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. There was also a stash buster sales table.
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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 goes under it – this keeps the threads in order. You need to put ties round the cross before removing it from the warping mill, and it is sensible to put tight ties round the warp in several places so that it doesn’t slip and get messed up. Once the warp was wound Stephanie and Sheila showed how to dress a loom; Stephanie working on the new Guild loom (Louet Erica), and Sheila on her own Louet Jane. Several people had a go at threading, and, when Sheila’s loom was threaded, at weaving.
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Open Day September 2023
Highland Guild Open Day, 9th September. Stephanie Hoyle
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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 room where the tea and coffee is! I missed a number of meetings in the spring, and was beginning to feel semi-detached. It was good to be back. -
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 did a great job of setting up and working behind the scenes to make sure everything went well.
The morning was a workshop on choosing, sorting and preparing fleeces led by Alison Strange of
Bunloit Woolery and the afternoon was a sale of fleece. Eight took part in the workshop where Alison showed a range of fleeces both good and bad, including a couple of Black Isle show prize winners. She talked about the joy of crimp, explained about fleeces cut above and below the rise, second cut, characteristics of different kinds of fleeces, and showed how to skirt a fleece.Other members were also present, and we were very pleased to welcome Carol Crowdy from the
Berkshire guild holidaying on Skye, who came over for the day. We broke for lunch and were treated to a wonderful range of delicious home baking made by one of the people from Glachbeg. We had a good chat with Carol over lunch as she organises the fleece day for her own guild so we got some good ideas for future fleece days if there is sufficient interest to hold another. In the afternoon, anyone who was interested in buying a fleece unrolled it on the table so it could be viewed and the lessons of the morning were put into practice as people decided which fleeces to buy.All in all, a successful day with lots of learning and laughter – a good time was had by all.
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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 a modern building which is used for workshops etc, where we could sit down for tea or coffee and eat our lunch.
Susan started us off with shibori. We tore up old cotton sheets so that everyone had two or three pieces of cloth to dye. Then Susan showed us how to fold and tie the material tightly to exclude dye from some areas – she had brought small blocks of wood, buttons and pegs to include to make different patterns. Once the fabric parcels were tightly tied, dye was applied liberally to the exposed parts, then after a quick whizz in the microwave, they were left to set. We were using Procion fibre reactive dyes, with sodium carbonate as fixative for cotton and other cellulose fibres – no heat is needed to fix the dye, but a minute in the microwave helps to get the process started. Those who had used anything which included metal to make their patterns couldn’t microwave, but the results were just as good when the pieces were unwrapped later. After everyone had tied up a couple of pieces, we had a tea break and Susan introduced the idea of stitching then drawing up the stitches tightly, as another way of excluding dye from some areas of the fabric.
Once dye had been applied to the stitched samples, Susan introduced something new to everyone: Jacquard Solarfast dyes. These were applied to the fabric in the darkest part of the barn, then objects (leaves, coins, etc) were arranged on top, and the pieces of fabric then set out in the sun. We left them while we had lunch, then carried them into the back of the barn again and quickly removed the leaves etc and washed the fabric as thoroughly as possible to remove any residual dye. This is important as any dye remaining will react with the light and the pattern will be lost. The initially pale colour had darkened where the fabric was exposed to the sun, but remained pale where it had been covered, leaving an imprint of whatever had been laid on top.
By this time everyone was curious to see the outcome of the shibori experiments, so these were unwrapped and admired. Some had worked better than others, but all were attractive. Those who hadn’t used the stitching technique before mostly found that their stitching hadn’t been pulled tight enough – a learning point for next time. The fibre reactive dyes can take 24 to 48 hours to fully set, so participants were advised not to rinse their work till the following day at least.
