Great Pine Ridge Spinners & Weavers Guild

The Gathering Mini Workshop Application

2012-02-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

The Gathering

DATE : Saturday, April 14th, 2012 from 10am-3pm

LOCATION: Town Park Recreation Centre, 62 McCaul Street, Port Hope

Mini-Workshop Application

Name:__________________________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________City/Town:___________________Postal Code:___________

Telephone :______________________ E-mail:______________________________

Cost: $20.00 per mini workshop includes supplies. Pre-registration is required.

Payment does not include a $5.00 entry fee to the Gathering. This fee will be payable at the door upon arrival.

Please circle the workshop you would like to attend:

First Session: 10:30 AM to 12:00 noon

Class 1) Learn to Crochet – Instructor: Cheryll-Ann VanDyk

Class 2) Thrummed Knitting using a continuous roving. – Instructor: Jeff O’Neill

Second Session: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Class 3) Learn to Spin on a Drop Spindle – Instructor: Karen Richens

Class 4) Needle Felt a Critter: Instructor: Wendy Lilly

To reserve your spot for a workshop, please send this form and payment by April 5, 2012 to:

Mara Lusis (Cheques to be made out to Mara Lusis)

375 Nickerson Dr.

Cobourg, ON K9A 1A8

(905) 373-0439

For more information and additional registration forms please visit the Great Pine Ridge Spinners and Weavers Guild blog www.gprspin.blogspot.com

The Gathering

2012-01-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

The Gathering
Saturday April 14th 10am-3pm
Town Park Recreation Centre
62 McCaul Street
Port Hope, ON

Where spinners and knitters meet Admission is $5.00
Awesome Door Prizes
Imagine a sea of 100's of wheels whirling in one room
Imagine a room full of creative souls and the sounds of numerous knitting needles clicking away
One day only, come visit
The Gathering
Hosted by
Great Pine Ridge Spinners and Weavers Guild
and
Northumberland Hooks and Needles Guild

There will be vendors selling the finest of yarn, rovings and supplies for your creative pleasure.

For information on workshops Contact Mara Lusis maralu@sympatico.ca
or Click Here for fill in the Mini Workshop Application
For information on vendors tables contact Nancy Hutchinson alpacas@xplornet.com

Vendors Include:
To Be announced soon. Keep Checking in.

New for 2012
Mini Workshops

Learn to Crochet – Instructor: Cheryll-Ann VanDyk

Thrummed Knitting using a continuous roving. – Instructor: Jeff O’Neill

Learn to Spin on a Drop Spindle – Instructor: Karen Richens

Needle Felt a Critter: Instructor: Wendy Lilly

$20.00 per mini workshop
includes supplies
Pre-registration is required
To reserve a spot please send registration form and payment by April 5, 2012 to Mara Lusis.

It will an event you will not forget.

Celebrating 180 Year at the Port Hope Fair

2011-09-20T04:09:00.000-07:00

180 Years worth of Celebrating

The Port Hope Fair Celebrated it’s 180 anniversary in 2011. The Pine Ridge Spinners and Weavers in conjunction with the Port Hope Knitting Guild did not miss the opportunity to help celebrate this festive festival.

The theme was 180....so whether the product was in grams, stitches, yards, oz, everyone pitched in to show what 180 would bring to the table...

Imaginations were in high gear as both guilds were very creative in showing what 180 can do.

Hand spun skeins of yarn, beautiful knitted and crochet garments, woven textiles, even 180 pairs of mittens.

The volunteers worked hard to prepare the display for the 180 Anniversary at the Port Hope Fair. Members of each guild spun, knitted, and had woven products to submit for the colourful presentation.

Members of both guilds were present at the fair to show the art of spinning, weaving and knitting. Demonstrations were on going for the full days at the fair.

Here is Karen using a drop spindle: Shirley is taking a break from weaving and spinning her heart out:

A nice photo when Spinning meets knitting...Nancy is making some new friends with Sharon and Pat (knitters):

It was a group effort to help celebrate the 180 Anniversary at the Port Hope Fair. Thank you to everyone who contributed...thank you to everyone for the creative side.

Nancy Hutchinson

Musical Wheels

2011-07-08T13:20:00.001-07:00

Our last meeting for the season was held in June. What a blast is was, a great way to end the spinning season.

Show and tell was a creative part of the evening. This skein of yarn was mouth watering and definitely needed to be displayed. The colours, the textures...everything was just awesome.

