Special Announcement: The Leather and Lace Challenge is Launching!

You know how it is when you have this delicious secret that you are dying to share but you can’t?  Well, I’ve been holding out on you!  I admit it…

For months, Debra Lambert of Picasso’s Moon Yarn Shop and I have been working on an event that is now launching called the Leather and Lace Challenge. 

Inspired by the summer Olympics, we have assembled an amazing team of fiber artists to each spin a yarn containing naturally colored fibers, leather pieces and vintage lace.  This collection of yarns is going to then go on the road and travel all along the East coast at six host locations.  If you are anywhere near one of these locations, you are going to want to come see this fabulous display of fiber artistry! 

The last stop for the collection will be at the SWAY Guild Art Yarn Festival in April of 2013 in Sarasota, Florida.  As one of the events of the festival, the collection will be auctioned off in its entirety to one lucky bidder…and yes, we will be set up to take phone bids so even if you are not able to attend the festival, and you want a chance to score these yarns, you will be able to get in on the auction action!! 

The kits are going to the artists at the beginning of September and the yarns will be assembled to go out on the road at the beginning of October.  Before the collection leaves my hands, I will make sure to have images available to post. There will be posts here at Spin Artist to track to travels of the collection as well.  When the collection is ready to go to the first host and the itinerary is finalized, I will post it.

Here is the team of artists (in alphabetical order) that will be getting kits:

Pam Blasko of Dream Come True Farm and Pams Fiber
Lexi Boeger of Pluckyfluff
Melissa Bohrtz of Hello Purl
Suzy Brown of Wool Wench
Nicole Constantin of Rose Nectar Fibre Couture
Dawn Dolpp of Mada Vemi Alpacas
Steph Gorin of Loop
Shannon Herrick of The Spun Monkey
Lucy Hughes of Pearhug Studio
Ron Hysom of 27th Street Fibers
Christiane Knight of Three Ravens
Debra Lambert of Picasso’s Moon Yarn Shop
Heather Lightbody of Girl with a Hook
Lisa Renee McKenzie of Oscar and Sophia Handmade Wearables
Dayna Mankowski of Madison Wool
Ashley Martineau of Neauveau Fiber Arts
Jolene Mosley of Cloverhill Yarn Shop
Jessie Nordholm of Hello Purl
Allison Jai O’Dell of CompassioKnit
Portland Fiber Gallery and Weaving Studio
Esther Rodgers of JazzTurtle Creations
Brittany Wilson of BohoKnitterChic Spins
Melissa Yoder-Ricks of Wild Hare Fiber Studio

Phew!  Isn’t that an unbelievable line up?!?!

Here are the host locations:

Portland Fiber Gallery and Weaving Studio – Portland, Maine
Iron Horse Fiber Art – Natick, Massachusetts
Madison Wool – Madison, Connecticut
Cloverhill Yarn Shop – Catonsville, Maryland
Wooly Belle – Vinton, Virginia
Downtown Knits – Apex, North Carolina
Picasso’s Moon Yarn Shop and SWAY Guild Art Yarn Festival – Sarasota, Florida

Debra and I are so excited to be bringing this event to the fiber community and many thanks in advance to everyone who is participating this time!  If participating in this event in the future sounds interesting to you as either an artist or a host, please contact me and let me know at thespinartiste@gmail.com.

Now I have to go back to getting the kits ready for Spin Quest!

Tagged as: 27th Street Fibers, Allison Jai O'Dell, BohoKnitterChic Spins, Brittany Wilson, Christiane Knight, Cloverhill Yarn Shop, CompassioKnit, Dawn Dolpp, Dayna Mankowski, Debra Lambert, Downtown Knits, Dream Come True Farm, Esther Rodgers, Girl With a Hook, Heather Lightbody, Hello Purl, Iron Horse Fiber Art, JazzTurtle Creations, Jessie Nordholm, Jolene Mosley, Leather and Lace Challenge, Lexi Boeger, Lisa Renee McKenzie, Loop, Lucy Hughes, Mada Vemi Alpacas, Madison Wool, Melissa Bohrtz, Melissa Yoder Ricks, Nicole Constantin, Oscar and Sophia Handmade Wearables, Pam Blasko, Pams Fiber, Pearhug Studio, Picasso's Moon Yarn Shop, Pluckyfluff, Portland Fiber Gallery and Weaving Studio, Ron Hysom, Rose Nectar Fibre Couture, Shannon Herrick, Steph Gorin, Suzy Brown, SWAY Guild, The Spun Monkey, Three Ravens, Wild Hare Fiber Studio, Wool Wench, Wooly Belle