Growing a Market for Manitoba Yarns
April 24, 2022
From our first event ten years ago, the Manitoba Fibre Festival has made it easier for local crafters to purchase yarn from local fibre farmers, spinners and dyers. Every year we are delighted to have more vendors join our market as the demand for natural fibre yarns increases. People who value the time and talent that goes into knitting or crocheting a garment also appreciate high quality materials.
The wonderful yarn shop Wolseley Wool in Winnipeg provides year round access to a fantastic array of yarns including the work of local spinners and dyers. Wolseley Wool has been a vendor and a sponsor of every Fibre Festival since year one, and we are so grateful for their ongoing support and for their presence in the community.
Other longtime Festival vendors include dyers Daria at Cloud 9 Fiberworks and Tammy at Manjusha Fibre Art; shepherd and spinner LeVerne at Last Dance Ranch; spinner and dyer Susan from Wild Wind Naturals; and a vibrant collection of alpaca farmers who offer beautiful grown-in-Manitoba yarn.
When the Festival began, Kim Streker of Sheeples Fine Fibres was a popular vendor with her line of Manitoba merino yarn. Sheeples has since closed, but we are lucky to now have Long Way Homestead mill producing yarn from their own flock of Shetland sheep as well as doing custom spinning for other farmers.
In our 2022 Festival market you will find naturally coloured yarns spun from Manitoba grown alpaca, Shetland, Icelandic and other breed fibres; hand spun and commercially spun yarns, and yarns hand-dyed by visionary dyers each with their own unique colour palette and style. Bulky yarns, fine yarns, sock yarns, one-of-a-kind yarns ... there is truly something for every knitter.
We love bringing you new vendors every year!
Our market specializes in natural fibres. This includes fleeces and yarns, high quality crafts made with natural fibres, as well as tools for fibre artists and supplies for fibre farmers. We may include other items that we believe to be of interest to Festival visitors but our primary focus is on natural fibres and the fibre arts.
Our goal in choosing vendors is to create a diverse market that will inspire our visitors. The great majority of our vendors live in Manitoba, and we are proud to promote local producers and artisans. We also include a few vendors from further afield who can bring something unique to the market.
