Happy Weaver Workshop has been cancelled

Today was the deadline for guild members to register for Terry Martin's Happy Weaver Workshop. Only three members have registered and that is not enough to cover the costs of the workshop, so the workshop has been cancelled.

Thanks to Terry Martin and Debbie Scott for all their work on this event! It would have been great!

Deadline is fast approaching for the Happy Weaver Workshop!

The deadline for registering for the Happy Weaver Workshop with Terry Martin is next week, January 27! Currently, we do not have enough paid registrations for this workshop to take place. This workshop is such a great opportunity for non-weavers to begin weaving, for lapsed weavers to get back into weaving, or for long time weavers to learn new and different techniques. 

The total fee for the workshop is $125 (there will also be a supplies fee). The workshop fee is not refundable if you register and then drop out, but it will be refunded if the workshop is cancelled should there be too few registrants.
 

Contact Debbie Scott (workshops@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com), the workshop chairperson, to let her know you are interested or to let her know that you are sending a check. You can also contact Terry Martin (at this address) to ask questions about the workshop.

The following is the workshop information that was posted in November:
 
The Happy Weaver Workshop – Taught by Terry Martin

Get ready to enjoy your loom.  This workshop is for you if you are a new weaver, it will help you develop good habits from the beginning.  This workshop also is for you if you put the loom aside and keep planning to get back to it but just can’t seem to make yourself.  We will be weaving a project but the focus will be to have a well-prepared loom and to cultivate the ergonomics of weaving.  This results in few broken threads and fewer frustrations.  Plan to get organized, learn good habits, refresh your skills, enhance your understanding of the process from the beginning to the finished project and be a Happy Weaver. 

DATE:  February 27 and February 28, 201, Friday and Saturday

LOCATION:  St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Hoover, Alabama. The downstairs room located underneath the sanctuary. 

TIME:  8:30 a.m. with your loom.  Please arrive by 8:30 a.m.

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION:  January 27, 2015

Guild members will be offered first choice to sign-up for the workshop,  non-guild members will be put on a waiting list and notified if there are openings.  

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS:  12

Participants will need to have a 4 or 8 harness table loom or portable floor loom in good working order. 

Registration to Debbie Scott (GBFG workshop chairperson): workshops@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com

REGISTRATION COST: $125.00 for 2 days NON-REFUNDABLE. Make checks to the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild. MAIL TO: GBFG, P.O. Box 660723, Birmingham, AL  35266-0723

You may also give your check to Debbie Scott no later than JANUARY 27, 2015. 

Guild will be providing lunch both days.   

MATERIALS FEE: Yet to be determined.

At Saturday's meeting: workshop registration and dues

Do you know where your checkbook is? You might want to find it and bring it to the meeting on Saturday. There are two items of business to be handled.

First, it is time to pay your 2015 dues ($25). If you joined the guild at the 2014 September meeting (the Fiber Frenzy) or later, then you do not owe dues for 2015. If you are not sure when you paid, you can ask Nancy Lavender, our treasurer, at Saturday's meeting.

Second, we are very excited about Terry Martin's upcoming weaving workshop (see more information here). It is a great opportunity to get started or re-energized in weaving with a very talented weaver who is excited about turning more people into happy and knowledgeable weavers. For the attendees, one especially helpful feature of this particular workshop is that the number of students is being kept low so that everyone can get as much help and attention as they need. However, this means that you need to sign up quickly for the remaining slots. At the moment, the registration is open just for guild members, but very soon non-guild members will be able to register. So, if you are interested in weaving, sign up at the meeting this Saturday!

New Year's Commitments

Text and photographs by Karen Ford

For me the month of January is devoted to identifying and trying to complete (either by knitting or ripping) the dreaded UFOs (unfinished objects).

First, I find all of my UFOs and lay them out on the dinning room table.

Second, I decide what work is left to be done on the ones that I'll finish and what should just be ripped out.

There is a jacket that just needs 5 more inches on the body and the I-cord edging. Two scarves, the purple one (that I dyed) will probably be ripped out to become something else. There are three shawls: I'd like to finish the red one for this winter, and, (sigh) the purple one is the fifth of its kind, and the third one has a long way to go!

There are two Wingspan shawls, the Noro Wingspan is for summer, the other one is the gorgeous yarn I got from our Knitting Study Group Dirty Santa present exchange this year and I hope to finish it before the next meeting. There are five pairs of socks in progress. Yes, five!

So, now they have been identified, the next step is to prioritize them. I think there is only one to be ripped, the purple scarf. I want to finish the Wingspans, the red shawl, and the purple shawl, in that order. The jacket will be a concurrent project as I get pretty sick of knitting on it (a run of cold weather would probably inspire me to get on with it).

The socks are easy, I'll ditch the pair on the needles that I hate, then I'll knit the pair that use the yarn that Terry Martin dyed, then the black socks, the red socks, and, finally, the holiday socks because I can't wear them until the end of the year anyway.

Now I'll put them all in plastic bags and gather the bags into a big basket. Then I can start chipping away.
 

I never do anything without help, but Molly the cat couldn't stay awake for the whole process.

This yearly task is done and my UFOs are calling my name, but this won't stop me from starting other projects after January is over!

