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| Jen carrying a back full of dried peas |
Jen is currently pursuing a Master's degree in textiles at UC Davis. One of her projects took her to the other side of the world to a women's group in the Himalayas. Her presentation will focus on the natural dye experiments they did there and the spinning and weaving traditions of the region.
No Sheep Breed presentation from our members this month.
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| Natural dyed wool drying in the Himalayas |
2016
- Mar. 30, Treadles Meeting
- April 8, 9, 10. CNCH Conference in Modesto [all info is on line at the link to the right]
- Apr. 26, Treadles Meeting [date change - TUESDAY night]
- May 21, Dye Day - With Dreamy Goat Design. Check the previous newsletter for more information.
- June 4, SPINNING AT THE WINERY, annual spinning day at Retzlaff Winery, Livermore
- June 17 - 19, Palouse Fiber Arts Festival, Moscow Idaho. To get info on this fun looking fest you will need to sign in to get their newsletter at: www.palousefiberfestival.wordpress.com
- June 24 - 26 Black Sheep Gathering, Eugene, Oregon. All the info you need is in the column to the right
LOCAL INFORMATION FOR US SPINNERS
From T2T member Sultana:
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| You can't click "here" [above] to go to the website. Go to ayarnlessraveled.com |
From Lou Grantham:
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| Lou's shop, San Francisco Fiber, is open and waiting for your visit. Lots of us have had classes from her, and she continues now in her own space. |
Shop Announcements:
SF Fiber now has over 30 colors of the Maysville 8/4 Carpet Warp and 34 colors of the Jason Collingwood Rug Yarn from Webs are on their way, along with the 8/5 linen warp.
With our new Webs (Valley Fibers) wholesale account we will be adding more cone cotton, tencel, bamboo, and Toika Loom products.
Looking for a used loom? I have a lovely 40” Classic 4 harness Cherry Norwood 40" with bench $1200, a Hammett 45" counter balance rug loom $500, and few more that I haven’t quite decided on yet.
Because of my travel schedule, I am still open by appointment. But appointments can be easy and spontaneous, as I live just 3 minutes walking from the shop.
CNCH
I will have 3 booths at CNCH (April8-10). In addition to my regular supplies, I will be selling Borgs and other yarns from Unicorn Books (which is now out of business) and lots of used equipment at great discounts. *Kate Codwell will be joining my CNCH booth with her Mayan Hand products.
The link to my updated class list for San Francisco Fiber studio for March 2016.
http://www.sffiber.com/classes.html
If you are interested in taking a class, send me an email with the name of the class in the subject line and I will put you on the class list. If the dates do not work for you, let me know what does and we can created a pop-up class.
Meet The Sheep at Meridian Jacobs
Saturday, April 2
10:00 to 4:00
Visit with the sheep that provide the fiber we all love! Lambs, kids (goats), and bunnies to pet! Farm Club members will be here to answer questions. Fiber arts demonstrations all day.
Vendors
Meridian Jacobs Shop is Open
Fiber Confections (Colleen Simon) - Local Fiber
Julie Kuroki - Local Angora fiber products; ARBA show/4H/pet quality French Angoras
Sheep to Shop (Jackie Post) - Local Fiber
Bring your lunch and a project and spend the day with us and our four-legged fiber friends. We'll be here rain or shine! In the event of rain (we'll celebrate this year!) there will be plenty of space for spinning and visiting with animals in the barn.
Website with info and directions: http://www.meridianjacobs.com/exec/eHome.asp
SPINNING IS ESSENTIAL TO WEAVING
Especially so in many areas of the world where weavers often have to produce their own yarns from their local resources. Following are three terrifically interesting websites to visit not only if you are one of us who is "into" weaving, but should be of interest to us spinners also.
A video of some incredible back strap weaving using a complex set of supplementary heddle strings and rods.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DtkusDnj3ZVg&ved=0ahUKEwiC3Or2zZ7LAhVS5WMKHUXqBuAQtwIIHjAA&usg=AFQjCNEAZiTgomI1IWfR7HCnBGJvKHhSVQ
A bloggers entry about a visit to a silk worm farm:
http://www.drivenachodrive.com/2013/09/the-saga-of-the-magic-worm/
BLOGGING ABOUT BACKSTRAP WEAVING
Laverne Waddington, raised in Australia but has been living in South America teaching English since 1993. "I have learned to weave on a backstrap loom and other simple looms with several indigenous women and men throughout the region…Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador… in both the highlands and lowlands, and further afield in Guatemala. I have also had the opportunity to study with Vietnamese and Burmese backstrap weavers in the USA".
A must see blog with references to all phases of backstop weaving.
http://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com
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| Laverne's weaving |
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| A gathering of weavers from the Andes and Lowlands in Santa Cruz, Bolivia But first, the wool must be spun! [both photos are from Laverne's website] |
END NOTE:
In honor of this month's PI DAY, , , hope you had some pie to go with pi!
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| SHEPHERDS PI |