Looking to the future.

First of all, we are looking forward to this Sunday, when we are holding our Friendship Day in LlanfairTalhaearn Community Hall.  We will have a number of trade/selling stands, including natural fibres, dyed fibres, pottery and our own stash sale.  With any luck, there will be cake.  There will of course be plenty of spinning going on as well.

Secondly, we are moving!  The future of the Community Centre itself is increasingly uncertain, meaning that we cannot book further events there with any confidence.  We will therefore be holding our Sunday meetings in the village hall in Betws yn Rhos, which is between Llanfair and Abergele (so a bit nearer our official home).  Further details, including start date, will be posted as soon as they are available.
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

Spinning Sunday

For once the weather has been kind:  cold certainly, but also dry and sunny.  The snowdrops are out, the daffodils are out in some places and the lambs are skipping around the fields.   So where were we?  Indoors, spinning.
Half a dozen of us met at Hilary's house and luxuriated in her large, centrally heated living room with a view across the valley through the French windows.  The birds feeding in her garden provided almost as much interest as the spinning; all the "usual" culprits (bluetits, great tits, chaffinches, robins, collared doves, a wren and a coal tit) but also a great spotted woodpecker which caused a lot of pleasure with its bright red cap.  And then, several fly-pasts by the local sparrow hawk, who didn't actually catch anything.
But back to the spinning:
Two of the earliest arrivals spent a happy morning mastering the art of using a drop spindle (and one of them had done no spinning at all previously).  Drop spindles are so portable, and of course perfect for hypnotising babies...

(note also Kate's beautiful knitted slippers).
The rest of us took advantage of a whole day to ourselves to fill bobbins for our latest projects (or just to fill bobbins with no particular project in mind).  It's amazing how much you can do when you just sit and spin. And as always, no two wheels are exactly the same.  Here's one of Hilary's:

Thanks very much to her for the hospitality and unlimited cups of tea.
AC
2016

2016 up and running

January Cake Picture - after the gannets had descended.....

There has been a bit of a gap since our last post here, but we have been busy - honestly.
On the second Sunday in December we met in LlanfairTH as usual, and at lunchtime crossed the road to the Black Lion for our annual Christmas lunch.  Almost everyone made it, including Kate and her very new baby - he was competely delightful, and very tolerant of being passed from arm to arm for cuddles.  We filled the time before our meal by applying ourselves to Jenni and Bryn's festive spinners quiz.  Great fun, but not easy.  Thanks to to them for finding the exam paper - I think courtesy of Hilary Miller of the Gwynedd Guild (someone will tell me if I'm wrong).  Thanks to Jenni for the raffle prize.  We all had a delicious meal, and even did some spinning later in the afternoon.
Unfortunately our January Sunday meeting had to be cancelled, but our Monday meeting went ahead as usual in the nice warm vestry at Capel Mynydd Seion. Six of us attended, and we were pleased to welcome two visitors and a spinning wheel in need of a little attention.  It's fine really, and will be even better once restored to its' original double drive.
Pin loom weaving continues to be a popular activity, and Val was wearing a very impressive tweedy waistcoat pieced together from her squares.  No photograph I'm afraid, but it was very smart!

Val's home made pin loom and tweedy weaving

A more open weave from Betty; once off the loom and fulled  it will  become nicely compact.

AC2016