Pembrokeshire Guild

NPSW COME HAND TO HAND WITH THE PEMBROKESHIRE GUILD OF SPINNERS, WEAVERS AND DYERS

It’s been a few years since the NPSW contacted the Pembrokeshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers, and Dyers via Rosaleen Ward in an effort to become familiar with a guild other than our own. Arrangements were made to exchange gifts for Christmas alternating every year. There have been many happy occasions when our secretary has collected the mail in late November or early December and found a package full of exciting gifts which our guild giggles gleefully over. While we have always received our gifts with pleasure and joy, I have to admit that I, for one, have born a great curiousity for the members of their guild that create such wonderful and interesting surprises. Many gifts have gone back and forth. One year we created felted balls and decorated them for hanging on their Christmas trees, we have created pins and ????. In return we have received Chinese dumplings, felted pincushions in, believe me, all shapes and sizes. This Christmas we received our package in perfect timing for our annual Cristmas luncheon, and as usual, there was great anticipation as we all chose our packages. Inside were lovely wrist warmers with the common thread (no pun intended) being cashmere. They were lovely and we all appreciated how wonderful they are. I left the party once again wondering who had spent so much time creating the wristlets that I received. Mine were pink with aa loop that fitted precisely over the middle finger. So it was very exciting when our secretary made contact with the guild and actually asked about the wristlets. I am so glad to be the editor of this blog because when I asked our secretary if she could forward a picture of our group with the wristlets on at the 2007 Christmas luncheon, which is the only picture with most of our group in it, I was tickled pink to get the pictures that their guild had forwarded to Sharonin addition to the picture I was seeking. So here it is folkes, have a good look, because these ladies are the ones that have been creating for us just as we have been creating for them. They look like they could fit right in with us don’t they....

If you want the names of those in the picture you can contact me privately and I will be able to tell you their names perhaps we should pass pictures back and forth to them too.....

I will be away!

I'm sorry to say that I will be away for the next week and will not be able to post any new articles until I return Check back again any time after the 9th of March. I will be posting article about the Pembrokshireguild of Spinners and Weavers and hopefully by then I can finish my article on my odyssey through the Master's spinner's program..... if you need to contact me I can be reached via our email wooliest1@hotmail.com. Over and out.

Mercerization

Mercerization by Renate Giesbrecht
MERCERIZATION Mercerization is a finish applied to cotton yarn or fabric that was discovered by John Mercer in 1851. He found that by immersing fibers like cotton and linen in a caustic soda bath, usually sodium hydroxide or lye, their strength was increased and they were able to take dyes more easily. Because his discovery caused a 20-25% shrinkage loss in cotton cloth and increased the durability of the cloth, the mill men feared that less fabric would be used. In spite of the fact that the industry was not very interested at that time, Mercer did patent his work. The process became popular in the late 1800’s when Horace Lowe discovered that if the fibers were kept under tension while they soaked they did not shrink as much and they became very lustrous and “silk-like”. He found that after sitting in this highly alkaline bath the fibers could be neutralized in an acidic bath. So Mercer discovered the process, Lowe refined and popularized it. Mercerization is used on fibers for many different reasons. It makes threads stronger, smoother, more absorbent, gives luster and increases the ability to take dyes. The process shrinks the fibers and smooths the grain of the thread. Because of this preshrinking, mercerized cotton tends to shrink far less than regular cotton. Greater absorbency results from mercerization because the caustic soda causes the molecular structure to open up so that more water can be absorbed. The moisture regain is about 11 %. This also means that dyes can enter the fiber more readily and when they can be fixed inside the fiber they are more colourfast. Another important gain is increased strength. Mercerization causes a permanent swelling of the fiber which increases strength but also lustre. For this reason these threads are often sought after by weavers to be used for warp. Pearl cotton refers to mercerized cotton and comes in 3/2, 5/2, and 10/2 sizes rather than the 4/8, 2/8 and 2/16 sizes of unmercerized cotton used by the weaving community. by Renate Giesbrecht Source: Textiles by Hollen.Saddler, Langford, Kadolph