Guild Newsletter, Janary 2015

  President’s Column                           

Hello Fiber Friends!

As I sit here in the morning quiet drinking my tea, I am thinking back over our Guild's year. We have had a very busy, productive year! We have almost doubled our membership, helped a Professor at UAB with teaching his students about the physics of drop spindling and weaving, learned about dimity weaving, frenzied over fiber, picnicked,  exchanged gadgets, made beautiful fiber cards, learned about Batik, manned a booth at Pepper Place, Spun in Public, showed our articles at Homewood Library, learned secrets about Ravelry, Bib and Tucker, Peru, publishing and socks! Whew! I commend our Board Members on doing an  outstanding job! 

Mary Kaiser has another great program up her sleeve to start our year off right! Personally the month of January for me is devoted to identifying and trying to complete (either by ripping or knitting) those dreaded UFO's!

Hope to see you all at the meeting in January! Let's start our New Year off right, with fiber and friends who understand our obsession!

Keep those needles, hooks, and shuttles clacking!

Karen Ford

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January Meeting  

Saturday, January 10
10:00am - noon
  St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church
2061 Patton Chapel Rd
Birmingham, AL  (205) 822-4480

                  

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  Fiber Guild Christmas Party

 

Everyone had a marvelous time at the home of Mary Kaiser for our Holiday Party! The  food was tasty, the setting lovely and the company outstanding. Our gift exchange was "Gadgets" and we had a wide variety...sock needle holders, WPI sheep, books, tool for bead knitting, bags, niddy noddy, to name a few! Big thanks to Mary Kaiser for hosting and her husband for supervising us on that driveway!!!
 

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January Program

Lace-a-palooza
 

Following up on the success of last year’s Sock-a-palooza, we are going to do a similar round-table program this January featuring a number of our members and inviting everyone to share their tips, questions, curiosity, and inspiration in a specific fiber craft.  This time it’s lace, whether knitted, made with bobbins or a tatting shuttle, crocheted, or collected and admired. 

 

To begin our program, we’re asking everyone to contribute one trick or tip you have found for lace-making, and then after sharing tips, we’ll have stations set up around our meeting room in the classroom annex of St. Peter’s Church in Hoover, each one representing one inlet in the vast island of lace.  You can pull into a station, visit, ask questions, give suggestions, and then move to another station when you’re ready.  Those who are assigned to stations are also free to roam or take a break, and roamers are welcome to take a station and share their expertise.  We will all come away with new techniques, with answers to our questions, and with lots of inspiration for exploring this ancient and rich fiber craft.

 
 

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Interesting Fiber Items to Read and Check Out...


Susie Strauss has sent an article on making plastic mats for the homeless which is quite interesting:
http://www.finecraftguild.com/craft-for-humanity-crochet-a-plastic-sleeping-mat-for-the-homeless/

Karen Ford has discovered one way of aging gracefully which involves knitting:
http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/2686302-151/centenarian-improves-world-one-stitch-at-a-time#

Several of us were admiring the poncho that Elaine Robinowich was wearing at the Christmas party.   It is “High Plains” by Melissa Schaschwary and takes 700-1000 yrds worsted yarn. I’ve asked Elaine to take a selfie wearing it if she’s like to add that also.
 

                

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The Happy Weaver Workshop -
taught by Terry Martin

Get ready to enjoy your loom. ..

• This workshop is for you if you are a new weaver - it will help you develop good habits from the beginning. 
• This workshop is for you - if you have put the loom aside and keep planning to get back to it but just can’t seem to make yourself. 
• We will be weaving a project with the focus on having a well-prepared loom and to cultivate the ergonomics of weaving.  This results in few broken threads and fewer frustrations. 
• Plan to get organized, learn good habits, refresh your skills, enhance your understanding of the process from the beginning to the finished project and be a Happy Weaver. 

 
Date:  FRIDAY, February 27 and SATURDAY, February 28, 2015
Location:  St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Hoover, Alabama
            The downstairs room located underneath the sanctuary. 
Time:  8:30 a.m. with your loom.  Please try to arrive by 8:30 a.m.
 
DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION:  January 27, 2015

Guild members will be offered first choice to sign-up for the workshop,  non-guild members will be put on a waiting list and notified if there are openings.
 
Maximum number of participants:  12.

Participants will need to have a 4 or 8 harness table loom or portable floor loom in good working order.

Registration to Debbie Scott (GBFG workshop chairperson)  - workshops@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com
 
Registration Cost:   $125.00 for 2 days(NON-REFUNDABLE) made to the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild –
       MAIL TO:
       GBFG, P.O. Box 660723, Birmingham, AL  35266-0723
OR You may also give your check to Debbie Scott no later than JANUARY 27, 2015.

Guild will be providing lunch both days. 
MATERIALS FEE: Yet to be determined by Terry Martin.

 

                               

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         Study Groups Meet Monthly

• Spinning Study Group:  4^th 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.

 

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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 (Deb Kattus) by the 20th of the month to go into the following month's newsletter.
Email me at newsletter@greaterbirminghamfiberguild.com and put GBFG Newsletter in the subject line.

 

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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
Deb Kattus - Newsletter

 

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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.