Guild newsletter, November 2015

Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild P.O. Box 660723, Birmingham, AL 35266-0723   www.greaterbirminghamfiberguild.blogspot.com

Newsletter of the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild

President’s Column                                                   Hello Fiber Friends!   I hope this finds everyone merrily working on their holiday gifts! I still have some up my sleeve that I hope will be under the tree!!!! I am trying to finish my Ravelry socks...which were quite educational! Just goes to show even if you've knit something for 20 years you can always learn a new trick!!!   I am at the close of my Presidency and I have to say with the help of a very hardworking Board, we have managed to build a very vibrant, active, fun Guild!!! We will be electing officers at the December party and I am very confident that all our fun will continue and get even better!!!!!    I will be entering my next phase....being a Grandmother! AND the good news is they are moving to Huntsville so I will have a very busy November and December!! Such fun to knit and sew those little girly articles:)   Hope to see you at the meeting! The program is on a very cool kind of weaving!    Karen Ford   November Program November 14 10 a.m. In the Making Cahaba Heights   For our November meeting, we’re excited to hear from guild member and textile artist Miriam Norris Omura, who will talk about her work as a weaver in a program entitled “A Contemporary Shift on Double Ikat: dye painted warp and weft.” Miriam will do a brief lecture with slide show and video clips giving a bit of background on traditional ikat, showing images of four contemporary artists (including herself) whose work pulls from ikat influences, and then Miriam will  talk specifically about her own process. She’s bringing samples of her work so we can see her technique up close, and she will have detailed handouts for those weavers who want to try their hand at the process.  Please join us for this exciting program.  One of the great benefits of a guild membership is getting to see what extraordinary work our members do, and get a chance to hear first-hand how they make the magic happen.      Holiday Party December 12 The holiday party will be held at Mary Kaiser's house (address and directions in the December newsletter).  It's a potluck lunch, so bring a salad or dessert to share.  The guild will provide drinks.  We will have our traditional gift exchange this year.  The theme is containers--boxes, bags, any container for tools and supplies.  Fiber crafters can never have too many of these.  Please limit spending to $15 or less, and wrap your gift, but put it in an anonymous brown-paper bag.  At the party, the slate of officers for 2016 will be elected.     Proposed 2016 Officers   The nominating committee proposes the following members for 2016 offices.  Anyone else may submit their name for election. President           Mary Kaiser Programs           Jennifer Lackey Workshops         Mary Spanos and Elizabeth Young Newsletter         Deborah Kattus Membership       Jana Ford Treasurer            Nancy Lavender Secretary            Jan McMahon Web                     Emily Levitan Past President    Karen Ford     Interesting Fiber Items to Read and Check Out...   Science says knitting makes people warmer and happier.  Check out the link:  http://www.lifehack.org/319404/science-says-knitting-makes-humans-warmer-and-happier-mentally Amy Harrison thought some members would be interested in the following link:  http://savantgarde.org/bedazzled-and-voodooed/?utm_source=Savant+Garde+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=f77d4211fc-Savant_Garde_Profile_on_Nancy_Josephson10_5_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_980f2b5daa-f77d4211fc-108090349   Creativity is intelligence having fun Albert Einstein   The Guild on the Web Between newsletters and meetings, keep up with the guild on the web at: the guild blog at www.greaterbirminghamfiberguild.blogspot.com, maintained by Mary Spanos, blog@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com, the guild Facebook page at www.facebook.com/greaterbirminghamfiberguild, maintained by Emily Levitan, fb@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com, the guild group on Ravelry at www.ravelry.com/groups/greater-birmingham-fiber-guild, maintained by Kathryn Pitt, rav@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com.     If you don't want to miss new posts to the guild blog, you can choose to receive new posts by email. Go to the blog and look for "Follow by Email" on the right hand side of the page. Type your email address in the window and click "Submit." If you want to have something posted on the blog, send it to blog@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com.    You can post to the guild's Facebook page yourself! Emily shares information and posts that she receives on the guild's Facebook group page and keep Facebook users up to date on what is going on in the guild.    Ravelry isn't just for knitters anymore. Crocheters, weavers, and spinners all upload photos, project information, and patterns. Kathryn is managing the GBFG group and has posted helpful information on participating in the Ravelry guild group on the blog, find it at http://greaterbirminghamfiberguild.blogspot.com/2015/04/gbfg-on-ravelry.html   For Sale   Schacht double treadle spinning wheel for sale - $800.00 negotiable.  1 year old, barely used.  Included are  several Schacht bobbins, lazy kate, and extra cord for the drive band.  Included is  a DVD by Rita Buchanan, "How I Spin", using the Schacht spinning wheel.   If you are interested please contact, David Coward, e-mail - drc3po@juno.com.  Or  tel: 662-251-2754. This wheel was owned by a dear friend of mine, who recently passed.  The wheel  is located in  Columbus, Mississippi.     Thanks.  Debbie Scott   Membership Renewal Because our membership has grown so much, it was decided by the Board that having a membership form would be a good idea.  This is so we can keep track of all our members to make sure you receive the newsletter and other communications.  It will also give us an idea of what fiber arts the members are interested in so we can plan workshops and programs accordingly .  Please submit the form with your check when you renew your membership for 2016.  These need to be mailed to the GBFG address or give to Nancy Lavender at the meetings.  The new membership year starts in January 2016 but you may submit this before then if you wish.   Member information form 2016 Name:                                             Email address:                                     Ravelry name:                                      Phone number:                                     Address:                                                                                      Fiber crafts you do:     ☐ Spinning        ☐ Knitting        ☐ Weaving        ☐ Crochet        ☐ Sewing        ☐ Tatting        ☐ Quilting    ☐ Embroidery     ☐ Other (please describe): Are there any programs or workshops you would like to give? Are there any programs or workshops you would like take?                          Study Groups Meet Monthly Spinning Study Group:  4th Wednesday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm at St. Peter’s Church in Hoover.  Please check out the GBFG Blog  for cancellations or schedule changes. Nancy Clemmons is interested in sharing her love of tatting with others by teaching one or more in her home. Please contact her if you are interested. More groups may meet in the future.  Watch the newsletter for more information and let a board member know if you are interested in a study group.   Newsletter News...   Each month, I am planning to have items coming from YOU, our Guild members. These will include short book reviews related to any fiber art; a tip you have discovered and used that make your fiber art a little bit easier to execute; any fiber related articles; and a fiber question you would love answers or suggestions from other guild members. Please send your ideas, suggestions, book recommendations, questions to me (Deborah Kattus ) by the 20th of the month to go into the following month's newsletter. Email me at dkattus@charter.net and put GBFG Newsletter in the subject line.   Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild   The Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild is comprised of individuals dedicated to the dissemination and preservation of fiber arts.  Meetings are the second Saturday of the month, 10:00-12:00 (no meeting in July). Visitors are welcome.  The Guild offers programs almost monthly, focused workshops several times a year, and equipment rental (see below).     2015 Officers and Board    Karen Ford – President Mary Kaiser – Program Debbie Scott – Workshops Emily Levitan - Membership Nancy Lavender – Treasurer Janice Weinstein - Secretary Mary Spanos – Website Deborah Kattus - Newsletter Janelle Zorko Schultz - Past President     Rental of Guild Equipment & Materials   The Guild has available, for rental to members, the following: Lucy Neatby's DVD knitting collection.  See  http://www.lucyneatby.com/dvd_contents.html for description of DVD contents. Drum Carder Laura Fry's Magic in the Water  book and DVD. There will be a $30 deposit per DVD (Lucy Neatby) and $100 deposit for the drum carder. Deposit for Laura Fry's materials still to be determined. The rental fee for all items is $5 per month rented. Equipment can only be checked out at Fiber Guild monthly meetings and a check-out list will be posted inside the door of the cabinet. Deposit checks will be held by Nancy Lavender, treasurer, until returned in original condition.

