First Fiber Fest shows Mat-Su’s passion for the craft

PALMER — What today is called ‘fiber arts’ has always been a staple of life in Alaska. But only recently have its purveyors begun to organize and socialize in the Mat-Su.

A major milestone in that harmonization was Saturday at the Alaska State Fairgrounds, where the first Fiber Arts Festival drew alpacas, goats and Angora rabbits, and their owners, who spun their fleece right on site.

“You’ll find that in south-central Alaska, and on the peninsula, fiber arts is a hugely popular activity — more so than in other parts of the country,” local fiber artist Sharon Hein said. “You could say it’s the long, dark winter nights, but moreso it’s that Alaskans tend to be really be more confident in expressing their creativity. You’ll notice at fair exhibits, and a lot of spinning demos, you’ll see people really on the cutting edge.”

Saturday’s event was driven largely by the efforts of Becky Oviatt, who spearheaded the idea from the outset. A member of the Alaska Natural Fiber Business Association, she received a grant for one of three regional fiber fests — the Kenai Peninsula and the interior region being the other two — and immediately got to work.

“It’s exceeded expectations. Let’s put it this way — I cried,” Oviatt said, laughing. “We made the decision to do it and in two months put it together.”

Oviatt said the surge in interest is due largely to participation from younger people.

“I think the younger generation is looking for something to do besides video games. We have a lot of younger people in our guild,” Oviatt said, pointing at the Musk Ox Farm table, represented by Ashley Farnsworth ad Dani Bierstecker. “And we have the 4H over here. We were having a knitting circle earlier and there were 12 kids in it. It was absolutely fabulous; I was just stoked — there’s so much that can be done with fiber and the animals are cool.”

Farnsworth and Bierstecker, both in their early 20s, didn’t bring an actual musk ox with them, but did bring products they’ve made from the beasts on their farm on Glenn Highway, highlighting headwear.

“We take the qiviut, the underhair of the ox, comb it out every spring and spin it into yarn,” Farnsworth said. “Musk ox is eight times more warming than sheep’s wool and six times warmer than alpacas.”

Bierstecker, who began working at the Musk Ox Farm as part of work on her masters thesis in wildlife education, said the festival was about more than giving vendors the opportunity to sell their wares, but to connect people in the fiber arts community.

“I don’t think people know enough about (fiber arts), but the community is bigger than they think it is,” she said. “Even just the Friday Flings (in downtown Palmer), it’s amazing how many people are not aware of musk ox.”

Oviatt said the Mat-Su Fiber Arts Guild will have a presence at the state fair with exhibits in the Irwin Building, the Musk Ox Farm is hosting its annual 5k/10k Run with the Bulls on Aug. 7, and a fiber arts retreat is planned for August. Oviatt is eager to build on building on the momentum generated from the inaugural July festival.

“We’re going to do this again next summer,” she said. “This is going to be an annual thing and we expect this to be bigger and better.”