Blog Posts - Whatcom Weavers Guild

Newsletters

The Whatcom Weavers Guild publishes a monthly newsletter September through June of each year with periodic updates and supplements sent to the group. Newsletters are sent to members via e-mail whenever possible. Members without e-mail addresses receive the newsletter in the postal mail. Submissions of items of interest are encouraged. Please e-mail your submission to the Newsletter Publisher by the 25th day of the month to be included in the following month's newsletter which is typically distributed during the first week of each month.
Members may advertise in the newsletter for free. A $5 minimum donation is requested for any non-member (non-commercial) wishing to advertise, payable to the Guild Treasurer prior to publication. Commercial entity rates are $5 minimum donation for members and $7 minimum donation for non-members -- payable prior to publication.

September 2019 Newsletter

9/2/2019

Fleeces are wonderful…to a point, as I think about fairy tales and legends where the heroine is overwhelmed to the point of despair by the fiber piled up around her. Can anyone else relate to this tale of material abundance and self-imposed woe? This is the time of year when, between canning and freezing produce from the garden (plums this week), it’s time to look forward to those fall and winter projects. All my fleece is now washed! Now to schedule and stick to a day for drum carding. Then, I really am going to spin that wool into yarn. No deal with Rumpelstiltskin will I make, and no sticking my finger with a spindle and sleeping for 100 years. Of course, an abundance of yarn can be an issue too. The natural gray and dark brown fingering and lace weight I bought from Wild Rose Farm at Fiber Fusion last year, with a glowing idea for a deflected double weave scarf, is still on the table in my studio. It has to be up next, so I can show the final product to the folks at Wild Rose Farm at Fiber Fusion THIS year. And, I really need to make towels in the colors of my zinnia flowers. So gorgeous and bright! But first, I’m off to work with the Jansen Textile team to install the Fall Fiber Showcase, featuring local weavers Linda Rees and Nancy Bjerke, along with Weavers Guild and Jansen Textile Group members. The showcase in the Library Gallery will be continued in the downstairs Textile Foyer. Opening Reception on September 5, and the exhibits will be up for viewing through November 28. See you soon!

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

August 2019 Newsletter

8/3/2019

Hello Fiber Friends,
Other than the basil in my garden (come and get some - I have already put up 6 jars of pesto) it isn’t harvest time yet - feels like summer just started, actually - but the “getting the crop in” work of getting entries ready, and all the organization for the Fair is in full swing now. I am busy! We’ll be weaving rugs on the big loom, weaving with kids, demonstrating tapestry weaving, spinning, felting, and more. New this year: There are now added Divisions and Ribbons for Basketry, Weaving, Macrame in cotton, linen, hemp, wood, bark, cane, along with the traditional wool and animal fibers. Cotton and linen towels, table linens, scarves, plus baskets, caning, and macrame all have a place at the Fair! Featured will be Linda Rees, a nationally known artist, writer, and a founding member of the Whatcom Weavers Guild. We’ll show six large tapestry rugs from Linda’s 50 year career.
Thursday, the Felters will give a hands-on demonstration; Friday, Lydia and Jared Strand will be there to present a “Meet the Shepherds” Q & A session. They will leave the sheep at home, but bring fleeces, yarns, and answer your questions about local yarns and sustainable fiber systems. Of course, there will be spinners and weavers every day. That’s what we do!

See you at the Fair August 12-17!

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

July 2019 Newsletter

7/7/2019

Summer is here! July brings rhubarb custard pie, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, basil pesto, Dye Days outside in the garden, and...weaving wool yardage for the Skagit Valley Highland Games! The 25th Annual Skagit Valley Highland Games are July 13th & 14th, 2019, at Edgewater Park in Mount Vernon, WA. The traditional practice of fulling yardage accompanied by singing and scottish music is amazing! The finished yardage comes back beautifully fulled and ready for sewing. Who else would like to weave wool yardage for this festival next year? How about a wool weave-along this winter!

The Lummi Nation will host the Paddle to Lummi from July 24 to 18, Sqweshenet Tse Schelangen/Honoring Our Way of Life. Nine WWG members have created 80 handwoven gifts in support of this event. In the Lummi Traibal Center, weaving of traditional shawls and robes has been happening all year. We are honored to add our smaller handwoven pieces, in the tradition of the Lummi and Barber handweaving connection, to the hundreds of gifts that will be given to guests at the ceremonies and potlatch.