Copyright © 2015 Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild, All rights reserved.

Friday night spin study!!

From Jen Lackey...

I’m so sorry for the INCREDIBLY short notice, but let’s start our evening spinning study group this Friday (that's tomorrow night, November 6). That’s the first Friday of the month at 6pm at my house. There’s parking in a driveway behind the house or on Saulter in front of the house. If you’d like a map, email me and I’ll send it to you.

Come whenever you can and stay as long as you like but we’ll say 6pm as a general start time.
 
Hope you can come!

(You can see the address on the Ravelry post in the Monthly Spin Study thread. We're is being careful about putting personal addresses up on the blog.)

Save the Date, Saturday, November 14!

For our November meeting, we’re excited to hear from guild member and textile artist Miriam Norris Omura, who will talk about her work as a weaver in a program entitled “A Contemporary Shift on Double Ikat: dye painted warp and weft.” 

Miriam will do a brief lecture with slide show and video clips giving a bit of background on traditional ikat, showing images of four contemporary artists (including herself) whose work pulls from ikat influences, and then Miriam will talk specifically about her own process. She’s bringing samples of her work so we can see her technique up close, and she will have detailed handouts for those weavers who want to try their hand at the process. 

Please join us for this exciting program. One of the great benefits of a guild membership is getting to see what extraordinary work our members do, and getting a chance to hear first-hand how they make the magic happen.

Look for us in Vogue Knitting Holiday issue!

