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collage of three images, top left shows a handknit shawl collar on a cowichan sweater, bottom left is a dark photo of a lamb facing the camera, main image is a medium brown sweater with geometric bands in white and darker brown, zippered Cowichan sweater on cedar deck boards.

Vancouver Island Fibreshed, situated upon unceded traditional Indigenous territories, links farmers, processors, makers, and consumers in creating a local textile economy based on renewable resources and climate beneficial farming methods.

Welcome to our VIF Newsletter, Fall Equinox 2023
As I write this note, it's raining in the Comox Valley! I'm happy to see the rains starting after this summer of drought. In concert with the rejuvenation that autumn rains and cooler temperatures will bring to our landscape, this fall I hope you will be energized by two exciting new releases I've found: a documentary about the Cowichan sweater and a book about our local fibres and farms.

The landscape has provided fibres and dye materials for millennia. The First Peoples of this region worked within this fibreshed to clothe themselves and make all the textiles they needed for hunting, trade, shelter, and warmth. May all of us who live here now learn from their example and enjoy the abundance our region offers!

Everyone is welcome to submit items for the newsletter, We publish quarterly, with the change in seasons. Please tell us about upcoming events, successful activities, and requests for information and we will fit as many items as we can into the upcoming newsletter.

Upcoming Events in our Fibreshed

Oct 7: The Cowichan Sweater documentary, broadcast on CBC TV at 8 pm (streaming on CBC Gem begins on Oct 6).

Oct 9, Nov 13, Dec 11 (2nd Monday): Vancouver Island Fibreshed monthly meeting online at 7pm. Contact info@vancouverislandfibreshed.ca for the Zoom link. Join us to discuss upcoming projects.

Oct 10: Publication day! Fleece and Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by Francine McCabe.

Oct 19 - 21: Tzouhalem Spinners and Weavers Guild Show and Sale, 11 am - 4pm on Oct 19 and 20 and 12 - 4pm on Oct 21. Cowichan Community Centre.

Oct 21 (Saturday): Cowichan Fleece and Fibre Fair 10 am - 4pm. At the Hub at Cowichan Station, 2375 Koksilah Rd. Vancouver Island Fibreshed will have a booth. Come meet Francine, the author of the new book Fleece and Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.

Oct 26 - 29: Salt Spring Island Weavers and Spinners Guild Show & Sale. 10am to 4pm each day. ArtSpring Gallery, Ganges.

Workshops and Classes

Oct 13 - 15: Creative Threads Conspiracy. Denman Island. Workshops in basketry, book binding, quilting, spinning, knitting, sprang, and more from Friday through Sunday and a Fashion Show on Saturday evening. Classes are held in the Community Hall - a short walk uphill from the ferry terminal - park your car and walk on if you are just taking one class... or stay for the whole weekend.

Oct 20 - 22: Beginner Weaving Level II, Qualicum Beach. Sponsored by the Qualicum Weavers and Spinner Guild.

Oct 28, Nov 4, and Nov 11: Beginning Spinning Workshop, Brentwood Bay (Central Saanich). See Victoria Handweavers and Spinners Guild webpage for details.

Tapestry workshops by Moss and Arrow at Knotty by Nature, Victoria, through October and November.

Fleece and Fibre: Textile Producers of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by Francine McCabe

Both a reference book and a lyrical introduction to the farmers that produce our raw materials, the book profiles 40+ individual farms and provides information on the many breeds of sheep, alpaca, llama, goat, and also cellulose fibres available in our region. Francine writes eloquently and encourages readers to make conscious decisions about their use of textiles. Published by Heritage House Publishing, Oct 2023. ISBN 9781772034530

The Cowichan Sweater: Our Knitted Legacy

The inside story that weaves together the rich history of the authentic Cowichan Sweater, who knits them, and how and why they became the beautiful, strong, icon of the Coast Salish Peoples. Documentary Film by Mary Galloway.

The Cowichan Sweater: Our Knitted Legacy starts streaming on CBC Gem on Friday, October 6th, and will be broadcast on CBC TV at 8pm on Saturday, October 7th, 2023. Trailer on YouTube here.

I enjoyed this article in Scout Magazine about the documentary. Also this article from My Cowichan Valley Now.

Read more about the knitters of the W̱SÁNEĆ people at these two webpages: Part One and Part Two.

collage of three photos, on left a closeup of a cowichan sweater in medium brown glossy wool with geometric patterns in down breed white and darker brown; centre photo is a front view of the sweater worn by a smiling blond white woman outdoors, right photo is a back view of the same woman. .

