Featured Artist: Nelly Devault
Nelly is a fiber artist from central Indiana who took one drop spindle lesson and was hooked! She purchased a raw fleece shortly after and was spinning for a sweater at her first spinning anniversary. Nelly loves to learn about and experience the many wonderful breeds of sheep. She has experimented extensively with blending fibers, and teaches techniques from the beginning of the fiber prep process to blending while knitting. She has raised bombyx caterpillars to learn about silk, and alpacas to acquire unlimited spinning fiber. She is an experiential learner and teacher and wants to travel with as many friends on the fiber journey as possible!
Nelly lives in Alexandria, Indiana, and teaches classes and workshops in her home area, as well as Bloomington, IN, at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival, Michigan Fiber Festival, and Wisconsin Sheep and Wool.
Tracy Burns
Tracy Burns has been hooking rugs for 14 years and teaching classes in her home for 12 years. She enjoys giving rug hooking demonstrations and presentations for groups and museums. She has given presentations in 20 towns in 15 counties in Indiana. Tracy also enter rugs in the Fayette and Wayne County Fairs as well as the Indiana State Fair, where she has won many ribbons. Tracy continues to take advanced rug hooking classes to develop and enhance her skills, so she can help share the different possibilities of this fiber art. She and her family live in the rural area of Fayette/Wayne Counties.
Kylee Eller
Kylee Eller owns Westwind Farm and Fiber that is located just outside of Yorktown. She raises Shetland sheep, a variety of goats and chickens, and rabbits on her farm. In June 2019, she opened her family’s farm to the public for farm visits, field trips, tours of their on-site cottage style fiber mill, and hosting a variety of different fiber arts classes. Kylee is passionate about educating the public on the importance of preserving heritage type farm animals and sharing her family’s farming lifestyle with others through agricultural education. Kylee teaches a variety of fiber arts classes at her farm using the Shetland sheep wool processed in the mill on her farm. She loves to spin yarn and is a novice knitter.
Kay Story
Kay Story has been twining rugs on different mediums for 10 years. Being a self-taught crafter, she learned which material works best for the intended project. Kay has taught classes on rug twining to all types of students in the rush, Fayette, and Wayne county area. The love of rug twining led to her and her husband developing different types of looms for her projects. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and looms with others.
Karen Good
Karen Good is a lifelong crafter who became interested in fiber arts seven years ago when she purchased her first spinning wheel. She soon became a student of all aspects of fiber crafts; including spinning, needle felting, knitting and weaving. She loves to explore and experiment with fibers, often processing the fiber all the way from sheep to a finished project.
Patti Hodge
Patti Hodge raises alpacas and angora goats in Whiteland, IN. She has been felting for 15 years and has taught classes for the last 10 years. She loves to explore and experiment with fibers and felting techniques. She enjoys sharing her discoveries and introducing novice and experienced felters to this wonderful old-world textile art.
Karen Dietrich
Karen Dietrich owns Phoenix Fiber Mill, which is a unique natural fiber sock mill. She raises alpacas, produces alpaca socks, as well as other products from natural fibers. She enjoys felting, weaving, blending and anything that has to do with fiber and fiber arts. She loves teaching fiber blending on blending boards, along with Saori Style weaving. Karen’s website is phoenixfibermill.com
Sarah Monger
Sarah’s second love is fiber! She spins, knits, makes wheel thrown pottery and lives with her woodworking husband in northeast Indiana. She has been a spinner, knitter, and sometime weaver for 20 or so years. She loves to teach folks to use the blending board to make unique yarns. Most of her stash hanging around her house was made on the blending board!