The Fair is coming! Are you ready to enter? - New! This year the Wool Show, is now Wool and Natural Fiber Weaving and now includes plant fiber as well as sheep wool and animal fibers, in on and off-loom weaving, caning, basketry basketry and knotting. All the weaving you’ve been doing in cotton, linen, hemp, rayon, bamboo and tencel, now has divisions and classes listed. I expect we will have some wonderful entries, and great fun at the Fair in August.

In closing, I would like to share with you a beautiful statement from The Woven Road (thewovenroad.com), a fiber art podcast and blog. “When we engage in fiber arts, we are creating something, but we’re also participating in historic traditions tens of thousands of years old. You are not only making art for your soul and for future generations, you are embodying the work of our ancestors.”
May you have all the lovely string you need, to keep you happy and connected this summer!

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

May/June 2019 Newsletter

5/27/2019

My apologies for the lack of a May WWG Newsletter. I’ve been traveling since April 15, with less internet connectivity and free time than I had expected. To get to my 40th college reunion, we rode Amtrak on a circular route that included Chicago, Kansas City, Santa Fe and Los Angeles. Awesome textiles and more were seen along the way! Some of the highlights included Peruvian textiles, North American native textiles, baskets and beadwork, a tour of the Textile Arts building and student studios at the Kansas City Art Institute, the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, the Fashion District and LACMA in Los Angeles. Not only were the museums amazing, but there was awesome food at every stop. We found farm-to-table restaurants and lovely museum cafes, keeping us sustained between feasting our eyes on the exhibits. We saw lambs in the fields from the train windows on the way home, and returned to a flourishing garden, including the weeds. Inspiring and refreshing as travel can be, I’m glad to be home!
On another trip, I’d like to get off the train in Minneapolis, for the Textile Center, Swedish/American Institute, and more… If you are interested in a group tour, let’s talk!

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

April 2019 Newsletter

3/31/2019

Spring is really here! Tulips are coming up, lambs are romping around, my madder plants are emerging showing little red sprouts, rhubarb is coming out of the ground looking like an alien. And, I don’t mean to scare you, but April is National Moth Hatching Month. It’s true. I read it on the internet, along with tips from Textile conservators, the Smithsonian Institution, and Martha Stewart, for preventing, and dealing with wool moths and carpet beetles. For the clothes moth, the larval stage (larvae is the form that eats your fiber) will last between two months (a warm humid climate) and six months (a cool climate). So April isn’t the only month when we worry about these things – but here we are.
In Brief: Moths like dirty or dusty wool and dark, warm spaces best. Carpet beetles especially love beer or tomato juice-soiled textiles. Who knew? Cellulosic fibers are not immune. The larvae will munch whatever is in their path. The old saying is “Air and light are the enemy of moths.” So, sorting your stash, cleaning and vacuuming the closet/room/building where you keep your yarns and fleeces, are recommended activities, BEFORE the temperatures get up in the 70’s. Vacuum up dust – the critters can live on wool dust, hair and dead insects (ick) for months, even in a sealed space. Avoid moving questionable fibers into other areas of the house before cleaning. Wash the vacuum nozzle with dish soap and dry it between cleanings, to make sure the tiny eggs aren’t transported.
Alert! Mothballs are not recommended. There are two forms of mothballs: Naphthalene and Paradichlorobenzene (PBD). Both are known animal carcinogens and possible human carcinogens. Check out the websites below for full information, and you’ll know all of what I know about moth prevention and damage control. Happy Spring cleaning! Sorting and caring for your yarn and fiber is always a responsible activity. Using it is the best!
Happy spring spinning and weaving, and don’t forget to practice your knitting outside – World Wide Knit in Public Day is coming up in June!

