Spinner's Connection

Every Thread Has a Story

2010-01-18T12:37:00Z

The 2009 Maiwa Textile Symposium “Every Thread Has a Story . . .” was held in October, bringing together individuals who are devoted to preserving and reviving traditional textile techniques. Presenters came from India, Cambodia, Peru, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom as well as the United States. In a recent issue of the Greater Vancouver Weavers’ & Spinners’ Guild (Canada) newsletter, volunteer Toby Smith shared two of the many reasons she supports its goals. She...(read more)

Weavers Guild of Minnesota

2010-01-11T12:35:00Z

In 1940, the Weavers Guild of Minnesota was founded to educate and support its members and the community and to advance the arts of weaving, spinning, and dyeing. Today it is one of the largest communities of weavers, spinners, and dyers in the country with a motto of “weaving our past, spinning our present, and creating our future.” The group offers one-day classes for beginners or the curious called “Try It!” that include Spin on a Spinning Wheel, Kumihimo To Go, Paint a...(read more)

Collaborating with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

2010-01-04T12:29:00Z

The Rocky Mountain Weavers Guild (Colorado) is collaborating for the second time with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to view and analyze textiles from Latin America. The Museum is the steward of more than 700 pieces of ethnographic material showing local styles from Maya groups representing thirty villages from Guatemala and Mexico, and Cuna material from Panama, Bolivia, and Peru. Guild members with knowledge of color, expertise in embroidery, and understanding of weave structures were...(read more)

Guild working together to benefit charities

2009-12-28T12:28:00Z

A diverse group of weavers, spinners, and knitters brought together by their common interest in the fiber arts form the Champaign Urbana Spinners and Weavers Guild (Illinois). Members are using their talents and skills to make items for women and children in central Illinois who are in need or are victims of domestic abuse. Slippers, shawls, afghans, baby blankets, sweaters, and handmade toys are some of the items they offer to three recipient agencies....(read more)

Celebrating the International Year of Natural Fibres

2009-12-21T12:17:00Z

The Michigan League of Handweavers celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with workshops and a conference at Hope College, in Holland in early August. The Ontario Handweavers and Spinners sponsored a juried show entitled “Fibre Unleashed: Pushing the Limits” at their biennial conference in Alliston in May. The Whonnock Weavers and Spinners (Canada) and several Lower Mainland weaving and spinning guilds organized a Country Fest “to re-connect traditional fiber arts with today’s...(read more)

The Windy City Knitting Guild

2009-12-14T12:13:00Z

The Windy City Knitting Guild hosted the fair’s first garment competition at this summer’s Midwest Fibers & Folk Art Fair with original entries being modeled on stage by their creators. “Polly Ester,” a soft-sculpture doll who is a traveling companion of the guild, stood on a table near the lobby inviting passersby to sit at her feet and add a few stitches to her wardrobe of handspun, handknitted, and crocheted garments. Visitor Ellen Liebner from Chicago stopped in surprise...(read more)

The Handweavers Guild of America educational opportunities

2009-12-07T12:05:00Z

The Handweavers Guild of America (HGA) offers educational opportunities that depend on countless unnamed members of local spinning and weaving guilds. As a nonprofit, international organization, HGA’s mission is “to encourage excellence, inspire creativity and preserve fiber traditions through education.” One of the vital keys to fulfilling this mission is guild support of the endeavors they sponsor. Here are some recent examples. • Contemporary small-scale artworks in fiber...(read more)

Experience alive in your guild

2009-12-04T23:54:00Z

We count on our spinning groups to be there for us when we need them. Think how many years of learning and living are represented in your guild! So much knowledge is held within the minds and hands of its members. We depend on this when an unknown fleece shows up on our doorstep and we wonder whether to pitch it or process it. We rely on that special person who can make a cantankerous wheel cooperate during a demonstration. We hope an experienced member will help turn a major mistake into a masterpiece...(read more)

Yarn Overcomers

2009-10-19T10:30:00Z

Unemployment in Elkhart, Indiana, reached nearly 20 percent in March, and a new group was formed to use knitting as a way of relieving some of the built-up stress. The Yarn Overcomers (YO) are providing relief, one stitch at a time, by meeting in the Goshen Public Library and the Center for Healing and Hope every other week. Hundreds of balls of donated yarn were received from large yarn companies, and Lantern Moon in Portland, Oregon, donated fifty sets of needles. Classes and projects are offered...(read more)

the Friendly, Feisty Fibre Guild

2009-10-12T10:34:00Z

“Wooly, Warped Women and Material Men” is the theme for the 2009 Wisconsin Spin-In held October 20 to November 1, 2009, in West Bend. Classes, vendors, giveaways, and an ongoing spinning circle are part of this two-day event that appeals to all kinds of artisans, not just spinners. Each year a different group chooses the theme and plans the event. The host for this occasion is the Friendly, Feisty Fibre Guild ....(read more)

Spindle and Dyepot Guild (Wisconsin)

2009-10-05T10:32:00Z

The Green Market Bag Challenge is the latest group project for the Spindle and Dyepot Guild (Wisconsin) . Members may use any material and any method they want to create the bag, but entries will be judged on “how green is your bag?” Points will be given for functionality, reusability, innovative use of materials, durability, aesthetics, and workmanship. This group supports the Wisconsin State Fair each year by offering a Best of Show cash prize for handspinning entries and two free memberships...(read more)

The Redwood Empire Handweavers and Spinners Guild (California)

2009-09-28T10:05:00Z

The Redwood Empire Handweavers and Spinners Guild (California) is organizing a Fleecy Fun Fiber Fora y as an outreach event for this year’s Conference of Northern California Handweavers, Spinners, Dyers & Basketmakers to be held in October. With support of the Sonoma Community Center, the CNCH 2009 Guilds, the Silverado and Tamalpais Guilds, and many businesses, a celebration of the 2009 International Year of Natural Fibres took place in April. Spinners, weavers, knitters, dyers, and demonstrators...(read more)

Spindles & Flyers Spinning Guild (California)

2009-09-21T10:19:00Z

Making sections for the World’s Longest Scarf is the current mission of the Spindles & Flyers Spinning Guild (California) as part of an effort to support Heifer International’s goal to increase the number of fiber animals in the world. Everyone is encouraged to ”scarf in public.” The team leader for the guild scarf brings it to the monthly meeting where members can knit a few rows at a time or donate yarn spun for the project. Yarn from as many as fifty breeds of sheep...(read more)

The Fiber Antics (Indiana)

2009-09-14T10:31:00Z

The Fiber Antics (Indiana) is a group of fiber enthusiasts who boast an open membership, no dues, and no need to know about fiber arts! Just bring a brown-bag meal and share your love of all things fibery. Members offer hands-on help, demonstrations of new ideas, and time to work on your own projects. They claim the “talents of our group are so diverse that there is bound to be someone who knows where a project went wrong. Whatever fiber crafts you want to learn, someone in our group already...(read more)

Malabar Spinning & Weaving Guild (Ohio)

2009-09-07T10:28:00Z

The annual celebration of “Spinners Week” and the All-Ohio Spin-In will take place in Malabar Farm State Park in Lucas on Saturday, October 3rd. Refreshments will be provided by the Malabar Spinning & Weaving Guild (Ohio) . Spinners meet at the big barn across from the “big house,” a famous landmark where movie stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were married....(read more)