Stratford-upon-Avon Guild of Weavers Spinners and Dyers

  2022 AGM Challenge The Guild have decided to set the AGM challenge whilst we still have a little garden time and resource.   We have set the members the challenge of producing a small sample of fibre from the plant resources in their garden and surrounding countryside, and to then 'show and tell' at our AGM in January 2022. Nettle and Rhubarb are just two amongst our garden plants that can be turned into usable fibre, but there has to be more and we are looking forward to the inginuity and trials that the membership undertakes.     Enjoy the rest of the summer weather this week.  

Dye Plants  - my part in their Downfall  with Fran Rushworth Fran will be joining us at our July meeting tomorrow, Saturday 17th July. This will be an interactive zoom discussion covering    the dark arcana of the plant dye bath - mysteries of preparing flower, leaf, root and bark dyes and a fearful plunge into acids and alkalis the even darker arcana of mordanting fibre - the why, how and what of alum and aluminium acetate followed by a delicious divertissement of rhubarb leaves iron and copper - mordants, modifiers or metagrobolilising madness          The screens will open as usual at 10.20 am and the meeting will start at 10.30 am. Following notices, we will join Fran with a dive into the dye bath. Guest are welcome for the usual meeting fee, just email us on wsdstratford@gmail.com

 JUNE MEETING - INSIDE THE MEDIEVAL WOOLHOUSE UPDATE:  Due to ill health Penelope is unable to join us now on Saturday.  We wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.  We hope Penelope will join us at a future meeting. Fortunately, Jill Shepherd has stepped in and offered to talk to us on The Domestication of Craft.  The talk explores  How and Why Domestic Handcraft Flourished in Our Homes over the Last 500 Years? It explores a wide-ranging view of handcraft as a marker of status and the cult of the hobby, and why the pursuit of handcrafting in the home was so important for women and children. .  Timings are as below. The June Guild meeting on Saturday, 19th June at 10.30 am, will be a Zoom talk by Penelope Hemmingway “Inside the Mediaeval Woolhouse, Spinning and Weaving in Mediaeval Monasteries.”  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 s...

  WORLDWIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC - 12TH JUNE 2021 World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company. Knitting is such a solitary act that it’s easy to knit alone somewhere and sink into your work without thinking about all the other knitters out there. Neighbors could spend all their lives never knowing that the other knits.  This a specific day to get out of your house and go to a local event (with your knitting in tow) just for you and people like you.  Who knows you might even bump into your neighbor! Consider this a spark, to ignite a fire; getting all of the closeted knitters out into fresh air.   Find more details at https://www.wwkipday.com/ , register an event if there is not one near you or just be out there and seen with your needles.

St. Onuphrius: the Patron Saint of Weaving So much about Onuphrius is uncertain – even to when he lived, sometime during the 3-5 th Centphuries, it’s estimated. A Hermit, he is thought to have lived in the Egyptian desert during the time when Christianity was becoming the main faith in the Roman Empire. Individuals felt they should go into the desert in order to suffer privation like John the Baptist. The story, told by one Paphnutius, possibly an Abbot, goes that he was visiting the desert in order to decide if he should become and Hermit and he came across a man who looked wild enough for Paphnutius to be frightened by him and run away. Being called back by Onuphrius, they spent time together, talking in his cell. Paphnutius claims to have been told that the Hermit had spent his youth living as a Monk in the large, ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onuphrius ) strictly silent monastery of Eratus near the city of Hermopolis, situated near the boundary of Upper and Lower Egypt bu...

 APRIL GUILD MEETING - Backstrap Looms Our member Ros led us through her presentation about Backstrap looms, where they are used and the beautiful weaving which can be made on this very simple, portable loom.     Having received some instructions prior to the meeting quite a number of members had set themselves up with the loom and followed along.  MAY BIRTHDAY MEETING This May our Guild celebrated its 46th Birthday!  Our Honorary President Ann Howells gave us a history of the establishment of the Guild and how it has built over the following years.  Members had been challenged at Christmas to decorate a cotton bag and we had a visual display of more than 20 bags and the excellent skills of the member.  All had all been dyed, embroidered, printed and crocheted upon.  Pictures of this work will be available on our Gallery.  

Following on from our successful Guild Spring Craftalong, we are hosting a second Craftalong over the bank holiday weekend at the end of May.  We would normally be at the Shipston Wool Fair, so we thought that, as we are missing out on that social event it would be nice to have a bit of a virtual get together instead.   We are running it between the 29 th  and 31 st  of May, with a final session at our ‘first of the month’ meeting on the Tuesday the 1 st  of June. As per last time, we are encouraging any members who want to take part to set themselves a bit of a challenge or two, but there is no pressure to do so - you can take part as much or as little as you fancy. The main idea is to just encourage us to take some time to do something crafty over that long weekend! Some of us from Stratford will also be creating some mini sheep decorations that we can use during future guild events such as the Shipston Wool Fair and the World Wide Spin in Public ...