The Weavers Guild of Springfield

2018-2019 PROGRAM

All are welcome to attend the meetings and events described below.

For a PDF version of the program, click here.

2018-2019 MEETING SCHEDULE

SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

Morning: Summer Wrap-up and Program Review – All Members

We will discuss our summer activities, including the Cummington Sheep & Woolcraft Fair, Scottish Festival, and Shelburne Grange Fair. This is a great opportunity to ask questions and offer suggestions for program improvement, as well as catch up on members' activities. This session is always lively and informative.

Afternoon: Introduction to Supplementary Warp Study Group – Susan Wright

Susan will provide an introduction to weaving with supplementary warps, the topic of this year's study group.

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OCTOBER 13, 2018

All day: Warp Painting - Mary Mandarino

Take a day and join us in an exploration of color and technique for warp and skein painting and dying with MX dyes. Great for first time dyers and more experienced dyers. Show up with your white and neutral colored warps, wefts and skeins. I'll lead you through the magical dyeing/painting process. Mary will provide all the instructions, dye materials, brushes and inspiration. Just bring your lunch, your 2-3 warps or 5-6 skeins/wefts (only cellulose fibers such as cotton, rayon, tencel or bamboo) and a bucket to bring home your painted warps.

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NOVEMBER 3, 2018

All day: Constructive Decorative Ornaments - Christine Duckworth

I'm excited to see all of you again in November! We will be making holiday and winter decorations out of wool fabric and possibly recycled sweaters and other fabrics. I am planning to precut most of the designs so that we can get right to stitching them. You may want to practice the blanket stitch if you don't know it or remember it. Please bring small, sharp scissors and needles that have eyes big enough for three threads of embroidery floss.

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DECEMBER 1, 2018

All day: Holiday Party & Craft

Take a break from the hectic pace of holiday preparations to share laughter, good food, a craft project led by Nancy Evans, and our gift exchange.

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JANUARY 5, 2019

All day: Double Knitting - Janet Denis

Janet will demonstrate the structure and various stiches that can be applied to double knitting. Bring needles and scrap yarn to practice and if time allows we will learn about various cast one and gauge analysis.

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FEBRUARY 2, 2019

Morning: Blanket Weave - Peggy Hart

In this workshop, weavers will consider materials and patterns, and plan a blanket. They will also prepare to weave a sample swatch to test the chosen yarn with the pattern. Wool yarns can both celebrate and confound even the best pattern. We will talk about finishing techniques and options. I have worked in the rectangular format of blankets since 1981, when I set up my first power loom. I will show slides, and bring blankets to share as well as samples swatches that didn’t make it into a blanket. I’ve lived in Ghana, and have been much influenced by West African strip weave. I will also share strip woven treasures, and talk about how to design a strip woven blanket if you don’t happen to own a 10 foot loom. What people should bring: Favorite blankets for inspiration/ analysis, graph paper, small ruler, pencil, colored pencils, examples of yarn they might want to use in a blanket, weave structure books/ copies of weave structures they might want to use.

Afternoon: Trip to Ghana - Leslie Craine

Leslie will share photos and stories of weavers and their work from her recent trip to Ghana.

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MARCH 2, 2019

Morning: Oelsner Book - Loris Epps

A Handbook of Weaves by G. H. Oelsner was first published in 1915 and contains over 2,200 patterns and 1875 illustrations; however, there are no projects and few of the drafts are written as those we are used to seeing today. The book explains a lot about weave structures and terminology, such as basket weaves, rib weaves, crepe weaves, etc. Together we will learn how to interpret the patterns. No materials fee. Use of computers with a weaving software program loaded is encouraged, but we will also use graph paper (provided by speaker).

Afternoon: Transforming Tools and Weaving Wonders - Suzi Ballenger

Understanding the equipment we use, as weavers, is the first step to changing the way we use it. We will identify opportunities for disrupting the fluid order of warp and weft through closely observing loom anatomy. With all these “Aha!” moments, we will learn how to use these ideas to “hack” our own tools and equipment to achieve fantastic and unexpected effects. Contemporary tools such as Rail Reed, Open Reed, and Supplementary Beater will be analyzed and explored as simple alternatives we can use and create to transform the expected outcome of our cloth. Don’t be put off by the anatomy of your loom – learn it and use it!

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APRIL 6, 2019

Morning: Loom Told Tales - Ute Bargmann

Many weavers have always wondered how the Sassanian textiles of the 6th & 7th centuries were woven. A book on Islamic textiles final opened the door and the loom will tell the tale. Supplies required: your eyes
& ears & possibly your interest in odd developments!

Afternoon: Supplementary Warp Study Group - led by Susan Wright, coordinated by JoAnn Miner

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MAY 11, 2019

All day: Annual Year-End Meeting and Potluck Luncheon

Location TBD.

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At the events below, guild members offer weaving demonstrations and guided hands-on introduction to weaving for all ages.

Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival
Look Park, Northampton, MA
21 July 2018
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
http://www.glasgowlands.org/

Shelburne Grange Fair
Little Mohawk Road, Shelburne, MA
25 August 2018
9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft Fair
Cummington Fairgrounds, Cummington, MA
25 May 2019
1:00-4:00 pm
http://www.masheepwool.org/


Other upcoming events of interest:

NEWS (New England Weavers Seminar)
11-14 July 2019
Smith College, Northampton, MA


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