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

March 2019 Newsletter

3/3/2019

One month ago, I wrote confidently that winter was turning into spring. Then it snowed. A lot. Who besides me is working with wool? Using time indoors for weaving and sewing; baking as way to heat the kitchen; carrying knitting wherever you go, just to have an extra layer of warmth? Well, thanks to time not spent outside, my crayon challenge piece is off the loom, ready for finishing. (Yes, I made the decision to weave after knitting a few samples that didn’t quite work.) Cotton warp, in my main color – purple, first supported a weaving sample “side trip,” due to having to zero empty bobbins for weaving the “real” challenge piece. The cardboard quills I like to use aren’t expensive, so … I had a PILE left over from other projects, and no empty ones. Monday was the day. I thought I’d weave random stripes for a place mat or two. Six hours later, with a short break for lunch, I had woven two and a half yards, and emptied 60 (!) quills. See the photo.
Great stripe-y fun scarf, but I’m most proud of those empty quills. And I did replicate some of the sample striping in my “real” challenge piece, more closely oriented to my actual crayon colors. This was a genuine challenge, as I am naturally more of a “use all the colors in the entire box of crayons” type of designer. The downside of getting a challenge done early is second thoughts… what if I did that differently, changed my stripe arrangement, used a wool warp instead of cotton, what about a different weave structure…How could this be better? The best thing about fiber arts is that completion of one project leads to design ideas for several more. Plus there is always some leftover material that needs to be used. For now, I’m continuing to work with wool. As soon as the temps move up a teeny bit, setting up seedling trays on the porch is on the schedule, for dye plants and some vegetables. Spring is really going to happen, one of these days.

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

February 2019 Newsletter

2/3/2019

What a beautiful, though chilly day. Crocus greens are starting to show by my front door. Flowers can’t be far behind, which reminds me that my crayon challenge project colors might not be so challenging after all. Violet, Shamrock, Tropical Rainforest. Purple, green, blue green. Crocus, and Siberian Iris are very pretty in purple and green. I have my yarns, thanks to a little help from my friends. Still deciding whether to weave or knit...more will be revealed. And thanks to my new smart phone camera, sharing photos is much easier! Snap photos of your challenge project, or other fibery things you have going, and send them to Katia for the WWG newsletter and facebook page.
If you’ve taken part in a Textile class, workshop, or study group at the Jansen Art Center, please enter a sample of your work in the Student Showcase! Enter online, by February 4. I have a nice little piece from Joanne Hall’s Swedish Art Weaves Workshop, and two scarves from Liz Moncrief’s warp painting workshop, both Fibers & Beyond workshops. Your work does not have to have been done in a class, just influenced by your association with the Jansen Center. This is an opportunity to show off what happens in the Textiles Studios. The Ceramics and Jewelry Studio artists and students will be entering their work as well. Let’s make sure the textiles have a good showing! (you might have to borrow that scarf back from your daughter-in-law.) The exhibit will be on display in the Jansen Center Library Gallery during March and April.
Spring brings Sprang! Carol James, AKA the Sprang Lady, will present the program at our February meeting. This is an ancient textile structure, and Carol James makes it fun, as well as educational. Carol is offering a 1-day study group on Sunday February 17. And, for those of who weave, twine and interlace with cotton, linen and other plant fibers, look for an awesome update about the Wool Show at the February 16 meeting. Until then, stay warm - the light is returning!

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

January 2019 Newsletter

1/2/2019

I spent today twisting fringe and wet-finishing a throw, my first. The process included another first, as my 10 year old cell phone slipped out of my sweater pocket and plopped into the bathtub with the newly soaking weave! Woven throw and flip-phone are both drying now. The throw is a herringbone twill in brown and cream, and it looks good so far. As for my old blue flip phone, we’ll see if learning how to use a new smart phone becomes one of my projects for early 2019. The new year holds some exciting projects: Weaving for the Salish Canoe Journey hosted by the Lummi Nation in July; two group projects on the Glimakra looms at the Jansen Center; weaving with wool from local farms; expanding my skills and knowledge of deflected double weave, and learning more about plant based dyes for wool, silk and cotton. I’ve collected seed from plants in my garden that will dye the primary colors. Weld and Dyers Chamomile for yellow, Japanese Indigo for blue, Madder for red. I’ll have seeds to plant this spring, and enough to share, if you would like to grow some too. The WWG website will be adding a page especially featuring service and community projects for your reference. Please bring fiber-related service projects to the attention of the guild by making an announcement in a meeting, and sending a note to the WWG board through the website contact page http://www.whatcomweaversguild.org/contact.html.
Weaving in the Lummi Cultural Center is picking up in pace as well, see the photos of another warp going on the loom. We can be proud of all the ways we weave (and knit and felt and stitch) together as a community. My goal for 2019 is to explore my fiber work at a pace that makes me feel happy, and encourage others to do the same. I look forward to seeing you in the new year!

