UPCOMING 2020 MEETING DATES
May 23 (Saturday) - Spinning at the Winery - cancelled. See announcement below.
Ongoing - Monday Spinning via Zoom. Contact Pam M. for information.
SPINNING AT THE WINERY 2020 ANNOUNCEMENT
We have made the decision to cancel Spinning at the Winery this
year. This was a very hard choice to make and it was not taken lightly.
As you know, Spinning at the Winery is the crowning event of the year
for our guild. Over the years we have gotten together to celebrate all
we have in common and enjoy friends, food and lots and lots of fiber.
In view of our current situation and the unknown risks that lie
ahead in the next few months when our shelter in place orders will be
slowly lifted (somehow), we decided it is not worth the risk to have a
large gathering that might contribute to the problem or potentially put
one of us or our loved ones at risk of getting sick.
We would like to thank Retzlaff Winery for hosting the event for
over twenty years and Will and Kate for being our shining light. We also
want to thank the many volunteers that make the event possible every
year. We look forward to getting together again in the future.
Since there are many fiber related events planned in the fall, we
have decided not to postpone the event. We ask instead that you support
our vendors directly and allow them to fuel your fiber passion via
delivery straight to your home.
Wendy L.
MEETING MINUTES (Linda B.)
No meeting in March.
UPDATE FROM VILIJA IN INDIANA
[especially after a cross-country move]
I’ll do some spinning when I find some more of my fiber.
I’ll do some weaving when I can get to the loom [and find my yarns]
Maybe
scheduling new flooring to be put in so soon was not the best idea.
Hence the living room full of bedroom and office furniture. But who knew
there would be a lock-down!
Don’t order
a $7.99 box of yellow corn meal thru Amazon if its not an “Amazon
Prime" delivery. Shipping cost was $10!!! But it was midnight when I
ordered and I really wanted to make some corn bread.
Do order some non GMO, organically grown, BLUE cornmeal from the Homestead Gristmill in Waco, Texas. www.homesteadgristmill.com
No shipping cost thru Amazon and its the best cornbread I ever made,
plus the blue color is delightful during this stay-at-home time, perfect
for us indigo lovers. No, there is no actual indigo in there. My
recipe: not really mine, I just found it here, but its better than
“Mine".
Parke County Indiana Cornbread
6T. melted butter [safflower oil works also]
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup milk
1 ¼ cup blue cornmeal
1 cup flour
3T. sugar
1T. baking powder
½ t. salt
Preheat
oven to 400. Grease an 8-inch square pan. Mix dry ingredients together.
Whisk egg and milk in a separate bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients till
about half mixed, then stir in the butter or oil gently. Mix will still
look lumpy and thick, but no dry ingredients showing. Pour into pan,
spread evenly, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Test with a toothpick to
make sure it's baked completely.
Do take a walk and look for Spring wildflowers. Right now there are at least 6 or 7 or more different ones coming up in our area. One of the interesting ones is Bloodroot, with a large white flower. The roots have been used to make red, pink and orange dyes. All parts of the plant are considered poisonous however, so I’m not inclined to dig it up.
Do take a walk and look for Spring wildflowers. Right now there are at least 6 or 7 or more different ones coming up in our area. One of the interesting ones is Bloodroot, with a large white flower. The roots have been used to make red, pink and orange dyes. All parts of the plant are considered poisonous however, so I’m not inclined to dig it up.
Everyone is doing jig-saw puzzles. This is a very cool one for us. Found it on, what else, Amazon.
Stay safe everyone.
Vilija
*note from Lisa, now wearing her chef's hat as food editor and taste tester: amazon was sold out of the cornmeal when I checked, but it is still available at Homestead Gristmill's web site, which Vilija mentions in her update. Mine shipped quickly and has already arrived - I think I'll whip up some cornbread later today!
Continuing on, as it is now 'later today'. I loved reading about the mill in the pamphlet that was sent with my blue cornmeal - ends up it's part of a 'craft village'. Check this section out:
And here is my cornbread - it is truly lovely and extremely tasty! Thanks, Vilija, from one indigo lover to another.
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Shaggy Bear Farms - most of us know Wendy, the shepherdess and dyer at Shaggy Bear Farms. Many of the sheep in her flock are rescues, and they still need to be fed! Wendy says, "People can send emails, texts, or can call me to get fiber or yarn. I can potentially video meet to display yarns or can text photos." Wendy's email address is candwhanson@hotmail.com.
Greenwood Fiberworks - We see Carolyn every year at Black Sheep Gathering, Lambtown, Stitches West, and other events - plus she has met with our guild and taught workshops. She wrote a special message to T2T:
"Hello T2T friends! I hope you are all well and enjoying a little
more time for the fiber arts during this remarkable time. We here at
Greenwood Fiberworks have found ourselves grounded for the time being.
We are normally on the road to fiber shows all springtime, but now we
are home. The good news is that we have been able to get a lot of
dyeing done and best of all, we have been working steadily on the new
website. If you have a moment, please go to www.greenwoodfiberworks.com and check it out. We have most all of our fibers and yarns listed. We even have some of our kits, too.
I
hope you are having fun with all the ways you can spin painted
rovings. I enjoyed coming to teach that class a couple years ago. Keep
on spinning those wonderful luxury fibers, too! Most of all, please
stay well. I hope to see you at Lambtown if we are able to meet this
fall.
