Visit the Resource Centre to browse the Library, use the equipment (warping board, bobbin winder, fine drum carder, spinning wheels, floor loom…) and socialize!
The third Tuesday each month will be a Spinning Clinic. Please let us know if you plan to attend.
Please note that there is a flight of stairs to access this space, so it is not easily accessible.
After a year of meeting at various venues around the city, the Guild is moving back to The Meeting House in Riverdale Farm! Starting in April we will hold our monthly meetings there, host weekly spinning drop-ins on Thursday afternoons (12:30 – 3 pm; come and spin, knit, or do other portable textile work), and have access to our stored print resources. This move will save us the considerable expense of renting space for our book carts, and will provide a stable, familiar, affordable, and welcoming venue for us to gather in person.
We need help with the following:
Come to the Resource Centre and buy some of the books we are culling to make space on the book carts. Lovely books, low prices! Contact Miriam to arrange a time.
Check out books and magazines you have been thinking of borrowing—so that we don’t have to transport them—then return the items to the Farm before our summer break.
Help us pack! The books and magazines must be packed into tote bags (keeping them more or less together with their neighbours for easier sorting). If you can lend us some sturdy bags or help with the packing, contact Miriam to plan a time. (Label your bags and we will get them back to you.)
Drive the books etc. to the Farm. We may be able to bring our vehicles all the way to The Meeting House by special arrangement.
Borrow the Guild’s Ashford Traditional or Lendrum spinning wheel and house it for a while. If these aren’t borrowed, we will offer to lend them to the Farm, but again, the move would be easier without this.
Did you know that our Guild has a very close relationship with the OSC and, most particularly, with the Jacquard loom that is housed there? For decades, Guild members have volunteered their time to care for the loom and demonstrate its working to Science Centre visitors. Guild member Heather Brady is one of these volunteers, and has offered to lead a customized tour for members to see the historic loom in action. The first tour is planned for 10:30 – 11:30am on Thursday, March 23. If there’s sufficient interest, a second tour might be possible…. To reserve you spot on the tour, please contact Heather directly.
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
April
April
REGULAR MEETINGS
MONTHLY GUILD MEETINGS- Beginning September 2022 we are meeting in-person. If you are interested in spinning or weaving, you are welcome to join us at one of our monthly meetings! We do a variety of things together. When: 2nd Wednesday of the month, 7.00pm – 9.00pm Where: Invitations and details are sent to Guild members a week before each meeting.
SPINNING AND KNITTING DROP IN Come to our Resource Centre to socialize, work on your own projects, and chat with like-minded craftspeople and artists. Feel free to join us – it’s totally free! Occasionally we have themes, such as a regular Spinning Clinic. There’s also a great little cafe on the ground floor. When: Tuesdays, 10 am to lunchtime Where: Room 205, 915 Dupont Street, Toronto. (Upstairs. Sorry – no elevator.)
IN THE COMMUNITY
The Guild generally participates in the following events each year where we demonstrate fibre processing, spinning and weaving to the public. We look forward to resuming these events when restrictions on social gatherings are lifted.
FALL FESTIVALS See the Guild in action on the second weekend in September at the Riverdale Farm Fall Festival, and at the Cabbagetown Festival too!
FAMILY DAY Riverdale Farm is a great place to spend Family Day, with lots of fun activities taking place, including weaving and spinning that the whole family can enjoy.
SHEEP CELEBRATION Riverdale Farm opens its doors with the farm’s popular spring festival where Guild members use the fleece shorn from the farm sheep to demonstrate the old skills needed to make yarn, dye it and weave it into cloth. Come and see sheep shearing, basic wool preparation, spinning and weaving in action!