A Heartfelt Gift

I have been doing the monthly newsletter for my spinner guild, The Spindrifters for about four years now -



I enjoy doing it - you get to meet all the new people, and keep in touch with old friends.  And, you are always "in the know" -

So, I was surprised when I got an email from our guild president saying that she was sorry I had missed Dye Day because the guild members had made a present for me.


Since she and her husband are landscaping customers of The Shepherd, she would send it home for me the next time he came over there to work.  So last Monday after dinner, he handed me this pretty bag.

Inside it was THIS -

The only place I could find to lay it out to take a picture was on our front deck - and then I still couldn't get a very good picture of the whole thing, so I've broken it down into bits. 

Bits of hand spun, woven, crocheted and knitted love and affection.

And it came with a little envelope of the notes and cards that came with the squares before they were put together into my beautiful blanket. 

All the colors of the rainbow . . .

Thanks to everyone who had a hand in making it.



I will treasure it. 

There is a new Spindrifter Blog

You can find it at 

http://spindrifters.weebly.com/

If you wish to be added to the Spindrifter's Newsletter list, please leave a message in the comments on this blog & our newsletter editor will get back to you.  

Thanks for reading this blog over the four years!  :-)   Tina

From Dye Day's Past

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble -

Lime jello green - seriously?

These are pictures from DYE DAY 2011 -

The fruits of our labor -

kiwi, oranges, apples, and grapes? 


This year's event will run from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  This is our annual dye day, and it is scheduled a couple of months earlier than usual this year because of various members' travel plans.  Please bring your prepared fiber either for the acid dye bath (many color choices) or for the indigo pot (blue).  If you're going to do acid dyeing, please bring some plain white vinegar.  (We will use more in the dyeing process.)  And freezer bags if you plan to do small quantities of fiber.

Wool, silk, mohair, feathers, nylon are processed in acid dyes, with a vinegar/water pre-soak.  Ideally, soak overnight, about a cup of vinegar to a large bucket of water.  Please be sure to tie skeins of yarn loosely in several places so the yarn won't tangle in the process of dyeing.

For the indigo bath we can probably just pre-soak in water Saturday morning.  Yvonne will be using the Pre-reduced indigo crystals.  It's supposed to be easier & uses less nasty chemicals.  Works on wool, silk, cotton.  This is a new experiment for her but she’ll try to work out the kinks before our meeting. 

Another way of blending colors - this time on roving. 

And a fine time was had by all. 

Meeting at the Bow Methodist Church

Because our guild area encompasses three counties, one month we meet on the south end of the area (in Skagit County) and the next month we meet on the north side (in Whatcom County)

We have been lucky that one of our guild members, Rocky L., belongs to the Allen United Methodist Church.  He has arranged for us to use their social hall and we make a donation to the church from our raffle funds.  In January though, we met in their very cozy library so we only had to heat the small room instead of the GREAT big room of the social hall.

It was tight, but we fit in just fine, and the fireplace really made it nice and warm. 

We had a double circle of fun!

Debbie was working on a very tightly crocheted hot pad.

Not quite matching striping yarn - but that's the fun of home made socks, eh?

Our next meeting in Bow is Saturday March 9 - everyone is welcome! 

NW Washington Fair Report

Guest editor - Marcia Ford - 2012 Wool Barn Superintendent

The 2012 NWFair Wool Show has come and gone.    We, again, had a very nice display of really high quality work, though the number of items submitted was down this year.(150 last year to 122)  Here are the blue ribbon winners who, I think, may be known to our spinning and weaving groups:

Blue ribbons -

Margaret Magic (2) for a bright woven scarf and a needle 

punched art piece.

Jenni Jimmerson, for her natural fiber, handspun lace knit shawl

Sheri Ward (3) for a green woven vest, blue stripe knitted socks and knitted, fingerless mitts

April Muegge,  a wool, blanket selvage rug.

