The Colour Purple

This post is for a certain person who loves the colour purple.  Twist Collective's Winter 2010 issue has an article by Fiona Ellis entitled 'Purple Prose' a history from a fibery perspective, of the colour purple.  Click here to read the article.  Twist Collective is an online magazine whose purpose is to provide  a showcase opportunity to designers of knitwear and writers and pay them fairly.  Check it out here.

Turning the Tide.One Ripple at a Time

Turning the Tide

Opening today at the Nanaimo down town Art Gallery, 150 Commercial Street.
Opening November 16 at 4 pm. Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm Closed Sunday and Monday. Closing November 30 at 4 pm.
The Nan Go Grannies together with the Glacier Grannies and the Nanaimo Art Gallery present:
Textile Art Show: Turning the Tide


This 52 piece show, a join effort initiated by the Glacier Grannies and presented by local grandmother groups is travelling Western Canada and will culminate in a Grand Gala in Victoria in March, 2011, when the pieces will be auctioned off.

This textile art show is about hope and commitment. The title,"Turning the Tide", is taken from the Stephen Lewis Foundation campaign that is committed to turning the tide of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Each piece depicts an aspect of the many projects that are being funded, hence the subtitle: "One Ripple at a Time."
The Stephen Lewis Foundation funds over 30 grassroots organizations in 15 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 40-60 per cent of orphans live in grandmother-headed households. It is the belief of the Campaign that although the situation in sub-Saharan Africa remains pressing, it is impossible to be discouraged when we see these projects working with tenacity and sophistication, providing support, solace and hope for women, children and grandmothers affected by the pandemic. These communities know what has to be done and how to do it. All they need are the resources to accomplish their goals.

A DVD for luxury

This is a new DVD by Judith McKenzie and covers luxury fibres.  We can learn what to do with all the alpaca and llama fleeces available around here. http://www.interweavestore.com/Spinning/Video/Spinning-Luxury-Yarns-DVD.html

Another DVD the Guild library can consider

Another spinning video we might consider getting for the guild library
There is a You tube sample as well.
http://www.interweavestore.com/Spinning/Video/Start-Spinning-DVD.html?a=iwst101105D

Knitting DVD

I try to join new balls of yarn only at the edges, but sometimes that means wasting a long length of yarn. If I'm short on yarn, I hate to waste any of it just to avoid a join in the middle of a row. Enter Vicki Square and a great way to splice yarn together so you can join in the middle of a row.

Vicki says, "Splicing forms an invisible join that can be used anywhere in a row. It secures the two yarns together without adding bulk or know, is easy to accomplish, and eliminates the need to work in ends."

Here's Vicki to demonstrate the yarn-splicing technique for you:

This splicing method works on wool, llama, or alpaca yarns—basically on any yarn that will felt a little bit. So some of the blends will work, too. If you're working with a blend, you'll have to try splicing it to see if it'll work well.

suggestion for a dvd the guild should own for the library

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Spinning Luxury Fiber DVD

In Stock

Price: $39.95

Quantity

Judith MacKenzie

DVD

Item #: 10SP09

ISBN: 9781596684591
Disks: 3

Description

Spinners today have such an abundance of fiber choices, sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin – and to know how to handle these precious materials once you have them in your hands. In this extensive treatment of the best the fiber world has to offer, Master Spinner Judith MacKenzie shares what she’s learned from deep experience in both craft and industry, with a hands-on teaching style that will give you inspiration, confidence, and good results.

This three-disk set covers:

• Silk, from cocoon to top to noil to magnificent blends
• Alpaca, both huaycaya and suri
• Camel
• Llama
• Paco-vicuña
• Yak
• Bison
• Cashmere
• Quiviut

You’ll learn how to prepare each fiber, how to spin it, how to finish your yarn, and the fascinating history and lore of each.

Preview

Weaving and Sewing for a conference

Donatella, Coco, and You Jacket by Judith Shangold Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Coco Chanel, and Stella McCartney. Wait a minute! Fashion designers? This is supposed to be Weaving Today’s e-newsletter. Oh, but it is, and it’s your chance to be a clothing designer for an event in Europe. Väv is a Swedish weaving conference that is held every three years. Approximately 10,000 participants and between 70 and 80 vendors are expected to attend. Imagine that shopportunity! There will be exhibitions by professionals who were trained in Borås and are now employed as weavers, designers, and artists. There will also be displays of contemporary textile art and lectures from well known weavers and designers such as Ulla Cyrus. Some of the lectures will be given in English. Now if this doesn’t already have you scheming a way to get to Sweden next year, how about this? Smart textiles. This is a new wave being studied at a Swedish university that is exploring the combination of craft with technology. Väv - Swedish Conference The focus at next year’s Väv conference is clothing sewn from handwoven fabric. So here’s your chance for international acclaim: Handwoven and Väv magasinet are cosponsoring a joint runway fashion show to be held next September at the conference. We’ll be looking for five tailored and five loom-shaped garments from our readers to represent our weaving community. Whether you are an experienced seamstress who is already thinking of a one-of-a-kind dress that you will “stitch in the ditch” and press with a “tailor’s ham” or a weaver who prefers loom-shaped clothing, get your loom warped and your designing mind engaged to create your best-ever handwoven garment. Digital photos must be submitted to our website by April 1, 2011, and we will soon be posting complete information on weavingtoday.com. Because we will select the finalists from photographs, we urge you to take special care with your photography. The selected items must be sent to Handwoven, and then we’ll ship them off to Sweden. Oh, one more thing! The winning garments will also appear in a special garment issue of Handwoven scheduled for September/October 2011. For more information go to www.svenskavav.com. (Hint: you might want to grab your Swedish dictionary first.)