Four Corners (in person)

The December Nutmeg Spinners Guild meeting features four mini-workshops:

• Great Wheel demonstration,

• Winter themed needle felting/ Cross Stitch,

• Round Robin Spinning Wheel Trials,

• Social Table

Have you ever wanted to see a great wheel in action? Try your hand at needle felting or cross stitch? Spin on a brand of wheel you’ve always wanted to try out? You’ll have the opportunity to do all of these at our December Guild meeting. Or, if you’re just feeling like hanging with your peeps, try the Social Table.

This is an in-person meeting. The program will begin at 9:00 AM.

Morning Session - Workshop

Fiber Playground – Come and Play with Silk!

We will explore, compare and contrast various types of Silks. For example: Bombyx, tussah, eri, mugga; etc.

We will also explore different preparations: mawatas/hankies, brick, sliver, reeled

NOTE: This workshop is intended to be a “let’s play with different fibers” experience and NOT a breed study. We will put a bunch of silk fiber in your hands, we’ll discuss the characteristics and best uses for each type, and just generally have fun! We will also discuss how different methods of preparation will affect your final product.

Spinning Level Required: Comfortable with spinning (can spin a stable, continuous yarn) and looking to explore options.

Student Should Bring: Students should bring note-taking supplies, a spinning wheel in good working order, extra bobbins, and lazy kate.

Afternoon Session - Demonstration

Silk Reeling

Terri and Herman Guerette demonstrate how silk fiber is processed into thread for textile use. Terri will cover the various steps in this process, from soaking silkworm cocoons in water to reeling and twisting the filaments into different types of thread.

In addition to the reeled silk thread, Terri always has a variety of different types, species and preparations of silk available for viewing (and touching, of course!!).

Materials Cost: Silk Fiber will be provided to members who participate in the program for a $10 material fee (the full cost will be subsidized by the guild).

Please contact president.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com if you are not a guild member and would like to attend as a guest

If you are interested in becoming a member of the guild, please contact membership.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com or sign up here.

February 3, 2024 Zoom Only

Follow the Fleece: A Fiber Adventure Michelle Boyd

We are surrounded by fibers, but how can we know how to spin them? The fibers are leaving us clues and all we have to do is find them! This workshop takes a playful approach to learning to "read" a fiber and decide how best to spin it. And once we have decoded the fibers, we can follow them to their end uses. We will look at three different projects and use our detective skills to determine the best fibers and spinning techniques to make the perfect yarns. In the end, we will have a notebook full of clues to help us solve even the most difficult wooly mysteries. (Fiber sample kits will be provided prior to the meeting for use during the program).

Topics covered:

~ wool and fiber preparations: rovings and tops and everything in between

~ spinning style for different fibers (and why)

~ determining the right amount of twist for breed specific fibers

~ the concept of “spinning to the twist" simplified

~ spinning fibers beyond wool

~ considerations for the end uses of our spinning

Four Corners

December 9, 2023 (In Person Only)

The December meeting will be in-person, as we are holding a “four-corners” round table. We will actually have five “corners” on the 9th!

• Needle felting—Alanna Sultar

• Spindle spinning with different types of spindles—Michelle McCrillis

• Spinning Wheel Corral—Members bring in their different wheels for others to try

• Plying tips and tricks

• Spinner’s Tool Kit—Terri Guerette

Please contact president.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com if you are not a guild member and would like to attend as a guest

If you are interested in becoming a member of the guild, please contact membership.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com or sign up here.

Spinning Basket Workshop

Susan Muldoon will guide us in weaving a small tool basket. Just large enough to hold our essential little tools, this basket will hang on the spinning wheel within easy reach. Susan is an artist with many talents, including basket weaving, chair caning, seat weaving, photography and more. She is an accomplished, in-demand instructor who teaches throughout the Northeast.

Please contact president.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com if you are not a guild member and would like to attend as a guest

If you are interested in becoming a member of the guild, please contact membership.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com or sign up here.

