Three new spinners

We are very pleased to announce that our three novice spinners have all now "got it" and are spinning away like crazy.  No more lumpy-bumpy thread, but a nice even(ish), fine(ish) yarn.  Next step: plying!
We had an excellent meeting last night, with almost everyone present.  With two old members rejoining numbers are now about as high as they have ever been, and there are rumours of more interested persons out there.  Please come along to our next meetings if you're reading this - we will be in the Community Centre in LlanfairTH on Sunday, November 10th., and back in Abergele for our evening meeting on the fourth Monday of the month (for details see the Calendar of Events page)

busy hands drop-spindling and crochet-ing

a well stocked library table

A busy weekend - Sunday.

We are not really gluttons for punishment, but we are gluttons for spinning.
After going down to Llanidloes for the All Wales meeting yesterday, we had a whole day spinning today.  This was a chance for our three newest members to have a real go at getting to grips with the basics, with considerable success.  Everyone went home with a hank of proper handspun yarn of their own making.  Congratulations to them, and we hope they will keep up the enthusiasm!  Thanks to Hilary and Krithia for helping with the teaching.
I forgot to take any photographs, but then I was busy teaching too....
We put our new vinyl banner up outside, and people saw it, and came in to find out what was going on.  So, who knows, we might persuade more people to take up spinning and weaving.  The more the merrier.

A Busy Weekend - Saturday.

An action packed couple of days this weekend:  on Saturday four of us went down to Llanidloes for the All Wales Meeting of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and on Sunday we had a Spinning Day in the little Community Centre in LlanfairTH.
The All Wales Meeting takes place every two years, and is a great chance to catch up with friends & show off our work.  We take over the Minerva Centre in the middle of Llanidloes, and set up our displays in the front showroom.  Each Guild has a generous space to fill with textile pieces made over the previous 24 months.

Sorry - not hung very straight.

A closer view of a Hilary's beautiful lace shawl..

..and a delightful "baby bag" from Kate.

Some of the work on display was quite spectacular.  Unfortunately the lighting wasn't of the best which made photography tricky.

Unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits - and, for the first time, Cake!

The Guilds are also set a "Challenge" (as opposed to a competition) on a given theme, to be assembled on a single A1 board.  This year's theme was "Four Seasons":  some chose a single season and some, like us, chose all four to inspire small textile pieces which were then assembled into a coherent whole.  Due to a combination of circumstances, many of the Abergele members were unable to participate this time, but those who could, did.

An amazing variety of work was produced:

As usual we had a very tempting set of trade stalls, where all manner of spinning, weaving and dyeing stuff was on display, together with ethically source textiles from the far East and West.

Another fixture for the "All Wales" is the guest lecture, given this year by Jim Gaffney of Textile Traders .  Jim and Diane travel all over the far east to buy traditional, hand-made textiles, and Jim told us about their memorable trip down the Silk Road from Turkestan to China.  Despite knowing only a few words of each of the languages (and no Russian) they made friends along the way and found local artisans keeping old traditions alive in each country.  Jim bravely allowed us to pass his precious hats and fabrics between us, and even to walk on the felted carpets designed for nomadic yurts.  The beauty of the work was quite astounding, and the lecture provided a real high point in an excellent day.

"Thank you very much" to all the organisers, and here's to the next meeting in 2015!

failure to "save"

For some reason, the "save" button isn't working on the side of the blog.
This is what should be in the Stop Press box:

Our meeting schedule has changed. From October 2013 we will be meeting twice a month: once in the evening in Capel Mynydd Seion, Abergele, and once in the daytime in the Community Centre, LlanfairTH.
Evening meetings are 7-9p.m. (Fourth Monday of the month). 
Daytime meetings 10a.m.- 4p.m. (Second Sunday of the month).

PLEASE NOTE: not the third Monday and first Sunday, as previously thought.