Guild members demonstrated at a number of local farm shows. Here is a write up and pictures from some of them. Sutherland County Show, Dornoch For its return in 2022 the Sutherland County Show was held on a fine summer day and attracted good crowds with the queue to enter stretching back into Castle Square at one time I was … Read More
Open Day June 2022
Around 30 members attended to spin, chat and have a good look at our proposed new venue, the Highland Hotel in Strathpeffer. The room allocated was big enough to accommodate us comfortably, and had a homely feel, which soon had people re-arranging chairs into informal groups. More seating was available in the breakout area next door, where flasks of hot … Read More
Double Weave Workshop May 2022
Our first face to face workshop for over two years was tutored by Christina Chisholm, a very experienced weaver, who is also very good at explaining things. She also used samples from her Certificate of Achievement to show what we we’re aiming at. In double weave half of the warp threads are used for the top layer, half for the … Read More
Members’ Open day April 2022
April 2022 Members’ Day The focus for the day was spinning. We had demonstrations of combing, blending board and picker. As usual there was also a lot of chat and a bit of show and tell! Sheila had brought her double weave samples to give people a clearer idea of what the May workshop is about. Aileen was wearing a … Read More
Members Open Day March 2022
Our first face to face meeting for two years – how lovely it was to meet up again! There were 30 plus members present, spread around the outside of the big hall at Strathpeffer Community Centre, mostly with spinning wheels, though Ruth had brought a marudai and was weaving a kumihimo braid, and Susan was using a drop spindle. The … Read More
February 2022 – Quiz
Around 20 of us turned up to see how much or how little we know about our crafts! Once again Serena had set a challenging and fun quiz which extended our knowledge as well as testing it. The first section was about archaeology, with pictures and questions about ancient textiles. Next, 10 anagrams of the names of people associated with … Read More
January 2022 – Janet Phillips, Weaver
Janet describes herself as textile designer rather than a hand weaver: she starts with a design brief, constructs the weave, then works out a threading and lifting plan, rather than the other way round. This is the way she learned to work in her first weeks at Galashiels. She uses a table loom to sample and works multiple section sample … Read More
December 2021 – AGWSD Summer School
The Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers (AGWSD) holds a week-long Summer School every two years, with an exhibition in the year in between. The exhibition was cancelled in 2020, but after some uncertainty, the Summer School did in the end go ahead in August 2021. It was held at Writtle University College near Chelmsford in Essex. Three … Read More
November 2021 T J Frog – Dorset Button Decoration
Tania Jane “The Button Lady” of T J Frog tutored our November workshop. We had the opportunity to buy a kit from her beforehand which had all the materials needed to make 2 decorations which could be hung on a Christmas tree. I almost didn’t buy one as I thought I could probably assemble enough bits and pieces, but I … Read More
October 2021 Trisha Gow – Fungi Dyeing
Trisha Gow is a tapestry weaver, who discovered fungi dyeing when she attended the Battleby Gathering in the 1980s. She is a member of the Scottish Fungi Dye Group, and has attended the International Fungi and Fibre Symposium several times. Apparently, there is no historical record of the use of fungi dyes – research began in the 20th century. Unlike … Read More
September 2021 Johnny Shiels, Wheel Maker
Another interesting meeting I wasn’t able to attend! Enclosed is the write up from Norah: JohnnyShiels
August 2021 All About Cotton
I wasn’t able to attend this meeting, so the write up is thanks to Liz. I clearly missed a very interesting meeting which looked at spinning, weaving and dyeing cotton, with contributions from several of our members. It’s attached here as a document: Cotton spinning
July 2021 Cally Booker – Weaver
Cally gave an inspiring talk on her life as a weaver from how she got started to the work she is doing now. She described her journey as a series of accidents! Cally lives and works in Dundee and her walk from home to her studio in an old jute mill takes her through a park, which is a source … Read More
June 2021 Book Discussion
June Meeting – Book Recommendations This was Susan Godlington’s idea – what a great meeting! The books members chose to recommend included poetry and novels, history, inspiration, books they learned to spin or weave from, and books they go to when planning a project. I’ve put all of the recommendations into a booklist: HGWSD June books Catherine Freeland had trouble … Read More
Dyeing Workshop May 2021
Normally in a dye workshop the person leading explains the process, shows samples and then participants are able to have a go. First measuring carefully, following rules, then, when they feel confident with the process, letting loose their imagination and having fun. This tine, because we couldn’t meet up, we focussed on explaining and hoped to give enough information to … Read More