All the best,

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

December 2018 Newsletter

12/8/2018

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” -Winston Churchill

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” Oprah Winfrey.

OK, this month I’m exploring what it’s like to have a vision for the outcome of my fiber work and have the work come up short. Not because I’m not sampling, but because I’m pushing the envelope, and maybe not sampling enough. The first sample of Skagit Valley wool from Harmony Fields is now off the big Glimakra loom and has been wet-finshed. (Review: twill blocks, two colors of gray plus natural white.) It’s gorgeous, and too heavy and dense for a blanket. I sampled for block length and color arrangement, but not for sett. I assumed that 10 ends per inch would be perfect, and it did beat square very easily. Now I wish I had cut off a section and re-sleyed at 8 epi for a second sample. Live and Learn. Refer to quotes above. Of course, we especially dislike “trying again” this time of year, when it seems the rush is on to knit, weave, crochet, sew the perfect gift for everyone on our list. I’m telling myself to enjoy the process! And make up little gift DIY kits with yarn and needles for my crafty friends and relations. My experiments with Icelandic yarn from Lydia’s Flock are progressing also – while I learn how to fix weaving problems that result from trying yarns I wouldn’t have dared consider a year ago.
Weaving at the Lummi Tribal Center is progressing, making gifts for the Annual Salish Sea Canoe Journey, (title) The Whatcom Weavers guild has been invited to sponsor gifts for the 60-plus native canoe groups that will land at Lummi in July 2019. An idea was launched at the November meeting for small woven items, inspired by the historic Barber and Lummi handwoven designs of the 1950’s and ‘60’s. A draft and samples are being developed, and will be shared in January.
Volunteers and friends of the Jansen Center Textile Studio finished Weaver Jo Morgan’s last Krokbrogd rug/wall piece yesterday! The piece, formerly titled “Unfinished Business” was displayed at the NW WA Fair Wool Show last August, in just the state that Jo had taken it off the loom, in 2009. Jo’s daughter Pamela who commissioned the finishing, joined the group for part of the afternoon, telling a bit of her Mom’s life and career as a weaver, making our effort even more fulfilling.
I hope your fiber work is fun and fulfilling this month and in the year ahead. It isn’t always necessary to push the envelope. Knitting a hat from a tried and true pattern, in a yarn I know and love, makes me feel like a queen, whether I have to un-knit and re-do, or not! May you all have just enough fiber and color in 2019.

All the best,

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.

November 2018 Newsletter

11/3/2018

The rains have come, punctuated by glorious color in the trees, and truly wonderful mossy greens underfoot. November can be a perfect time buckle down, take an inventory of projects to start and projects to finish, even take a few hours (or days) to go through the yarn stash, sorting out odds and ends for hats and scarves. It’s nice to slow the pace a bit after all of October’s high-fiber activities. October was exciting! Warp painting, tablet weaving, ply splitting were all new skills for me, learned at Fibers & Beyond. The next weekend, Fiber fusion was amazing! I talked with several fiber farmers, admired the most adorable silver-fleeced baby llama (JNK Llamas, from right here in Whatcom County) and purchased natural-colored Wensleydale/Teesdale cross yarns for a deflected double-weave project. At the Jansen Center Textile studio, a sample of Skagit Valley wool from Harmony Fields is on the big Glimakra loom in preparation for a full-width blanket, in twill blocks, two colors of gray plus natural white. There are now 8 shafts on the big loom, and thanks to the Countermarche workshop in October, it only took me two tries to get the tie-up right. Tip 1: when using all eight shafts on the big loom, 10 treadles must be tied up for balance. Tip 2: re-read the instructions before starting the tie-up. Marilyn Monahan’s big Finnish loom has found new life at the Lummi Tribal Center! A 48” wide robe is being woven on it, in a traditional twill design.
Last week I visited Lydia and Jared Strand’s farm, where their Icelandic and Finewool Shetland sheep will be expecting lambs in the spring. Wool - the renewable resource so dear to knitters, weavers, felters, is in abundance. Fiber life is good!

All the best,

Carol Berry,
2018-2019 WWG President

To read the entire newsletter please click here.
To see details about our upcoming meetings and events please click here.
To see who our board members are please click here.
To browse through our "Resources" page please click here.