Category: Speaker

monthly speakers

Chris Liszak – December 13th, 2022

Chris Liszak has been using felt as a medium for creating wearables (coats, scarves, hats, mittens) and fine art (juried gallery exhibitions and curated artisan shows) since 2010. She teaches feltmaking at the Fibre Garden in Jordan Village, at her home studio and other venues upon request. Chris is the current president of felt::feutre canada, a nationwide association of feltmakers, and is a member of the International Feltmakers Association and Studio Art Quilt Associates. Her work through those organizations has been in many online and in person exhibitions.

Saltwater Knits – October 11th, 2022

Christine LeGrow was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. After a long career in retail she began Spindrift Handknits, a thriving cottage industry that creates local designs that are knit by Newfoundlanders.

Shirley Anne Scott, also known as “Shirl the Purl”, is a Come From Away who made her home in St. John’s in 2006. A librarian by profession, in 1989 she wrote Canada Knits, a history of Canadian knitting that opened many doors.

Both are lifelong knitters with a keen interest in the fascinating traditions of the wonderful place they live in. In the midst of busy lives they have co-written four popular books, Saltwater Mittens, Saltwater Classics, Saltwater Gifts and Saltwater Socks.

Sally Melville – September 13th, 2022

Until her move to Ottawa in 2008, Sally Melville lived in KW. While there and in the mid-80’s, she—with friends—established the KW KNITTERS’ GUILD. Sally taught regularly for the guild, but she also hired workshop leaders from around the world, and those teachers encouraged her to both travel to teach and to publish. And thus began an unplanned and unexpected career!