The Old Shale e-book published by our guild's Wednesday afternoon knitting study group is mentioned in the new holiday issue of Vogue Knitting! As of this writing (October 22) it doesn't appear to be on newsstands yet, but subscription copies are arriving, and the electronic version of the magazine is available online.

Old Shale: Variations of an Old and Much Loved Lace Stitch can be downloaded for free from Ravelry. It includes discussions about this lovely, old lace stitch, along with a little bit of the controversy over its name (is this really Feather and Fan?). There are charts and row-by-row instructions for each variation and a great idea for making a beautiful baby blanket.

One of the variations from Janice Weinstein's Old Shale swatch.

GBFG Newsletter, October 2015

Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild P.O. Box 660723, Birmingham, AL 35266-0723   www.greaterbirminghamfiberguild.blogspot.com

Newsletter of the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild

President’s Column                                                   Hello Fiber Friends!   I trust this finds everyone doing well and digging through their closets for the hand knit socks, cowls and scarves!   I have socks on the brain this month! Not only am I still working on my UFO pile of socks, I am also participating in the sock challenge on Ravelry that the Guild is doing! I decided to do one sock toe up and one cuff down......I have never made a toe up sock before and frankly I have been hesitant to do my heel....confusion as to which one to choose mostly! This month the meeting will be devoted to socks and I am really looking forward to it! Knitting socks is very satisfying for me. They are a manageable size and I love the yarns...portable project too!!!! I just have to learn to stop starting so many different ones and learn to take them to completion! In the last month I have completed 2 pair and have 5 more in various stages of completion! Better get back to those needles......4 socks blanks are waiting! Aren't you proud I have shown restraint and NOT started one of those too!!!!!   Hope to see you all at the meeting!   Karen Ford     Homewood Show Update   If you contributed your work to the Homewood Library show, your work will be available for pick up at the October meeting.  Please contact Mary Kaiser if you can't make the meeting and want to arrange to pick up your work at her house.     October Program Knit a Mini Sock Saturday, October 10 In The Making   At our October meeting, we will knit a fun mini sock.  Bring some scrap yarn (20 yds should be plenty) and appropriately sized needles.  Gauge is not important. You can use 4 double points, 2 circulars or 1 long circular for magic loop.  We will be using Stacey Trock's Mini Sock pattern which is a free pattern on Ravelry.  She has graciously agreed to allow us to use it as a group.  We will have copies of the pattern to hand out at the meeting, and the link is included here if you want to look ahead of time.  This will be an opportunity for those who have been intimidated by knitting socks to give it a try without the time and yarn commitment or the need to consider fit.  For those that can "knit socks in their sleep" they will make adorable gifts and/or Christmas Tree ornaments http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-sock-4     A Message from Kathryn The guild's group forum on Ravelry offers us a tremendous opportunity to communicate with each other about all those fibery things we love to do, and we don't have to wait for the next meeting.  We've recently used it for The Sock Project and the Tour de Fleece spinners, and have had fun in the process.  But we are involved in so much more than these special activities. I'm thinking in particular of starting a thread for weavers since it is so difficult for them to meet in quite the same way knitters and spinners do.  But knitters, spinners, crocheters, quilters, etc. could each have their own thread.  The threads are a means of communication, to share ideas, ask questions of each other, show off projects.  And they could be especially useful to anyone who is unable to attend meetings over an extended period of time. If you have any thoughts to share on this, join the discussion on Ravelry which starts here.  Would love to hear from you!    Tatting Group   Nancy Clemmons was  asked about the tatting retreat she had attended.  She tries  to go to Tat Days in Toccoa, Georgia most years around Labor Day. Here is the link to the most recent event.  It has all the details, including photos of the projects taught this year.    http://palmettotatters.org/events/TatDays2015/TatDays2015.shtml Next year will be September 9 & 10, 2016. The theme will be Tatting is Out of this World. Palmetto Tatters is a very active group of tatters in South Carolina.  The main web page is here:  http://palmettotatters.org/index.shtml Have fun exploring the various links and pages. She would still like to have a small group to tat on a regular basis.  Maybe after lunch on guild meeting days or in a group at Purl @ the Plaza at the Hoover Library.  It would be good to find a time so those that work could also join.   Interesting Fiber Items to Read and Check Out...   Janice Weinstein sent this link to some amazing knitting.  The pictures are beautiful and the pattern in free.   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/an-african-adventure   Deborah Naramore sent this information on dyeing: Pioneering Modern Natural Dyes There’s a duality to natural dyeing that Kristine Vejar embraces: the naturalist and plant pigment explorer; the scientist and careful recipe creator. View on www.resilience.org      The Guild on the Web Between newsletters and meetings, keep up with the guild on the web at: the guild blog at www.greaterbirminghamfiberguild.blogspot.com, maintained by Mary Spanos, blog@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com, the guild Facebook page at www.facebook.com/greaterbirminghamfiberguild, maintained by Emily Levitan, fb@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com, the guild group on Ravelry at www.ravelry.com/groups/greater-birmingham-fiber-guild, maintained by Kathryn Pitt, rav@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com.     If you don't want to miss new posts to the guild blog, you can choose to receive new posts by email. Go to the blog and look for "Follow by Email" on the right hand side of the page. Type your email address in the window and click "Submit." If you want to have something posted on the blog, send it to blog@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com.    You can post to the guild's Facebook page yourself! Emily shares information and posts that she receives on the guild's Facebook group page and keep Facebook users up to date on what is going on in the guild.    Ravelry isn't just for knitters anymore. Crocheters, weavers, and spinners all upload photos, project information, and patterns. Kathryn is managing the GBFG group and has posted helpful information on participating in the Ravelry guild group on the blog, find it at http://greaterbirminghamfiberguild.blogspot.com/2015/04/gbfg-on-ravelry.html     Study Groups Meet Monthly Spinning Study Group:  4th Wednesday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm at St. Peter’s Church in Hoover.  Please check out the GBFG Blog  for cancellations or schedule changes. Nancy Clemmons is interested in sharing her love of tatting with others by teaching one or more in her home. Please contact her if you are interested. More groups may meet in the future.  Watch the newsletter for more information and let a board member know if you are interested in a study group.   Newsletter News...   Each month, I am planning to have items coming from YOU, our Guild members. These will include short book reviews related to any fiber art; a tip you have discovered and used that make your fiber art a little bit easier to execute; any fiber related articles; and a fiber question you would love answers or suggestions from other guild members. Please send your ideas, suggestions, book recommendations, questions to me (Deborah Kattus ) by the 20th of the month to go into the following month's newsletter. Email me at dkattus@charter.net and put GBFG Newsletter in the subject line.   Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild   The Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild is comprised of individuals dedicated to the dissemination and preservation of fiber arts.  Meetings are the second Saturday of the month, 10:00-12:00 (no meeting in July). Visitors are welcome.  The Guild offers programs almost monthly, focused workshops several times a year, and equipment rental (see below).     2015 Officers and Board    Karen Ford – President Mary Kaiser – Program Debbie Scott – Workshops Emily Levitan - Membership Nancy Lavender – Treasurer Janice Weinstein - Secretary Mary Spanos – Website Deborah Kattus - Newsletter Janelle Zorko Schultz - Past President     Rental of Guild Equipment & Materials   The Guild has available, for rental to members, the following: Lucy Neatby's DVD knitting collection.  See  http://www.lucyneatby.com/dvd_contents.html for description of DVD contents. Drum Carder Laura Fry's Magic in the Water  book and DVD. There will be a $30 deposit per DVD (Lucy Neatby) and $100 deposit for the drum carder. Deposit for Laura Fry's materials still to be determined. The rental fee for all items is $5 per month rented. Equipment can only be checked out at Fiber Guild monthly meetings and a check-out list will be posted inside the door of the cabinet. Deposit checks will be held by Nancy Lavender, treasurer, until returned in original condition.

