Treadles to Threads Spinners Guild

Next Meeting: Jan. 26, 2012, 7 PM

2012-01-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

NOTE: The Library has a conflict with our usual Wednesday night, so this month's meeting is Thursday evening, Jan. 26.

Program: Bente Petersen speaking on Ergonomics
Bente is the owner of Piedmont Yarn & Apparel. Her talk will focus on what we can do to help reduce pain from repetitive motion like spinning and knitting. Bente's background is Chinese Medicine, massage and acupuncture. Any repetitive motion can cause problems and since most of us just have one way or one range of motion to our spinning, this should be a very helpful talk to hear.

Coming up:
February 29 [yes, its Leap Year] Stephanie Gausted "Here Comes the Judge"
Stephanie will come and share her thoughts on how a judge sees your work. Stephanie has done lots of that over her career in the fiber arts and will be a good thing to hear to get your work ready for the upcoming Conference. We want to see some exquisite hand-spun pieces in there!

March 29 All About Spindles [Tentative so far]
Come share your spindles and spindling techniques. Whatever type of spindle you have, whether it is a traditional top or bottom whorl, or an exotic Russian, Tibetan, Turkish or whatever, please bring it and share what you know.

Photos from this year at Lambtown
Sultana and Laura participated in the spinning contests while Carolyn took photos and Marianne cheered them on!

Laura having fun, but concentrating hard

Spinning "blindfolded" Try THAT sometime

Sultana drop spindling blind! And doing better than most did without their blindfolds.

Other interesting things going on:
February 17, At the Diablo Weavers Guild meeting:
Cameron Taylor-Brown,
"Color in Cloth: The Weaves You Want and Why"
Guests are welcome at the Friday morning meeting at Thurman Casey Library in Walnut Creek. Meeting begins at 10 am. Cameron's presentation will be from 11 to 12:30 More info for Diablo thru the link on the right side of this blog.

"My artwork reflects a passion to shape order out of chaos - to start with bits of thread and create something complex and satisfying where nothing existed before. As I weave, I embrace and celebrate the ancient heritage and language of woven cloth. The rhythms and interplay of pattern, color and texture fascinate me, and the tactile quality of the actual fiber is extremely satisfying. I thrive on the challenges and opportunities presented to me as I move forward to explore new and interesting possibilities."

Cameron's artwork is widely exhibited and has been published in American Craft, Fiberarts, Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot and the Fiberarts Design Books Four, Five, Six and Seven . She travels Southern California and Arizona as the regional representative for several top yarn companies, including Rowan, Filatura de Crosa and Manos del Uruguay. An experienced teacher and facilitator, she conducts workshops throughout the country exploring design, color, creativity and the collaborative process.

Next Meeting: Nov. 30, 2011 at 7 PM

2011-11-10T16:10:00.001-08:00

Program: Carding
This month we will have an informal evening of experimenting with carding. We will have several carders, including the Guild's electric carder. There will be some colored fiber to experiment with color blending and striping on the carder. This will be a time to learn new things and/or share your expertise with others. Feel free to bring your own fiber to experiment with. If you have a carder you'd like to bring, it will give us more tools to use.

December Get Together
Our annual Christmas Luncheon will be on Dec. 17th, a Saturday, at Noon at Vilija's, email me if you need directions: vilijad@me.com. Bring a salad or other dish, or dessert to share. Also, are you working on your Sheep Ornament yet? The idea is to have a sheep Christmas tree ornament for a gift exchange. Hand made is wonderful, but store bought is o.k. too!

Windrush Farm Fest
Several Treadles members enjoyed visiting Windrush Farm in Chileno Valley, just outside Petaluma on Sunday, October 16th, for the farm's Third Annual Fiber Fest. Artisans were selling local wool, hand spun yarns, roving in natural colors, and dyed, hand-painted yarn on cones.

Mimi Luebbermann, the owner of the farm, was baking tasty, gourmet pizzas in a brick oven in the courtyard. It was a wonderful day filled with natural dyeing, felting, and carding demonstrations, plus a pasture walk to meet the sheep. The Festival was a great way to visit a small farm, meet fiber animals, and enjoy a day in the country.

Thanks to Wendy for the article and her son, Michael, who made the wonderful photo collage below.

Possible Workshop: Knitted Wrist Warmers

Its amazing how a small piece of cloth wrapped around your wrists can help keep all of you warm. Beads add a fabulous touch! Knowing just the basics of knitting, you can easily create colorful designs with beads. Using only garter stitch and knowing how to read and work from beading charts, you can make beautiful jeweled wrist warmer cuffs.

"Wristers" provide just the right amount of warmth in chilly situations and are perfect for gift-knitting. You can whip up a pair in a week end, and the beads turn a simple, small knitting project into a decadent present.

The beaded designs can be simple, as the wristers above are, or downright fancy as are the "tulip" themed ones on the right. They use fingering or sock yarn and could be a good way to use up a single skein of yarn.

Think about Treadles hosting the teacher for this one-day workshop some time in 2012. We could share her with Diablo to cut the cost a bit. She is from Colorado and I don't yet know her schedule, but if we are interested, I will contact her to see if we can get on a Fall 2012 schedule.

Bonnie Wells at Diablo Weavers
Diablo Weavers once again invites Treadles members to another interesting fiber artisan speaker. Diablo's meeting will be Friday, Nov. 18th at 10 am, with the speaker beginning at 11 am, at the Thurman Casey Library, the same place that Treadles meets. Bonnie is a local fiber artist who works with felting and surface design on cloth. Her work is exquisite and this talk will be about her creative journey into manipulating cloth. Bonnie's website: www.materialgrace.com

NEXT MEETING: Oct. 26, 2011

2011-10-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

Program: A Field Trip to "A Verb For Keeping Warm"

6328 San Pablo Ave, [near the corner of Alcatraz], Oakland. We'll meet there about 7:00 pm. Kristine Vejar, owner of this wonderful yarn shop, will give us a talk titled "Threads of Transition, Patterns of Change, Rabari Textiles of India". This collection includes colorful textiles made by three distinct communities of semi nomadic camel herders in India known as Rabari. The items are what would be included as part of a dowry: camel covers, quits, wall hangings and bags. Using broadcloth as a canvas, Rabari women applique and embroider motifs selected from their remote desert environs of Northern Gujarat. This display is up in the shop right now and you can drop by to see it any time, but if you come to our field trip, you will hear all about it from Kristine herself. The exhibition is based on her research during a Fulbright Scholarship from 2001 - 2002 and shows how the three groups of Rabari exhibited changes to their motifs and materials throughout the prior 50 years.

Carpools can be put together. Contact Laura at Laura_Hansen@mechanicsbank.com if you would like to be part of a carpool.

Driving directions:

from HWY 24 West, take exit 2B toward I-580 West

Follow signs for Market St/San Pablo Ave.

Slight right onto 36th St.

Turn right onto San Pablo Ave, shop will be on the right

A Fun Day at Forest Home Farm, Oct. 8

A young visitor meets a really big bunny

Carolyn, Linnie and Wendy were part of the group of spinners who came to celebrate Spinning & Weaving Week and enjoy our great October weather.

Return To Sender fibers are ready and Wendy had them at the last meeting. They are a blend of 85/15 Bluefaced Leicester and tussah. The four colors of the fibers were created and dyed by Dreamy Goat Design Studio,with natural dyes, inspired by the four colors Conference 2012 is using: the denim blue from Indigo, the green is weld overdyed with indigo, the mustard yellow is fustic, and the brick red is a blend of cochineal and madder.

If you were not at the meeting and did not pick up some fiber and would like to participate in this very fun event for Conference 2012, contact Wendy to get a packet. They are so lovely, and even though Wendy ordered more than has been prepared for past conferences, not that many are left. Look online for information through CNCH [link on the right] for conference info and how to order from Wendy.

