San Francisco Fiber Resources

This listing is by no means comprehensive, but meant to cover things happening around the San Francisco Bay Area, in our usual opinionated fashion. Please write us if you know of something that should be listed here!

Guilds & Groups

Knitting

Bay-wide

There is a yahoo group called sfknit, which claims to be an offshoot of the huge Knitlist that's been taken over by XRX, and to cover the entire bay area. They have a lot of messages (read on the web?), including group announcements, and are so far open to public reading, although they censor comments about local shops. Probably a good place to find resources and friends in the more far-flung corners of the Bay Area.

The afghans for Afghans group www.afghansforafghans.org is active in the Bay Area and would probably hold your hand through a few afghans ;-). Write Ann at Afghans4Afghans@aol.com for local info.

The obvious Knitting Guild of America 66.40.93.184/guild.html#California has some nearby chapters (Oakland, Hayward, Delta). They are afflicted with the dorkiest magazine (Cast-On) ever printed, and lean heavily toward Victorian charity-knitting, but may be helpful to a beginner? Be aware that they are -not- a guild, but a private for profit organization.

The Crochet Guild of America is a nonprofit with an informative site http://www.crochet.org and several Bay Area chapters (San Leandro, San Jose, Redwood City, Sacramento), all meeting on Saturdays.

San Francisco

The SF Knitting Guild meets the first Sunday of the month 1:30-4:40pm at the main public library (the room is behind the information desk on the main floor). Very casual and friendly, no agenda and no dues, it's open to all. EMatsui@sfchronicle.com or Elizabeth.Cittar@SSRRealty.com
SF_knitters in yahoo groups coordinates informal events. They are not to be confused with the above sfknit, being mostly for announcements for people who meet in person in SF, and having little online discussion. They meet on Wednesdays at 7pm at Muddy's, 1304 Valencia (at 24th). (This is the same group that used to meet at Espresso Bravo till December 02). Contact Stacey Irvine, pssst@parody.org
Crafty Bitches (lesbian knitters) meet Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm at the Lexington club. (They used to meet at the Muddy Waters near 16th street in 02). Mixed-level group that takes good care of beginners, very social atmosphere. "Beer, pussy and yarn!" Contact Knitting Mistress Melanie at craftybitches@yahoo.com.
Rumor has it that anarchist knitters are meeting on Thursday nights in some out of the way place. But not regularly enough for us to find out about it :-). Any further info anyone?
Stich'nBitch meets Wednesday nights at 6:30 pm at Annie's Cocktail Lounge, a bar on 6th & Bryant (directions at www.anniescocktaillounge.com. Starts at 6:30, features Cocktails, Punk Rock and Knitting, a winning combination. "The jukebox is great and the drinks are strong"! Contact Kari Girarde kgirarde@yahoo.com
The BAWDies (Bay Area Wool Divas) yahoogroup meet a various times in San Francisco. The website is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BAWDies/
They meet just about every Friday at noon in Downtown SF and then have other informal gatherings throughout the month. The group is a very chatty and active mixture of beginning and experienced knitters from all age groups.
There is a crochet group meeting on the first Sunday of every month at Imagiknit on 18th st and Sanchez. Hours are 3:30-6:30pm, often followed by dinner. There is usually some sort of educational program. Mary Jane MJaneWood@aol.com or check out the calendar at http://members.aol.com/Sbaycgoa/cal.htm
The Throwup, queer and genderfuck handjob, is on hiatus at the moment. Keep checking their site for a revival.
The queer knitters meet on Monday nights (7-10pm) at the 3-dollar bill cafe, in the ground floor of the queer center. Very nice and friendly group, very diverse in levels and everything else.
The Men who Knit group meets on Tuesday evenings at Cafe Macondo, on 16th st near Valencia. A really welcoming bunch :-).
The Church of Craft is now meeting regularly on the 3rd Sunday of every month 12-6pm at the Atlas Cafe, 3049 20th Street @ Alabama (or Florida?). Write Trigemista trismegista@churchofcraft.org or call her at 415-640-4224 if you have any further questions.

East Bay

A yahoo group called EB_Knitters is meeting on Monday nights 6-9pm at Barnes & Noble in Jack London Square.
Berkeley/Oakland knitters apparently also meet Wednesday nights at the Starbucks on Shattuck & Cedar, 5:50-7:30 (what's with the Starbucks thing in Berkeley?? Move to Peets!) Contact Rose mroser@yahoo.com
The Meanie Knitting Club meets 7:30pm Wed, Gaylord's cafe on Piedmont in North Oakland. It is a small group right now where everyone is welcome, and they are happy to teach newbies knitting basics(as are most other groups in our experience). Contact: bunnyrivera@yahoo.com

Peninsula

A brand new (as of Fall 03) group meets in or near Palo Alto: peninsulaknitters@yahoogroups.com. For more info write Kristina scifiwriter@yahoo.com