In the afternoon Susan introduced the use of acid dyes on wool. She gave everyone pre-soaked tops in white, grey, brown and black, and a little piece of fleece. These were to be dyed with the same solid colour to show how the end results varied. She then introduced rainbow dying – playtime! Lay a length of pre-soaked tops on clingfilm, add splashes of different colour dyes at intervals, squish to blend where the colours meet, roll in the clingfilm, closing the ends, and microwave! The wool needs to be pre-soaked so that it takes up the dye effectively, but should be squeezed out before applying the dye. The fixative for wool is lemon juice or vinegar, and the dyes need to be heat fixed, so the microwaves worked hard for the rest of the day.
At the end of the day everyone had a range of samples, and a lot of ideas for more experiments. Thank you, Susan for a great day!
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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 on a day off, and was so fascinated she immediately booked a day’s spinning course. This involved a 20 mile cycle ride there and back! Her teacher put her in touch with the Association of Guilds of WSD, and in the early 1980s when she started work she joined two local Guilds (Wiltshire and Worcestershire). Guild meetings were attended by 80-100 members. Many of the members were very skilled older ladies, who had learned from their grandmothers, and who spun, wove and made their own clothes and home textiles. Technically very competent, but all in natural colours, so rather dull. However, there were also hippies, who went wild with colour and texture. With influence from both sides Jaine learned all the rules and how to break them.
From spinning, Jaine moved on to explore natural and chemical dyes, then weaving, and loved it. She attended workshops and courses – retreats arranged by the Guilds and Convergence in Vancouver. The latter she described as Disneyland plus Christmas plus Alice in Wonderland! Her tutors have included Mabel Ross, Sue Hiley Harris, Peter Collingwood, Eileen Chadwick, Jenny Balfour Paul, Peter Teal, Jaqui Carey.
In 1991 she enrolled on the Bradford Diploma in Handloom Weaving, which at that time also included the basics of spinning and dyeing. She showed us some of her samples woven on the course: colour and weave; inkle; kumihimo; oiled wool – 8 samples the same, fulled differently; double weave using linen; rugs with a pure wool weft; collapse fabrics; deflected double weave. She also showed us her dye sample book.
And so to silk – natural fibre, takes dye naturally, feels nice, drapes well. Having worked with a variety of fibres, spinning techniques, dyes and weave structures, Jaine found when she was setting up her business in Skye that she needed to specialise. She investigated and found that there were not many people weaving in the area, and that it was mostly wool, so she decided to focus on silk. She has done bespoke designs for wedding dresses, and did initially include garments in her studio, but finds that scarves sell best. Each of her scarves in unique. She does her own dyeing, and though several scarves are woven on one warp, the wefts are different. Warps and or wefts may be hand painted; weave structures vary; supplementary warps may be used. The thread she uses is either 30/2s (sett at 30 epi) or 60/2s (sett at 60-80 epi). A 30 metre warp with 1008 threads takes around 18 hours to set up, and will make 12 scarves. Weaving takes about 8 hours per scarf. She has recently bought a huge 4 metre warping mill, which will enable her to wind a 100 metre warp, enough for 40 scarves.
Hand woven scarves and stoles are expensive, so Jaine also buys undyed silk scarves and dyes them to increase her range with less expensive items. She also uses the thrums to make kumihimo cords for earrings, necklaces and glasses cords, makes earrings from cocoons, and roses from carrier rods. We were all full of admiration for the colour and range of items in Jaine’s studio, and the amount of sheer hard work which goes into producing it.
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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 were able to enjoy the full day. We had the new uplighters, and they were a big improvement making a significant difference to the light levels in both rooms.
