President's Note
Hello Spinners,
It’s 2008 and our year of rest is over. January starts with Roc Day. Please bring:
Hello Spinners,
It’s 2008 and our year of rest is over. January starts with Roc Day. Please bring:
I am excited about the possibilities this year holds. Our calendar is filling
fast.
| January 20 | Roc Day |
| February17 | Spinning review: preparation for our beginners class |
| March 16 | Class 1 |
| April 20 | Class 2 |
| May 18 | Class 3 |
| June 22 (Note this is the 4th Sunday) | open |
| July 20 | open |
| July 27, 28, 29 | Workshop (tentative with Patsy Zawistoski*) |
| August 17 | open |
| September 21 | open |
| October 19 | 10th Anniversary Party |
| November 16 | open |
| December 21 | Christmas Party with white elephant exchange. |
*I'm working on a 3 day workshop with Patsy Z. You can look up her website at http://www.SpinningGuru.com. I took an informal verbal survey and the class every person I spoke with was interested in was Cellulose Fibers Old & New, Long & Short. Here is her description: The end of the twentieth century saw an explosion in the cellulose fibers available for hand spinners to incorporate into their stash, naturally colored cottons, various flax preparations, hemp, ramie, rayons, Tencel™ and the newest Rayon from Bamboo. Each of these has similar characteristics, but vastly different spinning and preparation techniques since the fibers vary from ½ inch cotton to more than a meter for hemp. Spend 3 days learning how to explore, combine and maximize these fibers with your spinning skills. Various preparations, dyeing, spinning, plying finishing and record keeping techniques will be covered. The "Cellulose" booklet is included in the fiber fees.
I hope you are as excited as I am. See you on Sunday!
Hello again spinners,
Our newsletter and your editor has had a break for the last six months. It's been a busy six months, though. We have met a lot of new enthusiastic spinners and welcome them to the group. We have some exciting plans for beginning spinning classes and a workshop for the established spinners. Mary an I are into our Master Spinner Level III homework. Selections from our Levels I and II workbooks will be appearing in the newsletter. We found it very interesting to review our books together. We answered the same questions, with the same information, yet the answers couldn't have been more different. It just goes to show that there is no one "right" answer when it comes to spinning. I look forward to spinning with all of you and learning from your approach, too.
| July | Welcome new member Felicitas Sloves. Felicitas has been spinning a while and is an accomplished weaver. See her work at www.memphisweaver.com. |
| August | |
| September | The Mid South Fair had low turnout in the handspun skeins department. Mary won a Best of Show for her merino skein, while Angela won one for her kumihimo necklace of handspun silk. Mary & Angela did a 3-day pseudo sheep-to-shawl with alpaca donated by New Era Fiber. Mary spun roving while Angela wove a shawl on Patricia's tri-loom using mill spun and handspun yarn. 16 fleeces were sold in the Silent Auction. |
| October | Spinning on the River celebrated its 9th anniversary. We got the gifts by making miniature spindle pins with our own handspun yarns. Welcome guest Mary McElroy, and returning member Dana. |
| November | Angela, Sandy, Sylvia, Joanne, Mary and Felicitas spun at davies Plantation November 1-3. A big quilt show was set up in the Hillwood building, while spinning, tatting, bobbin lace and chair caning was demonstrated in the Manor house. We're invited back for next year. A picture of the demo appeared in the Bartlett and Germantown editions of the Commercial Appeal with a note about the guild. |
| December | Welcome back long-absent spinner Susan Harrington and her guest Heather Doty. |
Angela appeared in the Bartlett Appeal section of the Commercial Appeal after spinning at Davies Plantation. The Germantown Appeal section ran the photo in January. She was spinning more of the Romney/Mohair/Silk sock yarn that appeared in the Your Yarn: Sock Yarn feature in the Fall 2007 Spin-Off.
See more members' yarns in a variety of projects in Spin-Off's Your Yarn in Action, including Mary and Sylvia in the fingerless mitts, and Mary, Angela, Sandy and distant spinner Kathleen in the woven clutch.
Author: Richards, Lynne and Tyrl, Ronald J.
