participants should bring: * their spinning wheel in good working condition or several spindles of varying weights, and be comfortable using them, * Hand cards—preferably cotton cards, * Dog comb or flicker brush, * Niddy Noddy, * Lazy Kate, * 3 bobbins with leaders attached, if spinning on a wheel, * 7mm circular knitting needles (16 - 24 inch) or four 7mm dpn knitting needles (optional), * 4 oz. of clean, groomed fibre from a dog or cat (optional) Materials to be purchased from the instructor: 2 ounces of tussah silk top, 1 oz. of hand dyed tussah silk noil, 2 oz. of prime plucked French Angora fibre , 2 oz. of angora top (from prime plucked French angora) and 100 grams of fine wool., 2 original knitting patterns. Cost: $50, payable to the instructor at the workshop. Materials Provided: The instructor will provide drum carders, and crock pot for dyeing, as well as a live angora rabbit for demonstration purposes. Workshop Description: This workshop will look at the fibre of the Angora rabbit, domestic dog and domestic cat. Participants will discover the fibre characteristics of angora, chiengora, and cat fibre, and learn how these fibres can be spun into luxury yarns for knitting, weaving, or other fibre arts applications. Participants will learn how to harvest their pet's hair, and how to prepare it for spinning, in light of the finished article. Participants will spin sample skeins of worsted and woolen yarns, as well as novelty yarns and blends from angora fibre, with application to the spinning of dog and cat hair. Practical problems in yarn and garment construction and design will be anticipated and discussed. Hand dyeing of hair fibres and their unique considerations will also be introduced. Participants will go home with enough sample skeins to complete a small project such as a scarf or knitted, felted hat. Patterns will be included in the class materials kit. If you would like more information about the uses and advantages of using pet fur for garments, please look at the instructor's web page for more details. Simply click on the following link for:   Pet Fibre Information This web page will also give workshop participants some tips on how to collect their own pet fur should they wish to bring it to the workshop. To Register & Attend This Workshop: Please visit our Registration Page for more instructions. About the Instructor: Chris Dalziel, along with her husband and children, raise fibre animals on a farm in Greenwood, B.C. With a mandate to bring luxury fibres and yarns to the Canadian fibre artist, Chris and her family, raise a spinner's flock of angora rabbits, camelids, angora and pygora goats, and cross bred sheep. Chris came to the fibre arts as a child, learning to knit and crochet from her mother and kind neighbors, who were willing to pass on their knowledge. Chris approaches patterns like recipes, meant to be altered and tweaked according to the ingredients at hand and the whim of the cook. She comes to fibre dyeing from watercolour painting, with a firm foundation in colour theory, and her bright colourways are reminiscent of watercolour washes. Having learned to spin in 1999 along with her homeschooled children, Chris has given children's workshops and individual lessons in spinning, dyeing, knitting and weaving for several years.