The sweater pictured in the header photo of this newsletter lives with me now, though I don't know much about it. It was purchased in Vancouver in 1957 for my dad and definitely needs a few repairs. It's a bit different from some of the newer Cowichan sweaters I've seen. This one was knit flat and not steeked for the zipper insertion. And the yarns are varied - the main yarn is a rich, glossy medium brown fibre (perhaps Romney or other long wool genetics?) and the accent colours are from bouncier, more down-breed looking fibres. I wonder who the knitter was and what fleeces they used.

Do you have a Cowichan sweater you'd like to share? Send us your photos at newsletter@vancouverislandfibreshed.ca.

News from around the Islands

The Gabriola Pod of the Vancouver Island Fibreshed has been busy! The five Gabriola pod members (Yarrow, Megan, Alyssa, Christi, and Heather) harvested their flax in August and are now beginning the retting process. The flax was grown on the farm of the late John Switzer, who left the land as a covenant for the community to grow food and learn about sustainable agriculture.

We had a couple of tables at the Gabriola Fall Fair on Sunday, September 17th, with a display of our flax and demonstrations of skirting, carding and spinning Gabriola fleece from Alexa Boulton's Somerset Farm. Alexa has been very generous and enthusiastic about the Fibreshed movement and educating us about sheep farming. We are currently making a sweater for her from a fleece from her own flock, sheared in the spring, dyed by Yarrow with indigo and marigolds she grew herself, and spun by Heather, Megan, and Alyssa. We now are ready to start knitting!

The Makerspace at our island recycling centre has hit a roadblock in that the board of directors have decided they don't want to be fiscally responsible for it. Yarrow, who spearheaded the project for over two years, has left that position, but is still determined to create the Makerspace she has envisioned. Our group is supporting her in that. Currently we are looking for a place where we can store the tools and equipment we have gathered, teach skills and provide space for making. Unlike a lot of makerspaces that are tech-centric, our focus will be on textiles.

With the idea that textile waste is also part of our fibreshed, Heather has been offering a bi-weekly mending drop in at our Gabriola library.

The Cowichan Seed Library is continuing to grow the free seed library at the Cowichan Library in Duncan. Please send us your dye plants seeds this Fall to Dalia Levy 2687 James St. Duncan, BC. Please label seeds and they must be no more than 2 years old.

Stay tuned for a book launch with Francine McCabe, author of Fleece and Fibre book on our shelves now here: https://virl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S107C1644795

There were many events in the South Island this summer.

Entwined 2023 – A fibre arts market was held for the first time in Langford, hosted by The Spinnacle
Spin-Out was held on July 30, 2023 – hosted by the Victoria Handweavers & Spinners Guild, free for anyone wishing to attend: https://vhwsg.ca/activities/spin-in/
Fibrations 2023, hosted by Knotty by Nature, was held at the Fernwood Community Centre and William Stevenson Memorial Park. Fibrations is a annual community led celebration of all things fibre. This year’s event had more than 70 vendors and demonstrations. There were booths by several local guilds: Victoria Handweavers & Spinners, Knitters, Quilters, and Embroidery
The 155th annual Saanich Fair 2023 was held over the Labour Day weekend. Members of the VHWSG demonstrated weaving and spinning and had natural dye displays. The fair has stayed true to its agricultural roots and has many excellent displays of sheep, alpaca, and 4H projects.
In addition to its regularly scheduled meetings and workshops, the Victoria Handweavers and Spinners Guild is starting a year of celebration of its 90^th anniversary. Details of the events will be posted on the website: www.vhwsg.ca

Fibreshed member Catherine Knutsson of Small Bird Workshop will need to take a brief hiatus with her online store this fall as she deals with some health issues. If you need any supplies from her, please shop before October 1, as you may have to wait until the new year otherwise! Stock up now on Vancouver Island Romney, Ontario Border Leicester, and more for your fall spinning and knitting. Get well soon, Catherine!

AgriService BC has a comprehensive webpage and offers a monthly e-bulletin announcing upcoming webinars, events, programs and resources. They also have an Islands Edition newsletter - sign up here.

Are you on Facebook? Please join our Vancouver Island Fibreshed Facebook group to share and discuss stories of interest. This month, we enjoyed seeing photos from Last Side Shearing at Parry Bay Farm for their fall lamb shearing.