Vanessa Muegge (April's daughter), (6) for a variety of well crafted and delightfully designed needle felted  pieces

Yuki Shepard (3) for her fine knitted green sweeter, green vest and gray hat

Tina Thomsen-Park, (2) for a charming crochet scarf, and fingerless gloves

Best of Division: 

A (fleece) Janet Maricle    

                           
B (crafted from handspun yarn) Yvonne Madsen   

                           
C  (crafted from commercial yarn)   Linda Landis  

                           
G (felted from fleece) Grace Thompson, a gifted 17-year-old needle felter. 

Best Design - Yvonne Madsen, for a lovely natural brown sweater

 

 
Judges Choice - Laurel Bodenshot, for a fine, 3 piece, knit entry

Best of Class and Best of Show  - Yvonne Madsen, for her  magnificent gray, handspun, handknit lace shawl    

   











 




 Many, many thanks to you volunteer weaving and pinning demonstrators. And to Acceptance and Judging clerks Margaret Magic, Oksana  Brown, Gabette Andres and your new Wool Show Supt., Tracy Vandermay. Tracy was there from acceptance to take down and has a great idea of what's in store as she takes over.

    I have enjoyed my involvement with the Wool Show these past seven years.  It is a fine asset for the community, and a great opportunity for guild participation and outreach.

    








 

As I review this letter, I realize that I did not make note of the blue ribbon winners in handspun yarn.  There were just 8 adult entries this year, but I know there were blue ribbons. Please wave them high at your next gathering.  I'm very sorry for that omission.

     I am looking forward to being a volunteer and exhibiter next year and I invite all of you to join me.  And let's balance out all those wonderful knitted items with more weaving and handspun yarns!

    Thank you and best wishes,  Marcia Ford

Northwest Regional Spinners' Association Conference 2012!

Sorry so late getting this post up, but better late than never! Several of us from Spindrifters attended NwRSA Conference last month. Conference was in Tacoma at University of Puget Sound. I always love attending, not only because spinners are among my favorite of people & I enjoy “walking among my own”, but also because there are so many classes & learning opportunities available, aimed at refining & expanding skills. Okay, and the shopping. . . there are lots of vendors, from shepherds selling fleeces, to large weaving organizations & shops. As for the classes, it’s always a challenge deciding which ones to take. Even registering early, I missed out on a couple that I had listed as my first choices. But I was not disappointed, even with my second options. FYI, in order to attend NwRSA conference, you do need to be a member of the organization. Here is the website: http://www.nwregionalspinners.org/ at which you will find membership forms. (There is an annual fee for membership to NwRSA.) Registration & classes at conference are priced reasonably, and because the event is usually held at a university (rotating Eastern Washington/Idaho, Tacoma WA & Salem OR campuses), with housing & food included, it’s a pretty good deal. (As you probably know, Spindrifters is a daughter organization, and our local group has no dues.) Here is part of our contingency - Nancy Bjerke, Vicki James, Margaret Magic & me. I thoroughly enjoyed their company.

My class from Judith MacKenzie was on plying. I know that illustrations for handling singles & plying evenly are in her books, but having the actual demonstration & experience was very helpful to me. We made three-ply, four-strand cable (2 2-ply strands twisted together) & six-strand cable yarn (2 3-ply strands), and a few novelty yarns.

The fashion show is always a hit. Projects from some of the classes were modeled by their creators. There were many nuno-felted pieces from the “It’s a Wrap” class - all stunning in color, texture & shape. And of course a gorgeous array of handspun hand knit shawls & sweaters.

I can hardly wait til next year!

Our February 2011 meeting

Gloria shares an heirloom blanket made by her mom.

This sampler blanket was knitted in squares and sewn together.  One of the squares is a really cute cat, but I couldn't seem to get a picture of it.

 Everyone had a great visit

Pretty colors - for Easter maybe?










This basket of loveliness was the raffle prize of the day.  Remember to bring those dollars guys and gals.

Lovely little things for show and tell

THE CUTEST BABY SOCKS EVER! 

Vikki's newest creation -

Christmas ornament project

Tina S. showed off a sweater that she had made a few years ago - a timeless creation.