Mud, mud, glorious mud …

Ok, so these past few weeks didn’t exactly go according to plan. With the Guild rooms inaccessible due to power and Albury Show issues our alternatives ran into a few hitches. Between illness, rain and mud our Wednesdays Guild days either didn’t happen or had very limited numbers. Then to top that off, our first available day back at the Guild rooms was cancelled due to as Julie put it “all of the rain over the last week and the amount of traffic there would have been near our rooms, that the grounds will be too muddy/boggy for us to use this week.”

The bad news continues for the November Meeting being moved to another venue (thanks Deb) due to the Showgrounds still being too muddy. Perhaps we need to petition the Showground Trust for a better all-weather car park!

So there isn’t much news to cover this issue. We do have Part 2 of Sensational Singles to conclude, and the part of Fleecy Follies in this Newsletter will be played by a shearing experience at Julie’s. 

I hope all our Members have been keeping dry and well, and making lots of wonderful things to see in November’s Show & Tell. So firstly, let’s catch up with the October Show & Tell!

Cheers all,
KathyW, Editor.

Committee 2022 – 2023

President:
Jane Manning

Vice President:
Debbie Carpenter

Minute Officer:
Rhonda Delahoy

Secretary(communications/events):
Julie Hofer

Assistant Secretary:
Amanda  Eaton

Treasurer:
Loraine Parker

Assistant Treasurer:
Rhonda Delahoy

Newsletter Editor:
Kathy Wheeler

Library Equipment Officer:
Rhonda Delahoy

Social Media Officer:
Kathy Wheeler

Public Officer:
Julie Hofer

KeyHolders Roster
Wednesday Work Days and Meetings

1st Wed of month – Pam J
2nd Wed of month – Jane or Julie
3rd Wed of month – Heather or Rhonda
4th Wed of month – Loraine
5th Wed of month *IF* there is one – tba

Show & Tell - 12th October 2022

Julie

Pam

Jane

Robyn W

Jill

September Workshop - Sensational Singles #2

Janet Day (Knoop) was unexpectedly unable to run our planned Workshop, so Jane and Julie came to the rescue learning from Janet so they could bring that knowledge back to our Guild.

The article below draws on Janet’s Workshop notes, and comments made by Jane, Julie and participants  in our own Workshop.

Janet’s Sensational Singles is a fascinating adventure in spinning and felting singles you can use as yarn. No plying. None. It was inspired by the current trend of commercial singles, and Janet felt she could improve on them.

In the conclusion to our Sensational Singles we take the spun and felted yarn from Part 1 to  sensational finish.

The Un-Spinning

The dried yarn still has a lot of energy held partly in check by the felting process. Now we look to relax some of that energy to produce our finished smooth single.
 
The Yarn Swift
 
Place the skein on your yarn swift and remove the ties.
 
The Spinning
 
Tie the end of your single to the leader on your spinning wheel, and treadle slowly in the opposite direction to the twist in your yarn to just lightly open the single up. You still want some twist left in your yarn, and the yarn on the bobbin should feel soft and light.
 
Felting again
 
Re-skein your yarn and tie off as before (figure 8 and cellulose ties). Then repeat the felting process (from Part #1) but this time a little gentler.
 
Drying
 
Hang the skein to dry again, unweighted, and occasionally rotate it so it dries evenly.
 
The Result
 
Once dry you should have “a balanced skein with loft, surface resistance, drape and wearability.”

Fleecy Follies​

Shearing 2022

This year is proving to be difficult for animals as well as people. The sudden wet and cold snaps have delayed shearing or limited numbers to how many animals can be comfortably shedded for a few days to a few weeks until conditions improve or the animal acclimatises to their shorn state. The combination of cold temperatures, rain and wind can be fatal to a newly shorn animal.

Julie was however able to organise a small group of alpacas for our shearing demonstration on the 26th of October.

Julie writes:

“Unfortunately we can’t drive into the shearing shed paddock as it is far too wet. It is only a short easy walk from the carpark area behind the house to the shearing shed. Bring an umbrella or rain jacket just in case it is raining when you arrive or leave.

“We will have an alpaca shearing demonstration as well as the correct method of skirting an alpaca fleece. We will also compare fleeces from show quality alpacas to those that are past their use by for garment making.

“Everything is organised for today. Some lovely alpacas have been in the shed since Monday, patiently waiting for their haircut.

“Our spinners day went well, we didn’t get a lot of people because of the weather. Those that came had a great time.”

And Ella took some photos for the newsletter. She writes:

“Joe gently lifts the alpacas onto the table and Julie skirts/selects the skirtings into a tub on the ground, as they are shorn off. Leaving the saddle intact and easy to bundle up.

“Several Guild members were lucky to take a saddle home to blend and/or spin themselves.

“From fluffy to skinny in 6-7 minutes !“

Do you have a funny or amazing fiber animal story? If you’d like to share it in a future Newsletter contact the Editor.

Last words ...

A few housekeeping items:
1 – Some members have been getting spam type emails saying they are coming from Guild members. If anyone gets a suspicious looking message, do not open them or any links within them.
2 – Please do not park in front of the Guild’s side double doors. This could cause a problem in the case of an emergency. Please park in the undercover area well clear of the doors and grandstand stairs, or on the grass area.
3 – The drain area outside the Guild door that fills up with water when it rains is becoming DANGEROUS with one of our members slipping in the mud and algae growing there. PLEASE KEEP WELL CLEAR OF THE DRAIN AND MUD even when it appears dry!

Newsletter contributions are always welcome. So, if anyone has anything they want to contribute, or requests for articles, email me!

Cheers for now,

KathyW, Ed.