Spinning/weaving

CNCH www.cnch.org, the Conference of Northern California Handweavers, maintains a list of most regional weaving guilds, which often include spinning and by extension knitting. Their listings have been recently updated, and now include many more links to the newsletters of the groups involved. The annual conference in late March is always worth checking out.
A group of city spinners is meeting regularly on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Park Branch library in SF. Open to all levels of skill and equipment.
Another group meets on the edge of the city, at Carolina Homespun www.carolinahomespun.com, on the first Monday evenings of the month. This one is special because Morgaine is the only purveyor of spinning and weaving equipment in the city, and it's your only chance to actually try out a specific spinning wheel before you buy one.
Loom & Shuttle www.loomandshuttleguild.org is the most weaving oriented of the local guilds. It meets in SF on the first Saturdays of alternate months. It has kind of off-putting membership hazing requirements, but does have programs well worth checking out.
Blacksheep blacksheepguild.org the Peninsula's spinning and weaving guild, meets the 2nd Thursday of the month in Woodside. They welcome non-weaving spinners, or any curious sort really.
Spindles & Flyers spindlesandflyers.org/, the long time East Bay spinning guild, meets the 4th Sunday in El Cerrito. You might have seen them demonstrating at their usual booth at Stitches, they are always very active at local events.
The Elkus Ranch danr.ucop.edu/_elkus_ranch spinning group meets informally every 3rd Saturday of the month, a few miles South of Half Moon Bay. You can just knit.

Quilting

EBHQ www.ebhq.org, the East Bay quilting guild, meets the last Monday of the month in El Cerrito. They have very exciting biannual shows in the Spring (2004 is the 'on' year).
San Francisco Quilters' Guild www.sfqg.org meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.
Contemporary Quilters and Fabric Artists. Meet the 1st Saturday of the month at Fellowship Hall of Trinity Methodist Church, 748 Mercy St, in Mountain View. (831)338-2245 or scruzmtn@cruzio.com
Studio Art Quilt Associates www.saqa.com has a Northern California Chapter. Louise Schiele, wezewear2@aol.com

More specialized

Contemporary Textile Artists (of Northern California). CONTEXT, a local guild which addresses dyeing, fabric painting and printing, textile design, art quilting, fiber sculpture, felting and the joyful meld of any or all of these and more. All varieties of fiber/textile artists are welcome. Meetings are on the first Saturday of even numbered months in San Francisco, starting officially with the February 1, 2003 meeting. There will be a speaker at every other meeting and a hands-on type activity at the opposite ones. (415)826-8248, context@joy-lily.com
Northern California Silk Artists www.artistresource.org/ncsa/ncsa.htm, in San Francisco. fiberjoy@dnai.com (415)826-8248
South Bay Silk Artists in Los Altos and Santa Cruz meets alternate months Thursday in Los Altos and Sunday in Santa Cruz. kdgsilk@yahoo.com
Peninsula Wearable Arts Guild penwag.home.comcast.net meets the 2nd Saturday of the month at 10 AM at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 14103 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga. margselt@earthlink.net or (510) 247-0446
The Embroiderers' Guild of America www.ega-gpr.org has a San Francisco chapter which meets on the 2nd Monday.

Classes

Dharma Trading dharmatrading.com in San Rafael is our favorite old reliable supplier of dyes and dyeing materials in San Rafael. They are now a just as great but stealth knitting store (don't ask them to mail order!!) and teach daily free knitting classes.
There are a couple good new knitting stores in town which teach many accessible classes. The Urban Knitting Studio www.urbanknitting.com is on Fell near Gough. Imagiknit www.imagiknit.com is on 18th and Sanchez. For that matter, many if not most knitting stores near you have some sort of classes going on. Call them, check it out.
The Sanchez Art Center is in Pacifica, close to hwy 1, and has a nice selection of crafty classes at affordable prices.
The Caning Shop www.caning.com in Berkeley, teaches chair caning, gourds and basketry
The Crucible www.thecrucible.org in Berkeley teaches all kinds of interesting industrial/artistic classes, metal, glass, you name it.
The Richmond Art Center www.therichmondartcenter.org is a well kept secret, and teaches good weaving classes for a still somewhat reasonable fee. Lots of studio time available.
SCRAP is the great San Francisco recycling center, and we highly recommend their well-organized fabric scraps. They also occasionally teach good workshops.
Stonemountain & Daughter www.stonemountainfabric.com teaches many great sewing classes.
The Sewing Workshop www.thesewingworkshop.com teaches all kinds of mostly sewing classes.
[The Harvey Milk Institute has since folded, no more knitting from them.]
Joy Lily teaches regular and excellent classes at various locations. Silk painting, shibori, quilting, stamping are some of her regular offerings. One of her regular locations is the affordable South SF park & rec center, and many of her classes are nearly free for seniors.
Karen Livingstone dyework@yahoo.com teaches batches of really good dyeing workshops, mostly at her studio in Oakland. Yarn, fabric, every variety of shibori, she's got something for you.

Museums and galleries

For best and most current listings, always check sfstation.com for museums and galleries (well, film too, but never mind that :-)).
More specifically, look at art listings at artistresource.org. But be aware that fiber is mostly an afterthought for them.
San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles www.sjquiltmuseum.org always has good quilt shows, from traditional to experimental.
San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum www.sfcraftandfolk.org usually has very inventive fiber shows. Dried fish gut anyone?
The California College of Arts & Crafts www.ccac-art.edu has many interesting events open to the public, some directly textile-related.
The De Young Museum www.thinker.org/deyoung is closed for eons for so-called renovations. However, the Textile Arts Council keeps having interesting monthly events, at the Legion of Honor (but $5 over the general admission to the public). Write tac@famsf.org.
The Oakland Museum www.museumca.org often has textile exhibits, basketry, quilts and weavings etc.