On Sunday July 8th a group of Guild members took their tools and raw materials to the Farmers Institute to show the public how the ancient crafts of spinning and weaving are still practiced and enjoyed. A table loom provided absorbing entertainment for visitors of all ages. Some of the younger ones were fascinated by […]
Sheep’s wool is easy to come by on Salt Spring : qiviut (musk ox fibre) and cashmere (the soft undercoat from goats) less so. Very few spinners have the opportunity to try these very expensive and exotic fibres, and without specific instruction on how to spin them they might waste valuable product. Not any more. […]
A group of weavers and spinners got together on December 2nd to dress a tree at the Harbour House Hotel. The decorations were made at the last morning meeting of the year at Artspring, using oddments from members’ stashes. The theme of the meeting was festive season traditions.
Over the July long weekend, the guild won a third prize for our west coast themed booth at the Association of North West Weavers’ Guild conference at the University of Victoria. We had decided a year ago that we would all make boots as Saltspring is the home of the Gumboot Gala. Then we had […]
Merry Christmas from the Salt Spring Weavers and Spinners Guild After a delightful fall of fibre-filled activities, including a successful guild sale, beginner spinning lessons, and wonderful presentations from guild members and visitors, the Guild spent the last meeting of the year sharing stories of past Christmas traditions and present Christmas gifts. Here is just a […]
My Farm and Fibre Focused Holiday in Scotland Submitted By Karen Clark I just returned from an amazing 2 week trip to Scotland with my daughter, Fiona and partner John, where I had a great time and learned so much about sheep farming, wool fibre, yarn and was inspired and awed by the lace and […]
Learning to Spin and Weave at the Fair How long does it take to learn to make yarn on a drop spindle? At the Salt Spring Fall Fair it took about half an hour. Some of the students signed up for more lessons over the winter, and some headed straight for the only fibre vendor […]
What is Yarn? By adding twist to a bunch of fibres, we make yarn. There are three steps in making yarn. Thinning the bunch of fibres to the thickness you want, adding twist, and storing the resulting yarn. Once you understand the steps involved, you can begin to appreciate the many different ways that fibres […]
