This is September

One of those classes is Metalwork Jewelry Boot Camp with Kay Rashka. Almost like a “fab lab”, there’s a lot of fabrication techniques with hand and power tools, torches and more in the hands of students making art jewelry. Patterns can be applied freehand or etched from texture mats as a starting point in the design of a finished piece.

We welcomed long-time student, Roxanne Gilbertsen, as a new Sievers instructor teaching a 3-day class in Lace Knitting as a lovely addition this September. A scarf, designed as a sampler to experiment with lace patterns, was the class project. Students knit several panels of different lace patterns and each wore one of Roxanne’s beautifully finished shawls in the class photo.

Also appearing this September, as in the past, was Navajo Weaving Techniques with Betty Glynn Carlson. It’s a week of learning the fundamentals of Navajo weaving, using authentic patterns and wool yarns in an traditionally contemplative manner. Hand manipulating each row and color change, the designs begin to take shape with students being able to complete a small piece within the 5-day class.

Another class often held during September is centered on using willow in basketry. This year, Jo Campbell-Amsler offered Natural Baskets: Grow & Weave, using natural materials such as willow, bark, iris and daylily leaves, vines and driftwood in a variety of ways for rib-style baskets, with willow as the “heart” of the structures.

Washington Island has done September well this year with gentle warmth leading up to what promises to be a very colorful canopy of fall color.

…A ripe sheaf of many golden days,
Gleaned by the year in autumn’s harvest ways…This is September. L.M. Montgomery