Alisa will give a brief overview of the 300-year-old, 43-acre farm, plus the products that they make. She will then discuss Alpaca breeding, raising and the harvesting of their beautiful fleece, and provide participants with the opportunity to spin samples. We will card various mixtures of Alpaca with a complementary fiber to assess desirable weights and characteristics to create yarns for different types of projects.

The Nutmeg Spinners Guild will feature Alanna Wilcox for a virtual guild meeting on Saturday, February 4th. The topic will be Color, Fiber, and Dye.

Are you a fiber enthusiast who is curious about color? Maybe you’re even “dyeing” to learn more about how and when color is applied to fiber influences a project’s visual outcome. In this lecture, Alanna breaks down color theory in a very easy to understand way for the novice fiber colorist and then deep dives into the nuances that can be tapped into when one is aware of how human perception of color (and how that perception) can guide our choices in creating with fiber, yarn, and handmade fabrics..

About Alanna Wilcox:
Alanna learned how to crochet from her grandmother. Her inquisitiveness led to learning how to do needlepoint, which was a gateway into cross stitch, then embroidery, crazy quilting, hand spinning yarn, dyeing fiber, knitting, weaving & felting. The more techniques she consumed, the more ravenous she became to learn more. She also loved drawing, painting, and playing with anything that had to do with color. Her love of the fiber arts was only rivaled by her enthusiasm to teach and inspire others about it. She gets energized when she’s able to combine fiber art techniques and teaching by writing books and leading workshops, allowing her to share her passion with others. Traveling to fiber festivals, connecting with textile enthusiasts, and telling corny jokes are also high on her to-do list. Alanna is a master spinner, fiber artist, author, and instructor who lives with her family in Rochester, NY.

You can see Alanna’s work through her IG (Instagram account) @spinnybuns, or by visiting her website AlannaWilcox.com.

This is an online meeting. The Zoom meeting will begin at 8:30 AM. The program will begin at 9:00 AM.

Bosworth Spindles

This meeting is about some lovely tools! Spindles—used for thousands of years to make fiber, eminently transportable, hugely practical. Some textile tools are very utilitarian, and some are works of beauty. We are fortunate to have Jonathan and Sheila Bosworth come and discuss (and show) us some of the drop spindles they create. They have a way of turning wood into beautiful spinning tools that are not only a pleasure to look at, but a joy to spin. Spindles are great for portable spinning — many of us have taken our spindles to fiber festivals, doctor offices, family vacations, and anyplace we will have extra time, or where we can’t take our wheel on an extended visit somewhere.

The Bosworths will have some of their beautiful drop spindles and other fiber tools they make available for members to look at and try. If you would like more information on the Bosworths, visit https://bosworthspindles.com

Our April meeting will feature our bi-annual auction to raise the necessary funds for the operation of our Guild.

The Nutmeg Spinners Guild will feature national mentor Deborah Robson for a virtual guild meeting on Saturday, February 5. Two topics will be presented using a series of slides and discussion.

1) The Magic of Wool—learn through a discussion of the science of wool, why this fiber, in all its varieties, is pretty close to magical. Discussion will include Q&A and an introduction to wool samples.

2) Rare Wool Breeds, Q&A and spinning—learn about who decides a breed is rare (and how), what breeds are rare (and why), why we need to keep these breeds around, and what to do with the wool.

In preparation for this meeting, fibers representing the following were purchased by the guild, packaged and made available during the December guild meeting. All of these fall into the rare breed category, as well as being representative of fiber type.
1. a fine wool
2. a medium wool
3. a longwool
4. a double-coated wool
and…
5. Romeldale/CVM

If a member did not receive a sample package and would like one, please contact treasurer.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com to arrange for pickup or mailing for a small fee.

Zoom invitations will be sent to guild members prior to the meeting. If you are interested in becoming a member of the guild, please contact membership.nutmegspinnersguild@gmail.com or sign up through Nutmegspinners.org.

