What better place to spend a week in September than Maine?
This year I’m Artist In Residence, which means I’ll be at Fiber College the entire time.
…except when I visit nearby Belfast Maine to get yarn, ice cream, embroidery thread or beer all of which will make me a better knitter.
Searsport has a lot to offer too – a fabulous Maritime Museum, and the charming Left Bank Books. Many beautiful towns, Camden, Rockport, Blue Hill and Deer Isle are all just a hop, skip and a jump away; and of course there’s spectacular Acadia National Park.
Please leave a comment here to enter to win free admission to one of my classes at Fiber College. To make things interesting, share with us what colors you imagine when you think of Maine, or your favorite place to visit in Maine.
You’ve got two weeks, because I’ll be out of internet range, on a remote island in the San Juan’s of Washington State … so! The winner will be randomly chosen on 8/09, 11:59 P.M. and will also receive sweet gift bag of Shetland wool from me, which I’ll present to you at Fiber College.
I’m teaching one class each day.
Friday September 11 – Color in Traditional Fair Isle Knitting
In an intensive three hours, we will explore color relationships in traditional fair isle knitting by knitting a simple wristlet. Choose to follow the “rules” precisely, or use them as a jumping off point to develop your own signature color palette.
Saturday September 12 – Colorful Andean Accents
Some of the most interesting elements of Andean knitting are the decorative edge treatments. We will learn to make a charming checkerboard edging, a darling scalloped edging, and cheerful “instant” popcorns, which can be knit in as you go, or added as an afterthought.
Sunday September 13 – Color Session
Learn more about color in a relaxed knitting circle atmosphere. We’ll touch on the principals of color theory by arranging a huge pile yarn by hue, value and saturation. We will knit speed swatches to experiment with our colors, discovering the importance of color placement.
There are so many great classes to take! Weaving, tatting, spinning with Katherine Cobey!!!! Rug hooking, Latvian Braid, Irish Crochet, Hula Hooping, Silk Screening, Dying, Quilting with Mary Ellen Kranz!!! Book Making, Wood-cut Printing, Silkscreening, and more more more!
Be sure to visit all the stops on this blog tour to read what other instructors have to say about this lovely event.
A random winner will be drawn from each site!
Monday July 25 Beth Brown-Reinsel http://knittingtraditions.com/blog/
Tuesday July 26 You’re here!
Wednesday July 27 Amy Herzog http://www.amyherzogdesigns.com/blog/
Thursday July 28 Ellen Mason http://odacier.blogspot.com/
Friday July 29 Gale Zucker http://ezisus.blogspot.com/
Tell all your friends!
I can´t go this year.
Perhaps in the future I can fly from Portugal to Maine…
;o)
It would be nice!
I am so looking forward to Fiber College this year, but I can only attend on the weekend(damn that job!) I live on MDI, so the colors of pink granite come to mind–peachy pink, sage green, and that pale grey some call dove.
Hello MJ~ San Juan islands? Another beautiful spot.
A favorite spot in Maine? Just one? ~ Searsport is lovely and I enjoy my annual visits but I think Acadia National Park is my favorite spot. Or Katahdin, or Rangley lakes, or Stonington……. are you sure I can only pick just one? When I think of Maine i think of forest green, ocean blue, seashell whites, and sunny yellows. Maine makes me happy. See you soon!
I love the colors of Maine because of their nuance and subtlety. I live here, so I see inspiring colors every day: earthy, moist, and often secretive. I think of moss, lichen, stone, bark, roots, the cones and needles of conifers, an ever-changing sky, the river beneath my house. Omigosh–if I win, I’ll have to learn to knit!
Fiber College sounds intriguing, but not sure if I can come. Families…they do get in the way sometimes! The Maine coast…all of it…colors…ocean blue/greens to steely grays. Happy Knitting!
I am looking into reservations as I write! Sounds fabulous!
I signed up for your Andean Accents – and I am psyched! I knit mittens (primarily) and I’m looking forward to learning some new techniques. This will be my first time at Fiber College – it looks wonderful.
