We’ve had a good year at the Vancouver Island Fibreshed. Our small, volunteer-led organization has helped raise the profile of local fibres across our region. We’ve helped make connections, enabling farmers to sell more fleeces and enabling makers to learn from each other. Our seasonal skill-building challenges have encouraged people to learn about our local resources, and we’ve supported those investigations with informative blog posts. Our Producers Directory is now searchable and we’ve added more products and producers this year. Our members have supported us financially and for that we thank them!
Here’s some point-form notes of our activities:
- Fleeces Off: Joint workshop with the Inter Island Sheep Breeders Association, June 2024
- One day workshop with lecture, discussions, and hands on activities to help sheep farmers produce marketable fleeces, focusing on factors of husbandry and fleece handling
- Book talk and discussion: Fleece and Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by Francine McCabe, February 2024.
- Panelists and booth presenters at Islands Agriculture Show, Duncan, February 2024.
- Presentations to the Alberni Valley Fibre Arts Guild and the Victoria Handweavers and Spinners Guild.
- Booth presenters at Fibrations (August 2024) and Cowichan Fleece and Fibre (October 2024)
- Gabriola Fibreshed Pod – an active group exploring everything from spinning to mending to dyeing to basketry
- Participated in the Gabriola 2050 Islands Trust visioning event
- Provided a fibre arts workshop at the Isle of the Arts festival
- Offered a mushroom dyeing workshop, October 2024.
- Refugia – a weekend interdisciplinary arts and science event, November 2024.
- Revitalized website and improved searchable Producers Directory
- Active Facebook group: Vancouver Island Fibreshed Community (>500 members)
- Connections between farmers and consumers, facilitating fleece sales
- Sharing of news items of relevant topics
- Sharing of dye plants and mushrooms and knowledge
- Seasonal Newsletter – Island Fibres – 4 x per year at the solstices and equinoxes, more than 500 subscribers.
- Contains calendar of upcoming Island events and workshops, a featured project using local fibres, links of interest from Island, Canadian, and worldwide happenings
- Seasonal Skill-Building Challenges
- Challenges run through our newsletter and Facebook group with blog posts to support
- Community Fibre Crafts monthly meetups, Comox Valley
- Free spinning and knitting supplies, lessons, and mentorship
- Monthly Mindful Mending Meetups at the Cowichan Library
We are excited to see what we can accomplish in 2025. Please join us in celebrating our local resources and supporting our textile producers.