If you are not familiar with this activity, the idea is to get some of the fiber, spin it up in any way you like and send it back for display at the Conference. You can choose to have it judged or not. Ribbons are awarded with two special monetary awards this year.

Return of Return to Sender is another activity to participate in if you spun up some Return to Sender fiber from the 2010 Conference. This time you submit a finished piece using the yarn you created in 2010. Any media can be employed to use your yarns, the only real rule is that is as to be a finished item. For more info, check on line.

Upcoming Activity:

Yolo Wool Mill's Annual Mill-In

Saturday, Oct.29, 2011, 10 a.m. with a Bar-B-Que at 1 p.m.

They invite you to celebrate a Family Style Halloween with Spider Webs and Black Sheep. Featured will be, mill tours, shearing demos, kids activities, vendors, fiber animal display and petting zoo, and knitting, spinning, weaving, dyeing and felting demos.

More info and directions: www.yolowoolmill.com

Photos from Spinning at the Winery 2011

recently found on my camera!

The crowd enjoying the lovely day.

A very unique way to use a distaff, keep your wool fibers wrapped around and ready to spin. Pretty too!

Wendy's contribution to the wildly successful drawing area: a felt kit with some of her beautifully dyed batts and sample bracelets of fiber beads.

NEXT MEETING: Sept. 28, 7 P.M.

2011-09-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Stash Exchange

Time to clean out what you know you will never use: fiber, yarn, equipment, "whatever", to bring to this next meeting. You can sell, give away, or exchange goods with other members.

STASH MANAGEMENT

by Pam Salisbury

“Stash Management” – this must be a hot topic these days because I hear these two words spoken frequently and most often they are linked together. Let’s examine.

‘Stash’, defined in Webster’s as a transitive verb: to hide or store away in a secret place; and then, defined as a noun: a hiding place for valuables – or – an amount hidden away.

‘Management’, defined in Webster’s as a noun: the act, manner, or practice of managing. (see managing) ‘Managing’, defined in Webster’s as a transitive verb: to make submissive to authority or discipline; control.

Well, shucks, I’m already in deep trouble with this one. First of all, there is nothing secret or hidden about my stash. It’s all over the place. It’s in bins, bags, piles and stacks. One might conclude we merely reside as guests among my fiber stash as we are clearly outnumbered in terms of space allocation. Secret and hidden implies something along the nature of subtle. My stash is totally in your face….more accurately, in my face, my husband’s face, overflowing, abundant, plentiful, ample….well, you get the picture. So my “stash” doesn’t really meet the definition of “an amount hidden away” in any way shape or form. The only thing even close to meeting the “hidden” criteria are what items happen to be at the bottom of a very public pile of bins, bags, and stacks….but hidden? Nope, not at all.

Further, I have failed miserably at achieving the definition of “managing”. There is zip, zero, nada about any of my actions, past or present, which in any way resembles making my accumulation of fiber ‘submissive to authority or discipline’. As for the issue of control, that was lost many decades ago, if it ever had any dubious foothold in the first place.

So, according to prodigious evidence, my fiber accumulation fails to meet the definition of stash in either the verb or noun forms of the word. Therefore, in order to be accurate, I am renaming my former stash to ‘mass’. Likewise, I am discarding the unsuitable work ‘management’ for the more precise ‘unrestrained’.

And there you have it. What resides in our house (and outbuildings) is an unrestrained mass, or to be very explicit, an unrestrained fiber mass. I am experiencing much relief having extricated myself from the burdens of stash management. In future when those two words come up in conversation, I shall smile serenely knowing that my unrestrained fiber mass does not carry with it the onus, much less the anxiety or any of the implied responsibilities, of ‘stash management’. Just me and my UFM, happy at last.

[Used by permission of author and as originally published in the Northwest Regional Spinner’s Association July/August 2011 Newsletter ]

A Way To Participate In Spinning & Weaving Week

Forest Home Farms Historic Park,

Saturday, October 8, 10 am to 2 pm

They will be having their first ever Resident Appreciation Day for the community with free admission to tours and free tractor rides. Treadles to Threads has been invited to take part by demonstrating spinning.

October is a beautiful month at the farm and usually weather-wise as well. This event will also be part of a local event during the month of October called "Tri-Valley Heritage Happenings". So hopefully there will be lots of people to appreciate our wonderful spinning.

Next Month's Meeting:

A Road Trip to "A Verb for Keeping Warm" More about this, and making car pools, at the September meeting.

About This Blog: Last month only 5 people viewed this blog. I don't really want to keep spending my time on this if there is no need for it. Maybe all we need is the email reminder that there is a meeting, as that seems to be what most everyone looks to. I'm not looking for any kind of accolades, I just have better things to do if this is superfluous. Vilija

NEXT MEETING: Aug 31, 2011 7:00 PM

2011-08-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

August Program: Sharing Summer Activities.

Come and show what you've been up to since our last formal meeting in May. Did you take part in the Natural Dye Workshop in July? Bring your yarns, especially if you've actually done anything creative with them. Bring photos if you took any. Reba will have a projector there if you have photos on a laptop to share. In the photo above are the yarns that Mindy and Vilija dyed during the workshop.

From Laura, our program chair, " It would also be fun to hear about the Blacksheep Gathering since we had several members go. I know Wendy took some pictures and I wonder if others did too. I know Carol and Donna have some stories to tell."

Laura will also be asking for ideas for meeting programs for the rest of the year. She has a couple set up already that sound great, but there are many more months for doing things. So part of the meeting, as we do every August, is project planning for the rest of the year. Think about what you would like or even what you could do for the group yourself.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

September 16 - 18 is the California Wool and Fiber Festival Look it up on line for more info [look under EVENTS to the right, under the lamb]

September 28 Meeting: Stash Exchange.

Once again, clean out your closets and what-have-you, to sell, give-away or exchange with fellow fiber folks. No monies can be exchanged in the library room, but payments can be made out in the parking lot. It feels much more furtive that way, like you're really getting some kind of "special" deal! That's a library rule and we don't want to break it.

October 1 is Lambtown in Dixon Link is under EVENTS

For Sale: Antique circular sock machine. In good working condition with many extras such as copies of old manuals, a new "how to" book, scrap yarn, small tools, etc. Includes a sturdy table and lamp. Also great for making I-cord. $600

Contact Mary B. at csmsmail46@gmail.com

SPINNING AT THE WINERY POSTPONED

2011-06-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

NEW DATE: JUNE 18th

Who would have thought that we would have to cancel June 4th due to RAIN in our usually mild spring! With all this rain, some may even be thinking of getting an ark ready!

There is no way to have this event in cold, rainy weather, so we are hoping that our postponement date of June 18th will bring better weather. Please get the word out to people you know who had been planning on going.

NEXT MEETING: May 25, 2011 7:00 PM

2011-05-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

PROGRAM: Member Sharing with Nancy Vantassel and Linda Burton.

Spinning at the Winery

This is our 14th annual year for this event. Many jobs still need to be filled for the day's activities. Linnie sent out a reminder to everyone. Will and Kate have had their share of eye health issues lately and we really need to step up this year and ease the load of work that they put in. Go back and read Linnie's list and figure out what you will be doing to make this event another success.

Besides being loads of fun, it is the number one fundraiser for the guild and everyone needs to pitch in to help. Check out last months blog for more information about the event, or go to cnch.org for info.

