Stratford-upon-Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers

    CHRISTMAS GUILD MEETING   Saturday 10th December 2022     Our reminder for our December meeting on Saturday and will be in person at the Methodist Hall for our Christmas Creative.    The schedule will be as usual - 10.15 am doors open and 10.30 am our Chair will open with reminders, news and updates and we shall get creative with Sue.    Supplies will be available but of course do bring along any stash (yarns and beads etc) you would like to use and usually wise to bring your scissors and work box. Or if you wish to just continue with a project you have then bring it along to work on too. Don't forget your lunch.  Refreshments and christmassy bites will be available too. A reminder that 2023 membership is now open.  New members are eagerly welcomed.  Just head to the 'joins us' page to find out more. Thank you to those who have already renewed for 2023, but a jog to those that haven't renewed yet, you can do so onlin...

  NOVEMBER GUILD MEETING SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER NIC FULCHER Our November meeting is being held this coming Saturday and our speak is Nic Fulcher  who will be giving his talk 'The Secrets of Tudor Fashion'.    As he describes it,  'In a world dominated by strict hierarchy, what you wore in Elizabethan England defined your social position.  So choose your fabrics carefully; for unless you dress like a Lady or Gentleman, you will not be treated as one.  What are the fabrics of choice and which colours should you be wearing?  And what is going on under those elaborate gowns?'   So dress appropriately ladies !!!!   Doors will open as usual at 10.15 am, don't forget your lunch and the usual drinks and biscuits (possibly even cake!) will be available.

 OCTOBER MEETING  STRATWEAVE  - THE RECKONING! Our Challenge month   Before the details of the next meeting this month we wanted to give a BIG Congratulations to Jane Lucas who raised £230 at her MacMillan coffee morning this year.  Another great fundraiser Jane! This time last year, feeling saddened and disappointed that the annual Britspin would not be happening we decided to develop our own spinning challenges for the month, not quite as competitive and no points counting and we ran StratSpin!  We enjoyed challenging ourselves and seeing the outcome from the members.  So .....  this year we have evolved to the next skill and October is our month for StratWeave - the reckoning!   We felt that now there are so many interested in weaving this year we should have challenge ourselves with this skill.   It will start with the regular monthly meeting on Saturday 15th October, in the Methodist Hall, and on Zoom, with two follow-up Zoom m...

  CHILDREN IN NEED ACTIVITY     Last year, the Stratford-upon-Avon Guild was approached by the BBC's Countryfile team to help with fundraising for Children in Need. We jumped at the opportunity! Countryfile ran a competition to design this year's Bobble Hat for BBC Children in Need. We were asked to turn a fleece from Countryfile's Adam Henson's sheep into some hats and a scarf, inspired by the winning design, to be auctioned off to raise money for the charity. Jane Lucas, one of our members, collected the fleece from Adam last November, and was filmed demonstrating some of the skills we would be using to process the fleece. This subsequently appeared on the Countryfile show launching the hat competition, which can still be found on the BBC iPlayer at  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0012vxq/countryfile-countryfile-at-christmas?page=2        In the last few months, the fleece has been washed, dyed, carded (brushed smooth), and spun int...

 SEPTEMBER GUILD MEETING  - SATURDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER Just a reminder that our next Guild meeting is this coming Saturday, starting as usual at 10.30 am through till 3 pm at the Methodist Hall. This is our first meeting back after the summer break so a social meeting to catch up with fellow members and a chance to Show and Tell on all you have been doing since we last met. Don't forget you lunch and drinks will be available as usual.   As separate zoom meeting will take place for those who cannot attend in person, meeting with everyone for a quick show and tell but then separating off.   See you there

    June Guild Meeting 11th June 2022 10.15am doors open     Just a quick last minute reminder and notification of our Guild Meeting for June.  We have had a change of plan and our speaker for the month will now be visiting us in November, later this year. This month's meeting is face to face at the Methodist Hall and we welcome all our members and non-members alike. There are no planned specific activities so bring along what you are working on to chat and catch up with our members.  If you have any question then bring them along too ! Last month was our Birthday Celebration and the results for our challenge laid down in January!  Some images of the results are included here and just some of our contributions to Hadrian's Wall Bunting and the Association Exhibition both later this year.

