Limited Space In Each Workshop - First Come, First Served
Pre-registration required
We are very family friendly and all ages are encouraged to come. Kid workshops are geared to 6-12 year olds (or anyone who is a child at heart). The rest of the workshops are for adults and interested teens.
After registering please e-mail your workshop choices to 68pennyg@gmail.com.
Check the schedule to make sure your choices do not overlap.
Also check the workshop page to make sure your classes are not full.
Most of the materials for these workshops are gathered from the land by the instructors. This takes time, skill, and thought to do responsibly. Since each project takes a different amount of effort to find and prepare materials, each one has a different materials fee, payable directly to the instructor at the start of each workshop. It is listed below the workshop description.
2024 Workshops
Friday Afternoon
Felting with Oxen
with Ivy
Friday schedule
1:00 Arrival and set up camp
1-5 Felting with an Ox
3-5 Meet at the pizza oven for
Craft Party
Block print T-shirts w/ Erok
6:00 Dinner - pot luck
6:30-8 More block print T-shirts
Wet felting is a magical way to turn loose wool fibers into fabric without spinning, knitting or weaving. It is a craft employed in everything from making hats, slippers and warm boots to the felt homes of Central Asia.
Wet felting can be done in many different ways, but everyone loves an excuse to felt with draft animals. We are lucky to have an amazing team of oxen, Frank and Sparrow, just down the road a bit from our gathering site, led by accomplished teamster Ivy Pagliari.
With their help on Friday afternoon we’ll work together to felt a large piece of fabric, that will then be used in the wet felted bags workshop. Come join us and pitch in or just stop by to watch the team in action.
Craft Party
with multiple instructors - and you!
Have a project you’re working on? Bring it! Share ideas
and techniques, inspire and find inspiration. Don’t have a project? That’s fine too! During this social time there will also be casual demonstrations by
instructors showing how they process materials or make their craft.
Block Print T-Shirts
with Erok and others
Two t-shirt block printing sessions, putting Sloyd Skills Gathering logos on shirts and patches. We will have some thrifted shirts and cloth available, but bring your own, if you can. Light colored cotton is best.
Saturday Morning
(Some workshops continue Sunday)
Spoon Carving FULL
with Sean
Two part workshop - Saturday and Sunday mornings are both required.
This workshop will provide you with the skills to craft your own cooking & eating utensils, from start to finish. We will begin with wood selection and axe work, learning how to work with the grain to efficiently split out stock material before proceeding to rough shape our spoons with axe and saw. Along the way we will discuss design layout and drawing to help plan out our shaping. We will learn proper axe safety measures and chopping technique to take the logs from their “raw” form to the stage where knifework becomes more viable.
In the second half of the course we will swap out our toolset for carving knives to further refine our roughly shaped spoons into objects of beauty and utility. Once again, proper safety through knife control and technique will be the focus of this segment, learning to use straight knives to shape the outside curves of the spoon and hook knives to hollow out the bowl. We’ll touch on different decoration techniques and how to finish your spoons as we approach the finish line- participants will complete the class with a functional spoon and all the skills necessary to carve more!
No materials fee
Willow Basket FULL
with Scogin
Four part workshop-Saturday morning and afternoon, Sunday morning and afternoon are all required.
In this class students will create a round willow basket, learning basic weaves such as twining and french randing. We will start by weaving a circular bottom. We then add upright spokes, creating the basket sides.We Finish the basket by weaving an interlocking border on top. During class we will discuss the harvesting and growing of willow and resources for learning more techniques.
Materials fee $40
Hide Tanning. FULL
Brain Tanning Rabbit Hides
with Coleen
Three part workshop - Saturday afternoon, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon are all required.
In this class we will process a raw rabbit skin and make it into a soft, buttery, pliable fur. We will learn the methods of dry membraning a hide, dressing a hide, stretching a hide, and smoking a hide. We will learn the importance of salt, abrasive rocks, eggs, brains, fire, and smoke in the making of a brain tanned hide. Tanning hides is a transformative process and it will take patience, diligence, and resilience. Note this class is long, and requires lots of physical stamina, particularly of the shoulders, arms and fingers.
Materials fee $10
Beginner Carving FULL
Butter Knives and Wooden Hooks
with André
Enjoy a very basic, hands-on introduction to green wood carving. We will be going over safely using a hatchet, straight knife, hand drill, and a few other simple tools, and you will endeavor to make a butter knife and a wooden hook to hang your things on. We will also explore some simple carving decoration/embellishment tips to decorate your butter knife and wooden hook.
Materials Fee: $10
Pitch Forks FULL
with Eric
Two part workshop-Saturday morning and Sunday morning are both required.
