Winter Works

Winter has settled in.  Now that the holiday season is over it is time to get back to those unfinished projects.  You may take a break to walk on the beach when the sun shines but here on the west coast bleaker wet weather suggests indoor activities.  The winter seems to be the most productive time for some fiber artists.  But remember, winter is short here on the coast and those daffodil's are already peaking out to test the climate.  If you have a project in mind you had better start working on it now.  If you are a member of the Qualicum Weavers and Spinners guild then you may want to start working on the COLOUR CHALLENGE PROJECT.  The projects are to be finished for the March 18th monthly meeting.  If you need help then the new COLOUR STUDY GROUP  might be for you.



 

Now I don't want to give the impression that the Qualicum guild members are slackers.  On the contrary, from the show and tell portion of our January meeting it appears we are busy bees.  

  We had a colourful display of items including spinning, knitting, dyeing and weaving.  I have included a couple of examples of colourful yarn.  I wonder what they will turn into? 

 The knitters in the group were so busy with projects that several of them brought their needles with them and were busy throughout the meeting.  Anita showed off her vest and Karen demonstrated her knitted back pack.  The weavers had also been productive.  Their contribution to the show and tell included a blanket for a new addition to the family, scarves, a stash busting yardage project, decorative inkle bands and summer and winter samples.



  

The show and tell portion of the meeting is everyone's favourite.  The items themselves are a treat to see.  The stories that go with the pieces are equally entertaining and often inspirational whether they are about weaver's bottom, memory loss, sexual ambiguity or venturing into new places.

Great Expectations and a Blank Canvas

Here we are again at the start of a new year with 12 months to go.  Like the empty loom in our guild studio there are endless possibilities for new projects.
Will this be the year that you tackle that major project?  You know it.  It is the one that has been gradually forming in your subconcious.  It peeps out now and then when you pass a yarn store.  It may sink back into the shadows when life gets in the way but it never really goes away.  Maybe 2013 will be its year.
I am always impressed with those folks manage to create something major by hand.  I cannot even begin to concieve how one would go about weaving draperies for a new home or yardage for a daughter's wedding gown.  Those that spin the yarn for a major project are even more impressive.  They must be able to hold a future vision for a long time in order to keep on spinning.
Starting a major project would be daunting enough but how does one keep going day after day.  I get bored by the 3rd tea towel on the same warp.

Mary's double weave mat
 

This may be your year to learn something new.  That might mean joining a study group, joining in a group challenge, taking a course or attending a conference.  Our guild has organized a weaving workshop with Jane Stafford.  The workshop "Lacey Places" will take place April 19 to 21 at the MacMillian Art Centre in Parksville.  We currently have two study groups.  One is for spinners who want to knit with hand spun yarns.  The other for weavers with more than 4 harness looms who want to learn weave structure.  The more than 4 group is currently studying double weave.  Check the "Events" section for the dates and locations of these events. 
  The guild is also planning to have a colour challenge in 2013 for those who want to learn about colour interactions. 
So, here is to great expectations for 2013!

Elegant Threads Show and Sale 2012

Our annual guild show and sale took place in Qualicum Beach from Nov 30 to Dec 2nd this year.  This event inolves all the guild members.  It is a chance to show off the creative efforts of the past year.  It is also an opportunity to earn just enough money to justify spending way more money on yarns and fibres.  Most of us have given up any pretense of "breaking even".

The sale committee never knows how many items will show up or what they will be.  Dressing the display can be a real challenge.  Part of the fun is discovering what other members have been up to or how they have interpreted an idea.  I love the bags that are an inventive use of small pieces of woven cloth.  They are the collaborative effort between a weaver and a sewer.
The items reflect our different interests in working with yarns and fibre so one can expect to see items that are knitted, felted, woven, or twisted.  The materials use can range from yak to kelp.  If it can be worked with a knitting needle or our hands or woven around a warp then we will use it.

Some of the pieces involve an incredible investment in time.  Take for example some of the garments knitted out of hand spun yarn.  Fibres were dyed, blended, prepared for spinning, spun then plyed then knitted.  It is no wonder that it can be difficult to part with our creations.  In many ways they are like puppies that we have nurtured and grown attached too.  We know their special attributes and we want them to go to a good home where they will be appreciated.  We want the new owner to read the washing instructions, refrain from wearing the tea cozy as a hat (inside joke) and actually use the tea towels.
Many of our items will be wrapped in fancy paper or stuffed in Christmas stockings.  I was told the tea towels are easy to pack in a suitcase and won't break during shipping.  Hand spun yarn will give hours of pleasure.  Hats and mits are always needed.  Sweaters, wraps and blankets are a cozy reminder of the person who gave them.

