Saturday, November 10 from 10 am – 4 pm
Sunday, November 11 from 10 am – 3 pm
With cooling temperatures and signs of changing seasons about us, Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park is readying for our annual Colonial Harvest Celebration, Militia Muster, and Fall Fiber Fair!
We welcome re-enactors from the Washington County Militia and fiber enthusiasts from across the Tri-Cities and beyond as we plan for an educational weekend filled with history, tradition, and fiber arts demonstrations, workshops, and sales.
The Fiber Fair will take place in the Sycamore Shoals Visitors Center. Both days will offer the opportunity to take in spinning, weaving, and hand carding demonstrations, in addition to visiting with a variety of vendors who will have handmade items for sale.
If you are interested in learning a skill, consider registering for one of our workshops:
Tunisian Crochet Slippers –
Saturday, November 10 from 10 am – noon
Instructor: Gina Mortara
Cost $30.00 includes supplies
Details: In this beginner’s class we’ll learn Tunisian crochet, make a pair of baby slippers in class, and take home a pattern and the know-how to be able to make adult slippers.
Crochet Christmas Stocking –
Saturday, November 10 from 1 pm – 3 pm
Instructor: Barbara Henry
Cost: $30 includes supplies
Details: We will be making a stocking ornament, using a choice between 2 different patterns. This class will include yarn, crochet hook and written patterns. Must have basic crochet skills.
Hairpin Lace Cowl –
Sunday, November 11 from 10 am – noon
Instructor: Susan Mortara
Cost: $30 includes supplies
In this beginners class, we’ll learn how to make beautiful hairpin lace and make a lovely cowl!
Drop Spindle –
Sunday, November 11 from 1 pm – 3 pm
Instructor: Laura Whitfield
Cost: $35 includes supplies
Details: This class will give a brief overview on the history and current popularity of drop spindling, as well as a basic description of the types of spindles available and suitable for fibers. We will have hands on practice of spindle control and drafting.
Please register and prepay for workshops in advance by calling the park at 423-543-5808
We are happy to have a wide variety of artists and vendors who will be offering their items 
for sale during this event. Their talents consist of products made from handspun and dyed yarns, dryer balls, needle and wet felted items, hands knitted and crochet items, boot inserts, and kumihimo, just to name a few! Also available will be felt sheets, fiber color packs, drop spindles, knitting needles, and crochet hooks. A variety of fibers are offered for sale including batts, roving, and skeins of alpaca, merino, silk, linen, cotton, wool, and more.
This year’s vendors are Amie Greene of Spinning Beauty, Collette Cook, Denise Digh of Cloudslaine Farm Studio, Susan Fain of the Willows Knot, Sharon Walker & Amy Palmer of Wooly Mittens 4 Ewe, Renee Gray of Alpaca Outbacka, Laura Whitefield of Isley Creek Farm, Rudi & Arlene Angelmaier of Dragonfly Dreams, Too, John Plutchak, Corrine Hewett, Louise Nuttle of Only the Finest, and the Mortara Family.
At Fort Watauga, the Washington County Militia, the host living history organization of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, will be engaged in 18th century festivities as we enjoy a time of friendship and thanksgiving amidst a frontier harvest celebration. In Colonial America, before Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday, each colony or community observed days of thanksgiving usually after the harvest had been brought in or after a significant military victory.
Militia activities throughout the weekend will include; a reading of colonial governor Richard Caswell’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, open hearth cooking, flintlock musket and rifle demonstrations, and many more aspects of daily life on the colonial American frontier.
A schedule of events will be available online on this site after November 1.
For additional information please call the park at 423-543-5808.
1651 W. Elk Avenue
Elizabethton, Tennessee 37643
423-543-5808
www.tnstateparks.com/parks/sycamore-shoals
http://www.facebook.com/sycamoreshoals
www.friendsofsycamoreshoals.org
