Another busy Monday meeting

The diversity of spinning and weaving was evident at our Monday evening meeting this week:  drop-spindling, spinning on wheels, spinning fancy yarn, weaving - you name it, we were doing it.

Yvonne and her drop spindle.

Val and the mini-pin loom.

Hilary and a midi pin loom.

More glorious colours from Edith.

Bryn's super-coil slub yarn.

The pièce de résistance: Edith's very first weaving.

(and the cake picture)

We were pleased to have a visit from Jules, who had spent the previous few days spinning at the Conwy Tournament, and hope she might join us again in the future.  As usual, Val had excelled herself and produced an amazing cake with fruit from her garden.
Thanks to all who attended - see you again soon.
AC

Spring is here -

- the clocks went forward yesterday and Storm Katie has (thank goodness) passed us by.  That isn't to say that the weather here has been completely balmy and Springlike; Easter weekend was pretty nasty, and one of our members has apparently been snowed in at home for over a week.
However,  Bank Holidays don't stop us from enjoying our spinning if we can get out, and we met as usual in Abergele tonight.
Val has made a crochet picot edging for her her pin loom poncho , and it's perfect.

Yvonne also finishes her handspun articles:

And everyone else is working up to being in a position to finish their stuff, too:

Look closely, and note the worsted combs...

Lovely even spinning from Edith.

Natural dyes on tussah silk ready for Helen's drop spindle.

Chunky "heather mixture" from Jenni.

And finally:  The Cake Picture (haven't had one of these for a while).

Our next "gig" is our Friendship Day in LlanfairTH on Sunday, April 10th.  Hope to see you there!

AC

Spinning Sunday

Another beautiful Spring day, and another chance to watch the birdlife from Hilary's living room while doing a bit of spinning.  Today we were treated to several fly-pasts by the sparrowhawk, who settled on the bird feeders long enough for us to get a good look at her striking speckled plumage in the sunlight. (I just looked it up:  females are brown, males are smaller and greyish.)
We also saw a whole descent of woodpeckers - well, three. (I looked that up, too.  Along with charms of goldfinches, parliaments of owls and an unkindness of ravens, you can have a descent of woodpeckers.  What a lot you learn from the internet.)

As always, we had a lovely time spinning, chatting and admiring Val's latest weaving. We also admired our youngest attendee, who has grown a lot since we last met him.

Pin loom weaving continues to be popular, and Val has produced yet another amazing almost-finished piece! This is a poncho with a cosy knitted collar and a pocket, with just a bit of tidying round the edges left to do:

:::

Kate demonstrating a triangular version of the pin loom...

... and Hilary using the square version.

Many Thanks to Hilary for her hospitality - see you all in Abergele on Easter Monday evening.

AC

Razzle dazzle weaving.

Spring is not here yet, but there was a little light left in the sky when we set out to our evening meeting on Monday.  The full moon was rising, which might have had something to do with it, but it's a cheerful thought that the days really are getting longer.
Yvonne is knitting a scarf known as a Quaker Yarn Stretcher (why?) (does anyone know?), which sounds fearfully complicated with decreases and increases at the ends of the rows.  However, she says it's very easy, and a great way to use up bits and pieces of yarn.

Val brought her husband's amazing rug to show us; made with her handspun fibre and woven by him on his giant, home-made pin loom.  It has been beautifully made, properly fulled, and is quite honestly a masterpiece.  Comfortingly heavy, jazzy to look at but soft to the touch.  We were all fearfully impressed, and possibly a bit jealous of such a result on a first attempt at weaving.

Our next meeting is part of our "winter tour", and then we're back again in Abergele on the fourth Monday in March (which is Easter Monday, and it will be Summertime!!)
AC