Craft fair boasts handmade clothing, jewelry, and more
More than 30 weavers, knitters and potters converged on the retirement community of MacKenzie Place this weekend, setting up a craft fair as colorful as a rainbow.
Front Range Fiber Artisans filled a first floor room in the community’s main building with handmade goods of all shapes and sizes, from silk scarves to books made by a method dating to medieval times.
“You can go to Wal-Mart or somewhere big to look for a gift, but you’ll never find anything as personal and unique and beautiful like the things you get at a fair like this,” said Annette Chapman, a potter in the 70-member organization.
The fair, open to the public, was in its second year, and it will be an annual event, held the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Chapman, who sold a series of bowls she made, left Sunday afternoon with plenty of goods she bought from her fellow guild members, along with $150 in profits. Chapman bought a pair of turquoise earrings and a batch of light blue hand-spun yarn.
Jan Seltman, president of the group, said that on Sunday alone, around 300 people attended the fair. By the time they shut down at 4:30 p.m., they’d sold a solid majority of the goods they began with on Friday, she said.
Seltman pointed to three antique-style baskets at one display, and said that they’d had far more when they started.
“You see people come in and get excited, and we tell them how something was made, and they get even more excited,” Seltman said with a contented smile.
“I love it.”
Some of the earrings on display sold for as little as $6, but at least one hand-spun jacket was priced at $250.
Weaver Kris Jaeger, who also specializes in numerous other arts, sat in a chair near the entrance of the fair, spinning green silk as the day drew to a close.
One of her pieces on display was an intricate cobweb-styled wrap selling for $150. She’d made it from goat hair.
“When you make creative things, you’re going to make them anyway, so it’s nice to be able to get pieces out like this,” Jaeger said.
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Vendors Stephanie Haitz, Kris Jaeger and Irmgard Alderman knit, spin yarn and chat at the Front Range Fiber Artisans annual sale at MacKenzie Place Retirement Community Ballroom Sunday, November 18, 2012. Combined, they have well over 100 years experience in making items from yarn and other fibers. Photo by Michael Ciaglo/The Gazette