July Dye Day Workshop

July 30, 31 Saturday and Sunday [double check these dates with Laura, I forgot to write them down] about 10 am to 4 pm each day

at the home of Carol Causey

Laura will have a sign-up sheet for the workshop - there are only 15 spots available

Natural Dyeing with Linda Hartshorn
		Natural Colors to Dye For Create a spectrum of color on wool yarn or silk fabric with dyes from plants, minerals, and an insect. We will use traditional dye materials such as madder, Brazilwood, indigo and cochineal. We will also explore dyeing with fresh wild plants. With more time, we can dye more colors. The mordants that fix the dyes to the fiber (alum, tannin, and iron) are safe to use and give a wide range of fast and beautiful colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and a beautiful black are all possible with natural dyes.

Upcoming Events in the area:

SF STATE TEXTILES WHITE ELEPHANT SALE

Saturday • May 21 • 10 AM to 2 PM • SF State Art Department

We’re cleaning house. Big time. The SF State Textiles area needs to make room for more students and new course initiatives to come. We simply need the space and wish to streamline some of our equipment offerings and set the stage for some exciting news to come. On sale will be a variety of items including: Floor Looms, Tapestry Looms, Inkle Looms, Dye Lab Supplies, Shuttles, Carders, Spinning Wheels, Warping Equipment, Books, Magazines, Fabric, Yarn.

For a preview of some of the items for sale and maps to SF State Textiles go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanfranciscostatetextiles/sets/72157626680337032/

Cash & Visa/MC Credit Cards accepted. Direct questions to: textiles@sfsu.edu

Heritage Day at Borges Ranch, Walnut Creek

June 11, 11 am to 4pm

If you would like to join in the fun of demonstrating spinning, the more the merrier, please contact Reba, rebasiero@yahoo.com

The Oakland Fiber & Textile Festival

Splash Pad Park [next to the Grand Lake Theater]

July 10, 10 am to 6 pm

Free to the general public. The event is sponsored by Piedmont Yarn & Apparel, and San Francisco Fibers.

A "Greener Indigo" with Barbara Shapiro
July 16 and 17, 2011 from 9:30-4:30

Explore the magic and mystery of indigo, one of the oldest and most influential dyes. Set up an indigo dye bath using a simple ecological formula suitable for the home studio and sample on a variety of fabrics. Prepare cloth for resist dyeing and experiment in various techniques. The “Greener Indigo” formula dates to the 18^th century. It is non-toxic and non-fumy, and can also be thickened and used for painting or printing.

Please check thee web site for more details soon. http://www.walnut-creek.org/cae/

Images from the Alpaca Show early in May at Pleasanton

Rasta Alpaca singing away!

A Jacobs Alpaca?

" I'm gonna win Best of Show!"

Next MEETING: April 28, 2011 7:00 PM

2011-04-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

TAKE NOTICE; This month's meeting is on Thursday evening, instead of the usual Wednesday because of a conflict with the library room.

PROGRAM: Jackie Post talking about her Jacobs Sheep

Jackie owns three of this unusual breed and did a bit of research before deciding to buy them. She will show slides and have a fleece so we can see the wool up close. She will also have som projects she has completed from their wool.

Fourteenth Annual

SPINNING AT THE WINERY

June 4, 2011

10am to 4pm

Retzlaff Winery

1356 S. Livermore Ave, Livermore

$5 entry per person

[on the left, just past City Hall & the Police Station]

From Will and Kate's humble idea for a day of spinning and "picnicing" fourteen years ago, to today's wonderful, day-long extravaganza, our event has really grown.

For any new members, this is a day of fun with lots of other fiber people from around the Bay Area. Everyone is invited to bring their wheel or knitting, and a pot-luck dish to share for a delicious big lunch. The weather can be warm or cool, be prepared for either. There are big pepperwood trees and lots of lawn space to spread out with your group. Chairs are available, but you can bring a favorite fold-up chair if you like. Paper plates, silverware and napkins are supplied by the guild.

One of the most looked-forward-to doings of the day are the drawings held at about 2 pm. Every vendor, along with our own members, are encouraged to donate a nice item for the drawings. Quite a few wonderful things have been donated in the past.

Most, if not all, of the following vendors will be here again:

Nebo Rock Ranch - Janet Heppler

Shetland fleece grown by Beverly Flemming

Jacob fleece grown by Robin Lynde

Cashmere from Barbara Fiorica's goats

Cormo fleece from Sue Reuser

Black Diamond Alpacas - Donna Daychuk

RenCon Ranch with Shetland fleece

Shaggy Bear Farms - Wendy Hansen

Dreamy Goat Design Studio - Mary Finley

Carolina Homespun [lots of spinning related goodies]

Morro Fleece Works [a carding mill]

Vintage Buttons - Annabell Yurutuen

San Francisco Fibers - Lou Grantham

There will be a list of jobs that need to be done throughout the day passed around at the next two meetings. Plan on participating in some way to help with the work.

2011 California Classic Alpaca Show

Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton

April 30 and May 1, 2011

This will be a full fleece halter show that will include a spin-off and performance demos. Come by and check out all the cute alpacas, as well as the beautiful goods made from their soft wool.

information: www.calpaca.org/classic/schedule.htm

You may even see one up close!

As a bonus: there will also be a quilt show featured at the fairgrounds that same week end.

Entry to the Alpaca show is free and $8 to the quilt show.

Parking at the fairgrounds is $8

NEXT MEETING: March 30, 2011 7:00 PM

2011-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

SHARING

This month's meeting is all about sharing. Nancy V.T. and Vilija D. will begin with "Personal Sharing". This is our new feature where we ask members of our Guild to present a short program about "what they do". This does not have to be related to spinning or knitting or weaving. Let us know what else interests you in your life.

Continue to bring in "Fiber Exchange" projects. Last month we saw what some of us have done with the fiber we picked out last August. Keep working on it and bring it in as you finish!

And, of course, Show & Tell. Bring in everything you've been working on and show it off.

SHEEP SHEARING DAY

at Forest Home Farms Historic Park

Saturday, April 16, 11am

Come celebrate Spring and watch the sheep get their annual haircuts! There will be live music and demonstrations of old-time traditions such as lace-making, quilting, woodcarving and spinning.

Nature lovers will enjoy garden tasting and sheep-dog demonstrations. Children will be entertained with a maypole, 4-H animals, crafts, games and tractor rides. Come take a tour of the property and visit the old-fashioned Gift Shoppe. Food will be available for purchase.

Entrance fee: $5 [ages 3-12: $3] Fee will be $2 more at the gate on the day of the event. Pre-register and save the extra $2.

Call 925-973-3200 or visit www.sanramonrecguide.com to register.

3-Day - Adult, Beginning Weaving Class
Instructor: Dotty Calabrese

Sat., July 4 - Mon., July 4, 2011
(in Mountain View)

Time: 8:30 – 5:30 daily (with a one-hour lunch break)
Fee: $250, plus a materials fee of $50

Each Class Limited to 7 students  

Contact Dotty at 650-968-1981 or dottycala@aol.com to register.
Registration Deadline June 23, 2011

Learn to weave on 4-shaft table and floor looms.
Weave several samples on different looms.
Weave a scarf of your own design.

Beginning Weaving - This 3-day intensive class will introduce the student to the basics of pattern weaving and color/texture weaving, using a 4-shaft table or floor loom. Students will complete several pre-warped samples as well as designing, warping, and and weaving an entire scarf. Materials fee includes materials for samples and scarf. Table looms and one floor loom will be provided. However, if you own a table loom, you may choose to bring it to work on.

Dotty Calabrese holds an M.A. degree in education, specializing in art education, from Stanford University. In addition to being a professional weaver and an elementary school teacher for over 35 years, Dotty has been a polymer clay artist for 21 years. She has taught hand weaving, natural dye, and polymer clay classes to both adults and children. She is also the Handweaving Teacher at the Waldorf High School of the Peninsula.
Visit Dotty’s website at http://www.craftswomen.com/Dotty/

FUNDRAISING FOR JAPAN

Aiko is a member of Diablo Weavers Guild, an inspired tapestry artist, and a collector of beautifully woven Guatemalan fabrics. She sends along the following two messages:

Fundraising Event at Aiko's House

We, five Japanese women, are holding this event to collect contributions for the recent Japanese disaster.