The Vancouver Island Fibershed Producer Program is a network of farmers, growers, designers, sewers, weavers, natural dyers, knitters, felters, spinners, millers, makers, artisans and crafters living and working on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. If you are looking for supplies, please check our listings to see if you can find what you are looking for locally!

Rejuvenating the Sheep Industry Conference - Report by Megan Halstead

Sep 8 - 10 (Fri-Sun): Coombs, BC. Inter Island Sheep Breeders Association (IISBA), in partnership with BC Sheep Federation (BCSF), held a weekend of hands-on workshops, vendors, and guest speakers, including Woody Lane, livestock nutritionist and forage specialist.

IISBA has been invigorated in the past 2 years with several new and committed longer term members and greater ties to BCSF.
BCSF members came from the Islands, Lower Mainland, and as far as the Peace Region; total of ~70 attendees.
SME speaker for the weekend was Dr. Woody Lane, sheep nutritionist and extensionist from Oregon who discussed comprehensive small ruminant nutrition topics very effectively.
Additional speakers were Megan Holstead about ESSB programs & projects, Dr. Helen Schwantje DVM about M. ovi, Dr. Tyler Stitt DVM about general sheep health & management.
There were 2 hands-on sessions: safe sheep handling and fleece prep and processing facilitated by IISBA members.
The event also provided 3 panel presentations from the BCSF/IISBA membership: improving carcass quality, wool quality, and meat production.
The lack of BC fleece processing, labour needed for abattoirs, and issues around wildlife predation & training for verification for the wildlife compensation program emerged as areas where support is needed.

Garment Challenge 2023/2024

Sponsored by the Victoria Handweavers and Spinners Guild

In celebration of the Guild’s 90th anniversary, we will be holding a Garment Challenge, Fashion Show and Tea in May 2024. Guild members are encouraged to use their talents for spinning, knitting, weaving, felting, sewing, etc., to create garments. To contact the organizers, send an email to show@vhwsg.ca. For more information, including the list of challenge categories and the Rules and Regulations, see the 90th Anniversary page. Guild membership is open to all - people outside the Greater Victoria area are welcome to join as associate members.

At the Vancouver Island Fibreshed, we encourage everyone to enter into the Best Use of Local Fibre/Yarn category!

Links of interest from other areas

Knit City Vancouver is happening this weekend! Knit City, Sep 22 - 24, PNE Forum, Vancouver. Marketplace, workshops, demos and tutorials. The organizers have announced that in 2024, the western conference will be held in Calgary in August. Knit City will return to Vancouver in September 2025.

Prairie Fibreshed: A nice article profiling the Prairie Fibreshed Network in Saskatchewan:
https://www.producer.com/news/advocacy-group-promotes-fibre/

The Prairie Alphabet Project: Fibre artist Shelly Nicolle-Phillips recently completed a wonderful alphabet project, using rug hooking to depict plants and animals native to the Prairie Grasslands ecosystem of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Her work was profiled in the Western Producer (link here). Shelly showed her Prairie Alphabet Project at the Manitoba Fibre Festival in September with great success. Viewers were really engaged, trying to guess the letters, and Shelly says people interacted with it just the way she’d
hoped.

Listen and Watch

The Nettle Dress feature documentary by Dylan Howitt:
Allan Brown makes a dress by hand just from the fibre of foraged stinging nettles over 7 years. A modern day fairy tale and hymn to the healing power of nature and slow craft. Our film is a handspun labour of love too and follows him every step of the way. Watch the trailer on YouTube.

Accidental Gods podcast on the making of The Nettle Dress: "Allan was exploring how we could feed and clothe ourselves as we head towards a world of localism and increasing self reliance. A journey that began with a simple question – namely ‘how can we clothes ourselves?’ – led to his spending seven years of his life making a a dress from the fibres of the nettles that grew locally."

Film review in The Guardian

For folks interested in the basics of linen production, this 1951 BBC Archives Facebook link turned up on one of my feeds - The Linen Harvest

Also, a 15 minute YouTube video: Be Linen. In French with English subtitles.

We'd like to expand our team! Join us at our monthly meetings to plan activities that support our local textile economy. Please email us at info@vancouverislandfibreshed if you'd like to get involved.

Thank you for reading our seasonal newsletter. We welcome your feedback and contributions! You can reach us at: newsletter@vancouverislandfibreshed.ca. Newsletters will be published quarterly, with distribution near the equinoxes and solstices. Deadline for the next newsletter is December 10.
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