PIKES PEAK WEAVERS GUILD -- COLORADO SPRINGS, CO

Transcription

1 PPWG Newsletter WEEKLY May 2009 Issue One, Volume One Wool rug by Jan Sinn, Alpaca fiber spun by Deb Greer, Hand-dyed wool fiber spun by Heidi Bates PIKES PEAK WEAVERS GUILD -- COLORADO SPRINGS, CO IN THIS ISSUE: May Program page 2 Membership Form page 8 May Weaving Sample pages 2-3 Announcements page 4 Welcome New Member page 4 Minutes & Committee Reports pages 5-6 Nominations for Officers page 6 PPWG Calendar page 9 Hospitality page 9 Sample Schedule page 10 Officers and Chairpersons page 11 Advertisements pages Library News page 7 1

2 May Program The Basics of Weft-Faced Rug Weaving by Sally Kuhn Weaving a well-woven, wool, weft-faced rug is a time consuming, often nit-picky process, but the results can be spectacular. All rugs are a compilation of choices beginning with the warp and weft yarn choices and ending with the off loom finishing techniques. There are specific ways to start the rug correctly, and to get a great selvedge. And some looms are better than others are for rugs... but with modifications, a lightweight loom can weave a rug occasionally. Sally Kuhn will talk about all of these and more. Sally Kuhn has been weaving since the early 90s, learning from Rosmarie Amstein, Judy Steinkoenig and Carol Seeds, with rug workshops from Jason Collingwood, Mary Zicafoose, James Koehler and Louise Bradley. She began working at Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins in Boulder in 2001 and started teaching the weft faced rug class there in She also taught a one-day class at Estes Park Wool Market in Above: Krokbragd rug by Sally Kuhn. Right: 3 end, 3 pick Swedish Lace sample by Sandy Hutton. 2

3 May Weaving Sample by Sandy Hutton Swedish Lace Warp: 10/2 UKI mercerized cotton, purple Weft: 10/2 UKI mercerized cotton, light purple Reed: 12 dpi Sett: 24 epi Sley: 2 ends per dent Ends per repeat: 47 The design for this month s sample was ed to me by Laurie Autio of Pelham, Massachusetts and woven by me (with permission). One of Laurie s passions is lace weaves and she is particularly interested in and accomplished with Swedish lace designs. Lace groups and units can employ a variety of numbers of ends and picks. For example, huck lace can have floats over three, five, seven or more threads. The length of the floats in lace weaves is governed by yarn size, use of the textile, etc. This design has floats which span three ends and three picks. Swedish lace combines huck and lace Bronson allowing the weaver to capitalize on the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages of both structures. Donna Muller studied lace weaves as her Level II topic for the Certificate of Excellence awarded by the Handweavers Guild of America. On page 136 of her book, Muller states, Threading groups can repeat and combine (a feature of lace Bronson) and blocks can turn (a feature of huck lace). Laurie makes ample use of these features in this design. The sample was woven on a 24 shaft AVL workshop dobby loom. It would require 54 treadles to weave on a treadle loom. The sample was machine washed and dried and then steam pressed. Shrinkage was 6% in length and 8% in width. For further information on lace weaves, including Swedish lace, see the original publication or reprint of: Muller, Donna. Handwoven Laces. Loveland, CO: Interweave Press

