The Black Swamp Spinning and Weaving Guild (Ohio)

The Black Swamp Spinning and Weaving Guild (Ohio) holds two annual events that encourage non-spinners to join their ranks. “Learn to Spin 101 Workshop” is held in February where participant are taught to spin with a handspindle, card and comb, select and store fibers, and try various types of wheels. The second event is an annual Market Day and Fiber Fair. Their twenty-third takes place March 29th in Bowling Green at the Junior Fair Building in the Wood County Fairgrounds. Admission is free, door prizes are offered and lunch is available. Workshops, vendors, and demonstrations of textile activities are an attraction for participants from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

Highland Fiber Artists

I am writing to tell you about a successful project undertaken by our guild earlier this month to celebrate National Spinning & Weaving Week.

The Highland Fiber Artists (HFA) of Marshfield, Missouri presented a fiber arts workshop inconjunction with the Dogwood Trails Girl Scout Council. Thirty-two Junior Girl Scouts earned part of their Yarn and Fabric Arts Badge.

HFA guild members set up 10 stations, each featuring a different handcraft: spinning on a handspindle, weaving on a cardboard loom, crochet, knitting on spools and fingers, shuttle tatting, paper quilling, bobbin lace, paper making, embroidery, and kumihimo braiding.

Small groups of girls spent half an hour at each station, watching a demonstration and trying their hand at the craft. Six hours later they went home with handspun yarn, the beginnings of a purse on a cardboard loom, finger-knitted scarves, necklaces of paper beads, wristbands of kumihimo braids, and hopefully, a head full of ideas and inspiration.

Guild members went home with tired feet, aching backs, and huge smiles on their faces, full of the good feeling that comes from knowing you have done your part to help pass along a love of fiber to a younger generation. We are already planning for next year!

Susan Robords
Highland Fiber Artists

Pinellas Weavers’ Guild

The Pinellas Weavers’ Guild (Florida) annually enters the International Spin-In contest in Tasmania, Australia, and two members placed in last summer’s competitions. Lucy Parks won for the United States with a thread of 144.21 meters and Marlys Collier placed in the top ten for hand-propelled spindle thread at 69.15 meters. This group has taken on a special project for Convergence, the national conference organized and sponsored by the Handweavers Guild of America, Inc. When the subject of pincushions for the goodie bags came up during a planning meeting, the guild accepted the challenge of creating all of them. Handspun fabric was donated to be used as a facing and clean washed fleece was donated for the stuffing. To be held in Tampa Bay in June of 2008, “Textures in the Tropics” is the theme of the conference being hosted by the Florida Tropical Weavers Guild. Far from being a “weavers only” event, seminars are offered in spinning, knitting, feltmaking, dyeing and surface design, beads, basketmaking, garments, ethnic and historic textiles, tapestry, creativity, and mixed techniques. Meetings of special interest groups such as Weave A Real Peace (WARP) and Tablet Weavers’ International Studies and Techniques (TWIST) take place as well as tours of the surrounding area’s fiber exhibits. Day passes are available and assistantship grants are awarded to students registered in accredited academic fiber arts programs.

Southeast Idaho Fiber Arts Guild

An ergonomic workshop was held by the Southeast Idaho Fiber Arts Guild to understand and prevent injuries while spinning, weaving, or knitting. Dr. Alex Urfer from the Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy at Idaho State University gave a talk on the physical challenges that knitters and fiber artists frequently encounter. Common problems are carpal tunnel syndrome and back/leg pain from sitting for long stretches. With a colleague (who is a knitter), he discussed what is happening in the body to the areas affected and gave helpful information on how to avoid injuries with good posture and exercises.