Kumihimo is the ancient Japanese art of multi-strand braiding. Learn the basic techniques, while making a spiral friendship bracelet. The bracelet can be finished with a tie or button-and-loop closure. All materials are supplied, including a braiding disc and set of instructions for future exploration of this art. The cost of materials is $5, payable by cash or check to "Melissa Diamanti" at the beginning of the class. Please bring reading glasses, if you need them for close work.

Note that this workshop is nearly two hours long to give you time to work on your bracelet, and it starts at 9:00 am, before the general festival opens.

Learn to find and adapt charted letter designs for embroidery and other fiber crafts like knitting, crocheting and weaving. We'll cover free patterns and how to adapt them to different designs from large monograms to the perfect quote. (The photo is just an example of the kind of thing that can be done.)

Materials:

• A handout will be provided with sample designs to cut out, and graphing paper. A $3 donation to the Nittany Valley Embroiderers Guild to offset this cost would be appreciated.
• Scissors
• Pen or pencils (optional)

Decoration? Accoutrement? Cloaking holes? Masking stains? Learn some sneaky techniques for visible obfuscation while maintaining the use of your precious knitwear.

Materials:

• One or two swatches to use as a background
• Tapestry needle
• Scissors
• Several colors of contrasting yarns for making the designs

Tired of juggling 5 double points on small circumference projects? Try Magic Loop with one circular needle to ease your way. Helps prevent "ladders" too! Prerequisite skills:Cast on and knit.

Materials:

• Worsted weight practice yarn, enough to make a small swatch
• A circular needle of appropriate size to match your yarn, with a long cord — the longer the better, hopefully 36 inches