Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A Master Class with Galina Khmeleva


Last Saturday I spent the day at the Textile Museum of Canada taking a class with the delightful Galina Khmeleva. It was her Master Class: The Fundamentals of Orenburg Knitted Lace. What an interesting day it turned out to be. Galina and her husband George Girard had driven from their home in Colorado here to Toronto. Originally she was booked for one day of teaching but the demand was such that a second day was added after the first class sold out. What a fascinating woman she is. At the beginning of the day she went around the table asking what everyone hoped to get from the class and she tailored her teaching plan to the responses. We spent time knitting and trying out various Orenburg stitch patterns. We also watched Galina demonstrating some of the more unusual techniques. We learned all about the history of the lace making and the people with whom it originated as well as the methods used to gather clean and spin the fiber.








This is Patrick posing with Galina




These are just a few of the gorgeous shawls we got to see and touch!


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