20 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 3-9, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com Stephanie wryly adds that she was inspired by her mother: “I figured I should follow in her footsteps and pick up another esoteric fiber art nobody has heard of.” Increasingly, people are hearing about fiber arts, and picking them up. Every month, members of the Carmel Crafts Guild meet in the Wool Room at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center, where they bring a finished project or one they are working on for show-andtell. In addition, they offer workshops and study groups at members’ homes for various fiber arts including tatting, weaving and spinning. Also at the fairgrounds, the spinning group Anne’s Web meets the second Saturday of each month. The fairgrounds becomes a stage to showcase projects during the Monterey County Fair, which features 52 categories for fiber arts, from tatted jewelry to Sashiko stitching to patriotic needlepoint. (For details on the fair, which runs Sept. 3-7, see p. 24.) Many local crafters—including Maeda, Cervi and Gould—will be entering pieces in various categories this weekend. But year-round venues for fiber arts extend well beyond the fairgrounds. Group meeting places include houses of worship, as well as virtual convenings, and coffee shops. The Monterey Knitting Social Club meets every Sunday at East Village Cafe in Monterey and on Thursdays at a rotating list of breweries. Members bring projects to knit or crochet, and talk about patterns they want to make, yarn choices and if they need or not to make a swatch before starting a new garment. Club Founder Colleen Durkin says that crafting and handmaking is “a really nice antidote to the sometimes draining experience of our digital lives.” The group setting motivated Durkin to follow patterns for the first time. “Being around other people helps me learn about different stitches and different approaches to knitting and also crocheting,” she says. She waited for a few years to find a club with similar interests until 2018, when she realized she could be more proactive. “I was hoping somebody would start one, and then after a few years of waiting, I just realized I had to be the one to start it,” she says. (A disclosure: One of the authors of this story, Celia Jiménez, is a member of the Monterey Knitting Social Club.) The group started with Durkin as the only member knitting by herself at local coffee shops; then other knitters and crochets started to show up. The club shares upcoming gatherings on MeetUp and Instagram. In the past three years, the membership has grown exponentially. “It’s really wonderful to have so many people interested and wanting to meet each other,” Durkin says. Her largest gathering drew 25 people. At the Monterey Knitting Social Club, Cervi says, “Pretty much the only rule is there is no gatekeeping. Bring whatever you are working on and expect a good time.” Increasingly, libraries are also offering workshops where people can learn how to sew, crochet or knit, or simply providing a space where crafters can meet. The offerings emerged from a mix of community interest and crafters working on staff. On a Wednesday afternoon about a dozen people, including kids, teens and adults, show up to a crochet class Gould is teaching at the King City branch of Monterey County Free Libraries (where she works). There are colorful yarns and several crochet hooks to get people started. Gould guides them through the basics of how to make a slipknot, chains and single crochet. Some are ambitious. Sharlene Hughes, who is just learning how to crochet, is hoping to make 2,000 crocheted footballs by November to add to donation boxes for kids overseas. Nine-year-old twins Pamela and Perla Martinez already knew how to crochet and quickly started working on their project. “I’m making a blanket for my cat,” Pamela Martinez says of a striped pink-and-white fabric for her stuffed animal. At the Seaside and Castroville library branches, sewing machines are available for people to reserve for use in the library. They recently have started mending circles, where people at different skill levels can meet, learn the basics and work on projects. Besides reclaiming or gaining skills, participating in these gatherings is an opportunity to meet people. “It’s kind of like the old days. People get together. You feel like other people are with you and they like the same things,” says Kelly Henderson, a sewing coach and library assistant at the Seaside library. Businesses also can serve as hubs for creativity, gathering and even healing. Cervi hopes to open a brickand-mortar yarn store for her business, Starfish Fibers, in 2027. “I want it to not just be a store, I want it to be a community space,” she says. “I have seen friends use fiber arts as part of recovery from trauma or to help with sobriety. One person uses crochet to keep their hands busy so they don’t pick at their skin with anxiety. We all come to it for different reasons, but we stay in it for the community.” As her textile supply store and workshop space, Slowfiber (above), owner Jaki Canterbury (top right) loves sharing goods but also skills. “My favorite customers are the ones who come and say, ‘I have a hole in a sweater, what do I do?’ or ‘I’m learning how to patch jeans, what do I need?’” Below, Alyse Papadantonakis (left) and Ali Sondossi (right) attend a sewing class at Slowfiber. DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
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