Spinning on the River

Note from the President

Hi Spinners,

We are going to be ¾ of the way through spinning for entries in the Delta and Mid-South fairs. Fifty yard skeins will fulfill requirements for exotic, blend and wool. We have given out fibers for the exotics- angora and silk. These fibers can also be used for blending. This month we will spin short fibers which can also be used for the exotic or blend category. In addition the cotton category has required a 25 yard skein.

We are going from the longest fiber-silk-to the short fibers. I'll be bringing cotton, cashmere and yak for you to spin. We will talk about making and spinning punis as well.

To Bring:

Minutes from April 19, 2009

Members attending:
Anna Liddell, Maxine Gray, Mary Lessman, Andrea Christianson, Lisa Loftis, Dana Paschal, Sandy Parkinson, Kaaren Reid, Sylvia Sachs, Karen Saunders, Nichol Treuil, Jane Watson, Melissa Weipert

Guests:
Elizabeth Holt, Sarah Holt, Stephanie Moon

Business:

Dues for 2009 are due in April. Dues are $10 payable to Spinning on the River Fiber Guild.

As our guild growth has increased dramatically in 2009, we are asking for more participation from guild members with program input and help with guild administrative functions. Several volunteers are needed to help with planning programs and we need volunteers to help with taking responsibility for meeting minutes for the monthly newsletter. A survey for programs was distributed and is available on the guild website also – please let us know what you are interested in doing so we can make our guild meeting a fun and exciting event for everyone. If you are interested in helping with program planning or with meeting minutes, please contact Mary Lessman or Lisa Loftis.

Announcements and Upcoming events:

May 1 - Friday, May 1st is Pioneer Day at Crosswind Elementary School in Collierville. The 4th grade classes visits several stations during the day learning about and trying activities related to pioneer life: square dancing, butter making, tin punch art, and spinning to name a few. Mary and Angela have been the resident spinners for several years with occasional appearances by other guild members. There is an opening for a new demonstrator for these eager young students, who knows, you may run across a new spinner-to-be. This event runs from 9am to 2or 3 in the afternoon.

May 6 – Hernando Mississippi Art Fair

May 8 - Halls, TN is holding their 16th annual Health & Heritage Day on Friday, May 8th. They are interested in having a spinner among their demonstrators as well. This event runs 9am-2pm. Halls, TN is about a 1-1/2 hour drive north of Memphis on Hwy 51. Contact Joni Cook [jcook (at) lccoa.net]

May 9 – Memphis Cook Convention Center “All about Women” 9am – 9pm free booth for spinning demonstrators. Contact Lisa if you are interested in participating.

Cathy Stauffer's open house at her Coldwater Alpaca Ranch was pronounced quite a success as many had show and tell samples of their purchases for everyone to see from Saturday, April 18.

Mary Lessman – beautiful Nuno felted shawl from the workshop last weekend.

Sarah Holt – purchases from Coldwater Alpaca Ranch including raw alpaca, beautiful skeins

Lisa showed a skein she “rescued” with additional color by plying – the result was beautiful. Jane reaped the benefit from some of the quote “ugly” merino as an addition to her stash – as the saying goes --- one man’s treasure…

Sylvia– 2 pocket books from a Dutch pattern – one featured her white elephant swap yarn along with alpaca from the North Carolina shearer at the Coldwater farm open house from Saturday.

Jane – 2 sheep paintings from recent art show and marketing literature from Pendeleton Wool on the history and process of producing Pendleton wool.

(Mary – I have several pictures from my phone I will attach that can be used.)

Program:

If you missed the April meeting, you missed out on a lot of fun!! We played with silk in many forms. We took cocoons and reeled silk and stretched cocoons into hankies. Samples of all kinds of silk were available to sample and then we dyed our 50grams of hankies! Color experimentation was in evidence everywhere as we took the yellow, red, pink and blue dye and painted, poured and squirted our silk. Don’t forget to bring yours back for show and tell next month.

Treasurer's Report: January 2009

December Balance:	$1151.60
Deposits: Silk deposit	$10.00
Debits: Silk supplies	-$53.75
Current Balance:	$1107.85

Member Gallery

Mary's hand spun, dyed and woven scarf.

Spinners - please send pictures of your handspun projects for future issues. Your work just might inspire someone else.

Spinner's Outreach

Spinning at the All About Women fair. Members of the Spinning Guild were able to provide a little outreach since our last meeting! On May 1st, Mary and Lisa went to Crosswind Middle School for their Annual Pioneer Day to demonstrate spinning and speak about fiber. Mary is an old hand at volunteering for this event but it was Lisa’s first time and she bravely tried to pick up the program for the afternoon sessions. Many pencil roving bracelets were made, all eyes were riveted to the spinning wheel when it was operating and Mary entertained everyone with “animal, vegetable, bug, mineral” throughout the day.

All in all, 6 groups of children were enlightened about various aspects of fiber as a part of their curriculum. The last group entertained Mary and Lisa in return by demonstrating the square dancing moves they had learned in another classroom! On May 9th, Memphis Cook Convention Center hosted a women’s health fair titled All About Women. Home Depot was a key sponsor and through them Lisa’s partner was able to offer a vendor’s booth and table for the Spinning on the River Guild.

Again, Mary and Lisa spent the day and evening demonstrating knitting and spinning. Mary brought her charka, several handspun knitted items and a cd drop spindle. Lisa brought her traditional, a pound of wool and several sample skeins of handspun. The table generated a large amount of interest and children gravitated to both the charka and the wheel in awe as they were operated.

If you would like to participate in any upcoming demonstration opportunities please contact Mary Lessman at mary@memphisfiberarts.org !

Lisa

Calendar

All meeting refreshments are Pot Luck.

Meeting - Sunday, May 17, 1:30-5pm
Please note this date the room will be 112
Program: Short fibers

2009 dates, room 113, programs TBA
June 14 - Please note this is the second Sunday of June
July 19
August 16
September 20
October 18 - Birthday Party
November 15
December 20 - Christmas Party and White Elephant gift exchange

Spinning on the River - May 2009