Monday meeting again

Just in front of the weather ... front... we made it to Abergele on Monday evening.  Warm and cosy with lots of tea and cake, and several visitors keen to learn more about spinning and weaving.
Diana, who hasn't been weaving for very long, brought in a very nice piece to show us (the colours are a little subdued in the photograph).

She writes:  "Here is a photo of my throw....woven on my Saori Piccolo with a pre-wound lavender cotton warp,and yarn from charity shops....mostly acrylic I think.

I am glad I shared my weaving...gives you a warm feeling when people give nice feedback! I learn a lot and get inspired from others’ work too...and that is surely what membership of a guild is all about."

Well said!

Some of us have been busy...

We usually have an informal "show and tell" at our meetings, although we don't actually call it that as some people get very shy and develop acute stage fright at the very thought.
At our last meeting in Abergele Jenny P. made use of skills learned in Katie Weston's workshop, and produced a very superior cable yarn.

We were also delighted to see work by Val and Alan:  Val's chunky handspun, twined baskets made with aforesaid handspun, and Alan's amazing pinloom weaving, also made with aforesaid handspun.
Val says " if anyone asks, the cape was made from 1,100 yards of hand spun yarn. The brown is Zwartbles shearling, and the yellow is Jacob, white wool dyed in June with Weld and Alum.It was woven on a 5' square continuous weave frame, by Alan. It has a split front and buttonhole modification as part of the design. It has been fulled, also by Alan who has made a large button from Yew wood to fasten it. The cape weighs 1305g and is both warm and soft to wear."  

....note also the Amazing Abstract Weaving on the right of the picture -  another piece of work by Alan. 

Plying workshop with Katie Weston (Hilltop Cloud)

On our first Sunday meeting in 2018 we were delighted to see Katie Weston once more, this time for a workshop concentrating on that all-important step in yarn production - plying.  

Katie took us through all the stages of producing a consistently plied yarn, and provided excellent, clear tuition at each point of production.  We learned the difference between freshly spun singles and yarn which has been left to rest on the bobbin, and the usefulness of obtaining a "ply back sample" from the freshly spun yarn - and the importance of keeping it for reference!  We also discovered the miraculous regenerative powers of warm water on tired singles.

Katie touched on the use, or otherwise, of counting treadles while spinning and plying: those who already do it will continue, and those who don't need to won't. 

We plied our own yarn, and Katie's, and other people's (a bit daring); learned or revised "Andean" and chain (Navajo) plying; and finally some of us had a go at making a cable yarn.

This really was a brilliant day and we all - beginners and more experienced - learned a great deal.  Now we have no excuse for producing  underplied fluff, or overplied rope.....

Thanks to all who attended, and those who helped organise the day, and of course especial thanks to Katie for yet another excellent session.

Freshly spun and plied Blue Faced Leicester - the same fibre in each hank, but each hank is unique.

A simple way to demonstrate plying twist.

All agog...

Taking into account the importance of ply when knitting - twist will affect the drape of the finished garment, and the number of plies in the yarn will influence the effectiveness of lace or cable patterns.

Chain plying

Katie in action...

...And the traditional cake - sorry, biscuit - picture

STOP PRESS : Sunday 10th December meeting cancelled

With great regret, we have cancelled Sunday's pre-Christmas meeting in Betws yn Rhos in advance of the predicted heavy snowfall.  Although the main roads are clear (at the time of writing) the side roads are treacherous with slush and ice, and may be under several inches of snow by the morning.
It's a great shame, as we always have a great time with a shared meal, raffle and quiz - not to speak of spinning, chatting and keeping nice and warm.

So, sorry folks, and I hope to see you all in the New Year - Happy Christmas!

AC

All Wales Event, Llanidloes, 2017

The biennial meeting of all (well, most of) the Welsh Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers is always a great chance to meet up with old friends and catch up with what we have all been doing for the last couple of years.
The meeting is held in the Minerva Centre - an ex-car showroom in Llanidloes.  Over the years, the exhibition space has developed from an echoing cavern, still smelling faintly of motor oil, into a very nice venue indeed.  This year we had the benefit of a new permanent partition dividing the trade area, and a spanking bright new sink and drainer for washing up (and for textile workshops of course).   The Guilds' Challenge this year was on the theme of "Sea and Sky", and as usual the variety and standard of work was excellent.  I am pleased to report that our contribution, co-ordinated by Jenni Frost and based on a piece woven by her on a peg loom, stood out proudly from the others.

Val and our contribution to the Guilds' Challenge.

Bryn and Jenni arrived at the crack of dawn to set up the display of work, and Bryn very nobly put on show the files and folders from her recent Certificate of Achievement in spinning.  Congratulations to her for her excellent work and well-deserved result.

Bryn and Jenni with their display of our work.

In the afternoon, we were treated to a fascinating lecture about historic Welsh textiles from Louise Mumford, Senior Conservator at the National Museum of Wales. Louise had the privilege of conserving the "Llan-gors Textile" - a fragmentary piece found in the sediment of Llangorse lake, near Brecon.  This amazing fabric, based on fine linen at 23 threads/cm., was scrunched into an amorphous lump and dropped into the mud about a thousand years ago.  After it was found in 1990, Louise it was who unravelled it piece by piece, recording every step of the way.  More information at https://museum.wales/articles/2007-05-03/The-Llan-gors-textile-an-early-medieval-masterpiece/
Back to the present, and a final look around the trade stands (selling all sorts of desirable stuff from dyed fibre to fine fleece and equipment) and a last cup of tea before heading homewards into the setting sun.
Thanks to all who took part, especially Hilary Miller and her team of helpers, and Jenni and Bryn for our display (and Alan for the photographs).

Another busy weekend, September 17th. & 18th.

This time we were in and around the Conwy Valley spinning and chatting to the public.
On Friday evening Val, Alan and the CamperVan pitched up at Gorjys Music Festival in Caerhûn and were joined on Saturday by Betty and Alison.  We all had a good time, as usual, explaining about textiles in general and spinning in particular.  It was interesting to meet a different set of folk from the norm:  we are often demonstrating at "country" or craft events where many visitors are already interested in spinning or weaving - or sheep.  At Caerhûn, they come for the music and are sometimes surprised to meet handspinners.  We had a great display of handmade items for visitors to look at, thanks to Val and Alan and their pin weaving frames, and Val had brought naturally dyed fibres, equipment and lots of other things all carefully labelled.  Betty and Alison brought themselves, and their spinning kit.
Alison was driven away by the midges in the evening, but everyone else stayed for the music under the stars.

And then on Sunday, many of us joined the joyful throng at Pensychnant Conservation Centre & Nature Reserve, just outside Conwy itself, for their first Wool Sunday.  This was a spectacularly successful event and a chance just to sit, spin and natter to friends.  Tea and cake, talks and walks, stalls and a whole marquee of things.... a butterfly release.... sunshine.... what more could one ask?  Thanks to Jenny Pritchard and her friends at Pensychnant for the organisation.  More details about the Centre at http://pensychnant.co.uk/home.html