In this workshop you will use simple tools to make a pitch fork from a single piece of wood. Starting with blanks fresh out of the log, we will cover fundamental green woodworking principles and techniques like shaping with the drawknife, finding the plane of the long wood fibers, bending with steam, and drying material. After two 3-hour sessions everyone will leave with a shaped and bent pitch fork, held in a drying form. In a couple weeks the fork will dry and can be taken out of the form - and used! You can keep the form, or return it to the instructor for a $25 refund. (Forms can also be returned to Penny, if that is easier)
Materials fee: $85 (Of which $25 can be refunded if you return form)
Felted Bags FULL
with Prin
We’ll use the felt we make on Friday with Ivy’s oxen to make shoulder bags that we’ll stitch together with leather or canvas straps (depending on participants preferences). We’ll discuss other felting methods and traditions of the craft while we work on our projects.
Participants in this workshop are heartily encouraged to join in with community felting endeavor on Friday.
Materials Fee: $25
Tree Identification for Crafters
with Lucian
Gathering the right materials from the land can be a large part of crafting. Knowing a white ash from a brown ash, or a maple from cherry tree can make all the difference. Also, it is part of the fun to check in with our wild kin in a multi-sensory way. We will wander the land, honing our skills for paying attention, exploring common plant patterns and getting to know some of the species being crafted over Sloyd Weekend.
No materials fee
Stone Pendants (Kids Workshop)
with Justin and Alden. This workshop is on Sunday afternoon.
We will practice our hand drill friction fire skills indirectly by using simple metal tipped stalks to drill
holes in smooth shale rocks. The result is a beautiful pendant for a necklace or a keychain. Kids can etch
something into the stone if they choose, and learn to craft cordage from basswood fiber to give the
pendant something to hang from.
Saturday Afternoon
(Willow Baskets and Hides continued)
Shrink Pots FULL
with Will
This is an old and magical way of creating containers out of wood. The end result can be used to store dry goods as well as charm the eye! We will each be using a small array of hand tools to hollow out a small and green log. We’ll then make a narrow notch around
the bottom of the log to custom fit a flat dry board. Once this goes in, the green wood shrinks around the board as it dries creating a wooden container. We will go over basic knife carving techniques as well as how to finish your shrink pot. All materials and tools will be provided. If you have a carving knife and spoon knife you enjoy using, please bring them along.
No materials fee.
Gourd Canteens FULL
with Tim
Gourds are amazing fruits! Being one of the first plants to be domesticated by human-kind, they have been used to make many useful and artsy projects. In the right conditions, a gourd will dry into a hard shell that can be used to make a variety of vessels. Join Tim Swanson of Owl Eyes Wilderness Survival in the art of making gourd canteens. Students will learn to cut, empty, leach, and wrap twine around our gourds to make functional and reusable water bottles. No materials necessary but you are encouraged to bring a sharp knife.
Materials Fee: $25
Folded Bark Baskets FULL
with Justin
Work with local tree bark from species like Ash, Elm, Hemlock, Spruce, and Cedar to craft an elegant folded bark basket. These baskets are made from one piece of bark, scored and folded into a container, and laced up with elm bark lashing. Lastly a rim is made out of a black ash splint, and secured using elm bark lacing. Make a beautiful basket, and learn the principles of working with bark to have the skills to make many more bark baskets on your own!
Materials Fee: $5
Flint and Steel FULL
with Luke
Forge a flint and steel striker (shape may vary from picture) and make your own fire starting kit. We will work with portable coal forges and hand cranked bellows. Because only a couple people can be in the forge at a time we will work as a team and help each other out. Everyone will leave with their own kit!
Materials Fee: $15
Beginner's Basket FULL
with Penny
Make your own basket and in the process learn one of the oldest crafts in human history. For
thousands of years baskets served as indispensable objects in every culture. In this workshop
you will craft a small basket with a base from hand pounded, local black ash logs and use a
variety of native barks as accents to create your own unique design.
Materials fee $25
Stories and Games (Kids)
with Ross
Saturday afternoon
We'll listen to folk tales and survival stories, spin yarns that tangle your brains and tickle your toes. We'll collaborate and vegetate in a narrative world where anything goes. We'll also learn to play the Norse board game Hnefatafl (A.K.A. Viking Chess). Then we can run and hide and sneak until our legs give out.
Sunday Morning
(Willows Baskets, Spoons, Hide Tanning and Pitch Forks continued)
Twining FULL
with Sarah
Twining is one of the primary basketry techniques in the world utilizing a variety of materials, styles and designs. We will be making a small soft bodied basket, working with natural materials, that can fit around a pint sized mason jar. You can customize the look of your basket as we will explore a few design elements that you are welcome to incorporate. Learning these basics will give you the ability to do this on your own and continue to explore this old, functional, and beautiful technique.
Materials Fee: $5
Card Weaving FULL
with Nelly
Two part workshop-Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon are both required.
Card weaving is a fast and easy way to weave narrow bands. It uses the technique of twining, which creates especially tough and resilient cloth. This technology has been in ubiquitous use for thousands of years, all around the world. Learn to draft a pattern, set up your loom, and weave bands that are perfect for belts, guitar or quiver straps, clothing decoration, and so many other uses.