Please come with your family/friends and help this event.

April 10th, 2011 (Sunday) 11:30 to 15:30

Aiko’s house: 1387 Walden Rd, Walnut Creek

Variety of sweets, cakes and bread [all home made], Japanese steamed rice, Handwoven scarves and tapestries, Handmade soaps, Variety of fabrics, Variety of Japanese goods/items, Guatemalan crafts( hand woven textiles, beads accessories etc).

Money collected will be donated to RED CROSS. Please bring your own shopping bag.

Thank you for your support!

HELP JAPAN FOR DISASTER RELIEF

Japanese Christian Church of Walnut Creek is having a fundraiser for the victims of the earthquake and Tsunami in Japan

April 2nd, Saturday, 2011

10 AM to 3PM

1955 Geary Rd. Walnut Creek

Food: Bento boxes, sushi, sweets

Bazaar: new or gently used items, Japanese collectables, Japanese dishes, Hand Crafts, Silent auction

Event/Craft: Tea Ceremony, Origami, Japanese Calligraphy, Card making

Any questions, contact Ema Hirura 925-381-5178

Please bring your own bag for purchases.

All proceeds go to World Vision Japan

MEETING: February 23, 2011 7:00 PM

2011-02-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

"Creative Results From Our Fiber Exchange"

Remember all the fibers from everyone's stash at the August meeting? This meeting is when your finished product is hopefully going to be finished. Lets see what you came up with from someone else's stash of fiber. Most of this meeting will be devoted to sharing, so even if you only have the yarn so far, bring it for show & tell, along with whatever else you've been working on.

SPIKE hard at work , overseeing what Mary is knitting, as per usual. He was particularly entranced with the knit, beaded fish that was being created here.

The finished product, perfect and none the worse for wear.

REMEMBER, the meeting is at 7 PM NOT 7:30 anymore.

NEW ARTICLES for CNCHnet are up on the CNCH website. Quick link up on the right.

NEXT MEETING: January 26, 2011 7:00 PM

2011-01-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

Wheel Maintenance and Other Interesting Things You Should Know About Your Spinning Wheel

with Will Taylor

Who better to tell us how to bring our equipment up to snuff than our own Will. Besides the fact that he's never seen a wheel he didn't want to collect [just ask Kate], Will also knows the mechanics of wheels inside and out. This month he will give us info on how to do basic maintenance, how to keep them running smoothly, and how to trouble shoot problems.

Bring your wheels, especially if they need some tweeking, your oil bottle, thread if you want to change out your drive band, and a rag or two to keep things neat. [Remember, the library is carpeted]. Will's not here to spend an hour trying to get your particular out-of-whack wheel running, but to give us basic, step-by-steps of what we should be doing for our wheels on a regular basis.

NEXT MONTH:

Show & Tell of our Fiber Exchange from last August.

After much begging from un-named members, we decided to postpone this from January to the February meeting. No more excuses!

Fiber From China by Vilija

I have begun a sweater with Jojoland Melody superwash, a sock weight wool yarn that I rather liked, but did not notice that the yarn was made in China till well into the project. Being a bit leery because of some of the chemical related problems that have come out of there in the last few years, I did a bit of research.

I wasn't able to find any kind of "danger signals" for any wool yarns that do come from there, so I'm still working with it and not scouring it before I touch it. Not to say that there isn't anything harmful, just that I couldn't find any reference to it.

I did discover a few interesting facts, however, about wool production in China. They are the world's largest producer and exporter of wool. China concentrates on harvesting wool from sheep after slaughter, called slipe wool. They don't bother to shear the sheep while they are alive because the native breed and quality of fleece does not meet the higher standards set by the international Woolmark organization.

In some districts, wool is the major source of cash income. China is also the world's leading importer of high-quality raw wool, presumably to augment the more inferior wool they grow. They are also a major consumer and processor of domestic and imported wool for the Chinese market, as well as for export to the rest of the world. Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has emerged as the world's largest exporter of clothing and second largest exporter of textiles.

As for working with Jojoland Melody itself, there are tons of comments about how it knits, washes, etc. on Ravelry. The major complaints are the fact that it "splits" easily [it is a three ply], that the colors vary WILDLY within even one dye lot. It is a varigated yarn, but some of the balls within one dyelot do not even look like they go together. I loved the original three balls that I had bought, but when I ordered more, I didn't think I had gotten the right order when they came! But I did.

Interesting Newsy Stuff

The Winter 2010 issue of VogueKnitting, had a little blurb about a new product out for anyone who has wool sweaters. The Wool-filler Kit by Heleen Klopper. With this kit, which includes fives shades of wool fiber, two felting needles and a small foam base, you can easily fix moth holes in your wool sweaters. The directions say, "Simply lay the damaged item over foam, cover with special Woolfiller fiber and fuse together by pricking with a hooked felting needle." See it at woolfiller.com

How clever and simple is that. As spinners, we should always save a bit of our fiber for just such a purpose - an exact match for a tiny hole. For other sweaters, can't you just imagine felting little circles of contrasting color all over for a whole new sweater!

Another hint found, which can't really be recommended, in a very old copy of Encyclopedia of Needlework by Th. de Dillmont: "To preserve needles from rust, put a little asbestos powder in the packets. People with damp hands, which oxydise[sic] the needles they touch, will do well to keep a small box of the powder by them, and occasionally dip their fingers in it."

Looking for something interesting to do on Friday, Jan. 21st. Check out that day's program at the Diablo Weavers Guild meeting. They will have a guest speaker who is a tapestry weaver and he is going to talk about his 2006 month long trek through Tibet and the tapestries that resulted from what he experienced there. The link to their newsletter is up on the right side of this blog.

CHRISTMAS PARTY, DEC. 18 at NOON

2010-12-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

T2T's Annual Christmas Get-Together

December 18th - Noon

at Vilija's home.

Got your sheep ornament ready? You still have a few days to make or find one for our gift exchange!

Bring a salad, dessert or other good food to share and have some together time with all your friends in T2T.

If you need an address or directions please contact Vilija or Pam. Hope to see you all there.

TEXTILES IN FILM

Ever wonder who makes those great period costumes that you see in movies? Especially the ones that really catch your eye because you're thinking "that just has to be handwoven". Of course, the most famous of the "handwoven clothing" to all us textile buffs were the capes in "The Trilogy of the Ring", but that was not the only movie that has had attention to this type of detail. Mary B. sent this really interesting Smithsonian Magazine article to me and I think you will find it fascinating also.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Homemade-Clothes-for-Hollywood-Made-Movies.html

JANUARY MEETING

Don't forget to keep on spinning to have your "stash" fiber ready for Show & Tell in January.

NEXT MEETING: NOV 18, 2010, 7:00 PM

2010-11-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Please note the date change for this month only because of Thanksgiving. Nov. 18 is the Thursday before Thanksgiving.

PROGRAM FOR THIS MONTH: Wendy has graciously volunteered to do an "in-house" program for this month. Here is what she says to get ready:

We will be creating Embroidered Felt Heart Sachets at our next guild meeting.

Things to bring to the meeting: embroidery needle(s), scissors, felt if you have some ready, embroidery thread if you have a specific color preference

Things provided at the meeting: colorful felted batts, heart shaped template pattern, embroidery thread, lavender or cloves and cinnamon potpourri to fill the hearts

If you are interested in creating your own felt, Wendy will be holding Monday Spinners at her house on November 15. She has plenty of Corriedale fleece in various colors to donate for felting. Felting and carding can be completed there or you can make a batt and felt it at home.

