Notes from the Poppy factory

 This year being 100 years since the end of the First World War, Wonderwool Wales has initiated a Centenary Textiles project.  The aim "is to produce a Community Textile Installation", with members of the public making textile poppies to commemorate those who died between 1914 and 1918.  The Abergele Guild has been working away, producing not only the traditional red Remembrance poppies but White Peace Poppies as well (which remember everyone, including civilians, who die in all conflicts past and future).

Patterns are provided for knitting and crochet, and for "cutting out" fabric to make the flowers:  http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/show-events/curtain-of-poppies.html  and we are being very helpful (!) and attaching our poppies to i-cords of green wool.  The resulting strings of poppies will be posted off to Abergavenny for JaneVeevers to assemble into a curtain with all the other contributions from across the country.   (If anyone is tempted to start a poppy or two after reading this, please note that Jane wants everything to reach her by the end of March, in time for Wonderwool in April.)  All details are on the Wonderwool website, as per link above.

Bryn will be happy not to be knitting any more poppies  after this....

Alison is assembling the other various offerings - a glorious mixture of textile techniques - looks a bit like a poppy tree this way up.

It's a little difficult to photograph two 2-metre-long strings of poppies, but I hope you get the idea...?
Many thanks to Bryn, Di and Margaret, and (in anticipation) to those of you who have made poppies but haven't given them to me yet!

AC
2018

All Wales Meeting, Llanidloes 2015

Another minor miracle - like bring-a-platter buffets which turn out to have just the right
ingredients without there being a plan - Abergele's display had a good selection of yarns, colours
and techniques. Although I didn't, Jenni did have a plan and the flow of textiles across our space represented a mountain range. Compliments were received! So, thank you everyone who put their work in. Fewer members of the public this year but guilds were out in force. Displays included a little black dress, woven boxes, unusual fibres such as yak. Ours was the only one to go Roman and use LX for 60 years on our Challenge board.

B.T.

OPEN SUNDAY, December 11th

Another successful Sunday Spinning (and knitting, crocheting and talking).  Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so no photographs, (but I was battling with imminent flooding at the back of the house, so I have an excuse).  We all got through a good deal of fibre in the course of six hours, and produced some gorgeous coloured yarn.  The shared lunch was a great success, with two kinds of delicious soup, pies, cakes, salad, chocolate, mince pies.....
The hall was nice and warm, after a period when the heaters were definitely not working properly,  the weather improved during the day and the River Elwy stayed in its' course despite some early indications to the contrary.  Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 21st., after which we are having a Christmas/New Year break from textile production.
Nadolig Llawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda i bawb!
AC

New Page added

May I draw everyone's attention to our new Page, which will focus on the activities of The Woolsack - British Wool cushions for the London Olympic Games, 2012:  http://abergelewsd.blogspot.com/p/woolsack-for-london-olympic-games.html