Publisher: Timber Press, Inc., Portland, OR 2005
The first 4 chapters concisely cover color theory, history, necessary equipment and the dyeing process. The rest of the book isn't for reading page after page. It is a great resource. Chapters 5-11 are divided by the dye colors produced including plants resulting in little or no color change. The final nearly half of the book covers the plants, alphabetized by Latin name and with a color plate of a small portion of the plant. The index contains both common and Latin names with a glossary guaranteed to make you a budding botanist.
The amount of work that went into testing plants for dye potential is staggering. A beginning dyer might not need any other book. An experienced dyer will be scouring fields, book in hand, looking for the plant with the perfect color, knowing that many previously overlooked weeds are now potential dyepot stars. With one photo of each plant it would be difficult to identify plants in different stages of growth. The addition of a resource to picture a plant in its different seasons would make the hunt successful.
Author: Connie Delaney
Publisher: Kokovoko Press, 1988, 80 pp.
Spindle Spinning is like having a friend teach you spindling over a cup of tea. Connie Delaney's style is relaxed and conversational, occasionally joking. She covers the primary actions of spindling and minor troubleshooting, staying clear of precise technical matters of grist and twists per inch. This is a good gentle introduction for the new spindler trying to grasp basic spinning.
Spindling instructions explain drafting, twist, and winding and plying with three major spindle groups: top and bottom whorl drop spindles, Navajo spindles, and small supported spindles. Troubleshooting tips cover the most common problems and questions with practical advice and encouragement. Delaney describes drop spindling tricks for getting better speed, length, making wrist distaffs, securing yarn with a half hitch and a half hitch and winding onto a cross-arm spindle. Step-by-step instructions for the Navajo spindle cover spinning actions and using multiple passes to create roving first, then yarn, and an optional third past to tighten the twist. Delaney gives very detailed instructions for using the chain-plying, or Navajo plying technique on this type of spindle. The small support spindle rounds out the set.
Delaney sets the tone by starting out waxing philosophical about the virtues and historical value of spindle spinning. She touches lightly on wool types and other fibers. Preparation techniques are described briefly leaving much for the spinner to learn through other sources or hands-on experience. Spindle Spinning is not the definitive book on making perfect yarn. It is a friendly and encouraging introduction to a craft it promises will be worth your while.
Little Bit Acres is a small farm in North Mississippi with
a handspinning herd of white and colored angora goats along with pygora and
angora rabbits (oh yes and 2 sheep!). I will have fleece from the goats from
the coming spring shearing to offer for sell in a couple months. I also offer
custom fiber processing consisting of washing, picking, carding of your fiber
or mine. I also will custom dye and blend colors or a variety of fibers to
your specifications. Anything to keep my hands in all that wonderful fiber!
E-mail for information and pricing at creative_rovings@littlebitacres.com.
The Red Scarf project got started as a show of support for women dealing with heart health issues. The Chimneyville Weavers and Spinners Guild (Jackson, MS), the North Mississippi Fiber Guild (Senatobia) and the Memphis Guild of Handloom Weavers put on an art show every year at the North Mississippi Community College in Senatobia. This year the theme is Make It Red and will include pieces focused on women's heart health. The show is opened up to all crafts, not just fiber. The pieces just need to have red in them somewhere. Pieces will be collected in Memphis on January 28th. Contact Angela or Patricia for more details before the deadline.
Hinds Community College, Raymond Campus (west of jackson, MS)
January 28 - Feb 29, 2008
Opening: February 3, 2008
Northwest Mississippi Community College
March 8 - 31, 2008
Opening: March 8, 2008
All meeting refreshments are Pot Luck.
Meeting - Sunday, January 20, 1:30-5pm
Program: Roc Day! Musical spinning wheels, fiber blend party, find the fiber
tool and pot luck snacks.
Meeting - Sunday, February 15, 1:30-5pm
Program: Spinning review and preparation for beginner's class.
Meeting - Sunday, March 16, 1:30-5pm
Program: Beginning Spinning, session 1
Meeting - Sunday, April 20, 1:30-5pm
Program: Beginning Spinning, session 2
Meeting - Sunday, May 18, 1:30-5pm
Program: Beginning Spinning, session 3