  Stratford Upon Avon Guild celebrates its 47th Birthday this month and will be noting the occasion at our May Guild meeting. Doors will open as usual at 10.15 am, with the meeting starting at 10.30 am with the usual housekeeping.  Members who have taken up the challenge set in January will show the items they have created for something they can use/wear at a street party for the Queen's Jubilee.  We are looking forward to seeing what everyone has done. We will also be having the members' show and tell of other work and will be collecting together the Hadrian's Wall Bunting from those who have finished them and also the Associations Exhibition entries. As with our previous meetings please bring along your own lunch and cutlery etc, however, there will be some CAKE! Looking forward to seeing you there.  

FEBRUARY MEETING  MACHINE KNITTING  WITH  JANE HARRISSON  image: bolacooperblog Our February meeting will  be face to face in the Methodist Hall in Stratford.  Jane will be luring us all into the mysteries of machine knitting, so dust of those machines you all have in the back cupboard in readiness for all you learn on Saturday morning. Government rules have been relaxed, but you may decide to wear masks and take a home test before attending. Doors will open at 10.15 am. Please use the side door for the New Room.  Hot drinks will now be available but please bring along your mug, lunch and cutlery. We are still asking everyone to set out their own chair and table (if needed), assistance will be there for those needing it.  For those unable to attend in person or are still wary of meeting in person, we shall be looking in on Zoom, this will open at 10.20 am.    The meeting starts at 10.30 am with Notices from our Chair. Jane's talk wi...

  INSIDE THE  MEDIAEVAL  WOOLHOUSE     Our January Guild meeting on Saturday, 22nd January at 10.30 am, will be a Zoom talk by Penelope Hemmingway “Inside the Mediaeval Woolhouse, Spinning and Weaving in Mediaeval Monasteries.”   Our delayed talk from last June, so we are really pleased to have Penelope back for this meeting. Screens open at 10.20, Anna will do notices at 10.30 and will introduce Penelope to give her talk at 10.50. After the talk there will be a short break for coffee etc. and we shall then commence with our AGM. Once business is concluded we will have some time for Show and Tell, reminders of what is on the Sales Table and a general catch-up. Don't forget our plant fibre challenge ladies, we are keen to see what we have all been able to do. Invites to the meeting will be sent to members again shortly but guests are welcome at the usual meeting fee.  Contact wsdstratford@gmail.com if you would like to join us.  Looki...

We are very pleased that our Jane Lucas has been asked by Countryfile presenter Adam Henson to prepare a fleece from his flock that will be used in the competition they are running to design a bobble hat for Children In Need. Jane was seen on Countryfile on the 11th December collecting the fleece from Adam at his farm.  She will be preparing the fleece, with the support of our Guild,  by washing, dyeing, carding and spinning it, so that it can be knitted up into a few hats that will be knitted and auctioned off to raise funds.   Final entries for the design need to be in by 16th January 2022, with the winner being announced later in spring.  Details for entries can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3gwF8kgdZVWqTd7kcj4BFtN/countryfile-ramble-bobble-hat-competition   Pleased to report that washing is underway and we await what the final colours required will be and then the next stage will be the dye pots!

In pre-industrial Europe many of the agricultural and household chores that marked the turning of the seasons attached themselves to saints' days. All across Europe, for example, people slaughtered animals and celebrated the harvest on St. Martin's Day ( see Martinmas). In England folk tradition carried this tendency one step further, inventing St. Distaff's Day to mark women's return to work after the Christmas holiday. St. Distaff's Day fell on January 7, the day after Epiphany. On this day folk tradition advised women to return to the daily chores they had put aside during the Twelve Days of Christmas. Before the invention of factory-made cloth, the task of spinning constituted perhaps the most representative of all female chores. Women of all ages, ranks, and incomes spun thread. Thus, English folk tradition commemorated women's return to work ...