4 Announcements "Inspirational Effects of Texture in Wearable Art" a TACtile Arts Center exhibit May 8 - July 11. Over 25 artists from the Rocky Mountain region will display their unique wearable creations. The Exceptional Artist of the show is Colorado s own, Elda Kohls. An artist reception will be held on Saturday, May 30 from 1:30-4pm. TACtile Textile Arts Center is located in Tamarac Square Mall, 7777 E. Hampden Ave, Suite 114, Denver, opposite the theater entrance. More info: or Save The Date: Colorado Weavers Day Connections Saturday, May 15, 2010 You are invited to Colorado Weavers Day, May 15th, 2010 at the University of Colorado Glenn Miller Ballroom in Boulder, Colorado. Held in conjunction with the CU Museum of Natural History, we will be dovetailing our CWD program with the CU Museum of Natural History's exhibit of the Joe Ben Wheat Textile Collection entitled, "Navajo Weaving: Diamonds, Dreams, Landscapes." Our goal is to have attendees from every guild in the state, so start planning now. Details will follow in a few months. Navajo Weaving: Diamonds, Dreams, Landscapes Textile Exhibit at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History May 29, 2009-May 30, 2010 Plan to see this extraordinary exhibit during Colorado Weavers Day. Details on this exhibit can be found at the CU Museum of Natural History website. I Made It On My Schacht Contest To celebrate their 40th Anniversary, Schacht Spindle Co., Inc. is sponsoring a contest. There are categories for beginners and experienced alike, so don't be shy. All you have to do is either weave a project on your Schacht Loom or spin a skein of yarn on your Schacht wheel. Enter through your favorite participating Schacht dealer, on your own, or with your fellow guild members. Visit for details and entry forms. Prizes include: Special Edition Cherry Wolf Pup, Special Edition Cherry Matchless Spinning Wheel, plus loads of other prizes and surprises. Deadline for entries is September 1, Welcome New Member! Maria Robinson 921 Drury Lane Colorado Springs, CO (719) eduvijinia@hotmail.com Left: Twill damask scarf by Susan Bowman. 4

5 Guild Business by Emily Jones PPWG Business Meeting, April 10, 2009 Weldon Walker called the meeting to order at 9:40 a.m. The March 13, 2009 minutes were approved as read. Kudos were given by Diane Fabeck regarding the Living With Beauty Handwoven Textiles for the Home sponsored by the PPWG and the BAC last summer from a hiking friend of her husband s as the best show he had seen at the BAC. Kudos went to Yamuna Weiner for winning the first prize of $ in the Think Outside the Sox Contest in the Tofutsies category in the Knitter s Magazine. Weldon reminded the members of the Norman Kennedy spinning workshop that will be on April 15 and 16 with a waulking demonstration on the evening of April 14, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. in the Penrose Room at the Penrose House. Weldon sent s to participants of the workshop regarding times and food menu selections for the actual workshop. Norman Kennedy will be at the Ute Pass Cultural Center on April 17 at 7:00 p.m. for a presentation with the Mountain Acoustic Music Association. Norman will be teaching a knitting workshop on Fisherman & Worker s Knitting in Scotland and the outer Islands April 18, Please call Kathleen Orr at Green Valley Weavers for more information on time and location. The September day workshop with Melissa Weaver Dunning will be opened to other guilds after today s meeting. A sign up sheet for the workshop with a required deposit of $60.00 circulated around to members. Weldon also circulated a sign up form asking for input regarding rotating mini workshops as a program for PPWG agenda. Barb Byerly reported the financial status: Balance Forward $ Income Closing Balance Vanguard Dottie Weir introduced a new member and a guest today. The new membership registration form is now online. Membership dues are requested by June 1, 2009 in order to get the PPWG yearbooks to members by October Beth Garrison announced the Rockledge Ranch Shearing Day, June 6, 2009 from 9:30 until 5:00 p.m. This is a demonstration of shearing sheep, dyeing of the wool and demos for weaving, spinning and dyeing. A sign up sheet for spinning, weaving, and dyeing volunteers circulated. Beth has some table looms for use as demos with request for volunteers to bring their own spinning wheels or travel looms. Catie Kiley thanked everyone who supplied the food for today s program. Bev Weaver announced that Kathleen Orr donated two books to the library by Peter Collingwood, The Techniques of Sprang and The Techniques of Tablet Weaving. A new book, Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes, Miniature Overshot Patterns has been purchased and is ready for check out. The magazines, Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot and Complex Weavers, donated by Cozy Swickard will be on sale for $2.00 each on the show and tell table after the meeting. A raffle to benefit the PPWG library will be held at the May meeting. Tickets are available through May 8, 2009 priced at six for $5.00 or one for a $1.00. Two books on tapestry weaving were donated to the raffle items and Doreen McLaughlin donated a scarf. A request was made to use the monies collected from the raffle to purchase the Peter Collingwood s book The Techniques of Ply-Split Braiding. All present agreed this would be an excellent book to add to the library. Heidi Bates announced that Schacht Spindle Co is having a contest called I Made it on My Schacht. To get more information please refer to Handwoven, March/April 2009 issue page 17 or visit their website. Susan Bowman discussed the process that the nominating committee used for the slate of officers and committee members. The concept for adding a second vice president, co-librarian, and deleting the historian was discussed with Linda Shaffer and Weldon Walker with the understanding that there would be the need for a vote because of changes to the by-laws. The committee asked the presiding officers and committee members consisting of 19 positions if they would continue in their present office. Eight positions agreed to continue leaving eleven positions open. Susan and Judi Arndt talked to over 28 members in the span of three months with Judi focusing on president and second vice president leaving Susan to focus on the remaining positions. Judi found that members who would have liked to fill the president position could not commit this year. Susan then volunteered to take this position for the 2009/2010 year. The proposed slate for officers and committee chairperson s for is listed in the March newsletter and the elections will happen at the May meeting. Please refer the PPWG April newsletter for the proposed list. (continued on next page) 5

