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
Flax Workshop April 2021
Guild member Sophie presented this workshop. There is a long history of flax growing in Friesland in the Netherlands where Sophie lives. As recently as 150 years ago everyone had a small field of flax, which the women spun into linen yarn for shirts, nightwear, children’s clothes, lace etc. The woman who taught Sophie to spin flax was taught by … Read More
Fleece Workshop March 2021
Amanda Hannaford ran this workshop, which focussed on fleece – the different properties of fleece from a variety of breeds, how to process and spin them to get the best from them, and what the resulting yarn can be used for. She started by showing us samples of short, medium and long stapled fleece processed in different ways. First a … Read More
Silk Spinning February 2021
Jaine Mahon of (Skye Silks) gave us a wonderful workshop on silk spinning via Zoom on the morning of 13 February. She started by taking us on a tour of her studio, showing us some of her lovely handwoven silk scarves, and other handwoven and hand dyed items, then on to spinning. She had made up boxes, beautifully packaged, containing … Read More
January gathering
The morning Crafters’ Question Time, attended by 18 or 19 people brought an interesting range of questions and answers and ended on a light note with “What is the most extravagant craft item you’ve bought and has it improved your crafting, which everyone had the chance to answer! The afternoon session, again attended by 19 people, was filled with friendly … Read More
December pm gathering
Following the Teneriffe Lace workshop in the morning several people proudly shared their completed medallions, while some continued to work on theirs, or spin, or just join in the general chat. There was some interesting headgear which we all admired, plus the usual visits from pets! Later we had a show and tell – easy to do as we’re all … Read More