We had an interesting show and tell of Christmas related items, and I learned that you cannot starch nylon! I had crocheted a snowflake from handspun trilobal nylon, because I
wanted it to sparkle a little in light, to resemble frost on snow. I tried to stiffen it with starch and could not understand why it did not work until it was pointed out to me that starch does not work on nylon! Two alternative stiffening methods were suggested, artists fixer which I happened to have some of, and it worked a treat. The other suggestion was for dilute wood glue, which I have not yet tried but will keep in mind if I make more for next year. -
November 2022 Rigid Heddle Weaving Workshop
It was a pleasure to run this workshop for 13 people, even though everyone was at a different skill level. Beginners progressed from plain weave to simple pick-up, while the
more experienced produced a range of patterns, guided by examples on a worksheet.I was able to instruct and help, as needed, aided by Bryony. However, skill-sharing among the group was evident and was key to making the day a success. The progress made was
impressive with notable achievements in a relatively short time. There’s still more to learn – paving the way for another workshop?Occasional visits from members using the smaller room were welcomed and their interest was much appreciated. Likewise, the weavers were able to use the calmer space in the smaller room for well-earned breaks from their looms. I’d like to thank all the participants for their enthusiasm on the day.
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October 2022 Art Yarns Workshop
A much anticipated Guild course run by Sue. Ten participants enjoyed an information packed day full of inspiration and expert guidance. There was a fine display of work by Sue with
examples of how she had used her art yarns in a variety of ways.Participants brought in their wheels, and in particular wheels with a large orifice and low ratio. There was a fine selection of materials for us to use in the creation of the yarns – and the key to success was clearly going to be perseverance and patience. To start with we attempted to create a slub whilst resisting the temptation to predraft. A
slub is created using less than the staple length as the twist will enter the yarn at the narrowest point. Treadling the wheel slowly with a light tension enabled the twist to enter into both the thick and thin sections of the fleece, before it was pulled onto the bobbin with more control.Attempting to spiral ply and produce coils, we were given cones of yarn to practice the ply. Whilst understanding the mathematics of twist and plying, it was very difficult not to send an over twisted mass onto the bobbin. With practice, several cocoons and halos were also produced on the single. It was a very meditative process.
Sue also found time to demonstrate a beaded yarn (which I have since practiced on a necklace teaching spinning to my granddaughter with some success). There is a possibility
of a further workshop on adding beads to Art Yarns in the future.Sue made the process thoroughly engaging and her enthusiasm was clear to see. All of the participants had a fantastic day with many new skills learned!
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September Open Day 2022
This meeting had a focus on spindles. Sheila had brought along a collection of different types, and started by demonstrating a kick spindle. The spindle is supported in a framework and operated by spinning the ball at the lower end with the foot, giving the spinner a really good workout!! She also demonstrated a Navaho spindle, as well as smaller supported spindles. Other people were using a variety of spindles – top whorl, bottom whorl, Turkish, dealgan. Sue ended the day by giving a quick demonstration of fancy yarns as a taster for the October workshop. She made them look very do-able!.
[envira-gallery id=”86822″]Sadie had brought along her completed Tapestry Certificate of Achievement presentation, for which she had been awarded a well earned Distinction. Some photos:
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Summer Shows 2022
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 told. The Guild was back in its usual position by the fleece competition in the Lifestyle Marquee, but we had less space than before as the organisers seemed to have reorganised the tent. We were rather squeezed into about half our usual space which meant that access to the tables with a wonderful array of members’ yarns dyed lovely colours and beautiful woven hangings and clothes from members’ weavings was rather limited, as we were constrained to sit in a curve in front of the display and only a little to the side. Nevertheless, the public enjoyed what they could see and some made an effort to reach the display. As always, many questions were asked about our crafts and joining the Guild. We gave away many magazines and encouraged people to contact the website. An interesting request was from someone from Caithness area who was looking for contacts for an Ukrainian family with whom she was working in that area. It would be good to think we can do a bit for one family. We had spinners with a range of wheels and Jane Kitchener attracted special interest as she spent the day carding and creating rolags, which has left us with ideas of how to organise next year’s display around a theme. Watch this space, volunteers! My thanks as always to all those who turn up to demonstrate and talk to the public. We seem to generate a great spirit among us which reflects on to the visitors.