6 Guild Business by Emily Jones (cont.) Weldon thanked Susan Bowman for purchasing the two new speakers for the PPWG new computer system. Sandy Hutton announced that on April 18, 2009, RMWG invited Margie Thompson from Maine to give the commemorative talk at the Tactile Art Center. Humanitarian assistance groups will be at the open house, April 19 from 1 p.m. until 4:00p.m. presenting demonstrations and answering questions from several different cultures. Judi Arndt will have a display of her African Textiles for all to see at this time. Ellen Alderson talked about a shop in Littleton called the Recycled Sheep, which she will ask for advertisements to place in the newsletter this fall. Robin Wilton reminded members about the Estes Park Wool Market June with classes still available. She is looking for volunteers for the children s tent. Weldon reminded all that the May program will be presented by Sally Kuhn on rug making. Following the program, our annual luncheon will be at Giuseppe s Old Depot Restaurant starting between 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. Weldon reminded members not to bring food or drinks into the meeting area, program area or around the show and tell table. Following show and tell, the meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m Nominations As most of you know, Officer Elections happen at the May meeting each year. Are you looking for a way to contribute your skills to PPWG? Contact your Board anytime or the Nominating Committee that is formed in January of each year. A big thank you goes out to members willing to fill these roles and bring their own unique perspective to each job. Proposed slate for Officers and Committee Chairpersons is as follows: Officer Nominations President 1st VP 2nd VP Treasurer Recording Secretary Membership Secretary Past President Susan Bowman W.W. Walker Ellen Alderson Emily Jones Deb Greer Dottie Weir Linda Shaffer Standing Committees Website Newsletter Major Workshop Library Yearbook Advertising Demonstrations Publicity Samples Hospitality Jane Rock Doreen McLaughlin Heidi Bates Emma Greek & Debra Scott Marisa McMillen Emma Greek Beth Garrison & Barb Byerly Deb Lane Robin Wilton not filled 6 Above: Alpaca blanket by Siv Nelson

7 Library News by Bev Weaver The following book has been purchased with library funds: Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes: Miniature Overshot Patterns by Norma Smayda, Gretchen White, Jody Brown and Katherine Schelleng. A portion of the raffle money will be used to buy the following book: The Techniques of Ply Split Braiding by Peter Collingwood. Raffle in May Will Benefit PPWG Library Additional items have been donated for the library raffle: Books: Shaped Tapestry and Line in Tapestry: both written by Kathe Todd Hooker, donated by Anne Evans Scarf: Hand-dyed shibori scarf donated by Doreen McLaughlin The above will be added to the items which were previously donated: T-Shirt: Unique PPWG blue color (without logo) donated by Claudia Birdsall Book: Finishing Touches for the Handweaver, by Virginia West donated by Susan Bowman Scarf: Handwoven with hand-dyed fabric strips, made and donated by Susan Bowman Bracelet: Handwoven willow, made and donated by Linda Lugenbill Ceramic pitcher: Hand-made pottery donated by Linda Shaffer Rag rug: Rep weave, from the CSPM exhibit, handwoven and donated by Beverly Weaver Raffle tickets will be available at the beginning of the May meeting for $1 each or 6 for $5. The drawing will be done during or after the business meeting. All proceeds from the raffle will be used to purchase new books, videos or other items for the library. If you have something in mind that you think should be in our library, contact one of the librarians. Next year s librarians will be Debra Scott and Emma Greek. Thanks to all the people who have generously donated items and to all of the members who have purchased tickets. Left: scarf by Siv Nelson Right: Towel by Robin Wilton 7