Needle Felting

Needle Felting
NEEDLE FELTING There are some really terrific new books out there about the Art of Felting. The books that I find most intriguing are the ones that give me ideas for needle felting. I had always hated felting since I don’t have the strongest hands and felting tends to require strong hands, patience and diligence, (which I also lack) in addition to soap, water, good felting fibre and a rough surface, or a method of agitating. I would cringe each time my guild would set up a workshop for felting. But then I discovered needle felting and now I love to felt. My first foray into needle felting was a small workshop that my guild set up to felt balls and decorate them for Christmas ornaments. I very quickly decided that this “new” method of felting was fun. Soon I was felting ornaments for all my friends to attach to the outside of their gifts at Christmas time. Then one day when I had to provide a gift for a gift exchange I decided to felt a soap on the rope and make a hand towel to go with it. I was charmed with the soap on the rope as was the recipient of my little gift. Next came a pair of slippers for which I felted the fabric. First I felted several layers of wool on a foam cushion to get a fairly thick felted fabric and cut out a moccasin style slipper which I sewed together and decorated with felted embellishments. My next project was more difficult as it was a shaped sculpture of a small squirrel with an acorn in its mouth. I had a lot more difficulty with it as a 3-d felted object as apposed to a flat surface felted project. It turned out ok but I will definitely need more practice at this type of felting. The more I needle felted the more my imagination became charged with new ideas. Straight felting has its limitations but also has it uses but I find that felting with needles has no limits except for your imagination. I bought my first set of felting needles from my guild for our workshop. But since then I have discovered that there are different gauges for different projects and your project will dictate which gauge you use. I also discovered that there are felting tools that will hold a number of needles at a time making felting a quicker prospect since more needles will cover more of the surface you are trying to felt. There is even a felting machine that works similar to a sewing machine which felts very fast. Since my first project, I have invested in a felting tool that holds five needles at a time. The needles retract each time you stab the wool. However a single needle is what I like to use when I get to the point that a piece requires more detail and definition. A single needle can be controlled better and therefore when small adjustments need to be made to a piece it is easier to do this with just one needle. My felting interests have been piqued by this wonderful tool and method. It enables my creativity another outlet. How great is that....

Anita's Electric Spinner

Anita's Electric Spinner
Pros and Cons of an Electric Spinner by Anita McWilliams I bought my electric spinner in 2002 when it became apparent that treadling was causing a “misery” in my right hip. I ordered an Ashford from Treenway Silks on Saltspring Island. It wasn’t cheap but it has proved to be a good investment, and thoroughly dependable. The electric spinner does not resemble a conventional wheel, except in one crucial way, the Mother of All (flyer and spools) is identical. Otherwise, it is a compact unit, approximately 11’ x 15” x 12” high. The front or business end has an unobtrusive panel with an on/off switch, a forward/reverse switch, and a knob to control speed of spin. At the back end, a fuse receptacle and an extension cord furnish the necessary power. Two discreet knobs provide for tension control and a hook for draw-through. Tension is controled by single nylon filament which passes under a hook over the spool and back to the hook. Very simple. The unit is sold with a Lazy Kate and three spools. Since one’s feet have no part in the operation of an electric spinner, there is some loss of the satisfaction that is derived from co-ordination of eye, hand, and foot, but this is soon adjusted to. My Ashford sits on a small cupboard with casters, so it can be moved around somewhat. The cupboard measures 18” x 22 1/2” x 19” high. This is a convenient height for me to sit on a kitchen chair, and provides enough space on top for spools, carder, comb, etc... The cupboard could be used for storage of wool, etc., if it were not already filled with leftovers from earlier hobbies! There are other electric spinners on the market. The following are pics of other examples of Electric Spinners. (1)Babe’s Electric Spinner, (2)The Butterfly Electric Spinner, (3) The Fricke Electric Spinner, (4) The Rio Grande Electric Spinner, (5) The Roberta Electric Spinner.

Electric Spinners

Editor's Yarn

Friday's Spin In and Other Stuff
Editors Yarn: OK so by now everyone in the NPSW knows that they should be thinking about the Spin In in the lobby of the North Peace Cultural Centre on Friday the 15th. Hope to see you all there. Who knows maybe I'll actually make it this time! Master Spinner's Homework: I am just spinning the most delectible fleece today. It is a Rideau Arcott fleece that I bought from Jody McLean. She keeps the cleanest fleeces. I decided to spin it in the grease. This fleece is for the last assignment that I need to do to complete my level 1 of my Master Spinner certificate. I have spent a great deal of time this year completing a book of breeds where I take ten different breeds of sheep research them and spin the fibre from them and give my observations as I process the wool. I have also completed an assignment where I took ten different natural dyes and dyed homespun yarn with several mordants. I have finally completed my book on all the research in taking a fleece from the sheeps back to a final product which includes the characteristics of wool, through to the shearing process, the washing process, the spinning process, the equipment used, and blending wool with silk. It has been a joy to work over the year (since last July) and see the process coming to completion. I will try to include some pictures but as of now I'm trying to figure out why this blog will accept some of my pictures and not others. Keep checking back to have a look at what I've been up to. Previous Post: I hope you all had an opportunity to check out the picture of the drop spindle. I bought this great little item from Ray Thompson in Keremeos, B.C. He has excellent workmanship and I recommend him highly if you are in the market for a drop spindle or a Turkish spindle or mini combs. He does have a website which I will include in the links.