Category: shows

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 of the Dornoch Social Club! This is the kind of highlight that makes this festival very special indeed.

The various stalls were spread through two venues and these offered a large selection of fibres, accessories and knowledge. I doubt any came from much further than fifty miles away proving what a wonderful array of businesses we have now in the Highlands. An extra stall of interest for me was the Stashbuster selling on behalf of contributors and taking a cut to raise some funds for the festival. I covered the costs of new purchases (husband not convinced this was the purpose…). The Guild had a presence in the Hub which, if there hadn’t been classes on there, I think would have been a little out of the way, being separate from the stallholders. Around a dozen members spun, wove and blethered away showing off displays of dyeing, spun skeins and woven pieces across the two days and new interest in the Guild was definitely generated. I’m looking forward to doing it all over again next year perhaps with some kinder weather.

Linda Henderson

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Some of Joan Baxter’s work:

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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 managed to reclaim a bit of space from the fleece competition!  Our location near the sheep show and the shearing competition is good, and draws in interested people, but a good year for the fleece and crooks competitions means a lean year for us in terms of space. 

This year we had display boards, provided by Alison Roddham, with information about our core crafts.  Alison also brought along a selection of inkle looms, including two old box types, one original, one reproduction, a tablet weaving loom, and a peg loom; Henriette was weaving colourful patterns on her 8-shaft, Fergus set up his upright loom, and I had the SampleIt, so weaving was well represented.  Catherine Freeland, who wasn’t able to be there, sent two baskets of luscious dye samples. Spinning wheels whirred, spindles twirled and the display included articles made from handspun, and Sue’s skeins of fancy yarn, and skeins from different types of fleece.  Meanwhile, in a tent far away (at least on the other side of the showground!) Sadie was introducing children to tapestry weaving and helping them to make woven tree decorations.

Two good days; the weather was reasonably kind to us and we had a lot of visitors, many of them genuinely interested in our crafts.  Lots of people had a go at spinning and at most of the types of weaving on offer.  We met old friends – Deborah Ilett was there with three of her grandchildren.  And Sheila won two trophies in the craft competition!   Thanks to everyone who took part.

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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 were steadily busy all day, with quite a few people genuinely interested and wanting to have a go, and a couple of people wanting to buy things from the display!  Hilma created a lot of interest with her peg loom weaving in bright colour with a lot of texture.  Margaret, Christine, Fiona, Ada, Kathleen, and Jenny were all spinning; Sasha was weaving on an inkle loom; I was mostly weaving on the Guild SampleIt loom, but did a bit of spinning too – I handed the SampleIt to Sasha when she finished her inkle band.  Weatherwise it was mostly hot and sunny, with the odd sharp shower. 

The Show has a craft competition with a class for “An article in own handspun wool, knitted, crocheted or woven”.  Frances won with her lovely woven bag, my teddy was second, Rossie’s jumper came third, Fiona’s hat fourth and Gill’s tunic fifth.  Kathleen wove a bag (her first weaving) for the WRI stand and got a third. 

A good day – exhausting, but very enjoyable!

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