Community First and National Wool Week

We have had a really great afternoon with a group from Conwy Council Community First, in honour of National Wool Week.  A whole minibus full (10 adults plus Jennifer from the Community Development Service who did the organising) arrived to sample spinning and weaving.  As usual, several people took to the craft like ducks to water, and the whole group went away with big smiles - which was very gratifying.  The Guild members had a good time too: thanks to Bryn, June, Pauline and, of course, Fred.  We hope to be able to keep in touch, and, who knows, perhaps we may have some new members in the fulness of time?

Decks cleared and ready for action...

June and audience.

Pauline showing how to thread the yarn

Star pupil (one of several)!

Concentrating on the drop spindle.....

Team photo with genuine Campaign for Wool umbrella.

AC

Corn Dolly Making, Wednesday October 10th.

Bryn's Harvest loaf

We celebrated the approach of autumn with an evening of corn dolly weaving, traditionally made from the last sheaf of corn gathered at the end of the harvest.  Corn dollies have their origin in our distant, pagan past, and each region has its' own particular designs. Expertly led by Jenny P., who grew up in East Anglia, we completed a "Welsh Fan" without too much trouble - a testament to Jenny's excellent teaching and efficient planning.  We used Maris Wigeon wheat, specially obtained for the workshop as modern wheat varieties are too short and pithy for corn dollies. Having "graded" our stalks of wheat we quickly picked up the plaiting technique required, weaving in new stalks as we progressed down (or up) the structure:

Jenny's Welsh Fan: something for us to aspire to.

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Those who chose not to make dollies passed a pleasant couple of hours spinning and chatting. 
Many thanks to Jenny P for her time and trouble, and thanks to Jenni F for the cake!
AC

Thorough flood but not thorough fire...

(With apologies to W. Shakespeare)
Three intrepid people came to the afternoon meeting yesterday, and those of us with spinning wheels got a lot done without any chat to distract us! The Community Centre is nice and warm at the moment, and the floodwaters on the River Elwy are subsiding fast.  Our new programme is being finalised, and we are looking forward to some Winter Sunday Meetings, which will save us having to travel in the dark evenings.  Look out for an update to the successful Olympic and Paralympic Woolsac project shortly.

The waters are going down in LlanfairTH...

...but waterpolo may have to replace football for a while.

Spinning hands.

AC

Interesting problem?

An interesting email has arrived in my personal inbox this morning:  some poor soul has apparently been troubled by multiple copies of comments posted on this blog after ticking the "notify me when new comments are added" box.  This is a bit odd, since we haven't had any comments posted for months (and haven't put anything on the blog for a while). There is also an inviting link to click on in the email, which is a bit suspicious, and Blogger has put it into the Spam box - which didn't stop it being emailed to me anyway!
So, "Anonymous", if you're a real person with a genuine Google-related problem I'm really very sorry.  These things are extremely tedious, but  I think you will have to fix this yourself (by unticking the box?) or by contacting Google directly. 
If you're not a real person, you're not reading this anyway, so no point in my commenting further.
AC

Woodfest Wales/Gwyl Coed Cymru 2012

Thanks to the hospitality of the Woodturners Association we were able to attend this year's Woodfest despite no longer having a tent!  Thanks also to Rosie for the pictures:     (A.C.)

Abergele Guild Friendship Day

A good day was had by all at our Friendship Day on Saturday, May 19th.  Although several of our own members had prior commitments (you know who you are.......), we managed a respectable turnout, and were delighted to welcome many of our friends from other Guilds.  Thank you to all of them for making the effort to travel to LlanfairTH.  A special thankyou to  "Mam a mi" for bringing gorgeous dyed fibres for sale.
We all enjoyed the opportunity to spin and chat, to catch up on people's news and to pick up useful tips about fibre crafts.
Unfortunately no-one from Abergele Guild has a working digital camera at the moment, so we're waiting for Kath to send us her photographs - and here they are:

Kath's stand (well, she did take the pictures for us!)

AC demonstrating "arm knitting", as taught by Louise of Woolfish

AC