Peachtree Handspinners Guild

Thanks to a big handful of volunteers, our annual ‘Wheel Go Round’ will happen in August for our program. For the new members, this event allows guests and members to try out different types and brands of spinning wheels, plus time to talk to the owners about their wheel(s), what they like or don’t like, what recommendations they’d make, et cetera. We usually have an antique wheel or two, sometimes a walking/great wheel, several contemporary styles, a few traditional, an ultra-portable or small wheel, and sometimes an electric wheel. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to try something new, even if you have no intention of bringing a new wheel home in the near future.

Ruth will bring some fiber for each person who has signed up but if anyone has several ounces of wool they don’t think they’ll ever use (any color or breed), a donation of 1-2 ounces would be appreciated. If you did not sign up to let others try your wheel but would like to, please email Ruth at rjrowell.ua@gmail.com before August 15 with your name, type/brand of wheel and whether or not you are comfortable with others trying it or if you prefer to demonstrate only. See y’all at the August meeting!

Spinning 101
Do you want to learn to spin?
Peachtree Handspinners Guild will hold a “Learn to Spin” class on Saturday, August 10, 2019 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at North Decatur Presbyterian Church.
Bring your own spinning wheel (or let us know and we’ll have one there for you to spin on) and a check for $15 made out to PHG.
Preregistration is required. Reserve your space by emailing anniehall60@gmail.com with the subject heading “PHG Spinning 101,” letting us know if you’ll bring your own wheel.
North Decatur Presbyterian Church is located at 611 Medlock Road, Decatur, GA 30033.

The Peachtree Handspinners Guild will meet Saturday, March 23, 2019, 1:00 to 4:30 pm in the fellowship hall of North Decatur Presbyterian Church (NDPC).  The door will be open at 12:30 with the business meeting starting at 1:00.

The program for the March meeting will be presented by Paula Vester on Band Weaving. All over the world, people have the need for narrow strips of cloth; to wrap around bundles or packages, to trim bags and clothing, to make ties for all sorts of things people need to carry or close. You can cut strips off of old pieces of clothing, but throughout history, people have also simply woven narrow bands of cloth for those uses.

During the program-time, we will see some different tools people use to weave narrow bands. Attendees will also have a chance to weave their own narrow bands. We will use Tape Looms, backstrap looms, inkle looms, card-weaving sleds and other forms of looms to weave. If you have played with this type of weaving bring your looms and your own examples to show off.

The Peachtree Handspinners Guild will meet   Saturday, February 23, 2019, 1:00 to 4:30 pm in the fellowship hall of North Decatur Presbyterian Church (NDPC).  The door will be open at 12:30 with the business meeting starting at 1:00.

The program will be presented by Leslie Bronson and Carol Hassell. Box and paper maker Claudia Lee, https://www.claudialeepaper.com/  taught an amazing Stitched Boxes workshop at SEFAA.  Several folks from PHG took her workshop. We learned new ways to use some old fibers we already know and love. We created whimsical boxes made with gorgeous handmade cotton and hemp papers and stitched them with waxed linen and in some cases, handspun yarns.

Carol and Leslie were at the workshop and will give a presentation to the guild at our February meeting. We’ll discuss the class, Claudia’s amazing work and the basics of making a stitched paper box. We’ll have a PowerPoint presentation (thank you, Carol!) and show and tell. If you attended Claudia’s workshop, please bring your boxes for show and tell!

By Paula Vester

The guild received its copy of Piecework and I picked it up from the mailbox the other day. It appears to be an issue filled with socks – history is interesting, but I will never knit a pair of historic socks like those amazing examples in that issue. But tucked in the back of the magazine was a wonderful article about a sweater. An amazing sweater that survived 75 years and now resides in the

Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. The pattern taken from that sweater is available on Ravelry, or you can buy it from the museum bookshop (the Ravelry income for the sweater sales also goes to the museum). The modern designer is Lea Stern (you can search “The Green Sweater by Lea Stern” in Ravelry), and the story is wonderful.

I will soon be in search of a nice fingering weight yarn to try and make this sweater. It seems to be sized for about a 7 yr old, and I may just knit it in that size and see if any on my great nieces can eventually fit it. I just want to see if I can follow a pattern of this kind…….my question: who might want to join me this coming year and choose a project to be knitted, crocheted, embroidered, or quilted from some historical story?

Maybe this could be our Library Exhibit Challenge for the 2018 year — history in fiber…….Find some historical – or maybe a family related – story/project and work on it for the exhibit at the DeKalb Library in June. I like some of the stories I hear you guys talk about pieces in your family collections, so those would certainly be perfect. I am sure some of us have some of the old books from grandmothers, aunts, etc. of patterns or books of the things people were doing in textiles throughout several generations. Let us make this year’s exhibit a fabulous one of history, fiber, family and friends.