At this time of year the weather can have a large impact on attendance at the sale.  Living on the wet coast of Canada we can anticipate precipitation of some kind.  It can range from intermittent light showers to torrentail and never ending rain and even wet road clogging snow.  This year we were blessed with intermittent torrential rain but still folks managed to make their way to the show.  We thank them and hope they enjoyed visiting with us and will enjoy their purchases. 
Here we have a satisfied customer sporting her newly acquired Hapi Wrap.

Weaving and Spinning at the Fall Fair

Long live small communities and fall fairs!  They celebrate the domestic and agricultural arts and remind us that people can still bake a perfect chocolate cake from scratch, grow vegetables and turn just about any edible item into relish or chutney.  Many of the fall fairs include weaving and spinning in their categories for awards.  If you have a fair in your area consider entering your weaving or handspun yarn.  It is another way to keep these crafts alive.  Congratulations to Margaret and Amanda who took home ribbons for their work.

The Qualicum Weavers and Spinners were invited to take part in the Lighthouse Country Fall Fair that took place this past weekend.  This is an event many of our members look forward too including Jude who is sporting her volunteer Tee shirt.  The weather was perfect, no rain, loads of sunshine and warm.

  In keeping with the event we decided our display would have a garden theme.  We added pots, rakes water cans and even old garden tools to our display.  We also included examples of vegetation, including scotch broom, that can be used to dye wool.  Check out Dyes From Plants by Seonaid Robertson for a recipe.


We shared our exhibit space with Dashwood Meadows Alpaca's and were pleased to include Amanda's samples of alpaca yarn dyed with natural materials.


The shawls in the photo were hung from old leaf rakes that are sitting in upturned clay pots

While our display draws interest, it is the demonstrations that engage people in a way that a static display cannot.  The demonstrations give us an opportunity to explain the art of spinner or weaving.  Yet again, our demonstration loom got a good work out while our spinning circle attracted a curious crowd.

Myrtle's blankets

Linda's yarn
 

  One of our younger visitors was kind enough to pose for me so I could take a photo of her butterfly face.

Retreat Bag Exchange

butterfly bag

One of the activities at our recent retreat was a bag exchange.  Participants were invited to create a handmade bag and to bring it to the retreat where it would be exchanged for a bag produced by some one else.  The guidelines were very simple, the bag had to have been made by the person submitting it.  With no other guidelines you can imagine that quite a variety of items were submitted. 

mixed media bag

knitted & felted bag

felted bag

wet felted bag

Many of the bags were felted.  Some were wet felted while others had been knitted and then felted.  Even though a similar technique was used the results are quite different.  Some are rustic, some are playful and some are very elegant.

The weavers in the group also showed off their talents.  Some of their bags were made from recycled materials.  The bag with the bold motif in yellow was created out of hand woven sashes. While one of the pink woven bags is made out of rags.

woven bag



ragbag

This is a small selection of the 29 bags that were brought to the event.  Congratulations to those that submitted bag.  We hope you enjoyed the bag that you took home as much as the people shown below.

Looking Forward

January!  Mother Nature is napping.  We are too thanks to the long dark nights and the effects of recent festivities.  This is a time for quiet walks in the woods, rejoycing in the past and looking forward.  It is also a time when we tend to turn inward and do some stock taking which often leads to the conclusion that changes could be beneficial or so we think.

 

The photo of this spinning wheel reminds me that January is both the end and the beginning of a cycle.  We owe it to the Romans for selecting January 1st as the start of the year.  More ancient cultures used the vernal equinox to mark the change.  On January 1st, we are encouraged to look back and forward at the same time like the two headed god Janus.  We are also encouraged to make resolutions for the coming year.  This tradition is thought to have started with the Babylonians.

Many of us openly or secretly make New Year's resolutions.  Usually they involve improving something, improving our health, our finances, our education or just being a better person.  The vast majority of us are never able to keep our resolutions.

I've given up on resolutions for self improvement because, in most cases they are not much fun or I wouldn't need to make a resolution about it and because I've decided to accept my current state as the finished product.  So, I won't be making a resolution to "stop bringing junk home from the beach".

If you feel the need to keep up the tradition of New Year's resolutions consider one related to your particular fiber art and don't forget that it should involve fun.  The list that comes to mind includes

• Do that major project you've been dreaming about
• Master that technique you learned at your last workshop
• Learn a related skill
• Work with colours you have never tried
• Finish something you started in 2011
• Start a fiber art journal

You get the idea.  But wait!  If you want to beat the odds and keep your resolution then consider the following.  You are more likely to be successful if you make the goal specific and if you share the goal with a friend who will support you in achieving the goal.  Talk to your guild members and study group buddies.  They probably have resolutions of their own and they too would like some company on the journey during 2012.

Oh, and I forgot to say that if you didn't get around to making that resolution on January 1st then you might want to consider using the Babylonian calendar.  That will give you a few more months to work on your resolution.


My resolution involves this yardage and card woven band but I am waiting for the vernal equinox to make a specific goal.