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9 PPWG Calendar The Pikes Peak Weavers' Guild meets the second Friday of each month from September through May at the Mountain View Church of Christ, 1080 E. LaSalle St at Paseo in Colorado Springs, CO. Come for coffee, socializing and library time at 9:00 am. The business meeting starts at 9:30 and the program begins at 11 AM. Meetings and Events for May Basics of Rug Making. Sally Kuhn End of year luncheon 8-10 Sep Dunning Workshop 11 Sep PPWG Scholarship Applications due for Left: Shibori scarves by Susan Bowman. Right: Baskets by Bev Weaver Hospitality Everyone appreciates a delicious treat with the coffee/tea break. PPWG needs at least two, preferably three volunteers each month who will bring refreshments. Please call Catie Kiley at to sign up. The Guild thanks you! May Carol Wilkinson A Hospitality Chairperson is still needed! One of the last Committee Chair jobs that need to be filled is Hospitality. Volunteer and share this job with a friend! The new Chairperson has the freedom to change or simplify the job. Duties include coordinating sign-ups and sending the names to the newsletter editor, starting the coffee pots and tidying up after the meeting. Please contact Susan Bowman or Judi Arndt to volunteer for this position. FOOD and BEVERAGE REMINDER Please remember that we decided at the March meeting that we will not have food or beverages at our Show and Tell area or in the program room. This was decided to protect our textiles and tech equipment from any spilling accidents. 9

10 Sample Schedule for We need volunteers for weaving, dyeing, and spinning samples for the newsletter for the months below. At the August Board meeting, the board decided to also add dyeing samples for the newsletter. Hopefully we will always have a weaving sample and/or spinning/dyeing sample for each newsletter. To sign-up, please (lindalshaffer@msn.com) or call (719/ ) Linda Shaffer. For weaving, we need two (2) samples (6 x 6 minimum, 8 x 10.5 maximum). For spinning we need two (2) samples which need to be butterflies approximately 4 yards long. Dyeing samples may be on fiber or handwoven cloth. So the size of the sample will depend on the media. Jane Rock or Doreen McLaughlin will be scanning the samples for the newsletter. These need to be delivered to one of them at the meeting the month before they are to appear in the newsletter or mailed to her. After scanning, they will bring the samples to the guild meeting to be placed in the sample notebooks in the library. Your weaving and spinning descriptions need to be mailed or ed (doreen@divide.net) to the newsletter editor, Doreen McLaughlin. Linda will print the descriptions from the newsletter for the sample notebooks in the library. If you have other information for the sample notebooks, please give it to Linda at a meeting. SAMPLES SCHEDULE 2008/2009: Month Month Due Weaving Spinning/Dyeing June May Karen Currier Judy Gearhart Below: Two blankets by Patty Butler Gypsy Wools Barb Day Unique Yarns and Spinning Fibers Hand-Dyed and Natural Colors Natural Fibers Rugs Handmade Tools fibergypsy@comcast.net 1227 Spruce Boulder, CO

11 Officers: Standing Committee Chairpersons: President Vice President Recording Secretary Treasurer Membership Secretary Past President Linda Shaffer Weldon Walker Emily Jones Barb Byerly Dottie Weir Debbi Holdeman Advertising Demonstrations Historian Hospitality Library Workshop Newsletter Publicity Website Announcements/Yearbook Kathleen Orr Beth Garrison Judy Gearhart Catie Kiley Sandra Hutton, Beverly Weaver, Jane Rock Diane Fabeck Doreen McLaughlin Louise Conner Jane Rock Marisa McMillen 11

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13 Deadline For Next Issue: the 20th day of the current month. Advertising Rates: Business card $10.00 ¼ page $15.00 ½ page $20.00 Full page $30.00 Classified Ads: $5.00 for 25 words 25 cents each additional word Digital or electronic submission to: PPWG PO Box 8104 Colorado Springs, CO