Materials Fee: $20
Hand Hewing FULL
with Michael
To Hew (verb): make or shape (something) by cutting or chopping a material such as wood.
In this introduction to hand hewing we will cover the variety of tools used to prepare and shape the posts and beams for a small building. We will introduce the ‘Centerline Rule’ to lay out the logs or timbers for shaping. As a group we will have an opportunity to try the different tools and collectively put the finishing touches on a small hand hewn shelter.
No materials fee.
Stone Paints FULL
From Stones, to Pigments, to Paints
with Nick
Saturday morning
Learn to make paint from stones! We will hunt and gather rocks from the landscape and grind them into powder. From there we process and refine the rock powder into a fine pigment and transform it into paint. We will also approach the art of making paintbrushes from a variety of angles, using available natural materials found on the living landscape.
Materials fee: sliding scale $5-10
Wonders of Wool (Kids 6-9)
with Maggie and Alden
In this class, we will explore many of the possible crafts that come from the humble fleece. From skirting, to carding, to felting, to dyeing, to needle felting, to making simple yarns, we will do it all. Come make some masterpieces!
Kid's Carving (Kids 10-12)
with Andre
In this workshop, kids will be guided in the safe and effective use of a straight-blade carving knife, hatchet and wooden mallet, hand saw and brace drill. We will learn about these tools, practice safe knife grips, and carving techniques on a variety of small, interesting and creative
projects. We will take a short walk and collect some natural materials to add to the prepared materials. Beads, butter spreaders, orange peelers, and chopsticks are just some of the possibilities. Please bring water, snack, imagination, and sense of humor!
*Please do not bring a knife; tools will be provided.
Sunday Afternoon
(Willow Baskets and Card Weaving Continued)
Knife Hafting FULL
with Lucian
Sunday morning
In this workshop we will burn wood handles onto blades and shape them to fit your hand. A choice of local hardwoods will be available. You can bring your own blade (must have a rat-tail tang) or there will be blades available to buy. All tools will be provided but if you have a whittling knife or rasp you like, bring it.
Material Fee: $10
A variety of hand forged blades will be available for $30 each. Some will be for general use and some will have a Scandinavian grind for whittling.
Mending FULL
with Betsy
Who doesn't have a pile of beloved but destroyed clothing that you just can't part with, but have no idea how to rehabilitate? Bring 'em on over to Mending! My goal is to teach you the techniques needed to repair the garments you bring to the workshop, hence the in-class work will be focused on the skills needed to do those tasks: darning, patching, and sewing. In addition to learning the stitches and techniques needed to make the repairs of the day, we will discuss different textiles and how they behave, what materials are needed to repair specific textiles, and the techniques appropriate for unique holes and tears. Visible and invisible mending styles will be addressed. We will also discuss how and where our garments wear out and ways of forestalling damage in problem areas in order to prevent issues before they arise. If time permits, we can branch out into additional and/or decorative skills. I will bring a selection of materials for you to use during the class; you will bring your holey, ripped, and/or motheaten clothing. No guarantees that I will have the exact shade of thread or fabric you are looking for, but I promise that you will leave with fewer tears than you came with, and a lot of ideas to put into practice back home. Feel free to bring thread and patching materials to match if you are so inclined.
Materials Fee: $10 materials fee if you want to leave with a mending kit. *Note: We will not be using glues, iron on patches or tapes, or machines of any kind. As such, we will limit our repairs to hand sewable/darnable textiles.
Tarps. FULL
with Caleb
Shelter is one of our fundamental needs for survival. Our ancestors had many ways to create and find shelter be it creating debris shelter or finding a dry cave. In our modern world I have found it useful to be able to use a tarp for shelter. Lightweight, versatile, simple: the tarp is the perfect cheap camping solution and emergency shelter. In this class we will look at some basic set ups and talk about scenario specific techniques for making unhelpful situations work to your advantage. Expect to learn some knots and potentially get wet.
Block Printing. FULL
with Erok
Want to make an impression? Try Block Printing! Sure to bring relief! Ok, bad printing puns aside, in this workshop we will cover the basics of block printing from idea to ink. We'll cover materials, including wood, linoleum and masonite, as well as tools and techniques. And if all goes well, we'll each leave with an original print of our own making and design!
Erok will also be leading t-shirt printing 3-5 on Friday
Materials Fee: $5-10 sliding scale
Willow (Kids 6-9)
with Erok. This workshop is on Saturday morning.
Join Uncle Erok for some fun and wacky willow crafts and games. We'll be making willow hoops
to wing around, wands to catch with and cast spells, spinning stars to whirl and wagglers wiggle.
This workshop will be fun for all! Join us as we bend, balance and wiggle like the willow.
Wooden Hand Propeller (Kids 10-12)
with Luke This workshop is on Saturday morning
Carve a cedar hand proppeller that really flies!