Margaret was very excited about some dyed alpaca yarn....
Mara had some dog hair that she had spun up for the class she is teaching this summer. Margaret had a beautiful shawl she had created on her newly made tri loom. It was inspiring to see all the creativity in the room.
Yvonne began the Musical Wheel session. Each member was to talk about their wheel, why it was purchased, and what they liked about the wheel. We then went around the room to test drive all the different wheels. Some wheels spun fast, some wheels were good for making certain yarns, some wheels were made for easy traveling. One of the wheels that impressed some more experienced spinners was the antique wheel that Mara brought it. This wheel was made in Quebec in 1910. It was a very fast wheel, metal footman and tilt tension and double drive.

Yvonne is having her test driving session on the Quebec wheel.

Joy trying Margret's Lou a Victoria which she purchased second hand. This wheel's flyer is attached magnetically. Very small and compact.

Jane is taking a run on Joy's Luet. Good for beginners and has a lazy kate right on the wheel (no that is not Jane's nickname)

It was just so much fun to try all different types of wheels. My observation...it is just like getting used to a new car without the new car smell.

Mara our wonderful spinning guru, is teaching yet another interested visitor the art of spinning. Mara has an exquisite way of teaching others the art of spinning. Thank you ladies for a very fun night. See you all at our next meeting, better yet at a fun spin day. Enjoy your summer.

Nancy Hutchinson

"Huck Weaving"

2011-06-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

Our May meeting brought back a former member and still good friend Lynda Sully, who introduced us to the technique of "huck weaving".

This is not really weaving and not really embroidery, but a combination of both - using a special fabric called "Monk cloth".

We always love to learn new fibre art techniques!

We were very happy to welcome 3 guests to the meeting, who we hope will become members and good friends.

Kim - her arm in a cast after surgery - bravely trying the new technique.

Shirley, Jane and Carole (a guest at the meeting)

Astrid, Yvonne and Joy concentrating on their "huck".

Nancy's Fibre Mania Day

2011-06-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

On the 28th of May, a few of us gathered at Nancy's farm - "Spinning Wheel Alpacas" - to join her and about 600 visitors for her annual shearing day.

It was a cold, foggy morning, but we bravely sat under the canopy that Nancy and Garth had provided for us and showed the visitors that the art of spinning is alive and well.

By the afternoon, the fog had lifted and we were able to warm up a bit.

Mara, Nancy and Karen - jackets still on.

The guild members had carded, spun and washed the fleece of Nancy's late "Desi Alpaca", and Margaret was proceeding to knit a shawl from the co-operatively spun yarn.

Raffle tickets were sold for the shawl and this raised $70 for Nancy's charity - Hearth Place Cancer Support Centre in Oshawa.

Margaret with the spun yarn and the beginnings of the shawl

Spin and Fun Day

2011-05-17T03:51:00.000-07:00

A few of us got together at Mara's on May 15th to work on guild projects.

We will be participating in Nancy's Fibre Mania day May 28th, so we are spinning a wonderful alpaca fleece ( from a wonderful and "late" alpaca named Desi ) for Margaret to make into a shawl that will be raffled off for charity.

Karen holding her Desi skeins and Margaret starting to plan the shawl that she will make from them.

Jane spinning Desi fleece

We were also working on swatches for the banner that Yvonne is creating for our guild display tables.

Jane spinning Desi and Joy knitting a swatch for the banner - yarn spun from the fleece of her own Rambouillet sheep.

Snippets of the fun time at The Gathering

2011-04-25T05:01:00.000-07:00

It was a cold and rainy morning - but Karen was still smiling as she helped the vendors carry in their goodies.

Janice - bobbin in one hand, sandwich in the other.

That's what you call indecision.

Shoppers at Heidi's booth

Cindy's booth

Caught you Yvonne.

After the Gathering

2011-04-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well - The Gathering last weekend was another success for us and the knitting guild (Northumberland Hooks and Needles).

Over 120 spinners, knitters, rug hookers and weavers turned out on a cool and rainy day. We shopped at the vendors booths, enjoyed the coffee and fantastic treats supplied by the members of the two guilds, sat spinning and/or knitting, lunched on Osland Farms' beef and lamb burgers and generally enjoyed the chance to pursue our favourite pursuits in the company of kindred spirits.

Pictures coming soon !!!!

Tri-loom weaving evening

2011-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Kim's hands working

We met on March 28th at the usual place, usual time.

