The simplicity of the technology behind the spinning wheel allows diversity — from the highly crafted ($$) ones to the more affordable homemade varieties.  How do you choose what kind of wheel to buy?  Double treadle or single?  Traditional style or castle?  What is the advantage of all the various ratios?  Help!!

This month’s program is about spinning wheels.  The learning goal of this program is to give members a chance to try different styles and to talk to owners about their wheels.

For this activity, we are asking members to bring their wheels to the meeting, along with some fibre for spinning.  After the business portion of the meeting, we will set up the wheels and people can circle around and try the wheels, talk to the owners and explore the different varieties.  If you have a unique or unusual wheel, we encourage you to bring that along as well.  We also encourage those of you who want to buy or trade for a wheel.  This promises to be an exciting and dynamic evening of spinning and learning about what is available for spinners these days and what works best for you.

The Board of the Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds (ANWG) is
conducting a survey related to future ANWG conferences and to obtain
other information that can help the organization plan for future
activities. You can access the survey at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ANWGConferences. DO NOT click on the
survey link until you intend to take the survey, which will take about
5 minutes, or otherwise you will be counted as having taken the
survey. Even if you do not go to ANWG conferences, it will be helpful
to have this information. You do not need an account or password, your
email/IP address is not collected and your responses are totally
anonymous and private. The results of the survey will be made
available after they have been analyzed. The survey closes on February
25, 2011 or after it reaches 1,000 responses, whichever occurs first,
so please respond as soon as you can.

After you have finished the survey, please copy this entire message
and paste into an email and send to all of your fiber friends within
the ANWG region (AK, WA, OR, MT, WY, ID, BC, SAS, AB) regardless of
their affiliation with guilds or other organizations. We want broad
distribution of this survey.

Thank you for your assistance and cooperation. If you have any
questions about this survey including its authenticity, please contact
webweaver@broadband.com.

Linda Davis, President
Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds

17710-56A Avenue

604-592-6956

www.surrey.ca/heritage

MUSEUM LISTING

Surrey Museum – Unique artifacts, images and interactive displays in a stunning and modern space that highlights Surrey’s history. Attractive space for programs, 42-seat orientation theatre, changing exhibits. 17710-56A Avenue, Surrey, B.C.  604-592-6956.  Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays, 9:30am-5:30pm, Saturdays: 10:00am-5:00pm. Reopening for 2011 on February 8. Admission by Donation.  www.surrey.ca/heritage

Kids Can Knit: Beginners – In just four easy classes, kids will be delighted with their new skills, as they learn to knit bookmarks and small bags. Must pre-register at 604-592-6956.

Wednesday, February 16        4:00pm-5:30pm                4 sessions $37.50 (8-12yrs)

Kids Can Sew: Hand Sewing – Learn basic hand sewing techniques in this fun class while you make a sampler of sewing stitches and a small stuffed animal. Must pre-register at 604-592-6956.

Thursday, February 17             4:00pm-6:00pm                5 sessions $35 (8-12yrs)

Shibori Silk Scarf: Level 1 – Join local artist Deanna Welters and learn to develop texture and pattern on dyed silk as you explore Arashi Shibori design techniques. Supply fee $10. Must pre-register at 604-592-6956.

Saturday, February 19             1:00pm-4:00pm                2 sessions $30 (16+yrs)

Crochet for Beginners – Crocheting is fun, easy and in style! In this introductory class you will learn the basic techniques to begin creating beautiful items for your home and wardrobe. Supply fee $10. Must pre-register at 604-592-6956.

Saturday, February 26             10:30am-12:30pm            5 sessions $48 (16+yrs)

Kids Can Weave – Weaving is a fun and creative activity. Make unique and beautiful hand-woven bookmarks, belts or straps for your camera or bag on small easy-to-use inkle looms. Must pre-register at 604-592-6956.

Saturday, February 26             2:00pm–4:00pm               3 sessions $37.50 (8-12yrs)

http://www.wimp.com/sheeplight/

EXTENDED until February 27, 2011

Public Programming – Mark Your Calendars!
Weaving Demonstration
A Public Program with Textile Artist, Clarissa Rizal
Saturday January 29 & Sunday, January 30, 2011 1:30 – 3:30pm
At the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
639 Hornby Street, Vancouver

This public program is presented as part of the Gallery’s featured exhibition, Time Warp: Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast. Time Warp celebrates the textile and fibre art of 20 emerging, mid-career and internationally recognized Aboriginal artists from Alaska, Yukon, BC, and Washington State. The exhibition runs through Feb 27, 2011.

