NEXT MEETING: Jan. 30, 2013 7 pm

PROGRAM:
SPINNING AND DYEING YOUR OWN WOOL FOR CREWEL EMBROIDERY WORK with Nancy Van Tassel

crewel embroidery off the web

From Nancy:  "For my presentation I will show what type of wool to spin, how to spin it, ply it, skein it and dye it.

I will also bring in some pieces that I have done with my own handspun crewel wool and I can give a demonstration on how to do the actual embroidery if there is interest in that.

Topics can also include:

1.  The history and importance of crewel embroidery in England and America
(huge history there--boy, was I surprised!!!)
2.  Sources and techniques for making your own crewel designs on linen
3.  Best sources for linen and the best type of linen
4.  Hoops and stretchers and how to use them
5.  Books on stitches and finishing techniques
6.  How to decorate with your own crewel work and making useful items
7.  The tools necessary for making crewel embroidery.

In addition to our spinning guild, I am in a stitchery guild.  I love to embroider and making crewel wool and needlepoint wool lets me combine my two loves.

I am still learning.  My latest piece is a bench cover and I was working it with a regular crewel needle--they are quite big--only to discover that my fine-spun crewel wool fit beautifully on a regular embroidery needle.  It helped to make a more finely stitched design when I used the small needle. We learn by doing."



Don't forget about Show & Tell: If you did not have your Dreamy Goat fiber spun up, bring it for showing if you had a chance to work on it over the holidays. Also, remember, we're looking for great projects known as "One Skein Wonders" to give us inspiration for our Dreamy Goat fiber. Bring some if you have any. See last month's newsletter for the "non" rules for making up the fiber and finished project.



Monday Spinning and Why We Always Have a Tea Break
My new calendar for 2013 is "The Collectable Teapot & Tea". In it is the following, which beautifully explains why we take a break for tea on Monday's.

Teatime

     Taking time out for tea is good for body and soul alike. Miraculously, tea fortifies as it gladdens, making the tea drinker see the world anew and feel at one with fellow human beings. On a busy day, afternoon tea provides an oasis of stillness and calm; when one is alone, it punctuates the hours with a delectation worth savoring.  As has been remarked, "Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company." Indeed, whatever the place or occasion, tea is a ritual to relish, a ceremony that celebrates the beauty of the everyday.

Tea and spinning and good company, a great combination.


SHETLAND WOOL WEEK

A flock of shetland sheep

Actually, we missed it this past year, but now is the time to save up and participate next October! In the Fall 2012 issue of Vogue Knitting, was an article about Shetland Wool Week [ October 8-14, 2012], an annual festival in Lerwick on one of the hundred plus islands that make up Shetland, an archipelago north of the mainland of Scotland. Only in its third year in 2012, it has already become a popular destination for knitters worldwide. Visitors this last year were from the U.S.A, Australia, Brazil and Japan.

Begun in 2010 by the Jamieson & Smith Shetland Wool Brokers as part of their commitment to the Campaign for Wool, Prince Charles's five-year marketing initiative to boost flagging prices for wool worldwide, there are already plans to make it a continuing calendar event beyond the five year commitment.

The event offers lectures and workshops as well as open studios of craftsmen and exhibitions of historic and contemporary designers. There is also a Makers Market, and, the week coincides with the annual Shetland flock sales and fleece judging. What a great field trip for Treadles! www.shetlandwoolweek.com