Copyright © 2015 Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild, All rights reserved. forward to a friend | unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

October guild meeting!

Jen Lackey's mini sock

Knit a Mini Sock
Saturday, October 10
In the Making basement.
4232 Dolly Ridge Road
10:00am to noon
(see map below for parking information)

At our October meeting, we will knit a fun mini sock.  Bring some scrap yarn (20 yds should be plenty) and appropriately sized needles for that yarn.  Gauge is not important. You can use 4 double points, 2 circulars or 1 long circular for magic loop.  We will be using Stacey Trock's Mini Sock pattern which is a free pattern on Ravelry.  She has graciously agreed to allow us to use it as a group.  We will have copies of the pattern to hand out at the meeting, and the link is included here if you want to look ahead of time.  This will be an opportunity for those who have been intimidated by knitting socks to give it a try without the time and yarn commitment for knitting a full-size sock, or the need to consider fit.  For those that can "knit socks in their sleep" these mini-socks will make adorable gifts and/or Christmas Tree ornaments.

There will also be a Mini-Socks Options thread on our guild's Ravelry discussion forum that will include sock ideas from our Sock Project that you can try out on a mini-sock, such as knitting socks with the magic loop technique or trying out different types of heels. You can check out, or even join in, The Sock Project on the guild Ravelry discussion forum.

Jennifer Justiss' mini sock

Kathryn Pitt's mini socks

Mary Spanos' mini sock (knit from Karen Ford's handspun yarn)

We need to be careful about where we park at In The Making. Below is a map of the parking areas. The parking situation is expected to change in the future, with more parking being created closer to the shop. So check back before each meeting to see where the available spaces are located.