WHAT: Third Annual FIBRES WEST 2011 , a spinning, weaving, knitting trade show
WHERE: Abbotsford Exhibition Park, AgRec Bldg, 32470 Haida Drive, Abbotsford
WHEN: March 18, 19, 2011. Friday 10-6, Saturday 10-5
COST: Adults $8.00, Students/Seniors $5.00, kids 12 and under free
URL: www.fibreswest.com

Local, BC Fibre Vendors
Free lectures
Knit Cafe (sponsored by the Fraser Valley Knitting Guild)
Artisan Gallery
Kids Fibre Activities
Free demos – watch experts spinning, weaving, needle felting, knitting, carding and more!
Inexpensive, short classes – weaving, spinning, knitting, felting, basketry and more…

Dear weavers, fiber friends and colleagues,

For those of you who are not familiar with the project, osloom is a project aimed at creating an open source electromechanical thread-controlled floor loom that will be computer controlled. osloom will be a Jacquard style loom which unlike traditional floor looms which allow for basic patterns to be created, Jacquard looms allow for the individual control of each thread which in turn allows for photographic imagery to be woven. Jacquard looms like this exist commercially but they are very expensive (upwards of $60,000) which puts them out of reach for individuals and small educational facilities.

The osloom could be produced way more economically than that and truly revolutionize what the studio weaver could accomplish. The idea of a DIY open source loom is one that not only artists could benefit from but many individuals and learning centers could gain a resource by building one of these looms as well.

The project looks forward to whatever help you can provide and couldn’t come to fruition it without it and for that I thank you.

● Spread the word. Have a blog? Or know a friend who might find osloom interesting? Know of a forum or list that may be of interest? Forward this email to anyone that may be interested. Spread the word, and let us know if you need more information!

● Join. Join our mailing list at osloom.org, our Facebook group and follow us on Twitter. There will be contributor opportunities available after the May 1st deadline. We will spread the word via all the above mentioned channels once they are online.

● Keep us in the loop. You may be in the know of opportunities that osloom could participate in or benefit from. You may know of lists or people that we should talk to. If that is the case, your suggestions are welcome and please keep us in the loop.

Sponsorship opportunities are available, if you know of a company or institution interested please let us know!

Warmest regards,~margarita benitez

If you require additional information about osloom please visit osloom.org or contact me at osloom.org@gmail.com.

tel. 312-469-8381
email: osloom.org@gmail.com
http://www.osloom.org

We are pleased to announce Refashioning Vadmel, a weaving and design workshop in Telemark, Norway that seeks to revitalize traditional Norwegian weaving and fulling techniques and promote the continued breeding and husbandry of spelsau sheep.  Throughout the course of two weeks, participants weave, cut, and shape vadmel using traditional methods of production, fashioning their cloth into distinctive contemporary garments.

Workshop dates: May 29 – June 11, 2011

Visit our website for more information:  http://web.me.com/carolcolburn/Site/Welcome.html

Please help us spread the word!

Tusen takk!

Carol and Mae Colburn (Outreach Coordinators)

Tuesday May 3 & Wednesday May 4: There are 5 seats still available for this Anne Field workshop. Please let Maureen know if you would like to register for this workshop before February 1st. At this point we will be opening the workshop up to other guilds and you may then not be able to get a seat! The cost will be approximately $175 for the 2-day workshop and will be firmed up once venue costs have been determined. We’ll need a deposit of $100 to reserve your seat in the workshop. My e-mail is workshops@lwsg.org . The following is a brief description of the workshop. A more complete description is available on Anne Field’s website www.annefield.co.nz .

Students will bring along a four-shaft loom, already threaded following instructions sent prior to the workshop. Students will be concentrating on the use of colour in weaving. We will experiment with different colour combinations in yarns, firstly planning and sampling colours, using colour wheels as aids, then weaving pieces which reflect each weavers’ personal choices. In the process of discovering colour, we will also be learning such techniques as stripes and blocks, pattern weft-face, boundweaving, flamepoint, linked weft, weaving curved shapes, chaining and crocheting, and rya. Students should be able to thread their own loom, and have done some basic weaves, such as tabby and twill.