Deb Robson is an acclaimed researcher, author and fiber artist. She may be best known for her book, The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, which she co-authored with Carol Ekarius. She also teaches classes and workshops and online. Learn more about Deb and her work through her website Independent Stitch, read her blog and sign up for her emails.

Join the Nutmeg Spinners Guild _in-person_ for our bi-annual Four Corners program. Participants will circulate among four timed activities, as follows:

Shawl Pin: Leslie Wind, Jeweler, (LeslieWind.com) will mentor small groups in creating their own Shawl Pin. This activity will be limited to members only, with two active participants at a time and four observers, all cycling through. Materials will be provided. Leslie is offering Nutmeg Spinners 20% off between December 9 and December 16 on her Etsy site—she is going to be too busy helping us with our own creation to oversee a vending table. The discount code is NUTMEG21. Her shop can be found at https://www.etsy.com/shop/lesliewind?coupon=NUTMEG21

Spinning with eSpinners: Theresa Guerette (TerriSpins.com) will bring her cute little Electric Eel Nanos and train people on eSpinner techniques. Bring a niddy noddy, nostepinne, or skein winder to take yarn off the spinner.

Weaving with a Hand Loom: Participants will each be given a simple, small cardboard hand loom, and Vicki Miorelli will help with easy patterns and techniques. This is a fantastic way to use up your stash of extra project yarn or spinning samples. Some yarn material will be available, and bring your own balls of handspun or leftover yarn from projects.

Needle Felting: Alanna Sultar will lead participants through needle felting techniques to make a simple project. Tools for use in the meeting and felting 􀀽fiber will be provided.

A Beginner’s Corner will be available for people who are new to spinning (would you let Taryn McCarthy know if you can help with this please)? Non-members are welcome for a $10 program fee. All participants should go to the membership table to check in.

Spindling for One and All

Arrive around 8:30 a.m. - the program will begin at 9:00 a.m.

Many members of the guild are very talented spindle spinners and they have offered to lead us in various types of spindle spinning.

The agenda will include demonstration and mentoring on a variety of Drop Spindles, Supported Spindles, standard plying techniques, ply as you go, and using an e-spinner for plying. Barbara Morrow will donate some of her stash for members’ practice. Bring your own spindles if you have them and your own stash too, and if you don’t have one, we will make sure to have some spares for you to try during the meeting. If we are really lucky, some of our members with very special spindle collections may bring them for show and tell. Beginning spinners feel free to bring your wheels to get some help before the program starts and during breaks. If spindle pinning is not your thing, feel free to bring whatever you want to work on.

Wondrous Woolens

Join us via Zoom for this program with Stephenie Gaustad.

Woolen yarns are really quite unique. First off, not all of them are wool. “Woolen” means that they are built by choices: the fiber, its preparation, a unique drafting style and the yarn’s finish. Experience these by participating in this Zoom workshop to produce cushy, warm and super elastic yarns, using carded and cloud preparations and the “woolen” draw. Then learn how to finish these yarns to preserve their elasticity, loft and warmth.

You may sit and listen, or participate. To participate, you should have a functional spinning device: wheel or spindle with which you are comfortable; wool hand carders and sample fibers either from your stash or those we will make available for purchase. Sample fibers are now available for order in 4-oz. packages for $10.00 each. The package includes 2 oz. of a washed natural wool, and 2 oz. of roving in either white or shades of red/pink, or shades of blue, or shades of yellow. Deadline for ordering is Sunday, May 30 in order to allow enough 􀀥me for shipping. Order on our website nutmegspinners.org

Who may participate: This meeting is limited to current Guild members. As a reminder, this guild meeting is reserved for members only. If you have received the newsletter but your membership has lapsed, you may renew up un􀀥l June 5 to participate in the program, and your membership will be good for the following year.

Shave Em to Save Em (SE2SE)

By Clemes and Clemes

Join us via Zoom for this program with Roy Clemes, which is based upon the Livestock Conservancy’s initiative to support the continuation of endangered heritage sheep breeds. Roy will cover:

• What are the qualifications for SE2SE?

