Children’s vest-making workshop
(for parent/child teams)

Date:  Saturday and Sunday,
April 14-15, 10 am to 4 pm each day
Location:  Bodega Pastures, Bodega CA
Cost:  $200 per parent/child team

This workshop is also being held June 30 – July 1, 2012.

Day 1: Size the patterns, card raw washed wool by hand and on the Cyclocarder, make buttons, and dye wool yarn or fabric scraps for applique. Continuing the ancient tradition of singing while working, singers from the world-renown group Kitka will lead rhythmic work songs in vocal techniques from Eastern Europe.

Day 2: Felting and decorating the vests.

This workshop is designed to have a comfortable work pace for a parent/child team, which allows for lunch and a meet-and-greet with the sheep themselves! Children age range 8-15 (capable of helping in the work).

Camping is available on a protected hillside at no additional cost, and we will have a communal evening meal. Restroom facilities are rustic and not wheelchair accessible.

A native of the California East Bay, Katharine Jolda spent six years in Arizona, working on the Navajo Nation in health education, and helping with sheepherding and farming. A self-taught felter, she is the artisan behind Felt the Sun, a collection of felt apparel made from Navajo and Bay Area wool, and understands her felt practice as a creative form of “direct action” that builds reciprocal and honorable relationships to serve practical needs.

Read more about Katharine in the blog post Mother of Invention on the Fibershed blog.

Bodega Pastures is a 1200-acre ranch in the hills surrounding Salmon Creek, just outside of the town of Bodega. Since the 1960s, several families have collaborated as stewards of the land, running about 300 sheep, and offering a Waldorf-inspired pre-school for children in the area.