Those of us from Cobourg had to do a little creative driving to get there, since our usual route (Hwy. 2) was still closed off because of the train that had derailed just east of Port Hope.

We discussed our participation in the Gathering and then our spa / spin day at Kerry's on the 10th of April.

Nancy invited us to participate at her "Fibre Mania" day (May 28th - shearing day at Spinning Wheel Alpacas). We will spin Nancy's alpaca and Margaret will knit the yarn into a shawl to be raffled off for charity.

Then Nancy passed around triangular looms, yarn and instructions for our weaving workshop.

Some of us had done it before, others not - but we all had a fun time trying to figure out how to make these little triangles on these little looms.

Yvonne and Vickie

Weaving in progress

The gang holding up the finished products.

Kind of look like a bunch of bikini bottoms, don't they?

February Meeting

2011-03-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

We had a great turnout for our February meeting!

After the business part was discussed, including our preparations for "The Gathering" in April, we enjoyed seeing what people had been doing since we last met.

Jane, Yvonne and Karen had spun up some of the fleece samples for our guild study.

Joy had washed both baggies of her Black Welsh Mountain and one sample felt quite nice, while the other felt like a pot scrubber. We'll see what she can do with it spinning wise.

Karen showing her samples of Herdwick fleece. We all decided that it would be useful for only heavy, scratchy rugs - or a hat for someone you don't like very well.

Other show & tells included Margaret's mug cozy and tea cozy made from her "spinning wild" yarn. Joy showed us her very first knitting project - a hat. Yvonne had some beautiful Teeswater skeins, and Mara let everyone "touch & feel" her bags of qivuit and cashmere.

After all that, Yvonne led us in a crochet workshop. Some of us knew this technique, some were rediscovering it after some time, and some were holding the hook for the first time.

Yvonne made sure that those who knew how to crochet were sitting beside those that were learning.

Joy's fingers learning and Janice's fingers teaching.

Jane relearning and Nancy learning between Karen and Janice.

Nancy's eager concentration.

A New Year and New Spinning Ideas

2011-01-26T04:24:00.000-08:00

"It was a dark and stormy night".......................................................

But 5 of us braved the weather and got together to hear about Margaret's experience of "Spinning Wild in PEI". She had a wonderful time learning to spin in the first place, then buying a wheel and then spinning all kinds of strange things. She shared her adventure with us by showing us how to make "yarn" from cassette and video tapes, plied with any old yarn/thread/cord.

Margaret showing the book that was used as inspiration for Wild Spinning

Margaret's cassette yarn

Cindy doing the cassette yarn thing

Cindy's yarn

New spinner Joy bravely concentrated and made a great cassette yarn.

We had a fun evening and now have to figure out what we are going to do with this "yarn". Maybe just hang it up as a conversation piece?

Needle Felting Flowers

2010-11-23T04:58:00.000-08:00

Our meeting on the 22nd of November featured Esther Grav leading us in needle felting flowers.

We had a great time getting out any frustrations by punching and punching and punching the needles through the fibre.

Not one needle was punched through a finger !

We missed Nancy and Karen who were kept away by the foggy night.

Joy, Esther, Shirley and Jane

Jane and Vickie concentrating.

Janice and Kim

Here we are holding up our creations.

Our fabulous felted flowers.

Guild Outing was Lots of Fun !

2010-11-19T05:47:00.001-08:00

On the 13th of November, a number of us set out from Cobourg for an adventure.

Joy, Janice, Jane, Kim and Mara piled into Kim's car and headed for Nancy's farm - Spinning Wheel Alpacas. We were joined there by Karen.

On arrival, Nancy gave us a tour of the farm and introduced us to her animals. We met not only the alpacas, but also her rescue chickens, a rescue pig and her dogs. We were all impressed by by the farm and Nancy's energy.

After the farm tour, we gathered in Nancy's store, drank hot cider and shopped.

Nancy, Kim, Joy, Karen, Janice and Jane in front of the store.

Exhausted by the shopping, we headed for White Feather Farms Country Store and a bit of lunch. The picture is a bit blurry - Kim must have been more exhausted than the rest of us.

After a great lunch, we wandered through this amazing store that sells everything from soup to nuts to clothes to linens to..................................? Again we shopped.

Then it was on to Myrtle Station and Ferguson's Wool Shop. Another amazing place. Tiny, but crammed full of every type of yarn you could think of. Guess what? - we shopped again.