Nairn Show
The Show was in a new venue, closer to the town, in a good flat field, though it seemed smaller than the one at Auldearn where it has been for some years. It was a bit slow to get
going in the morning, but we had lots of interested visitors as the day went on, and had a good day. The weather was kind – generally hot and sunny, but with a nice cooling breeze.When I was first contacted about this year’s show, I was told they wanted our contribution to be educational, so that people, especially children, could see how sheep’s fleece is
transformed into garments. My mental response was “that’s what we do anyway”! However, as requested I took a day or two to think and got back to him with the idea that we’d have two teddies, knitted from handspun, one with clothes, one without, and throughout the day we’d have people carding, spinning, weaving (as we always do), plus someone knitting with handspun to make a jacket and trousers for the naked teddy. Margaret knitted the jacket, Janet the trousers.
There is a class in the handicrafts competition for an article in own handspun yarn. Janet’s cushion won trophies as the best handicraft exhibit, and the best knitting and stitching exhibit. Hilma got a second for her scarf. Congratulations to both! The ring shawl in the photos of our display was knitted by Margaret, the yarn spun by a friend of hers.Three people asked us if we were interested in fleece, so I told them to contact us via the website and we’ll advertise in the newsletter. Thanks to demonstrators: Christine, Kathleen, Margaret, Janet, Agnes, Linda, Jenny, and to Patsy, Ada and Hilma who weren’t able to be there, but who loaned items for the display. Some pictures below:
[envira-gallery id=”86921″]Black Isle Show 3 and 4 August 2022
We arrived to set up on Wednesday knowing we were sharing a marquee with the fleece and crooks competition, but not sure how much space we would have. However, the sign on the tent said “Spinning, Wool and Crooks”, so we knew we were wanted, and the space was very reasonable, almost square, with enough space for a group of spinners to sit towards the middle without impeding our visitors. No tables when we arrived, but a kindly official helped us to take what we needed from the back of the sheering competition tent next door – dusty and cobwebby, but Sue and I cleaned them up with paper towels and they were fine. Liz, Terry, Norah and Roger arrived shortly after and we got set up quite quickly, then watched with interest as Fergus set up his weighted warp loom. We didn’t have a huge display, but plenty for people to look at. Terry’s Fishwife was a definite star!
For an hour or so after the Show opened, we were very quiet, then people began to filter down to our end of the showground, and we were intermittently quite busy. A family of four children came and had a go at weaving on the SampleIt, and came back on Thursday to have another go, and also to try spinning. It was all very pleasant and relaxed: Roger got on with threading heddles, wishing he hadn’t put on such a wide warp, Fergus started weaving on the weighted warp loom (this was quite a draw), Henriette began weaving her stunning multi-patterned, rainbow cushion cover, and Sue, Norah, Alison, Terry and I spun – Terry using a dealgan, and Sue spinning on the Saxony wheel gifted to the Guild. We went home about 7.00.
An early start for some of us on Thursday as the Show opened at 8.00, and more people joining us to demonstrate as the day got busier. Mary and Beth were there early, then Michelle, Aileen, Denise, Sonia and Sadie. They brought a few things to add to the display, and Michelle, Denise and Aileen had opted to wear their handspun and dyed items. We had worried about how to accommodate Sadie’s tapestry demonstration, but this was solved by Roger and Fergus moving one of the picnic tables closer to our tent. She was able to set up three tapestry looms, and had a lot of interested people watching and having a go. Unfortunately, she had to pack up mid-afternoon when her table was overwhelmed by people wanting to watch the dog show!! The middle part of the day was extremely busy, and we had a lot of genuine interest, quite a number of people (children and adults) having a go, and some potential new members.
Thanks to everyone who was there, you made it a very enjoyable couple of days! Special thanks to Liz who came just to help set up, and Terry who came back with her dog trolly to help Sue and I get the heavy stuff out to our cars once we’d packed up – much appreciated! Some pictures below:
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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 water and mugs were laid out for us to make tea and coffee. This area proved the ideal place for the boxes for library books, with sofas where people could relax and browse. We were able to open the patio door onto the terrace, and could also have sat out there to spin.