The beautiful sachet hearts that Wendy brought to the last meeting, and what we will be working on this month

One of the batts that Wendy felted for making her sachets. You can create one too at Monday Spinning at her home on Nov. 15.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Nov. 13: "From Wool to Weave" Forest Home Farms Historic Park 10am to 2 pm

19953 San Ramon Valley Rd. San Ramon [Right next to HWY 680]

Some of our own will be there to demonstrate our craft. The Park will have tours of the farm and the Glass House, as well as children's activities, and sheepdog demonstrations. The Gift Shoppe will be open for early Christmas shopping!

Dec. 8: Pleasant Hill Holiday Festival, 5pm to 9pm

Community Center, 320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill

Our Guild will once again participate with the necklace making activity. Using the "twisting machines" we made several years ago, the kids twist yarns, add beads and create a great little take-away. This is popular with both the kids and their parents. Depending on how much space we have, and how many of the twisters we can put up, we usually need at least 4 volunteers per shift. We have two shifts for the night, so you don't have to stay all evening: 4:30 [for set up] to about 7 pm, and 7 till 9pm closing. Call or email Pam if you still want to volunteer. She will have the sign-up sheet at the meeting to remind everyone.

TREADLES CHRISTMAS PARTY

Date and time to be announced at the November meeting. Most likely at Vilija's home, but she is willing to share the joy if someone else really wants to host this year!

What you can begin planning now, is your sheep ornament for exchange. We've been doing this for many years now and it continues to be amazing to see so many cute sheep being created every year. Simple to complex, they are all wonderful. For anyone who is new, everyone brings one handmade [hopefully, but not mandatory] sheep ornament to exchange. It can be knitted, crocheted, sewn, felted, or any other medium.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

January: "Creative Results From Our Fiber Exchange" Remember all the fibers from everyone's stash at the August meeting? January is when your finished product is hopefully going to be finished. Lets see what you came up with from someone else's stash of fiber. Below is just a teaser to get you going if you are still thinking about it.

Before: One member's pick at the August meeting.

After: With the addition of some other fiber, and recarding.

March and May: There are two members signed up so far for "Personal Sharing", one for each month. If a few more sign up, we could make each of these months all about our own members. Many of us have been doing wonderful things over the years which would be quite interesting to share with the rest of the group. It does not have to be spinning related: we all do other things in our lives also. Here is you chance to tell us about it. Not a long program is expected, 15 minutes or so is just about right.

VENDORS LIST AT THE RIGHT

Grafton Fibers is now DyakCraft

Vreseis has been added in. Sally Fox, founder and owner of Vreseis, is the grower and developer of Fox Fibre products: naturally colored cotton fiber and roving.

If you know of anyone we should add in, someone you have dealt with that you really like, let me know and I'll add them to our list.

REMINDERS

DUES: If you are paid up for the year [$30], thank you. If you still need to catch up, get a check to Pam.

DRINK CUPS: Quite a while back, we made the resolution not to contribute this un-needed little bit to a landfill. Please try to remember to bring your own drink cup to the evening meetings. This will save on treasury funds as well as trash.

NEXT MEETING: OCT. 27, 2010, 7:00 PM

2010-10-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

ONE MORE REMINDER:
We are at the new location at Thurman Casey Library. See the August 26th post below for all the info. If you haven't been to the meeting room at this library before: as you drive into the parking lot, turn to your left and drive towards the back. There is a separate door to the meeting room towards the back of the building.

Also note that the meeting time has been upped to 7:pm rather than the 7:30 that it used to be.

DUES - DUES - DUES

Just a reminder that dues for the year for Treadles are now due. Our Guild is a member of the Conference of Northern California Handweavers, and our yearly member update is due in October. Part of the advantage of being involved with CNCH is that our meetings are covered by their umbrella insurance plan, as well as getting a break on the registration fee if you participate in the yearly conferences. For this, we give them $5 per year, per member which contributes to the operating expenses of CNCH. If you have not checked out the CNCH web site lately, there is a link to it on the right of this blog. There is information about the upcoming conference, bits of info about other guilds and some interesting articles in "CNCHnet".

The dues are $25 or $30 for the year [sorry, I don't remember which!]

See you all at the meeting.

NEXT MEETING: Sept. 29, 2010, 7:30 PM

2010-09-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

REMEMBER

We are at the new location at Thurman Casey Library. See the August 26th post below for all the info. If you haven't been to the meeting room at this library before: as you drive into the parking lot, turn to your left and drive towards the back. There is a separate door to the meeting room towards the back of the building.

STASH HAPPY!

At the August meeting, all these spinners exchanged a 4 oz stash for someone else's. In a blind pick, we all hopefully came away with ideas of what to do and what to make from our bag of lovely stash. There are no rules: spin it, blend it, felt it. Just have it ready for the big Show & Tell at the January meeting.

Some of the lovely fibers that were in the exchange.

ONIONS AND INDIGO AND BUGS—OH MY!!

[Also, at the August meeting, Nancy brought in this beautiful pillow, and i asked her to write up a little information about it for our blog]

This needlepoint pillow was stitched with hand-spun, hand-dyed wool—except for the black silk outline.

The design is from Phillipa Turnbull of the Crewel Work Company and is a hand-painted canvas produced with special permission from The Laird of Traquair House in Scotland. It is an exact replica from a panel of slips from the 16th Century.

The wool was dyed with cochineal, indigo, onion skins and turmeric. The only commercial dye I used was Landscape Dyes from Australia for the azure background.

If anyone is interested in spinning and dyeing their own needlepoint or crewel yarn, please e-mail me at: nvantassel@fnf.com

It is very easy and I had the time of my life doing this project!!!

Nancy Van Tassel

TABLE MODEL JACQUARD LOOM

Any of you who were at my house for Monday Spinning a couple of weeks ago, may have seen this loom in the early stages of reconstruction.

With lots of help from Will and Carol C., many of the unknowns about how it went together became more clear. Always ask a friend for help! This photo shows the loom from the side.

This loom came to me from my sister-in-law, Irena, who's boyfriend at the time, built it for her while they were in a refugee camp in Germany during the mid to late 40's. They are both Lithuanian and this loom is specifically for weaving sashes, which are so important as part of the Lithuanian National Dress [men and women], and are also used in many other ways for ceremonial and special occasions.

Before emigrating to the U.S. in 1948 or so, Irena's Dad took it apart and stored all the pieces in a box. That's what came to us, just a box full of bits and pieces of wood that had been stored for 60 years in an attic. With no idea of how it went together, my husband and I began to look for clues on the wood itself: worn areas, cut areas that fit together, etc. I know looms, but I didn't have much of an idea of how a jacquard loom threads up, so it was really working from almost no knowledge. For awhile, we had the base part upside down! Once we finally figured that out, and with Will and Carol also studying the puzzle pieces, it has mostly come together. The loom is a little warped, but we're hoping that once all the pieces are cleaned and refinished, I can actually get it to weave.

At left is a woven sash from Lithuania, probably woven on a Jacquard. I saw a couple small floor models when we were there. A Jacquard loom makes its patterning with the aid of the cardboard strips you see in the photo above. Each strip represents one pass of the weft thread, each strip tells the loom which harnesses go up for that particular shot. There are two back beams, one to carry the base fabric threads [the plain weave, cream colored threads in the photo here] and another that carries all the "pattern" threads. The Jacquard head allows you to weave at a fairly rapid rate, fairly complicated designs without doing any hand manipulation of the warp threads.

I know that we are primarily a spinners guild, but we have wooed many of you to the dark side of looms and weaving. The latest to come over is Judy E. who has lately purchased a rigid-heddle loom. Yes, you can weave up that stash of handspun a lot faster than you can knit it!

