Minnesota Fiber Art, Shops, Farms and Festivals
Minnesota Fiber Art, Shops, Farms and Festivals
By Erica Wacker
From alpaca farms to yarn shops, Minnesota has one of the country's most tight-knit fiber networks. Close to 30 community leaders are spread as far south as Blue Earth and as far north as Duluth. They raise alpacas, llamas, sheep, goats, angora rabbits and even yaks for their fiber, which can be purchased raw, partially processed (called roving), as yarn, or as finished products ranging from knitted finger puppets to woven area rugs.
Fossum Family Farm in Northfield / Melanie Graves
FIBER FARMS
For small, independent operations like Fossum Family Farm, turning raw fiber into yarn or felt is a manual, labor-intensive process that can take several days. After the animal is sheared, the fiber undergoes multiple steps of cleaning, hand-washing, air drying and several other processes before it can be spun into yarn or loomed into felt.
It’s fascinating to watch, and will give even casual observers a deeper appreciation for this ancient and beautiful practice. Many fiber farms are open to the public on select days — by appointment and for special events. In the spring, look for shearing days at farms like Fossum, Frosty Acres Alpacas in Bricelyn, and Sibley Farm in Mankato.
Look out for National Alpaca Farm Days the last weekend of every September, too. The annual event encourages farms throughout North America to host open house activities like free entertainment, food trucks, family-oriented programming, and fiber demonstrations.
Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival
FIBER SHOPS & FESTIVALS
Every Mother’s Day weekend, the Shepherd’s Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival takes over the Washington County Fairgrounds in Lake Elmo. The mother of all fiber festivals, Shepherd’s Harvest draws large crowds for shearing, spinning, knitting and weaving demos; fleece competitions; llama and herding dog demonstrations; a wide variety of fiber art classes; and local vendors selling every fiber-related product imaginable.
Other popular events throughout the state include the Farm to Fiber Festival in Park Rapids in October and the Fall Fiber Festival in Hopkins in November.
Credit: Northfield Yarn
There’s no shortage of yarn shops in Minnesota either; there are around 50 listings in the Knitters’ Guild directory. Hit a whole slew of them during the Minnesota Yarn Shop Hop in early April, which includes 15 shops in the metro area around Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Northfield Yarn is one road trip-worthy shop for spinners, knitters and weavers. Owner Eleanor Coolidge has been spinning for more than 50 years. Wool is her favorite fiber, but she also works with alpacas.
“When you’re spinning by hand, you don’t want it to look perfect,” her teacher told her decades ago.
Embroidered stones arranged in a heart by a Brainerd fiber artist on the Weaving Waters Fiber Arts Trail / Lisa Jordan
FIBER ART
Working with fiber doesn’t end with sweaters and scarves. “It’s multidisciplinary,” says Dawn Malcolm of Minneapolis, a ceramic artist who recently made “fur” out of fiber for her sculpture of a baboon.
Fiber arts are big in Minnesota, with the nation’s only center for fiber arts (the Textile Center) located in Minneapolis.
Minnesota is also home to two “fiber arts trails” where galleries, shops and cultural centers open their doors to the public. (Hours vary by location; be sure to call ahead.) In central Minnesota, the Weaving Waters Fiber Arts Trail stretches from Great River Arts in Little Falls through Brainerd and on to the New York Mills Cultural Center, with a dozen stops in between. Further northwest, you’ll find the Pine to Prairie Fiber Arts Trail in and around Bemidji.
Fiber Week 2025 at North House Folk School
Fiber arts are regularly on display at galleries, studios and art festivals statewide, too, from Grand Marais to St. Paul to Zumbrota. Learn to make your own at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Ely Folk School, Milan Village Arts School, Minnetonka Center for the Arts, the Textile Center, or the American Swedish Institute and Weavers Guild of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
And don't forget the Minnesota State Fair. Held annually between the tail end of August and Labor Day, it features numerous fiber arts displays and demonstrations in its Creative Activities building. Not to mention a 4-H costume contest that's considered one of the fair's most beloved annual events.
Llamas at the Minnesota State Fair
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Erica Wacker is a Midwesterner through and through, growing up in Illinois, going to college in Wisconsin, and settling down in Minnesota. She loves to run, travel with her family, and go to concerts to relive her youth.