Fiberworld-August 19-23

I've not been out and about talking all things fibre since February...
and in part, for this introvert, who much prefers her own home to anywhere else, and finds crowds and noise and talking to people hard, it's actually been quite nice. 
However, even I am getting to the point where I'm missing talking about fibre type stuff in person. Now, because I am not insane, there's no way you'll get me at an event in the UK anytime in the near future.  At the moment I have one date left in my 2020 workshop calendar in late autumn, but I'm not feeling particularly positive about it going ahead, because it just seems like an unnecessary risk. For those of us who are self-employed we only get statutory sick pay. For that reason, staying healthy is a particular priority, if I get ill, I can't work. If I can't work then my income practically disappears. 

Anyway, one thing that has happened is that there are now opportunities popping up all over the place to do things online. And in many ways it's a much better way of doing things, it's less pollution from people driving, it can be more accessible for those who struggle with in-person events, and it allows massive amounts of flexibility particularly for those with caring responsibilities, and lets us experience things from parts of the world we'd never normally travel to. 

One such event, happening over this weekend (Thursday-Sunday) is Fiberworld. I can't entirely remember where I first saw the information... but I do know that when I saw what they were planning to do I thought it sounded amazing. Innovative, bringing the best of technology to make it possible for people to have something more like a real fiber festival experience, and a great opportunity. 

And I think it's going to be exactly that. There are vendors, just like there are at a physical show, but instead of just having a website listing them, or a Facebook group where it all becomes a bit chaotic, or timed slots for vendors to promote themselves, this is going to be set up like a real show. Within each vendor booth is going to be a Zoom call, and a text chat box. If you want to talk to someone about their products you can just join in with the Zoom meeting, or ask a question in the chat box. You can get online at a time that suits you, and talk to the vendors you're actually interested in hearing from. 

Tickets are $15 or $25, and that gives you access to all the vendor booths, many of whom are hosting special events throughout the show in their booths. It also gives you access to a MainStage, and throughout the show will be talks, demonstrations and discussion panels. The higher price ticket gives you access to a second Superfine Stage, with even more content to watch.
Personally, I think the ticket price for the amount of content you can watch and take part in is an absolute bargain. Here's the full schedule... I already have a huge list of things that I'm hoping to sneak out of my booth to watch... and none of those things include my lectures and demonstrations. I will definitely be online, and available in my booth Zoom call from 9am-5pm (UK time), which is a very odd sounding 4am-12 noon EDT. Well, I'll be online apart from when I need to go to the loo, get something to eat... or some other probable family crisis which will no doubt drag me away from the computer! For the rest of the time I'll have a video running that you can watch if you just join the call (I'll disable the waiting room), and set it to run on a loop via screen sharing. I might be around for longer periods than this, but if you definitely want to speak to me, those are your time slots!

Yep... if you're one of the people who's always said that they wished they could come along to one of the workshops I teach, now is your chance! 
All my content is pre-recorded, but I'm happy to chat further if you come along to my booth during opening hours.  
I shall be lecturing on Spinning with a Purpose, a talk designed to give you real confidence in how to spin yarn that works for the job you're using it for. 
I'll also be talking about the Textile Trade in Mid-Wales. This lecture draws on the knowledge I acquired as part of the team who re-opened Newtown Textile Museum, and discusses the spinning, weaving and selling of wool cloth in this part of the world over the past 800 years. 
Finally, I'll be giving away all my trade secrets in a dyeing demonstration. I'll show you how I dye my Fade Packs...

All my content has been fully subtitled, so it will be accessible to anyone who might struggle to follow along with the spoken word.
The team behind the show are trying to make sure things are as accessible as possible, but I know that they are really up against it with the tech deadlines, they have asked lecturers and demonstrators to provide subtitled videos or alternatively provide transcripts. Live content in Zoom calls is probably not going to have subtitles. The team know this is an issue, but they just haven't managed to get things in place for this year. If the event is a success they want to repeat it, and it will be the sort of thing that is on their list of things to improve.
The site itself looks to be clean, easy to navigate, with no clashing colours or visual elements that make it hard to look at. 


Finally... as an extra to the stuff you can get just with a standard entry ticket are classes. These are extra, but there's an excellent list of things you can learn how to do. 
This is the simple list, once you have registered and log in to the site you can access a page where you can filter by date, time, and the areas you are interested in. There are people on that list who are incredibly well respected as teachers, and it's unlikely that most of us will ever manage to be in the same physical space with them. 

If you're particularly interested in hearing me speak, then here's the times I'll be on stage. The main stage is accessible with a standard ticket, the Superfine stage is one you need an Access Plus ticket to see. 
The times are all in EDT, east coast of the USA... so that's 5 hours behind us in the UK, here's a convertor for other time zones.  For the UK and Europe most of the content will be watchable from mid-afternoon onwards, and in to our evening, so even if you have things that are on during the day, you will be able to get access to a huge variety of topics. 

Thursday-
10:00am – 11:00am
Lecture Location: Superfine Stage (Recorded)
The Textile Trade in Mid-Wales – Katie Weston

Friday-
11:00am
Lecture Location: Mainstage (Recorded)
The Textile Trade in Mid-Wales – Katie Weston


3:00pm – 4:00pm
Theme: Lecture Location: Superfine Stage (Recorded)
Spinning with a purpose – Katie Weston


9:00pm
Theme: Demo Location: Superfine Stage (Recorded)
Hand-dyeing Fiber for bigger projects – Katie Weston


Saturday-
12:00pm
Theme: Lecture Location: Mainstage (Recorded)
Spinning with a purpose – Katie Weston


1:00pm
Theme: Demo Location: Mainstage (Recorded)
Hand-dyeing Fiber for bigger projects – Katie Weston


Sunday-
12:00pm
Theme: Lecture Location: Mainstage (Recorded)
The Textile Trade in Mid-Wales – Katie Weston



Finally, I'm also going to do a few things in my Vendor Booth during the event. These are in the evening, UK time. You'll just need to come along and log on to the Zoom call embedded in the booth, which you can access with a standard ticket. 
Things happening in the Hilltop Cloud Booth during the event-

Friday 2pm (EST) and Sunday 2pm (EST)  [7pm UK time]- A Warped Sense of Fun
Come and talk to Hilltop Cloud about all things weaving. Eyeing up some hand painted warps, but are not sure about how they work? Worrying about what to use as weft? Struggling to see how you’d get a warp chain on a rigid heddle loom? All these things and more. I’ll have lots of samples, and will even try and get some real-time weaving demonstrations set up.


Saturday 3pm (EST) [8pm [UK time]- Quiz time! 
Come and take part in a proper British pub quiz. Know your Niddy Noddy from your Nostepinne? Come and prove your knowledge over 5 rounds of quizzing! Some textile rounds, along with some general knowledge. The bar is open, and the landlord has offered to do a virtual buffet for all quiz participants. And yes… there will be prizes!



The team behind the event have put in a huge amount of work to get all the infrastructure built in an incredibly short time frame. The line up of speakers, presenters and patrons is incredible. As a community we need events like this to succeed. If we don't, we risk loosing the chance to access this knowledge and expertise in the future. I think the tickets are already incredibly reasonably priced, but in addition they've also offered all Hilltop Cloud customers a group discount code. If you would like $10 off the cost of your ticket, and $15 off the cost of a class leave me a comment, and I will email you the code.