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  • Monthly Member Meeting: January 2025 – The Warp Ball: its history, how it is used, and is it used in Canada? by Sandra Gillis

    19:00 -21:00
    2025/01/08
    TGSW

    7:00 Wednesday, January 8

    Virtual Meeting

    Our January speaker was Sandra Gillis from Sydney, Nova Scotia. She presented her findings from a research project she did for the final level 5 of the Olds College Master Weaver Certification. Her project was entitled “The Warp Ball: Its History, How It Is Used, and Is It Used in Canada?”
    A warp ball is a warp that is not wound onto a beam but is rolled into a large ball which is then weighted for tension and unrolled by various means to advance the warp as needed. It is used primarily for commercial weaving where an extremely long warp is required. Sandra covered the various uses in many different cultures around the world. As part of her presentation, she showed how she had created a warp ball for her own loom and described her experience of using one both from a weaving perspective and the resulting finished items. She has been unable to find any information to indicate that this technique has been used in Canada.

    Show and Tell

    • Mike is working with the items he received as part of the Christmas gift exchange from the December meeting. He has spun some of the merino, Tencel and other fibres the gift contained and is delighted with the results so far. He still has more fibre to explore and lots of ideas for them.
    • Wen showed some roving she created for her collaborative project.
    • Maria has been discovered weaving podcasts are great to listen to when working out! A Google search will deliver multiple options. The group suggested Apple podcasts, Interweave, GIST yarn, and Textiles and Tea from the Handweavers Guild of America to name a few.

     

     

     

     

     

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February
February

REGULAR MEETINGS

MONTHLY GUILD MEETINGS Beginning April 2023 we will resume holding  in-person meetings at Riverdale Farm. We will continue to hold some meetings virtually. Our Member’s Meetings are held from September-June, with a break for the summer. Check out the Calendar for up-to-date information.
If you are interested in spinning or weaving, you are welcome to join us as a guest at one of our monthly meetings.
When: 2nd Wednesday of the month, 7:30 – 9:00 pm for in-person meetings; 7:00 – 8:30 pm for virtual meetings
Where: In-person meetings are held in the Meeting House at Riverdale Farm- come in the gate and keep going past the sheep.

IN THE COMMUNITY

The Guild generally participates in the following Riverdale Farm events , demonstrating fibre processing, spinning, weaving, and other textile skills to the public. After a hiatus during the pandemic, we look forward to resuming these events this Spring.

FAMILY DAY
Riverdale Farm is a great place to spend Family Day, with lots of fun activities taking place, including weaving and spinning demonstrations and activities that the whole family can enjoy.

SHEEP CELEBRATION
Riverdale Farm opens its doors with the farm’s popular Spring Festival at which Guild members use the fleece shorn from the farm sheep to demonstrate the skills needed to wash the wool, prepare it for spinning, make yarn, dye it, and weave it into cloth. Come and watch the process, from sheep shearing on!

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!

More information on Riverdale Farm.