Friday 19 July 2013

Our classes and programming this summer!

Here is a list of our programming this Summer/Autumn.
Come on out and join us for a great time!


July Retting: 29- Aug 5
Schedule for assistance  on Eventbrite
Registration:
http://flaxret1.eventbrite.com/

August Retting Aug 7-14
Schedule for assistance on Eventbrite
Registration:
http://flaxret2.eventbrite.com/

 
August 7 & 8, Wednesday, Thursday 6-8.30 pm

Solar dying at Aberthau
Join Caitlin ffrench at the Aberthau garden plot and learn about the process of  making  solar dye “ fabric tea brews” Open for participants 16 years  and older, no experience necessary, bring large lidded mason jars  ( 4-8)and wool fibre or  fabric swatches for your jars. Plants and mordant supplied.
Registration: 
http://aberthausolardye.eventbrite.com/

Aug 9th 1-3pm Friday
Day camp garden day
9-13 year olds max 15
Sharon Kallis leads a tour of the garden at Aberthau for day camp participants showing the flax growing and the retting process, a collaborative seasonal mosaic created amongst the trees drawing with leaves and flowers.

Monday August 12
Day camp garden day
6-8 year olds max 15, 1-2:30 pm
9-12 year olds max 15, 2:30-4 pm
Mirae Rosner leads day camp participants in a dance workshop exploring ways to be creative with movement in the garden.  Movement games and explorations will look at different aspects of the flax growing process, leading to the development of a short group dance. 

Thursday August 15- 5-8.30 pm
 Fibre Feast Celebration
A social evening for textile folk!

Join resident artists Caitlin ffrench and Sharon Kallis for an evening celebration of all things fibre at the Aberthau:flax=fibre+food garden bed. Find out about what is happening on the raised gravel area on the north side of Aberthau House, meet other textile artists, and learn about growing and dying your own linen fibre in amongst food crops. Bring your knitting, drop spindle, spinning wheel or whatever other fibre project you might like to work on or showcase.
5pm-6.30 Opening community dance workshop
Mirae Rosner leads a short dance workshop inspired by the connections between dance and the practice of growing the Aberthau crops flax. Through movement games and explorations, participants will investigate healthy body movements for working with the land, leading towards the creation of a group dance. No experience necessary, children and adults welcome.
6.30-7pm Sharon and Caitlin talk about the project at Aberthau
7-8.30 show off your own samples for display, and meet some of the other artists involved in the project including Victoria-based Flax to Linen folk, Tracy Williams: Squamish Nation weaver, Knit Social Collective, Baaad Anna’s Drop Spindlers’ Circle and the Urban Weaver Studio members building  flax processing gear!
Sample the  food created by Karen Barnaby based on the ingredients in the Aberthau garden and see the results for our  solar dye workshops and our batch of retted flax, ready to process.

Aug 23rd 1-3pm Friday
Day camp garden day
6-8 year olds max 15
Sharon Kallis leads a tour of the garden at Aberthau for day camp participants showing the flax growing and the retting process, a collaborative seasonal mosaic created amongst the trees drawing with leaves and flowers.

September Retting_: Sept 16-23

Schedule for assistance on Eventbrite
Registration:
http://flaxret3.eventbrite.com/

Dance Workshop
Date tba

Mirae Rosner leads a short dance workshop inspired by the connections between dance and the practice of growing the Aberthau crops flax. Through movement games and explorations, participants will investigate healthy body movements for working with the land, leading towards the creation of a group dance.

Sept 21 1-3.30pm
A walk on the wild side of fibre...
Tracy Williams and Sharon Kallis lead a short exploration into “ the wild zone” beside Aberthau Community Centre. Investigate the plants growing here and the fibre potential and traditional uses in conversation with Tracy and Sharon. The group will then participate in   processing of some of the flax crop. Wear  sturdy shoes and long pants, full sleeves.
Registration:
http://aberthauwildwalkfibre.eventbrite.com/

Sept 22 12-4pm
Brian Jones flax/wheat-weaving harvest celebration first day of Autumn
Participate in our own version of the pagan tradition of weaving the “best of the crop” into a wheat dollie-  a sculpture that was kept inside by the hearth and ensured the wheat seeds were carried forward to another year. We will use some flax to weave a sculpture to be left outdoors in the centre of our field as a part of the winter installation to be made on October 26th
 Registration:
http://wheatflaxweaving.eventbrite.com/

October Saturday Oct 26  12-4pm
Weed-Weaving and Soil-Sculpture installation with Sharon Kallis-
Participate in sculpting the sandy soil at Aberthau and weaving end of season green-waste into a  winter labyrinth installation. The flaxfibrefood bed will be put down for the winter in fine style, working with what is available; sandy soil and bedding plant waste. At the heart of the labyrinth shall rest our flax woven seed offering ensuring a good crop for 2014. children 8+with adult supervision welcome
Registration:
http://weedweavesoilsculpture.eventbrite.com/

November 4, 5, 6th evenings 6-8.00pm
Flax Fibre processing: 
Sharon will lead all willing participants in exploring the alchemy of turning flax into gold, or shall we say, linen! The processes of hackling, scutching and breaking will turn our retted flax plants into linen fibre ready for spinning. The prepped fibre will be used for the Flax Sit and Spin Social  at Aberthau Registration:
http://flaxprocessing.eventbrite.com/

Thursday November 7th 6.30-9pm
Flax Sit and Spin Social
Join resident artists Caitlin ffrench and Sharon Kallis for a social evening of spinning the flax crop from Aberthau. Bring your own drop spindle or spinning wheel, and we will provide the fibre- whatever we’ve got processed! A social night to mingle with other fibre friends, experiment with spinning flax and share your knowledge with your peers. Bring a favourite linen piece for our Showcase Table, and hear the “progress report” when Caitlin and Sharon will give a brief talk about the flax=fibre+ food project.
No registration required.

Thursday 11 July 2013

Photos

Here is the link to a collection of photos on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharonkallis/collections/72157634410506313/

It is a pretty amazing feeling to see where the field started, and how it is thriving now!

Thursday 4 July 2013

Wet Spring Planting

After the flax seeds were spread and the seeds were sprouting, we put the food and dye plants in the ground. It was a VERY wet Vancouver afternoon, but it was perfect for planting!
Please have a look at our Flickr site to see the fun we had!

Wednesday 3 July 2013

The Start of the Building of the Field

The difference between the first days of the flax fibre food field and now is amazing! Here are some photos of the start of the bed!










Workshops

We are getting our dates organized for our summer and autumn workshop serieses.
Here is a peek at just one of them:

Solar dyeing, and the magic of mordants
We will be cooking up stock solutions to show you examples of what changing a mordant can do to your naturally dyed fibre!
Want to see  alchemist magic!?

This is the magic of mordants...
1. Skein up two equal skeins of yarn
2. Put the skeins in their own jars, each the same size
3. Cook up your dye on the stove (I cooked onion skins)
4. Strain your stock solution
5. Add equal parts of the stock solution in each jar
6. In one jar put 18% Alum to your WOF (weight of fibre)
7. In the other jar put 4% Iron to your WOF (weight of fibre)
8. Label your jars
9. Put lids on jars
10. Put jars in a sunny window
11. Leave them alone for a month
12. Rinse the yarn
13. Fall in love with your fibre
!!