Warmly,
Carolyn
Greenwood Fiberworks"
Meridian Jacobs - Robin is a member of our guild - and is also a farmer, weaver, spinner, natural dyer and much more. Besides selling beautiful Jacob fiber and locally-sourced yarns in her farm shop, she also carries Lunatic Fringe, Ashford and Schacht products, and others. The 'best of' individual named fleeces from the 2020 shearing are going up for sale in 1 pound lots, but sell out fast. You can even buy a sheep - the perfect conversation starter and yard decoration! Find her online shop here, or contact her via the contact info on her web site to arrange a solo in-person socially distanced shopping experience at the farm in Vacaville, or to schedule a video call to view and shop for products.
Lisa W.
"CHANGE THE SHED" with Rebecca Mezoff
"I have done a live YouTube broadcast from my studio every morning for the last three weeks. It has been fun to connect with all of you in real time. My goal in doing it is just to get all of us to do a little weaving or at least to connect around tapestry. It can be hard for some of us to actually make ourselves create something when times get tough and that is absolutely okay. If you feel like weaving, do it. It does become a habit and I think it makes the tougher times easier."
Join her on YouTube at 10:30 Mountain (Denver, CO) weekdays. The replays are HERE. The live feed is HERE.
More information about the #changetheshed project is on her website HERE.
Lisa W.
GUILD MEMBER NEWS
I’m working on a FairIsle hat called Walnut Tam by Marie Wallin.
Also working on a shawl called the Cozy Winter By Melanie Mielinger. I chose a yarn by Berroco Ultra Wool 100% Superwash Wool colorway Driftwood The pattern is on Ravelry.
I’m also spinning up a bunch of yarn from a fiber named White Birch.
2020: THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
I pulled out Hubby’s left handed inkle loom and set it up as my warping board. I decided on the color sequence for the warp. All the remaining yardage from the warp skeins will be included in the weft colors. Now, on to the loom. I don’t have anything else that one might use with a loom. I do have a Tunisian crochet hook that went through the string heddles nicely but was too thick to go through the reed. I have a needle threader with a hook on one end large enough to grip the yarn, so I scotch taped it to a bookmark and used it for the slaying hook on the reed. It was too short to go all the way through the heddles as well. By using both implements, the warp was threaded on. I made the mistake of asking Hubby to stand by while I made surgical knots and tensioned the warp. His first sentence was “I wouldn’t have done it that way”. That set the tone for the next two days. The warp did get tightened eventually. Now, what to use for shuttles? Hubby’s tablet weaving shuttles were too short for me to use easily. A broken yard stick got cut into more pieces and V’s cut in the ends. One foot long and thin enough to go through the miniature shed. Score!
Work started on my eleven inch wide warp. After going through two color changes, it became apparent that my scarf was going to be a large dish cloth with a lot of fringe. This discovery required a two day recuperation and a margarita. Thankfully, unceasing plain weave went pretty well. All my surgical knots came undone I wrapped the warp threads back in their color order. Using the information from this debacle, I calculated (again) what I would need to get a scarf out of my colored skeins. It will now be eight inches wide and use NO colors in the warp. The left over non-dyed skeins from our recent lichen dye day provided the right size yarn but only 2/3 of what was needed for the warp. Looking for that other 1/3 yardage of white sock yarn, I came across a guild project from 2015. Back then, we spun a two ply yarn from a chunk of white fleece after preparing it three ways. The skein spun from flicked locks provided the closest match and was enough for that last third for the warp. Score!
Back to the left handed inkle loom, more warp threads were cut and the loom dressed (with Hubby helping “his way”). Two commercial warp threads, then one hand spun, all the way across the 8 inch spread. I’m starting to weave again and working through the colors in numerical order. It looks like I might end up with something more scarf length. We will see if the product is a scarf or a table runner after finishing the fabric. At least, it is a fun project for Monday spinners during the Zoom meetings Thanks, Pam for setting these up and to the guild for providing the three hour access per meeting. It is great to see everyone!
Linda B.
Update from the editor - I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to see photos in the next newsletter!
INTERESTING ARTICLES & VIDEOS
FIBER-RELATED ITEMS FOR SALE
Contact the seller directly. No exchange of $$ at the library is allowed.
25" Schacht Tapestry Loom and A-Frame Stand. Both still in original package. Total retail $197 + tax. Selling for $125.
https://schachtspindle.com/product/tapestry-loom/ - retail $136.00 (25")
https://schachtspindle.com/product/a-frame-stand/ - retail $61.00
SOME UPCOMING FIBER EVENTS
Introduction to Flax Processing, May 9, 2020
HGA Convergence 2020, Knoxville, TN, July 23 - 30, 2020.
FiberEvents - a calendar of wool festivals, fiber festivals, knitting, crocheting & craft gatherings/events in the U.S. and the world
Clara Parkes' Knitter's Review - knitting and fiber events
Black Rock Ranch (Stinson Beach)
Crockett Fiber Arts Studio (Crockett)
Fibershed (various locations)
Fiber Circle Studio (Cotati)
Meridian Jacobs (Vacaville)
West County Fiber Arts (Sebastopol)
Windrush Farm (Petaluma)
FiberEvents - a calendar of wool festivals, fiber festivals, knitting, crocheting & craft gatherings/events in the U.S. and the world
Clara Parkes' Knitter's Review - knitting and fiber events
ONGOING FIBER-RELATED CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
Crockett Fiber Arts Studio (Crockett)
Fibershed (various locations)
Fiber Circle Studio (Cotati)
Meridian Jacobs (Vacaville)
West County Fiber Arts (Sebastopol)
Windrush Farm (Petaluma)