After such a tiring day (shopping can be exhausting!), we headed home by way of the backroads. We did have to stop and re-energize with ice cream cones in Enniskilen in order to make it home.

All of us had a great time sharing this experience.

October Meeting

2010-10-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

At our October meeting, we were so pleased to welcome back two former guild members - Vickie and Jane. The larger our "family" the more we can share and learn and experience.

Cindy showed us the batts she had carded from alpaca roving and colourful wool. After we all oohed and aahed, she promised to lead us in colour carding and blending at a meeting in the spring.
Karen shared the experience of spinning hair from her newly acquired cows. No oohs and aahs, but quite a few giggles.
Vickie had brought a sample of the yarn she had spun from her own dog's hair, blended with wool.

Yvonne, Vickie and Shirley - serious discussions

Cindy and Kim - serious spinning happening.

After a bit of business discussion and update on future programmes by Mara, we went on to discuss our fleece study project.

Baggies of fleece waiting to be studied.

Mara had made up a worksheet, where details of the preparation and spinning of the samples could be recorded. We reviewed the various scouring, preparation, spinning and finishing techniques that could be used as we studied the many sheep breeds that we had in the baggies.

The meeting ended with members enthusiastically taking baggies of fleece home to "try them out".

First meeting of the 2010 - 2011 season

2010-09-28T06:26:00.001-07:00

We had our first meeting of the season last night and were pleased to welcome two new members to our flock - Joy and Margaret.

First was the business part - a very productive session where we "elected" a programme committee and discussed the interests, needs and wants for the programmes for the coming year.
We also discussed guild challenges for the season. These include the creation of a "breeds book" containing samples of many different breeds of sheep fleeces to be used as a reference in the guild library. We also hope to have a guild display for the OHS Conference, happening in Woodstock, Ontario in May of 2011. The theme for the display is "Flower Power".

Then came the fun part - mini challenges at our wheels.

We first tried to spin wearing latex gloves. That wasn't much of a challenge - except for Yvonne who caught the tips of her gloves in the fibre and spun them into her yarn. Hoots of laughter from everyone else.

Yvonne trying to keep the latex out of the yarn

Nancy and Margaret concentrating.

We then tried spinning blindfolded. This proved to be more of a challenge and everyone gave up before the allotted 5 minutes were up.

Joy and Shirley

Cindy

Nancy (the alpaca lady) gave us all a laugh by stating that this was the only way she enjoyed spinning wool - not seeing what she was spinning.

More on the Port Hope Fair

2010-09-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

The display of corn fibre and articles made from both handspun and commercial corn (ingeo)yarn.

Well, our display and demonstration at the Fair this weekend was a success! Many people came to see it and learned about all of the plant fibres that are out there now.

Mara, spinning flax. It was a bit surprising that many of our visitors did not associate flax with linen.

Next year's Port Hope Fair theme will be a celebration of the 180th anniversary of the Fair. We have to start thinking about our display for that. 180 skeins? 180 different fibres?

Port Hope Fair 2010

2010-09-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

Wendy and Yvonne after our set-up at the Fair. The quilts in the background are not ours.

" Odd" fibres on display.

There's been a long gap in our postings, but we are still here and active.

We are participating again in the Port Hope Fair. This year our display and demonstration is together with the Northumberland Hooks and Needles guild.

Since the Fair theme this year is "Corn is King", members of both guilds decided to spin and knit/crochet articles made of only vegetable fibres, including corn. Also on display are such oddities as as a scarf made of banana fibre, a candle decoration knit from nettle yarn and pineapple fibre.

Port Hope Fair

2007-09-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful weekend, and a few spinners and knitters gathered at the Port Hope Fair this past weekend to demonstrate some of the wonderfuly fun stuff we do.

It was great to see people of all ages interested in the fiber process and the spinning wheels. We had a number of people try their hand at spinning, thanks to Yvonne for bringing a wheel for everyone to try.

Lynda was combing, Jane was carding, we had spinners and knitters, drop spindles and some interesting display boards as well.

Thank you to everyone who helped out and congratulations to Julie on winning the beautiful flower pot.

Welcome!

2007-09-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the future home

of the offical blog for the:

Great Pine Ridge Hand Spinners & Weavers Guild

Our blog is in the works, and soon you will be able to find out information on our great little group and see what we're up to.

We're gearing up for our September meeting and will be posting our meeting topics, photos, listing of special events, links and more.

Please bookmark our page and check back soon. For information on joining the guild please e-mail gprspin at yahoo.ca