• How do Clemes and Clemes source their fiber?

• What are examples of SE2SE fleece?

• What are their properties?

• There are 3 basic fleece families. How do you prepare them for spinning?

• How do you build up a bat from the fleece?

• What are the uses for their wool?

Beyond supplying clean fleece for spinners, Clemes and Clemes makes tools for fiber preparation, as one would know from attending wool and sheep festivals held around the U.S. Roy Clemes will talk about several of the tools that they make for fiber preparation – hand cards, flickers, drum carders, blending boards and a new tool called The Lock Pop. He will provide some demonstrations as well as talk about how they make the tools. In this time of COVID-19 he will talk about California’s Lambtown Festival.

Program Agenda
10:00 – 11:00 AM Open Chat Time
11:00 – 12:30 PM Clemes and Clemes Shave Em To Save Em (SE2SE)
12:30 – 1:00 PM Break
1:00 – 2:00 PM Business Meeting, Show and Tell

Making Spindles and Spindling with Dan Brewer

Via Zoom

Drum Carding!!

If you love color and want to learn the building blocks for creating artful batts, join us for our Guild meeting on Saturday, December 12. This 2 hour Zoom presentation (with breaks) will cover a number of techniques and topics, including the following:

~ Learn how to correctly card clean locks using the flicker
~ Tints, Tones and Shades - the art of blending for color
~ Confetti Cake Batts - creating tweedy, visual texture
~ Ombre Batts - tips for making gradients
~ Advanced Gradients - how to spin multiple style yarns from one batt
~ Tips, techniques and tools for working with and effectively cleaning your drum carder

If you want to participate while Mary demonstrates, you will need the following:

~Drum carder in good working order
~1/2 oz of each fiber for a total of 9 half-ounces:
— Colored fiber to use as a base, plus white, grey and black
— Primary colored fiber: red, blue, yellow
— Wool base - color of your choice, plus a pulled sari silk or short stapled fiber for making the Confetti Cakes
— Flicker or inexpensive dog brush and some fleece/locks not yet flicked, combed, or carded

Even if you don’t own a drum carder, come and let your spinning be inspired and learn how the batts you admire and purchase are created. This is a participatory presentation; please ask questions!

Mary Egbert is the owner of Camaj Fiber Arts, and she specializes in selling her own batts, plus a large number of fiber products and tools to create your own projects. She is the author of the book “The Art of Washing Wool, Mohair and Alpaca,” she’s published articles in Spin Off, Ply Magazine, Tiny Studio, and has taught courses across the country and online. Visit her website at camajfiberarts.com to learn more.

Topic: Great Wheels, Soup, and Spinning

Mentor: Iris Westcott

Have you ever wondered what it was like to spin on a Great Wheel?  Do you have one and would like some coaching to increase your skill level?  Also known as Walking Wheels, Great wheels were prevalent across the U.S. in the 1700’s.   Do you have a Great Wheel?  If so, bring it to our April meeting!

April’s meeting will feature Iris Westcott of the Rhode Island Spinners Guild.  You may have met Iris at the Fiber Festival of New England in November, where she was demonstrating on her Great Wheel.  Iris will bring two of her wheels, one with a bat’s head which spins more slowly and is thus easier to learn on, and another wheel with an accelerator head. She will demonstrate her technique for great wheel spinning and will offer the opportunity for spinners to try either wheel. She will discuss and name the working parts and talk about how to perform simple repairs and wheel maintenance.   Iris has also offered to take a look at wheels that guild members bring in, and provided these wheels have all working parts, she will help us learn to spin on our own wheels.  Iris offered the following:

Things for spinners to ponder/gather/practice prior to the meeting (from Iris): 

Fiber prep is key, because you’re drafting one-handed. Thus, my favorite fiber for spinning on a great wheel is exquisitely prepared hand-carded rolags (I use Norman Kennedy’s technique and can demonstrate that, too, if you like), or a pin-draft roving (Liz at Fibers4Ewe in Putnam used to make the best, if anyone still has some of that), or carded batts that I tear into strips.

