Introducing Topo Fiberworks.....
Rabbit holes. They wind and criss-cross and connect with others and, best of all, they all lead to home. Perhaps that is why we affectionately use this term to describe our relationship with our art form and craftsmanship. It’s fun to explore what’s around the corner...meeting others within the tunnels just encourage further › and gives you hope and information to best walk the next few feet and then the next and the next, until....how did I get here?
Most recently, I experienced a shift in my relationship with fiber. I have been a solitary textile experimenter most my life, playing with ideas and colors and patterns. Then I met a community of experimenters. People and organizations who shared their findings and had traveled more ground of the rabbit hole than I have. They displayed new techniques and new concepts to me, but most weren’t new at all. Some were ancient and linked to generations of others holding the torch to the same passion.
I feel like new life has been breathed in to my lungs. The more I learn, the more I realize I have sooo much to learn. A few influences have inspired me for good: the Rocky Mountain Weaver’s Guild, the Janice Ford Memorial Dye Garden and Mountains & Plains Fibershed. Spending time with the wonderful people in these organizations, I have been encouraged to expand my skill set. However, the most exciting part of all, is that I have been allowed to see that a community holds more purpose and has more impact than the individual.
As I wash wool, I learn the qualities of these beautiful creatures that have lived interdependently with people all over the world. As I spin and work the yarn into a scarf, I connect with my friends and my grandmother who taught me how to use my hands to make something valued. As I dye my garments with natural elements, I unify with the plants and the natural world around me. I get to know home a little deeper and my blessings are multiplied.
Best yet is that the community outreaches further than my small geographical area of Colorado. Everywhere I go, there are communities of like-minded encouragers that share their experiences. Their landscape and materials may change but the passion is still there. It became clear that home may look different to each of us but the feeling is the same. We all know home when we find it.
So I offer up Topo Fiberworks (named after our hiking Beagle and a topographical map) as a means to join our community. Share what you know. Learn from others. Spin some local fiber, knit some alpaca yarn that came from only 10 miles away, feel the blessings of friendship as we all have when we work together. It is my hope to include more and more fiber and products from other communities and compare stories and experiences with one another. Be the person to greet newcomers to the rabbit hole. I promise the journey will be so much better if you do.