NEW MEETING PLACE

2010-08-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

THURMAN CASEY LIBRARY

2661 Oak Grove Rd.

Walnut Creek CA

7:30 pm, generally the last Wednesday of the month

After many years of meeting at the Winslow Center in Pleasant Hill, we will be changing to the Thurman Casey Library as of the next meeting: September 29, 2010. Pleasant Hill is beginning a construction project which will run for the next 4 to 5 years and eliminates our meeting space for that amount of time. We are fortunate to get the library room, especially because its free. But we are not guaranteed to have it on the last Wednesday of every month. You will need to check this blog to make sure of the correct meeting date.

NEW YEAR - NEW IDEAS

2010-08-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 25TH MEETING

Still at the Winslow Center: 7:30 PM

Our first formal meeting for the "year" will feature "Dump Your Stash Day" and a "Fiber Exchange".

Dump Your Stash

You still have a week left to go through your collections of yarn, fiber, equipment, etc., and decide on what you no longer need. Bring it all to this meeting for a sale/swap - which ever you want to do.

Fiber Exchange

Pick out 4 oz. of a fiber that is already in your stash that you haven't gotten to and will never get to. Conceal it in a paper bag and at the meeting you will exchange that fiber for someone else's which just might spark your creativity. You'll then have a few months to spin [or felt] it up, blend it with another fiber or two, or whatever you come up with. There are no rules except to finish by the January 2011 meeting where we will have a big show & tell. This is a blind exchange - you don't know what you get till you open the bag.

Olympia the lamb here is delighted to be wearing a beautiful lei made of knitted & felted flowers. Maybe you could make something equally as lovely with your fiber exchange pick!

FIBER STUDIES

We will continue with fiber studies for this year also. Think about a fiber that you would like to learn more about and sign up for any of the coming months.

PERSONAL SHARING

A new event for us that we are going to try. It would be fun if one or two people sign up for each meeting to bring 5 or 6 items that they have made in the past that the rest of us have never seen, or have forgotten about. They will then share them with the group and talk a little about their past experiences and experiments in the fiber arts. This would be just a short 15 minute or so, informal talk. Again, sign-ups will be at the August meeting.

SPINNING AT THE WINERY went extremely well again this year. A big thank you to Retzlaff Winery, Will & Kate and everyone else who came and helped with set-up and take down. Even a "simple" event such as this takes lots of volunteers to make it successful.

The weather was gorgeous, the vendors' goods were varied and really great, lunch was delicious and the drawing was fun as ever. Another big thank-you to all the vendors and Treadles members who contributed. It was terrific stuff as evidenced by the number of tickets that were bought.

New this year were great aprons with our Spinning at the Winery logo. There are still a few left, as well as t-shirts which will all be at the meeting in case you need another one.

DYE DAY was actually FELTING DAY this year in Carol Causey's back yard. A good activity involving water for what was a very hot day. Mindy and Wendy led the day in teaching us how to make a felted bowl, a felted vase or a felted purse. Thanks to you two for all the hard work.

ROGERS RANCH right here in Pleasant Hill had their usual summer craft days for the kids. We again brought over the spinning sticks that we have along with a couple of warped up looms. The kids always have a great two hours with us and us with them. They spun and wove and did their thing. Yet another thank-you to those from Treadles who came and helped out with this.

NAVAJO PLYING

Or as some say it should be called "chain plying". If you need a brush up or just want to see how its done, check out this great little video on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmlwtojLXI8

VOGUE KNITTING

The "Early Fall" 2010 issue of this magazine has a couple of interesting tidbits you can look up on the Net.

"Hats Equal Hope" The Kenyan aid organization FLYING KITES cares for disadvantaged, homeless, orphaned and abused children. In developing areas such as the Aberdare Mountain of Kenya, where hypothermia is an indiscriminate killer, mothers of the country's very youngest are in dire need of knitted caps. Visit flyingkitesglobal.org or contact info@flyingkitesglobal.org for more info. Mail infant-sized caps to : Flying Kites, 604 Thames St. , Newport, RI 02840

"Bernat Cares" is an interactive resource linking stitchers with charities. According to the Craft Yarn Council of America, a full 48% of all knitters reported stitching a charity project in 2009. Once you register on the Bernat website, you have access to an extensive database of philanthropic organizations looking for knitted and crocheted items. Charities can even be accessed by zip codes if you are interested in local needy groups.

Beyond connecting knitters with charities and charities with knitters, the site also carries a library of free charity-project patterns, lists of tips about how to maximize your charity knitting and even a spot for you to posts pictures of your finished items. Go to BernatCares.com to register.

NEWSY ITEMS THAT CAN'T WAIT

2010-05-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

Wednesday's planning meeting was pretty fruitful in ideas for the coming year and getting a few more items ironed out for the Winery event June 5th.

First, the Winery: Most of the jobs have been allotted, and you will get a reminder call from Linnie as to which job and what times you are down for. Those who signed up for the morning shift of parking and set-up should be there by 9 AM. Last year people showed up early and parked in spaces that were for the vendors which resulted in problems, etc.

Raffle Items. Bring something nice to put in the raffle as a fund raiser for Treadles. Fiber, yarn, something handmade. Its a fun event.

T-shirts are in for this year.

Mens sizes and colors: L & XL, in black & dusty brown

Ladies sizes and colors: M, L, XL & 2X, in black, pacific blue & lime green

We are selling them to our guild members for $15 apiece and $20 for the general public. Please don't come up to the cashiers at the winery and announce you only have to pay $15, keep it quiet.

Aprons are a new thing for us. They are full-length [to the knees], 100% cotton in "hunter", a forest green, printed with the white "spinning at the winery" logo. We are only printing a run of 30 which may all go to the guild. Guild members will pay only what they will cost us. Don't know the exact price, but in the $10 range, maybe. Extras will be sold at the winery for $20.

July 4th Craft Fair

Will and Kate were asked by the Hilton Hotel, across the street from the Willow's Shopping Center, to see if they knew of anyone interested in having a booth at a new charity event they are planning: A craft fair featuring area handicrafts, with 10% of sales [double check this amount with Kate or Will] going to the Children's Hospital in Oakland.

The booth would be free for our guild and could be a great opportunity for any of you who make things to sell or who have simply made lots of excess stuff! It would also be a good way to promote our Guild. Get in touch with Will and Kate if you are interested.

Next Years's Plans

We are going to continue with our "Fiber Studies" along with a few other new ideas which will be explained as we go along. Our next formal meeting in August will feature "Dump Your Stash Day" and a fiber exchange from your stash.

You have two months to go through your collections of yarn, fiber, equipment, etc. and decide what you no longer need. Bring it in August for a sale/swap - depends on what you want to do. Also, pick out 3 or 4 oz of a fiber that is already in your stash that you haven't gotten to and will never get to. At the meeting you will exchange that fiber for someone else's which just might spark your creativity. [This will be a "blind" exchange, you won't know what you are getting till you open the bag] Finished results of the fiber exchange will be due in January 2011.

Think about a fiber study that you would like to do sometime during the year. Sign-ups will be in August.

A new event will be "Personal Sharing". Hopefully one or two or three people will sign up for each available month to bring 5 or 6 items that they have made in the past that the rest of us have never seen or have forgotten about. They will share them with the group and talk a little about their past experiences and experiments in the fiber arts. This would be just a short 10 or 15 minute talk from each person. Again, sign-ups in August.

See you all at the Winery!

May 26, 2010 Planning Meeting

2010-05-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

This coming Wednesday at 7:30 pm.

It may not sound exciting, but our next meeting is probably the most important meeting of the whole year to attend! May is usually the month that we decide what is going to happen for the coming year. Our Treadles calendar runs from June through May, so we use this "last" meeting to discuss what we all want and what we can accomplish for the next year.