The drafting technique I use is called draft against twist, and if all is well (I.e., my wheel is working perfectly and my fiber prep is sublime) I can easily slide into a nice long-draw. I also sometimes use a “fanning” technique where I will “fan out” the fibers with my left hand as I spin, as well as the technique called “spinning from the fold.”

The important thing to remember in great wheel spinning is that you’re drafting one-handed, and left-handed at that, because the right hand is busy spinning the wheel. Members might wish to practice left-handed drafting on their flyer wheels.

Now, about that Soup! Barbara Campbell and Kim Slosson have offered to provide homemade soup for lunch. During February’s meeting we are asking for volunteers to bring bread and other items to help round out our meal.

Our February meeting will feature our bi-annual auction to raise the necessary funds for the operation of our Guild.

Peruvian Textiles

On June 1st our Guild president Terri Guerette will be leading us in a self-guided guild program about the weavers, textiles, and communities around the Sacred Valley of Peru. The program includes video, speaker notes, and a selection of textiles representing the wide variety of weaving structures and designs from the various communities, from intricate warp-faced pickup techniques to tapestry and scaffold-weaving, plus knitting, dyeing, braiding, and more.

I will also share what I learned in a workshop with Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez at SOAR 2012 and help those interested in learning to spin on an Andean spindle.

The materials fee will be $25 and includes an Andean spindle, alpaca fiber, and handouts. Anyone who does not wish to keep their spindle may return the spindle to Terri for a $15 refund.

Topic: Color and Fiber Blending

Mentor: Deb Quesnette

Pot Luck, with our own Deb Quensette offering mentoring on color and fiber blending using hand cards or a drum carder.

Our February meeting will feature nationally known spinner Amy Tyler.  Amy is author of many articles for Spin- Off magazine.  She is featured in Interweave’s videos Spinning Worsted Yarn with Amy Tyler and Spinning Woolen Yarn with Amy Tyler. She is well known for her excellent workshops.  She will be doing a regular meeting length workshop on Saturday and a full day workshop on Sunday for the first twenty people to register.

Our December meeting will feature Jenny Sethman’s tales of a competitive sheep to shawl team with its practice drills and travel experiences.

Topic: Rigid Heddle Weaving

Mentor: Ginger Balch

Are you looking for a new way to use your handspun? The October 8th meeting is all about weaving! Join us at St John’s Episcopal Church 679 Farmington Ave. West Hartford Ct. the program is 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. but the doors open at 8:30 a.m. for set up and shopping at our vendor booths. We do take a lunch break for a short business meeting. There is a $10.00 non member fee to participate. Check out the Nutmeg Spinners’ Guild website for more info on joining the guild!

October 6th meeting:

The small looms currently in fashion are very appropriate for spinners to use with their handspun yarn. Ginger Balch will be teaching/demonstrating how to quickly warp and set up a rigid heddle loom. Her presentation will include sharing of samples of work that she has done and slides of the details. She will be available to help individuals experiment with some weaving on rigid heddle looms. Members are encouraged to bring other pre-warped small looms (pin looms, inkle looms, tablets (for card weaving) that they would be willing to let attendees try during the day. 
Ginger’s work with rigid heddle looms is highlighted in Ashford’s magazine issue #28 of The Wheel in the article “Stained Glass on the Rigid Heddle Loom”. She will be sharing some of the pieces from that article.

Topic Magic Loop and Two Circular Needle Alternative

Mentor Marji LaFreniere

More information to come ... 

Topic: Sock Intensive - Day 1
Mentor: Amy King

Day 2 of the Sock Intensive will be held on Sunday at The Grange Hall in Glastonbury.

