"KNIT, NOSH & SPIN"
This will be an informal night of snacking, working with our fibers and discussing business for the Guild. If you come, it will not be boring! Don't eat dinner that night, bring a simple dish to share, savory or sweet, and we will work out some items we've had to table at the last few meetings to make time for speakers. Bring your wheels or your knitting for two hours of knitting, spinning & noshing.
This will also be the evening that the lottery for the Sarah Anderson workshops is drawn. If you have not read about the workshops and mini classes, scroll down to the previous blog and get informed.
February Meeting Minutes
[Linda B., secretary]
The 7:00 p.m. meeting was preceded by a half hour demonstration by Sultana C. for those new spinners wanting to know the difference between worsted, semi-worsted and woolen spinning techniques. President Laura H. began the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Will T. verified that the Spinning at the Winery Day will be held this year on June 6, 2015. He thanked Linnie A. for her year’s of help with coordinating all the jobs it takes for T2T to be involved in this day. Linnie took over to help Will and Kate when the planning became increasingly more involved as the day grew in popularity with area spinners. Joan has now volunteered to do the job of coordinating T2T members this year and planning will begin in earnest in the next few months. We are exploring the possibility of having our own booth at the Retzlaff winery as a means for members to sell products that do not compete with our vendor’s products.
CNCH liason, Joan A. asked for us to submit more “vessels” to be used in the raffle at Conference in Asilomar in April. The money raised by this raffle will be used as scholarships for others to attend a future CNCH conference. We have been fortunate to have two T2T members win a scholarship in the recent past. She will be glad to transport them to conference.
Vilija handed out business card sized advertisements for our guild printed with our logo, name, blogspot site and CNCH web site listed. Please hand these out at any opportunity.
Wendy L. reminded us that Forest Hill Farms in San Ramon area will be April 18, 2015, for those not attending the Sarah Anderson workshop that day. We will be interacting with the public and demonstrating spinning. No skirting work will be needed this year.
Laura thanked those providing the refreshments this month. We had 29 people attending, counting two visitors.
Linnie gave a presentation about the upcoming April T2T guild meeting and subsequent co-sponsored workshops presented by Sarah Anderson. [Please read the previous blog for detailed information about Sarah' visits with both guilds.]
We had a quick show and tell and refreshment break
.
Pam Murdock introduced the evening’s speakers. Henry Clemes and Roy Clemes of Clemes & Clemes spinning products company in Pinole, CA brought us our two electric carding machines, purchased after a committee search to add such a machine to the guild’s lending library. Father Henry and son Roy proceeded to meticulously describe the use and features of these machines. They started with how to remove the machines from the packing boxes. The electric motor section weighs 22 pounds and the drum carder, about 15 pounds. All parts and tools to assemble and safely use the electric carder are contained in a specific place in this box. It is recommended that everything is labeled and remains in this box. The use of these carders by our members will depend on knowledge of the proper construction of the carder’s parts, safety features, and a hefty deposit for a specific time limit on usage. The expense of these tools demands these requirements when they are checked out of the guild’s library. Carol C., librarian, will look into the possibility of short time use that may not incur a large deposit. These carders are quite efficient and speedy. We were shown proper assembly, fiber feeding, doffing, cleaning of the large and small drums, and how to diz a bat right off the drum. The electric motor section requires little maintenance and has multiple safety features for the user. The total machine has as small a footprint as the manual model without the electric motor section. The Clemes’ products are shown on YouTube. We had such a great time learning about the carders that we did not get to see the demonstration of the blending board Clemes’ produces. The Clemes’ offer classes at select fiber conferences and are considering a class room at their place of business in Pinole, CA.
The meeting ended at 9:25 p.m.
Dates For Your Calendar
March 19, 2015 Thursday, Date change due to Library conflict Treadles meeting at the Library
April 9 - 12, 2015 CNCH at Asilomar -more info to the right under "Bay Area Guild Info"
April 15 Treadles mini class with Sarah Anderson at New Life Fellowship, 3535 Chestnut Ave, Concord 6:30 - 9:30
April 16 Spinning workshop with Sarah Anderson in Walnut Creek
April 17, Spinning workshop with Sarah Anderson In Concord
April 18, Spinning workshop with Sarah Anderson in San Francisco
April 19, Spindles & Flyers mini class with Sarah Anderson, 715 Lexington Ave, El Cerrito 11 am to 2 pm
all info about Sarah's classes and w.s. are in the previous blog
April 18, Forest Hill Farms sheep shearing & spinning demos
April 18, Forest Hill Farms sheep shearing & spinning demos
May - Treadles Annual Dye Day - date and place to be announced
June 6, 2015 Treadles' Spinning at the Winery, Retzlaff Winery, Livermore 10 AM to 4 PM
ORGANIC YARNS AND TEXTILES
In the food aisle of the grocery store, food labeled organic on the front display of the product, must be "certified" organic according to our laws. While all food items are under the jurisdiction of the USDA, textiles are another matter, however. Since they are not food, they are not governed by the USDA. Many yarns and textiles can be labeled organic without actually being "organic" in the same vein as organic foods are, which are grown and processed within very strict guidelines. Organic textiles could be anything the manufacturer wanted them to be. Until now.
