April Open Day at Strathpeffer About 20 people enjoyed the April Open Day, most spinning either with wheels or spindles. One newish member was being taught to spin by Sue R. Another, taught by Sue V at Dornoch, was doing impressively well with a spindle. Sadie had offered to help anyone with queries about tapestry, and had set up four … Read More
Anna Champeney Talk
Anna’s talk to guild members on Saturday told the story of her weaving life from the year 2000, when aged 30, she and her partner moved to rural Ribiera Sacra in NW Spain, until the present day. “Madness” is how she described this decision, and bold it certainly was… without any weaving skills she set out to revive what was … Read More
Quiz January 2024
Serena started the quiz tradition during lockdown. This year committee members set the questions, giving Serena a chance to take part. As usual we were all made aware of how much we don’t know about spinning, weaving and dyeing! We had historical questions, technical questions, almost impossible anagrams, Latin terms, pictures of animals and weaving and spinning wheels to identify … Read More
Dornoch Show 2023
I was a complete newbie both to the beautiful town of Dornoch and to its annual allthings-fibre get together. At just a stretch too far for an easy day trip I stayed overnight not least to see Joan Baxter’s extraordinary tapestry weaving exhibition and to chat with her while she worked. A weaver of international reputation in the back room … Read More
Black Isle Show 2023
The Black Isle Show is on the Wednesday and Thursday after the Nairn Show, and opens to the public at 4pm on Wednesday, so we got there about 1.00 to start setting up. A good thing we were early – no tables or chairs and slightly less space than last year! A phone call solved the first problem, and we … Read More
Nairn Show 2023
This year we were provided with a new tent, more spacious than the gazebo we had before, and sited near the horticulture tent. We were facing the show jumping arena, so had something to watch in quiet moments! We also had a view of a little group of alpacas, which were at a stand next to the horticulture tent. We … Read More
Spinning Challenge January 2024
A set of challenges to ward off the gloom of dark cold days. Extra Zoom meetings have been scheduled so that we can be social, and share ideas, questions, inspiration. Each week one of the numbered challenges will be drawn to give us a challenge of the week, and Guild members are encouraged to share photos, patterns etc.
Open Day December 2023
Around 20 people attended our December meeting at Strathpeffer Community Centre, most with spinning wheels. There was a lot of chat as usual, also mince pies and chocolates! Some took advantage of the opportunity to browse the library books and the equipment, now stored in a cupboard in the room we use, and securely locked when we are not there. … Read More
Open Day and Warping Demo October 2023
After an unexpected change of venue, the day got off to a start with Stephanie demonstrating how to wind a warp using a warping mill. The principal is the same as using a warping frame. She explained “the cross” – you wind so that in one direction the thread goes over the second last post, and on the return it … Read More
Open Day September 2023
Highland Guild Open Day, 9th September. Stephanie Hoyle Our first meeting after the summer break was on a lovely sunny day, which enabled us to take advantage of the outside space on the hotel terrace to spin and chat. This was a good thing as we’d been accidentally locked out of our usual large room and only had the small … Read More
Fleece Day at Glachbeg Croft August 2023
Glachbeg is a great venue for this kind of event, many thanks to David Spooner and his assistants who had done everything possible to make the day a success for us, there was plenty of car parking and the weather was kind with lovely sunshine throughout the event. The day was planned by Terry Williams, and she and Alison Munro … Read More
Dye Workshop May 2023
What a wonderful day! The weather was kind, the venue perfect for our needs, and the workshop both fun and inspiring! This was our first time at Glachbeg Croft, where we were made very welcome. We set up for the dyeing in an open sided barn – outside, but undercover, and with an earth floor. We also had use of … Read More
Jaine Mahon, Skye Silks
On 11th February twenty plus Guild members met by zoom to hear Jaine Mahon’s inspirational talk about her journey as a spinner, weaver and dyer. Like many of us she learned to knit and sew as a child – so young she can’t remember learning to knit! After school she did a computing course at university, visited a craft centre … Read More
January 2023 Quiz
For the third year running Serena has tested out knowledge of our crafts with a fun quiz. If you were unable to attend the zoom meeting you can test your knowledge by downloading the pdf: Quiz 2023. None of us did very well with it!! Try not to look at the answers too soon! Quiz 2023 Answers
December 2022 Open Day
We had a small but happy group of spinners at our meeting in December with maybe 12 members in total, mostly from around the Dingwall area since the weather was so poor and the roads so icy, though at least one intrepid spinner made the trek from much farther afield. The threat of heavy snow did not materialise so we … Read More