Sock Intensive with Amy King

April 8, 2018

Day 2

Are you ready to take your sock spinning and knitting skills one more step? In day 1 of the sock intensive we made a bunch of sock yarns…. all but one. In day 2 we’re going to make one more sock yarn and then we’re going to focus the rest of our time on knitting. There are skills and tips to knitting socks that will make your life easier. We’ll work on DPN’s and/or circulars. We’ll work out a few tips for heels and toes. Finally we’ll darn! No matter how perfect our sock skills are, eventually all socks get a hole.

Student – Please bring a wheel in good working order with one bobbin. You must be capable of making yarn and have a good working knowledge of the wheel and be comfortable with basic spinning instructions.

Bring your knitting needles to make socks. You may need a few sizes just to make sure you’re able to work with the yarn you make. To work with circulars for socks – please bring circulars that have a super flexible cord and it should be at least 36 inches long. My preference is 40 but 36 will do. Any longer and I feel they get in the way.

Bring a 4-ounce ball of sock yarn (balled up and ready to go). Or you can bring a whatever yarn you want to practice with so you can get the skills if you don’t care about making socks.

You’ll also need a darning or kitchener needle. If you have socks with holes in it, bring those for darning. If you don’t have holey socks, bring a regular pair and we’ll pretend to darn them. Don’t worry, it won’t ruin the socks and it can be easily pulled out.. Bring any darning mushrooms or balls that you may have.

Summary of What To Bring:

• Spinning Wheel with one bobbin

• Knitting needles in multiple sizes. If circular, 36″ or 40″.

• 4-ounce ball of sock yarn balled up and ready to go, or practice yarn

• Darning needle

• Socks with holes in them, or socks to practice darning on

• Darning mushroom or egg, if you have one

The fee for this second day is $75.00. You can pay via PayPal ($77.48) on the Nutmeg Spinners' Guild website (www.NutmegSpinners.org).

Topic: Sock Intensive - Day 1
Mentor: Amy King

Saturday’s program features Day 1 of a Sock Intensive by Amy King. Day 2 of the Sock Intensive will be held on Sunday at The Grange Hall in Glastonbury.

Day 1
The sock yarn you make now is ok but you know it could be better. Maybe you haven’t even ventured into making sock yarn because you’re not sure it’s going to hold up. What materials do I use? How do I spin it so it’s sturdy but not rope-like? We’ll answer these questions and more. You’ll walk out of the class ready to make an excellent sock yarn and already have several samples ready to go!

For those participating in the workshop, please bring a wheel in good working order with 4 (5 or 6 is even better) or more bobbins. Bring a ball winder if you don’t have a lot of bobbins. It’s also helpful to have a Niddy Noddy and a Lazy Kate. You must be capable of making yarn and have a good working knowledge of the wheel and be comfortable with basic spinning instructions. This is an intermediate class.

Materials Fee: $32.00 per student. You can pay via PayPal ($33.23) on the Nutmeg Spinners' Guild website (www.NutmegSpinners.org).

Bi-Annual Auction and Pot Luck
 

For more information, please visit our website

www.NutmegSpinners.org

Topic TBA
Mentor TBA

More information to come ... 

Please join me at the Nutmeg Spinners' Guild Meeting!

Angora Workshop
October 7, 2017

The wonderful world of Angora Rabbits can begin in your living room, basement or backyard. Join Breeder Chris Woolybuns, Keeper Laurene D’Aversa and Fiber Slayer Deb Quesnette at our October Guild meeting where we will watch a shearing, learn to blend and card, spin a single and even make a Boucle’ yarn using this fabulous fiber. Did you know that Angora is seven times warmer than wool and so much softer!

Students should bring their Spinning Wheel and two empty bobbins, a Drum Carder or Hand Cards, & Lazy Kate.

Fiber Fee: $15.00

Don’t forget, all of our meetings feature a mentored Beginners’ Corner.

Also, Hat, Sock and Mittens donations will be collected for St. John’s Ministry to the needy at this meeting.

Entrelac Knitting
Ginger Balch, In Sheep's Clothing