Stratford-upon-Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers

OUR    WOOLLY    MARQUEE   FOR THE SHIPSTON WOOL FAIR   WEEKEND    VIRTUAL EVENT    In the  normal course of events this bank holiday Monday 25th May 2020, we would have been joining all the demonstrators and traders at the Shipston Wool Fair.  For obvious reasons this is not taking place this year. However, we didn't think that was a reason not to encourage you all to be 'having a go' with everything that is WOOLLY!  So, we have put some links here to instructions for some of the activities we would usually be deonstrating and getting you to try your hand at. One of our annual activities, and greatly enjoyed by the children in particular, is our braiding card .  Simple to cut our from a nice piece of sturdy card and then with any fibre/threads that you have available - it can be any remaining wool you have around, string or embroidery threads.  Find the pattern and instructions here. ...

Many Happy Returns  TODAY! to our Guild 4 5 y e a r s young!

45  Years  Young This month our wonderful Guild turns 45! The shame of it is that we are all going to have to celebrate in lockdown, so get those baking skills out and cook up a birthday cake and a glass of something nice to toast another year of great craft and company. Our activities this month were to to be our PAINT challenge and an afternoon on spinning wheel maintenance and care.  So not to be defeated we are going virtual!!! The CHALLENGE is still on and we will have a gallery on all our platforms, here on the web, our SOAWSD Group.io forum and on Facebook.  We will be sending out a poll on the Groups forum so we can all vote on our 1st and 2nd choice article.  So please get all your images of your PAINT CHALLENGE item to us, either through the forum gallery, emailed to our guild email or via facebook and they will all be loaded for the vote!!!  So ladies, we will need them all submitted by  9pm on Friday 15th May please. ...

We know that it is probably clearly obvious to everyone, we don't anticipate having our usual meetings for the next few months. However, we plan to make sure that you don't miss the Guild. Now that we have settled into our new routines – working from home, staying at home as much as possible, and in some cases staying at home all the time, I hope we shall all have time to pursue our time-honoured efforts at Stash-busting and finally getting round to working on the UFOs which may fill our cupboards. (UnFinished Objects in case you are wondering.) So that we can all keep in touch and inspire each other we have set up a forum site to which all our members can contribute – Groups.io / SOAWSDGuild . Lots of you have already joined and we will send out the invitation again for those of you who may have lost it. You can reply following a particular topic or start a new topic if there is something else you want to talk about. By these means we plan to hold virtual meetings each mon...

MARCH GUILD MEETING - 21ST MARCH CANCELLED With regret but following today's Government advice we have taken the decision to cancel the meeting this weekend. We will review our future meetings based on the situation and advice closer to the time. We hope to put items out to members of interesting items, videos and activities that will help us during any isolation that is necessary, so let us know what you have been up to. Finally, we have a number of members who fall outside of the vulnerable category currently who are offering any assistance for those who need any help, so please do let us know if you need assistance or indeed are able to offer it to the membership. Please stay safe and well.  

March meeting – Plying with a purpose  As usual our next meeting with take place in the New Room, doors open at 10.00 am for a 10.30 am start. Plying can be so much more than twisting two strands of spun yarn together to get something balanced to use. There are of course the complex plies detailed in in books such as Sarah Anderson’s authoritative ‘Book of Yarn Designs’ or playful art yarns with unexpected quirks. However, sometimes, to solve specific practical problems, you need to ply for a specific purpose. This session is not so much how to ply as how to ply to solve a problem; for some specific projects or when operating under constraints. We’ll look at best practice when plying, address some myths about plying and then go on to practice different plying approaches including: Andean (aka bracelet plying) which allows you to spin and ply using only one bobbin,or to use up ends so you can empty bobbins Plying with more than four strands eg to create a five stranded...

OUR ADVENTURE IN FEBRUARY Despite the rain, wind and flooding, our February meeting had an excellent turnout, with some new members coming along for the first time. Kay Hawkins, a member of the Braid Society, came along to guide us through our adventure.  Kay took us from the very beginnings of setting up a Marudai, preparing the bobbins, Tama, and working out the counter weight to balance the bobbins. We then worked through 3 to 4 different braids, all just using the same 8 bobbins, just moving them in different ways to great effect. After lunch we were taken on a tour of Kay and Sara's trip to Japan last year, including their pilgrims walk and the Braiding Society Conference in IGA. The Braiding Conference is held every few years and the next one will be held in Denmark.  Saving up for it already! The Guild is planning to hold a 'Getting Better At' workshop and has a number of Marudai that are available for members to hire. Please email us on wsdstratford@gm...