Some times we decide on a theme for the year, sometimes we bounce around program ideas, and often, we have a full agenda by the end of the meeting. If you have anything that you would like to have a program on, or know of an interesting speaker, please come and let it be known.

CNCH CONFERENCE 2012

Treadles is part of Area 3 and it is our turn again to put on the conference in 2012. A small planning committee has already been formed with members from Guilds in our area. Much more help and volunteers are needed.

One suggestion for our Guild is to do "On-Site Registration" as we did back in 2002 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It was a big job and lots of workers were needed. We will discuss this more at the meeting. The 2012 conference will run from a Friday late afternoon through Sunday late afternoon. Workers will be needed to cover all of that time. The good news about this job, is that there is very little prep work before the conference since another group is doing On-line registration. So the time commitment is just for the conference days itself. We did a great job back in 2002 and we should be able to do our part again in 2012.

NEXT YEAR'S OFFICER SLATE

President: Reba with helpers Linnie and Janet

Secretary: Linda B.

Refreshments: Mary B.

Treasurer: Pam M.

Blog: Vilija

Still needed: Program chair[s], CNCH liaison

Voting will be done at the August meeting.

JUNE ACTIVITY: Spinning at the Winery

check the article in last month's blog

JULY ACTIVITY: Felting

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:

Black Sheep Gathering, June 18 - 20

Booneville, Sept. 17 - 19

Oregon Fleece and Fiber, Sept. 25 - 26

ARGENTINA

Will, Kate, my husband and I just got back from a fiber arts trip to Southern Argentina. One of the most eye-opening things about the trip is the vastness of this land. We saw a lot of very interesting things, but they were many miles/kilometers apart. Much of this travel was on dirt and/or gravel roads. Even the "main highway" from Central Argentina down to and through Patagonia is not all paved. We were a small group, in a small 11 person van, not exactly 4-wheel drive - which would have helped at times.

To view the essence of travel as we felt it, take a look at this video I've posted on YouTube of a short section of our traveled road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmgW2qHPbQA

Thirteenth Annual Spinning at the Winery

2010-04-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

June 5, 2010, 10am to 4pm

Retzlaff Winery

1356 S. Livermore Ave, Livermore

$5 entry per person

[on the left, just past City Hall & the Police Station]

From Will and Kate's humble idea for a day of spinning and "picnicing" thirteen years ago, to today's wonderful, day-long extravaganza, our event has really grown.

The vendors for this year are:

Nebo Rock Ranch - Janet Heppler

Shetland fleece grown by Beverly Flemming

Jacob fleece grown by Robin Lynde

Cashmere from Barbara Fiorica's goats

Cormo fleece from Sue Reuser

Black Diamond Alpacas - Donna Daychuk

RenCon Ranch with Shetland fleece

Shaggy Bear Farms - Wendy Hansen

Dreamy Goat Design Studio - Mary Finley

Carolina Homespun [lots of spinning related goodies]

Morro Fleece Works [a carding mill]

Vintage Buttons - Annabell Yurutuen

San Francisco Fibers - Lou Grantham

There will be a list of jobs that need to be done throughout the day passed around at the next two meetings. Plan on participating in some way to help with the work.

I've written an article about our event for the new CNCHnet which is to be published on May 1. Check out this new media space for articles regarding the fiber arts of Northern California. It will be a part of the CNCH web site, accessible in a link at the upper right side of this blog. The theme of the first issue will be "Looking Forward to Summer".

The CNCHnet journal hopes to be a tool for all the Guilds under the CNCH umbrella to publicize their special events, honor members who have worked diligently to make sure that interest and expertise in the fiber arts has not died, to share fiber projects and passions with stories and/or photos, and to also publicize gallery shows or special fiber events that would be of interest to all of us. The next publishing date after May is August 1, 2010. Any Guild member is encouraged to submit fiber related articles.

NEXT MEETING:

April 28, 2010 at 7:30 pm

The program is scheduled to be Rose Morgan talking about Lincoln sheep and their fleece, and Mary Bishop talking about Pygora goats and fleece.

Some wooly Linclolns posing pretty. How do they see the camera?

A grand-prize winning Pygora.

IN OTHER NEWS: The city of Pleasant Hill has plans for doing some building and have let us know that the Winslow center will not be available for us to use as of March 2011. We should all be looking for anther site for our meetings, preferably somewhat accessible and centered to our membership.

Linda V.H. has mentioned that the Senior care facility in Clayton offers their large multi-use room for free to outside groups. The meetings just have to be open to any resident who may have an interest in sitting in on the programs. Clayton is a bit far for some of our members, but there are other centers around the area. Maybe one of them also offers free meeting space. If there is one near you that you think would be a good location, check and see and report to the group.

NEXT MEETING: March 31, 2010, 7:30 PM

2010-03-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

An Evening With Cashmere

Bring the Champagne!

Come and hear all about cashmere goats from breeder Valerie Byrne. Valerie and her herd live in Castro Valley, not too far from us. She will tell us what it takes to raise these delightful creatures, and bring fiber samples and photos of her cuties. As Pam said at the last Monday Spinning, "It only takes a handful of cashmere fiber to keep you amused all evening at the spinning wheel!" A little bit does go a long way.

If you have never tried spinning cashmere, its not terribly difficult, but like everything, takes just a bit of practice. Spin it fairly fine and woolen, to give loft and softness. Use a short two-handed draw with a draft area of about 1 inch. Most pure cashmere will need no carding, just fluff up a handful and hold it very lightly as you spin. Work with loose tension, the tug should be just enough to allow the yarn to wind on the bobbin. As the twist runs up the yarn towards the fluff in your hand, let it go clear up into the mass of fibers, then gently pull out a short draft. Your holding hand should not be clutching the fluff, but just gently cradling it.

If you have problems with breakage, generally, either there is too much tension from your wheel, or not enough twist on your fiber. Cashmere will want to spin a fine yarn. If you want a medium sized yarn, plan on several plies. Remember though, that cashmere is much warmer than wool.

Cashmere will also blend well with other natural fibers of similar fineness and length. Fine wool, tussah and bombyx silk, camel down, angora rabbit, buffalo and Quiviut down will all look marvelous as blends.

COMING EVENTS:

Forest Home Farms
May 2, Sheep Shearing Day, 11am-3pm,
19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd. San Ramon [Right off 680]

The rains have stopped and the weather is starting to warm up -- time to give the sheep who live at Forest Home Farms their annual haircut!

Spinning At The Winery
A Day of Spinning in Livermore's Wine Country
June 5, 2010, 10 am to 4 pm
Retzlaff Winery, 1356 S. Livermore Ave. Livermore

Fleeces, Fiber, Yarn & Much More! Featuring California Vendors with some really terrific goodies. Bring your wheel and a pot-luck dish to share for lunch. $5 entry per person.

NEXT MEETING: FEBRUARY 17, 2010

2010-02-08T20:04:00.000-08:00

"DESIGNING YARN FOR QUALITY FABRIC"

Our guest speaker for this meeting will be Bobbie Irwin from Colorado, who will be in the Bay Area visiting several guilds. Her topic for us is the designing of yarn. Part of the focus is on deciding the purpose for the yarn before you start spinning. What a concept! But if you have a specific project in mind, choosing the appropriate fiber, the preparation, spinning technique and finishing are all tremendously important in making that idea come to life.

There is nothing wrong with finding some beautiful fiber, spinning it up just for the luscious feel and gorgeous look of it, but when you want a creation to come out with the least number of nasty surprises possible, then designing ahead of time is what you want to do.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Stitches Conference in Santa Clara at the Convention Center. February 25 - 28, 2010
CNCH Conference in Santa Clara at the Convention Center, April 6, 7, 8, 9 2010
Spinning at the Winery, June 5, 2010

Southern Argentina Spinners & Weavers Tour April 28 - May 10, 2010 Still four spots open for this trip along the base of the Andes down to northern Patagonia. About $2200 per person, 13 days/12 nights. Includes all except for air fare from U.S. to Buenos Aires and back. Lots of meals included also. Talk to Vilija, Will or Kate.

