Welcome

Casey Ryder is the owner of PortFiber, a fiber arts supply shop in Portland, Maine that serves as a hub for spinners, weavers, felters, knitters, crocheters, dyers, and other makers. Casey regularly teaches class in wheel and drop spindle spinning and rigid heddle weaving. She hosts other fiber arts instructors from around Maine and New England to teach classes in weaving, felting, dyeing, and stitching.  In 2016, Casey became the US Distributor of Cashmere People Yarns, a women-run cooperative of hand spinners in Tajikistan & Afghanistan. She has since traveled to Tajikistan to meet the women she represents.  This experience lives in her heart while she travels the US promoting their handspun cashmere and cashgora yarns. You can read about her travels in Tajikistan in the Trade Issue 23 of Taproot Magazine. In her spare time, Casey likes to make things with her hands, dance, drink coffee, read fantasy novels, and bike around town. 

Casey's Classes

Macrame

Macrame Plant Hangers  For the plant nerd and textile nerd alike!  Combine your love of texture, color, and nature in this functional exploration of knots.  Yes, macramé was big in the 70s, but it's back, baby!  And it's as groovy as ever!  

Needle Felting

Needle Felted Landscapes  Put on your Bob Ross button-up cuz it’s time to get painterly with wool!  With a piece of wool felt as our canvas and felting needles as our brushes, we will work with wool fibers and play with color and texture to create a one-of-a-kind “paintings.”  Students may bring a photo of a cherished landscape they’d like to recreate.  Or perhaps they will be inspired by our surroundings at Haystack.  Classroom felting needles & foam work surfaces will be provided. 

Drop Spindle Spinning

Drop Spindle Spinning  Learn to spin on a simple and ancient tool, the drop spindle.  Want to test the spinning waters?  Drop spindle is a great introduction to spinning and with practice can be a fun way to create your own, one-of-a-kind yarns.  You will sample a variety of wools and wool blends while learning how to draft, spin a singles, and create a 2-ply yarn.  Spindles will be provided, but if you have one you’d like to use, please bring it along.