January 15, 2017

NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY, JAN. 24 2017, 7PM

Once again,  meeting is on a Tuesday rather than our usual Wednesday. Mark your calendar.

PROGRAM: AN EVENING WITH ROY CLEMES ABOUT CARDING ON OUR ELECTRIC CARDERS
Roy will bring one or two carders and we will have our two there so there will be plenty of opportunity for hands on carding! Treadles' blending board will also be there.  Roy suggested that a call be put out to anyone who has clean fiber they want to test out to bring it and he can talk through the difference between, say, longwool and merino, or whatever. We will probably skip sharing to give more time on the carders, so save what you have for February.

This is a good reminder that the guild has two Clemes & Clemes electric carders that are new and work beautifully. This meeting will give you a chance to see how they work so that you will have the confidence to use them on their own. We want to keep them in tip top shape, so there is a bit of a learning curve to use them properly.


The carders are not only for preparing clean raw fiber, but also for blending rovings or batts that you already have. Its a great way to make your own one-of-a-kind blends for spinning. In February we have a special speaker coming, see below, but in March there will be another program about "Twelve-Plus Ways to Spin Batts". This will give you two months to borrow one of the carders and use up some of your own clean fiber to make some batts. Contact either Carol C. or Pam M. to arrange a time to have the carders. The use of the carders is for paid members only.



TREADLES SHEEP FOR 2016


DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR
2017
  • Jan. 24, Treadles Meeting, Roy Clemes [date change - Tuesday]
  • Jan 26, 27, 28, Greenwood Fiberworks Spinning Workshop. [Info below]
  • Feb. 22, Treadles Meeting. On the usual Wednesday. Charlene Woodcock:  Jolom Mayaetik: Mayan weavers cooperative of Chiapas
  • Feb 23 - 26, Stitches West at the Santa Clara Convention Center
  • March 22, Treadles Meeting[One week early because of Library Book Sale] 12+ Ways to Spin Batts, a video presentation by Jillian Moreno
  • April 26, Treadles Meeting, On our usual Wednesday.
  • May 4 - 7CNCH Conference at Asilomar (link on the right)
  • May 27 - 28, Treadles' Dye Day with Linda Hartshorn, Organic Indigo, Easy as 1 2 3. [for paid members only, more info later]
  • June 3Spinning at the Winery. This is our 20th Anniversary! How can we make it even more special? Think of some great suggestions. [date is still tentative, but probably accurate]

GREENWOOD FIBERWORKS SPINNING WORKSHOP
"Spinning Painted Rovings for Deliberate Color Effect"

Jan 26, Thursday night 7-8pm, Fiber Preview at Amy's house with light appetizers and beverages to accompany the fiber preview, All participants welcome

Jan. 27, Friday 10am - 5pm
Jan 28, Saturday, 10am - 5pm
Both workshops will be identical, pick the day you can attend. Workshop will be at Amy's house in Pleasant Hill.

$45 per student plus $24 supply fee
If interested,contact Wendy to to see if there are any more spaces.

Bring:

  • a well-functioning spinning wheel
  • bobbins
  • lazy kate
  • niddy-noddy
  • labels for skeins
  • a bag lunch
  • And a great big smile 😃




SPINNING WORKSHOPS AT CNCH 2017 ASILOMAR
A Beatrix Potter illustration



It wasn’t very long ago, 15 years or so, that some of us badgered CNCH [the Conference of Northern California Handweavers] to give us spinners equal time with the weavers. Many of us weavers were becoming more and more interested in other textile related crafts. Hence basket making, dyeing and spinning were eventually given planned workshops in these areas to choose from at the yearly conferences. Since CNCH was set up to promote the craft of weaving specifically, it was not easy to make them understand the need to branch out.

Its tough and expensive to put on a conference, from gathering the needed volunteers to deciding just which workshops and seminars will be chosen. Class participation is monitored for future decisions on what to offer. At Asilomar this year there are three spinning related workshops all of which need more participants

  1. Shifu Journey: Spinning and Weaving Mulberry Paper, with Donna Sakamoto Crispin
  2. Spinning Spectacular Knitting Yarns, with Kate Larson
  3. Princess Breeds: Turbo-Charged, with Beth Smith

All three instructors for these classes are well-known and informative leaders. These are good classes that any of you should consider signing up for. If we don’t support our chosen areas of interest, support for them at CNCH will evaporate. 

We are not asking you to sign up for something you don’t want to take, but we are asking you to consider going to Asilomar and to also consider one of these three classes if at all possible for you. 


Registration is open now! Click on the link to CNCH at the right side of this blog.


MAKE A CENTER PULL BALL
for when you don't have access to your ball winder!



FOR ALL THOSE RAINY DAYS. . . MAY THEY CONTINUE FOR A WHILE