ONE WAY TO KEEP WARM DURING WINTER!

Get into a big bag of snuggly fleece.

Thanks to my friend Sue in Indiana for her cute kitten's photo.

Next Meeting: January 27, 2010 7:30 PM

2010-01-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

The program for this night will be Cheviot Sheep. Wendy, Laura and Carolyn will present an in-house program on these sheep and the fleece that they produce. See you all there. Bring your Show & Tell, especially if you've done any spinning of Cheviot fleece.

NEXT MONTH'S meeting date will be a week early from our usual "last Wednesday of the month". We will have a speaker who is here to give programs for several guilds, plus a workshop on Twined Rag Rugs for Spindles & Flyers. We were able to get on her schedule for February 17th. Put it on your schedule right now!

CHRISTMAS POTLUCK
Treadles had a great turn out for the annual Christmas Party and Sheep Ornament Exchange in December. Everyone worked hard this year as evidenced by the fabulous array of mini Christmas Sheep that showed up. I wish I had a photo of everyone, it was hard to pick a favorite. Keep up the good work because this is a tradition that's going to keep on going.

After months in the planning, we were finally able to present Kate and Will with their handspun, handwoven afghan as a thank you for all the years they spear-headed Treadles' meetings. Go to the CNCH website [just to your right under Bay Area Guild Info] and look under Treadles to Threads for a little article about them.

Will trying out the "warmth" quality of the afghan!

A THANK YOU FROM KATE & WILL

"Dear Guild members,

The words "thank you" do not seem to be adequate for the amount of time and effort that went into making the afghan that you gave us. After we returned home after the Christmas party we began to realize how wonderful and beauitful the afghan is. It truly was a total surprise (maybe we should say shock). It is in the living room where we can see and touch it. It is amazing how well the colors match the colors of the furniture. Also a special Thank You to Janet and Linnie for their time in planning and weaving. Again THANK YOU.
Love -- Kate and Will

PS And that was the-best-darn-handmade-soap."

CNCH CONFERENCE 2010
While on the web site for CNCH, check out the rest of the information. There are several articles about workshops being offered at the April 9, 10 and 11 conference down in Santa Clara. If you have any interest at all, sign up now, for the conference, the seminars or a workshop. Their deadline for deciding what will need to be cancelled for lack of attendance is mid-February. If you really want to take something, and wait too long, it may no longer even be a part of the program. Budgets are tight for everyone, and if a workshop cannot pay for itself, it will need to be cancelled.

SOCK KNITTING MACHINE
Mary forwarded a couple of short films on You Tube about the history of the sock knitting machine - and the role they played in helping the soldiers of WWI. It's in two parts and quite interesting, especially if you're a history buff. Make a cup of coffee or tea and sit down and watch. For Part One: [You can get to Part Two from there]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBdmqYTTK7c

THE "NAKED" CHEF IS INTO "NAKED KNITTING"
This a short blurb lifted from the Winter 09/10 edition of Vogue Knitting on the newsstands now.

"Is famed Naked Chef Jamie Oliver soon to become the Naked Knitter? Maybe so, seeing that Fifteen, the restaurant he founded to give training in the culinary arts to disadvantaged young people [in the U.K.], is now selling sumptuous knitting kits on its website (fifteenshop.net) to benefit his Fifteen Foundation. Why knitting kits? Well, you might say what's good for the mitten is good for the mutton: The kits showcase wool from Fifteen's free-range lamb supplier, Elwy Valley, a family-run farm in Wales that epitomizes Fifteen's ethic of environmental responsibility. The Elwy Valley wool is blended with Manx and Hebridian wool, then spun and organically dyed by The Natural Fibre Company, which created the four included patterns (two scarves, one beanie and an egg cozy). Also tucked into the recycled-chic box are sustainably grown subabul wood needles from The Little Knitting Company. (The yarn is ) Available in two coloways: pink and gray, or brown and purple."

As a big fan of Jamie and his TV shows [yes, we even went to two of his restaurants while we were in the U.K. this last Spring - including Fifteen] I logged on immediately after reading this to order my yarn. But, alas, it was such a huge seller over the Christmas season, they don't expect more till sometime later this month. I guess I can wait. After all, the knitting needles will now [on the new kits] be emblazoned with the Fifteen "logo". What more can you want!

This is a beautiful Hebridian we saw last Spring in Scotland. Despite their wild look, the wool is actually fairly soft.

EVENTS COMING UP:
The Stitches West Conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center on February 26, 27, and 28. The place to go if you have any Christmas money left!

WELCOME to the new look of our blog

2009-11-03T14:41:00.001-08:00

Note that the web address is slightly different from before. Use the number "2" rather than the word "to". treadles2threads.blogspot.com
Check out the vendor and events list. If you have a vendor you like or an event you know of, let me know and I'll add it in.

NEXT MEETING:
NOVEMBER 18, 2009, 7:30 PM at the Winslow Center
Please note that this meeting is one week earlier in the month than usual, because of Thanksgiving.
While you're marking your calendar, mark down the February 2010 meeting will also be one week early, on February 17th.

PROGRAM FOR NOVEMBER:
Two fiber studies done by Donna and Reba are on the agenda for this month. Donna will talk about Perendale sheep and fiber and Reba will talk about Ingeo fiber, a "natural" fiber made from corn.
If you find a fiber that you would like to do a little study on and then present that info to the guild, you can sign up at any time. Just let Donna or Reba know and they'll find you a spot or even begin a new program line up for next year.

Also at this meeting we will have some of Madeline's yarns for distribution. I'm not quite sure how we will do this, but maybe a silent auction. Madeline's family donated what fibers and yarns she had to the guild and after a brief discussion at September's meeting, we thought that distributing them with a donation going to the guild would be best. Perhaps we can expand on this a bit! This might be a good time to bring good stuff that you have that you are ready to give up to swap or sell.

CNCH Conference is coming up in April 2010.
at The Santa Clara Convention Center
You can look up the whole web site through the link at the right side of this blog. Spinning seminars [3 to 6 hour classes] offered this year are: "The Structure of Yarn", "Fun, Fat, and Fulled", "To Spin a Fine Thread", and "Spinning for Color" four different seminars with Judith MacKenzie McCuin; "Weaving with Handspun" with Phyllis Karsten; "Turning Straw into Gold" spinning flax with Kati Meek; "Shimmering Silk: An Inspiring Fiber to Spin" with Heather Winslow;

There are lots of other classes and workshops offered this year also, from weaving, to basketry, to jewelry and more. Registration is open now and for the first time for CNCH, you can register on-line with a VISA or MASTERCARD.

Wednesday, DECEMBER 9th from 5-9 PM is the 2009 Holiday Festival at the Pleasant Hill Community Center, 320 Civic Drive. We are once again going to work with all the kids to make "rope" necklaces, which happen to be very popular with all the little boys also. The kids love making a "rope" on our spinning sticks. There is a sign up sheet for the work schedule for the night and Pam will remind everyone again for the time slot each signed up. On Monday, Nov. 16th, the Monday Spinners will once again make up the "kits" for this program. A task that goes quickly with all of us working together.

DECEMBER 12, 2009, Annual Treadles Christmas Party
Our Christmas party is coming up fast. Have you thought about your "Sheep Ornament" yet. Handmade is always nice, but if you find a cute one to purchase, that's very good too! This is always a fun event for our Guild. The party is at the home of Vilija and will begin at noon. Bring your ornament and some good food to share. Email me for directions if you don't know where I live. vilijad@sbcglobal.net or call: 925-672-0322