I live in Maine, a color huh? Right now, with my garden bursting with spinach, peas, beans, cucumbers – yeah, it’s GREEN for me.
Color of Maine — well, I guess it depends on the time of year. I was just in the Searsport area last weekend and the water was at least 85 shades of blue — as were the hills. I don’t get to spend much time with my brother and SIL, but it was a great weekend, punctuated by beer on the deck while watching the sun go down and change the colors every few minutes.
Can’t wait for Fiber College, the Andean accents class, and to see you and other friends again. It’s such a wonderful and inspiring time, and I am really looking forward to my second dip into the joyous weekend.
Oh! Pick me! Pick me! Please. : ) You are choosing the winner just days before my birthday — I am about to turn 40 — so it would be a really excellent birthday present! And here are the colors of Maine to me:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mackvilleroad/5950147818/in/photostream
Love Maine – SIL in Belfast (a great knitter!) and nieces (by marriage, of course) in Portland, Rockport and Camden (the Camden 2 are great knitters, also). When I think of Maine, the color I think of is CLEAN. Yep, I love all the colors, but mostly I love that when I look around, everything pops out at me because I’m not looking at trash.
My absolute favorite spot to stop is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The best way to eat lobstah and watch the water is to sit at one of the picnic table and simply relax.
Oh, I’d love to take any of your classes! And I live in NH, so I can drive to fiber college!!!
The colors of Maine. Wow, so many, and virtually the same as the colors of my state. The one trip to Maine that sticks in my mind was one of the seaside state parks with a very rocky coast left by glaciers(yeah, that narrows it down). The rocks were these large, long slabs of gray granite (I think), set on their sides, edge up, stretching into the sea. I remember the dark, somber gray of the old granite juxtaposed against the deep blue of the sea, the lighter blue of the sky and the white clouds floating by.
Omygoodness I would love to attend your class. It was so hard to choose between all the selections! Colors in Maine? My personal bias would have me choose green since high early summer is my favorite time of year. I’m looking out my window at a lush riot of greens punctuated with violet and orange and ivory. (Thank you, rain gods!) I’m so proud and delighted that Maine is rich in fiber artists… textiles have been a a raison d’etre for me since I was small. I’m excited to attend the Fiber College for the first time this year.
I’ve been in love with Downeast Maine for decades. I’m so happy that I get to spend the summer here now.
My favorite place in Maine is the Schoodic Peninsula part of Acadia National Park.
The colors I associate with it are the various granite colors: pink, orange, beige, gray; the pale gray-green of breaking waves; and the various greens of the trees.
Your color class sounds great.
Hi MaryJane
Love all the anticipation for Fiber College! Will be great to see all the familiar faces! Really love LOBSTER RED! See you soon!
Am hoping I can get to FC. . . as a teacher, I find the fall a tad crazy, but am hoping to make at least EITHER Sat. or Sun.! Maine colors. . . I love the greens of spring, the yellows of fall maples, and the gray of the winter trees against the blue, blue Maine sky!
Guess I got in just under the wire! Right now the only color I can think of is BLUE for Maine blueberries! YUM!!!
Enjoyed your class last year, and hope to attend again! Still working on those socks, though!
The light in Maine is what makes all the colors so beautiful..especially in September. Can’t wait to get there.
Just back from Maine … Cape Rosier with it’s grays, blues and green highlighted by pops of deep pink beach roses.
I have never been to Maine. I would be coming from the Bahamas but I guess I would think oranges and rusts because it will be fall.
I just learned about Fiber College and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Maine makes me think of the greens of fiddleheads, the greys of a sand dollar, and the red and white of the lighthouses in Lubec.
When I think of Maine immediately the green of pine trees and moose brown come to mind. Think a bit longer and the beautiful blue of the ocean, and greys of the granite pop into mind…the bright accent colors of lobster buoys bobbing in the Bay – orange, emerald, red and royal – I think I have the perfect Fair Isle in the making! Can’t wait to see you MJ.
excellent article