The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) was developed through collaboration by
Since its introduction in 2006, and supported by the growth in consumption of organic fibres and by the remarkable demand for unified processing criteria from the industry and retail sector, GOTS has gained universal recognition. This has enabled processors and manufacturers to supply their organic textiles with one certification accepted in all major markets. With the introduction of the logo and labelling system GOTS is already visible not only on the shelves of natural textile shops but large-scale retailers and brand dealers as well.
A lot of the standard is much more technical than the average consumer needs or wants to know, but some things that stand out are:
• yarns labeled as organic can have up to 5 percent non-organic materials, but only certain fibers are allowed
• some synthetic and regenerated (cellulose) fibers are allowed as part of the 5 percent non-organic material
• products can be labeled "made with x percent organic" material so long as at least 70 percent of the fiber is organic and it meets other standards
• no genetically modified products are allowed
• organic and non-organic fibers of the same sort cannot be mixed in the same product (so you can't have an organic wool yarn that also has non-organic wool included)
• oxygen-only bleaches are allowed; no chlorine
• cotton can be mercerized if its production meets the standards
• heavy-metal dyes are banned other than those that use iron; a dye of up to 5 percent copper is allowed for yarns that will be dyed blue, green or turquoise
• after January 1, 2014, any polyester used in yarn or fabric has to be from post-consumer recycled material
• packing material cannot include PVC; after January 1, 2014, all cardboard and paper used in packing materials, ball bands, etc., must be from recycled sources or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council
• companies must meet standards for wastewater treatment
• the standard sets out the basics of fair working conditions including no slave or child labor, no discrimination, fair pay, reasonable working hours, a workplace free of harassment, etc.
Choosing yarns or fabrics that meet the Global Organic Textile Standard is a step in the right direction toward being greener and allows you to be assured that the textile was produced in good conditions for the workers (though as of this writing it does not yet apply to farm workers), any animals involved and for the planet, too.
76 -TROMBONE HAT
A just for fun project from the Fall 2004 issue of INTERWEAVE KNITS. A fun hat to Play around with, especially if you have lots of odds and ends of your handspun, or any leftovers combined to make a bulky yarn. That's Play, with a capital P, which rhymes with C, which stands for Cool.
Sing to the tune of "76 Trombones"[ from The Music Man, for you younger folks]
Attention Knitters! Yarn in hand! Needles ready! Cast on!
. . . 76 stitches on a number 9
Knit in the round just plain stockinette
Don't forget to mark the beginning of the row
Or you'll lose your place before you know!
76 stitches and some bulky yarn--
Knit for about 5 inches or so.
Do a row of purl, so the edge will make a curl,
Change your color every other row.
Go ahead and use your stash and have some fun with this--
Blue and pink, rose and green, purple and some gold.
You'll be amazed how marvelous the stripes can be!
And you will see--that you can be quite bold!
Knit 4 more inches--change your color every round.
Ooh and ahh, wow and neat, is what they all will say.
Now's the time to shape the top and make the crown.
You decrease one every 10 and do a row straight away.
76 stitches are now 70.
You can decrease one every 8 next row.
Knit a row between, now it's 7, 5, 4, 3
then every 2--you're almost set to go!
Decrease every one--then knit 2 together,
Next break the yarn and thread the tail through.
Your hat's complete! Go and get something to eat.
As for me--
I am going to knit one, too!
The author of this is Wren Ross, a singer, actor and knitter. Her website is www.wrenross.com Go to the button toward the bottom of the page that says "Knitting & Design" to see more of her knitting adventures.
If you need and want, I can publish the "traditional" step by step instructions in the next blog.
END NOTE and Thought for the Month
"Time is precious--waste it wisely"
And an especially good way is to just hang out with a good friend.
