Kathy Belt
Kathy Belt, when she's not living in the present, has been living in the past for over 30 years. She's always been interested in string and string theory (not the physics type). To that end, she has learned embroidery, tailoring, quilting, spinning (on drop spindles, top whorl spindles, charka and supported spindles), has crocheted for 30 years, tatted for 20 and in the last 15 years has added sprang, the lucet, loop braiding, finger weaving, nalbinding, netting, and knitting to those things she can talk about intelligently. Because both her father and her husband were in the military, she has traveled extensively (37 countries so far) and moved frequently (house number 36).
In her spare time, she belongs to a Medieval Re-enactment group (The Society for Creative Anachronisms), vegetable gardens, hunts and fishes, and loves to read (especially books with foot notes).
In her spare time, she belongs to a Medieval Re-enactment group (The Society for Creative Anachronisms), vegetable gardens, hunts and fishes, and loves to read (especially books with foot notes).
Bruce Engebretson
Bruce works as an EMT and Nurses Aide and is the pianist and song leader at St. Benedict’s church in White Earth, Minnesota. He gardens and makes cheese at his home in the Smokey Hills near Osage, MN where he has a mud outdoor oven. But mostly, Bruce is a hand weaver.
For more than 30 years he has been learning everything he can from the people who have done this work themselves in a family or ethnic tradition. He has had good teachers, and not one of them ever thought of calling themselves “fiber artists,” almost all of them came from country and farming backgrounds. He learned no-nonsense, results-oriented techniques that were developed and perfected through the ages. He has made a commitment to preserve historic looms and weaving techniques and with the help of his partner, a weaving school has come to be.
For those interested in more information, Bruce and his partner cook bread and pizza and share a meal, weaving, and songs every Monday from June through September. More information at www.weavingschool.org
For more than 30 years he has been learning everything he can from the people who have done this work themselves in a family or ethnic tradition. He has had good teachers, and not one of them ever thought of calling themselves “fiber artists,” almost all of them came from country and farming backgrounds. He learned no-nonsense, results-oriented techniques that were developed and perfected through the ages. He has made a commitment to preserve historic looms and weaving techniques and with the help of his partner, a weaving school has come to be.
For those interested in more information, Bruce and his partner cook bread and pizza and share a meal, weaving, and songs every Monday from June through September. More information at www.weavingschool.org
Margo Hanson
Instructor Margo Hanson, with the help of her husband Raymond, has been raising Border Leicesters since 2008, near Twin Valley, MN. They added Gotlands in 2017. The Hansons spent most of their adult lives in Alaska where Margo was a K-1 teacher. When they retired to MN, they decided to get a flock of sheep to keep the old pastures mowed off. With sheep came wool, and Margo decided to learn to spin and felt her own fleece. To keep the fleece clean, the sheep are coated from late fall to shearing time. Making “felt pelts”, where the entire fleece is turned into a rug, has become Margo’s favorite winter pastime. Sharing the fun of felting with her grandkids and 4-H kids led to “felting in a bag”. More information about their flock can be found at marshcreekcrossing.com
Linda M. Johnson-Morke
Linda was born in Stoughton, WI to parents who were proud of their Norwegian heritage. This coupled with an enthusiastic interest in fiber has woven the following tapestry of life. Taught by her mother to knit at 5 years old, knitting led to spinning which led to sheep and rabbits. Felting led to different sheep, trips to Norway and Mongolia and a passion for understanding why wools felt differently. Being an engineer by training and curious by nature resulted in many years of fiber experimentation as an outlet for her creativity. A 10 year hiatus from the corporate world led to a line of fulled wool products sold both wholesale and retail. A shepherd for more than 30 years, Linda has shepherded Navajo Churro, Border Leicester, Cheviot, Hampshire, Karakul, Finnish Landrace, Icelandic, Texel, Blue Faced Leicester (BFL) and Tunis sheep. Her current flock consists of Icelandic & BFL crosses and Karakul sheep. Linda currently lives on a farm in Isanti, MN and enjoys sharing what she has learned through classes and lectures.