Show

Fiber artists showcase work

The Lake Fiber Arts Festival will be held October 9 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Community Christian Church in Camdenton. The one-day festival will have handmade artwork for sale including textile art, wearables, accessories and home decor; vendor booths offering fiber materials, tools and supplies, handdyed yard, roving, books, embellishments and patterns; fiber demonstrations including spinning and weaving; and unique holiday gifts.

Spotlight on the Artists

Diane Crowder retired to the Lake of the Ozarks in 2012, after a 40+ year career as a professor of French and Women”s Studies. She took her first weaving class from a colleague in 1984 and has been an avid weaver ever since. She and her partner bought their lakefront home in Sunrise Beach in 2002 to use as a vacation place, fell in love with the lake, and decided to make it their retirement home. Diane’s looms and her yarn stash take up a lot of room, so they added a great room on the lake side of the house, and half of that space is Diane’s weaving studio.

Her giant Toika loom arrived from Finland three years ago, joining another floor loom, several smaller looms and two spinning wheels, one of which Diane designed and built from native Ozarks oak. Her studio has many windows for natural light and she looks out on the lake as she weaves. Diane earned certification as a Master Weaver from the national Handweavers Guild of America in 2017, and has participated in many shows in Iowa and Missouri. A kimono she wove was awarded Best in Show at the Missouri Fiber Artists’ Art to Wear exposition in 2017. She is a member of the Lake Area Fiber Artists guild as well as Missouri Fiber Artists.

In April this year she took a workshop online that challenged students to use at least 5 yarns from their stash to create a scarf. Diane was inspired by the woods around her house to weave a scarf she calls “Ozarks Spring.” She used a white yarn for the dogwoods, a delicate rayon magenta for the redbuds, a touch of lime green for the haze of emerging leaves in the upper canopy oaks, a dark green for the cedars, and a medium green for background. -----

Donna Arnlund has been an avid crocheter and knitter for over 40 years and joined the Lake Area Fiber Arts Guild in 2019 after moving to the lake area from Columbia. Although she was still working full time she managed to contribute many crocheted hats for the 2020 Hat Tree Project.

She is one of the members of the charity committee which promotes the LAFA’s charity initiatives which includes the Hat Tree Project, CADV Comfort Items and Chemo Hats. In addition to the items she makes for our various charities, Donna also has items for sale at Flocks, a local yarn shop in Camdenton.

Donna will be participating at this year’s Fiber Festival and will have many handmade knitted and crocheted items available for purchase. m

A selection of Donna’s handmade

items. LAKE AREA FIBER ARTISTS Diane Crowder working on a project.

PROVIDED BY THE FIBER ARTS COUNCIL