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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 bottom layer. Though it is possible to use a two shaft loom and a lot of pick-up, ideally you need 4 shafts or more. For this introductory workshop we were all working on 4 shafts, using shafts 1 and 3 for one layer and 2 and 4 for the other, with a different colour for each layer. We started off weaving two separate layers – lift shaft 1 to weave the first pick, then lift 1 and 3 to get the top layer out of the way, and 2 to weave the first pick of the lower layer with the other colour; lower all shafts, lift 3 to weave the second pick of the top, then 1, 3 to get the top layer out of the way again, and 4 to weave the second pick of the bottom layer. Once we got the hang of this we changed to bring the lower layer to the top. Concentration was needed to remember the new sequence: 2; 1, 2 and 4; 4; 2, 3 and 4.
The next steps were weaving double width cloth and tubes. Where the weave was continuous round the edges Christina used a string, weighted at both ends, passed through the reed a space beyond the last warp, and hung across the loom from front to back. This helped to keep the edges even, so that when the cloth was opened out the weave was neither to slack or too tight where the fold had been.
Finally Christina demonstrated the use of pick-up to exchange groups of threads from top and bottom to make surface patterns (some of us had a go at this), and showed samples of deflected double weave. A most enjoyable and very successful workshop
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Dyeing Challenge Jan 2023
Inspired by Fiona Dendy’s procion dyeing on grey fleece, members of the dyeing interest
group agreed to consider incorporating this into a challenge for the winter months.
The details will be finalised at our meeting on December 3rd but are likely to include the
following ideas:
• Grey fleece dyed with a range different colours
and/or
• Grey fleece dyed with a range of different/alternative dyestuffs e.g. hair dye -
Weaving Challenge Jan 2023
Following the example of the spinning group we are setting a weaving related challenge for
January. This is not restricted to those who join in the monthly zoom. It’s open to
everyone to join in and have fun! You won’t need to get any fancy equipment, in fact (and
I’ve just thought of this!) part of the challenge could be not to spend anything. As with the
spinning and dyeing challenges, bring anything you make to the March meeting for show
and tell, and if you are willing, loan an item to the Guild for display at the summer shows. If
you find it easier to have a theme, we suggest: trees
Things you might like to try to challenge yourself:
• Off-loom weaving – make a weaving round a tile, card, box, or go multi-dimensional
on a piece of twisted hazel
• Incorporate found materials – grass, sticks, shells, plastic bags etc
• Use a fibre or yarn you haven’t used before
• Use a kind of loom you haven’t used before
• Try a new pattern or technique
With yarn spun from a piece of fleece, Norah wove around this seedhead
Weaving Interest Group 28 January 2023
This month was a show and tell of things made, started or planned as a result of the January challenge. Several people had tried or planned off-loom weaving: Sarah had an old PE hoop and was planning to weave a hanging; Linda was experimenting with weaving on twisted hazel, and had made a frame of spindle wood, with the intention of weaving a tapestry; Isobel had woven round a couple of stones, but hadn’t enjoyed the process, though the results were attractive; Susan was considering this too, but we all felt she might be better using her stone as inspiration as it seemed a pity to cover it! Ruth had been to a weekend course in passementerie, and showed us a fringe woven using some of the techniques she had learned. Angela had woven a piece with supplementary warps which she then used to gather it up for shibori dyeing. She had also woven a 4-shaft pattern and colour and weave sampler, and was planning a black and white scarf using some of the patterns. Isobel had also been weaving with multiple threads of thin cotton – this gives lots of opportunity for colour blending, but the threads tended to be a little unruly! Henriette had incorporated beads into a weaving, using a thin supplementary weft to carry the beads. She had also tried tablet weaving, producing an impressive band which included lettering. Hilma was trying a simple weaving on card, and had also completed a weaving experimenting with stripes based on the Fibonacci sequence, and a weaving recreating the structure of a piece she had been given. Beside all of this my own scant inch of monks belt on the inkle loom looks a bit pathetic!
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