Threads Along the Peace - April

Happy Birthday, Peace Country Spinners and Weavers.  Happy 30^th Birthday!  Our group was founded in Beaverlodge Alberta in 1984.

The Threads Along the Peace Newsletter has been mailed recently.  It is an excellent read.  A few extra copies are available for any newcomers. Just ask. 1358@telus.net

How are your Sprang projects coming along?  The newsletter has pictures of two of Loretta’s beautiful projects.  Very inspiring.  Please remember to bring your Sprang projects to the meeting in April.

April 12-13 is the Theo Moorman workshop in Fort St. John BC instructed by Cheryl.  Hope you have sent in your registration to Marion, the treasurer, so Cheryl can send you a warp. The venue is in the same building as Cheryl Peebles Studio, 10244 99^th Ave. Fort St. John.

A Chinese gift exchange is taking place to celebrate our 30^th year!  Please bring along a Mug Bag and Mug for exchange.  Construction of this bag must fall within the mandate of PCSW – made from a specially woven piece of fabric, a left over piece of material, hand woven,  felted, handspun- knitted or crocheted.  Put nice mug in special bag in a brown bag for the exchange.  Don’t be daunted by this.  Do the best you can within the limited time frame.  It is more important and fun to participate than not. The exchange will start the day on Saturday, so everyone will have their own mug for the weekend.

The General Meeting of the Peace Country Spinners and Weaver will take place at 9:30 on April 13.  Hope interested people will attend even if not attending the workshop.  We need lots of input from as many members as possible for making plans for future events.  The meeting is being held at the same location as the workshop, 10244 99^th Ave. Fort St. John.  Come and see how far the workshop weaving has progressed.

 

The Handspun and Hand woven Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste of the spinning and weaving studio and remember what peace there may be in spinning and weaving in silence.  As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons in your guild.  Speak your truth quietly and clearly at guild meetings.  Listen to others in your guild, the beginners and the experienced; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive arguments in your guild meetings, they are vexations to the President (presiding over the meeting.)  If you compare yourself with other spinners and weavers, you may become vain and bitter and quit the craft; for always there will be greater and lesser spinners and weavers than yourself.  Enjoy your spinning and weaving achievements as well as your plans for future projects.  Keep interested in your spinning and weaving career however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time management.  Exercise caution in your spinning and weaving business affairs; for the world is full of moth eaten fleece.  But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high twist counts and everywhere life is full of yarn sales.  Be yourself.  Especially do not feign complements about your latest project.  Neither be cynical about purchasing another spinning wheel; for in the face of not owning one spinning wheel, many wheels are as perennial as grass.  Take kindly the counsel of elder guild members, gracefully surrendering the odd ball of yarn for the door prize table.  Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune of broken warp threads.  But do not distress yourself with imaginings that your current project is a monstrosity.  Many fears of project failures are born of fatigue and isolation from the guild.  Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself, not spinning or weaving for excessive durations. You are a child of the woven universe, no less than the tapestry woven trees and Ecuadorian woven stars; you have a right to spin and weave.  And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the front warp beam is unfolding as it should.  Therefore be at peace with your spouse, for he/she is a patron of the Arts, and whatever your labours and aspirations regarding spinning and weaving, in the noisy confusion of your studio and your guild studio, keep peace with yourself and your spouse.  With all the sham, drudgery and broken dreams of big box stores, it is still a beautiful spinning and weaving world.  Be careful with that new warp.  Strive to be happy doing the housework.

                                              found in the two ton stash of an ancient spinner and weaver.

 

 

 

 

                                                          

Threads Along the Peace: Time Marches On

Time is marching on and the Theo Moorman workshop is  April 12,13 in Fort St. John.  Please send your registration to the Treasurer, Marion W. as soon as possible, so Cheryl can send a warp in good time.  For more information 1358@telus.net

The Peace Country Spinners and Weavers  and the North Peace Spinners and Weavers are now on Facebook.  Please like us both.

Another wacky winter nature dye project was dyeing with past due frozen green tomatoes.  Another easy project, just adding a dollop of vinegar and leaving it all on the woodstove all day and all night.  Some mashing of tomatoes but no straining. It came out a slightly greenish beige.  Quite happy with the beiges.  Any other winter nature dye projects happening out there?

Recently found some nature dyed skeins that I had deemed ugly and with the rug hooking workshop all of a sudden found these skeins useful. They were used for a neutral background and the variegations in the dyeing add interest to the wall hanging.  One was dyed with marigold and the other was dyed with walnut, both of the last dips of the dye pot producing light variegated colours.  I have a complete change of heart.  There are no ugly colours, one just needs to find the right project where the colour fits.  These yarns could easily have been used in the background of a woven rug. The mauves were dyed with black lichen.

I had decided to weave projects using my oldest yarns in my stash.  I made two baby blankets and a bath mat out of Handicrafter cotton in pink, white and green.  My January project was to tie on to this project as you see in the picture.  Some of you will remember the "Dyeing in the Rain" summer weavers' retreat in July in Fort St. John where I started the major part of the dyeing for this project.  I used Procion dye that is a cold water type dye using water hot from the tap, which made dyeing in the rain possible, well, at a picnic table with a canopy cover.  But it was pouring rain most of the time.

I started with balls of odd colours of cotton.  Some were variegated, a few were white.  None of them matched colour wise.  I hate to use that word again, but it was an ugly mixture of yarns.  I separated the colour groups and dyed them appropriately and I was amazed at how the overdyeing transformed them into a lovely mix.  Yes, they are bright and it will be a bright baby blanket.  Perfect for winter weaving.

This is a log cabin pattern using thick and thin in the weft.  I plied the thin yarn, which is slightly thinner than the Handicrafter cotton, using 2/8, 4/8 and crochet cottons left over from a couple of generations of crochet projects.  Then I threw them into dye pots.  It is very satisfying to use odd balls of yarn that have been stored for decades.  Each lot of colours is slightly different in texture but there are enough variations with variegated yarns and differences in dye lots of colour that I think these difference make the blanket more interesting.  The crochet cotton makes this yarn stiffer and more harsh than the thick cotton, but this does not significantly effect the softness of the blanket.

The dyeing and rinsing took a lot of work and water.  I think one either spends the money on buying yarn exactly the right colour or puts in the time and resources to dye.  It is another form of recycling to use odds and ends.  It depends upon what one considers fun, challenging and satisfying.

And I keep learning.  I had trouble with the skeins becoming great snarls of yarn (I think there is a technical name for this!?) and now I know to use figure 8 ties at various places on the skein, thanks to my knowledgeable friend, Marjo.

The project is still on the loom, about half finished. 

Please come to the Spring meeting of the Peace Country Spinners & Weavers in Fort St. John on April 12 even if you cannot take the workshop.  Beginners and new members are welcome.  There are usually lots of show and tell items for viewing that are very inspiring.  My colourful baby blankets will be there for sure.