AWSG E-Newsletter April 2017

Presidents Message:

Happy April – after this week’s snow, spring will finally begin to show it melt. We hope.

As I write this letter, I’m busy going through family pictures to prepare a snapshot of my mother’s life for her memorial service. She was married for 65 years and raised 7 children. She was a member of a book group, community club,

Cowbelles, and was ever present in our schools—always helping out where a need existed. She modeled volunteerism and participation in community that led me to this Guild position.

In sorting through photos, I realize that she cultivated some of the strongest and longest lasting friendships in her volunteer and organization work. I feel that way about the Guild. There is something so special about sharing our craft

with others, discussing patterns, techniques for spinning and weaving and knowing that without a doubt, Guild members will be there to help.

I thought the Guild would appreciate some reflection on past Guild Challenges so look for the list of challenges between 1994 and 2016. Don’t forget to bring your “Alaska Native Arts and Craft” inspired item to our next meeting.

See you soon,

Anne

History of the AWSG Guild Challenge

Year Activity

1994 Vests

1995 Accessories

1996 Household Goods

1997 Toys and Boxes

1998 Sorel Boot Liner

1999 Above the Waist

2000 Baby Blankets for Charity (AWAIC)

2001 Baby Blankets for AWAIC

2002 Lap Robes for Pioneer Home

2003 Artistic Challenge, Exchange Baggies of Yarn

2004 Use Four of Five Categories

2005 Make some from another country and bring potluck dish from that country

2007 Black, White and Another

2008 Fibonacci Sequence

2009 Yardage for Fashion Show

2010 Call for Projects for Fashion Show

2011 None---Fashion Show in April

2012 Eye of the Beholder

2013 Anything Silk

2014 Pantone Colors 2014

2015 Split Compliments

2016 Inspired by Alaska Native Arts and Crafts

April Program: Guild Challenge!

April's program is the traditional Guild Challenge: to create an item "inspired by Alaskan native crafts." It has been suggested to bring a photo of your inspiration if possible.

Additionally, the program committee encourages suggestions from the membership for ideas for future programs. Let us know what you would like for the new guild year starting in September2017.

ANWG Fashion Show Please enter your beautiful creations in the Fashion Show, Juried Show and Open Show at Treadle Lightly! You don’t

have to be a master weaver or spinner; you don’t need to think your work is not good enough. We all would like to see the wonderful work of as many of our ANWG members as possible. So don’t hesitate; send your entries in!

The deadline for the fashion show will be extended to April 21, the same as the other shows. We’re looking forward to seeing the pieces you’ve made.

Band Weaving Study Group The study group formerly known as “The Card Weaving Study Group” voted to

expand their focus to all types of band weaving. We are currently working on Snartemo card woven bands.

These bands have warp floats, creating a more three-dimensional band. Members of the group can collectively work on the “group” band or go their own way. The

group is about learning, sharing and helping each other. As needed we have hosted meetings for more beginners on warping, etc. All are welcome. We have been meeting the 3rd Saturday of the month.

We created a (closed) Facebook group titled “AWSG Bandweaving Study Group”. Please join us if you are interested. Just search for the group name on Facebook

and request to join.

Summer Fiber Arts Camp Assistance Needed Submitted by Terry Roberts

Renae Bookman, a teacher at Pacific Northern Academy, is doing a Fiber Arts camp this summer and would love to include a day on spinning and weaving. She is hoping for volunteer(s) to help for the day. The camp is at PNA and the

dates are June 12 – 16. There are three groups of kids (K – 6th). Please contact Renae at 333-1080 (classroom phone) or 952-4872. The camp is Create Academy at Pacific Northern Academy – information can be found at

http://www.pacificnorthern.org/page.cfm?p=474.

No Frills Fiber Retreat Submitted by Anne Brooks

May 19 – 21, 2016 Terry Newbold, Anne Brooks and Sherri Rogers are rapidly setting the schedule for this spring’s fiber retreat.

Friday – registration, arrival, free time for spinning, weaving, knitting or any other fiber-related activity.

Saturday – Three workshop tracks to choose from – Spinning, Weaving and Other. Friday’s highlights will be a “Garden Loom” workshop led by Sherry Rogers and a rigid heddle class on Saori weaving. On the spinning side, a “Knitting with Handspun” workshop led by Laurene Stout and “Finishing Handspun” led by Bonnie Tisler will be available. Anne is

working on a garment sewing class. We will have an embellishment class.

Sunday – Two early morning workshops are being planned to focus on troubleshooting. Separate workshops led by a panel of spinners and weavers will provide answers to your questions.

The Sign Up Genius will be up shortly to gauge overall interest so we are able to set the retreat prices. If you have questions or want to volunteer to assist, contact Anne Brooks, 242-6405 or Terry Newbold at 982-5709.

Spin a Local Fiber Challenge Spin Off magazine, Spring 2017 issue page 26, has offered a challenge called "Spin Your Fibershed". This will be the theme of their Fall 2017 issue.

The challenge is to: Choose fibers from our region to spin up. We have so many possibilities. It would be nice if we each

sent a yarn spun from a local source, think pygora, alpaca, quiviut, local sheep of all kinds, even cotton grass and nettles. Fireweed floss, anyone? The deadline is April 15, 2017.

Please send a minimum of one five yard length of yarn labeled with your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. Please note the fiber content, wraps per inch (wpi), and yards per pound (ypp) and tell us a bit about

your yarn submission, where the fiber came from and why you selected it. Mail your comments and your yarn to

Spin Off Your Yard, 4868 Innovation Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525-5576. Email spinoff@interweave.com with questions. The yarn won’t be returned, but it will be used for a worthy charity.

Lion Brand Yarns Ambassador

Here is the information for the visit from the Lion Brand Yarns representive. If you plan to come, be sure to register via the link given below:

Sunday April 30 in Anchorage: Lion Brand Yarns Ambassador, Shira Blumenthal, will be giving a presentation of yarns offered by Lion Brand, including a line of fine fibers available only from the Lion Brand store.

The event is April 30, 2017 in Anchorage at 1:30 PM at the Jack White Realty conference room at 3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 200.

Shira be handing out bags of goodies, but to insure you get one of these bags please register through the Signup

Genius site at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D4EADAA22ABFE3-lion

The Magic of Heddles by Karen Williams

I am a spinner dipping my toes into weaving. I love the portability of spinning, preferring spindles over the wheel. I enjoy using smaller looms, trying tapestry, card weaving and rigid heddle. These types of weaving use simple looms and warps. Fun and complexity can be introduced in the actual weaving with supplemental warp, supplemental weft, double weave or pick-up. I fell in love with the beauty of pick-up designs but was mystified by the variety of rigid heddles available. This article explains the various heddles and their uses. Standard heddles A simple rigid heddle (figure 1) is made of wood or plastic and is optimized for plain weave (tabby) (figure 2).

1 - Standard Heddle (arrow denotes center) 2 - Plain Weave (tabby)

In the standard heddle every other thread is in a slot and the remaining threads are in holes. The threads in the slots will move below the hole threads when the heddle is lifted. And conversely, the threads in the slots will move above the hole threads when the heddle is lowered. The shuttle

holding the weft can be passed through with the heddle raised, then on the next pass with the heddle lowered, resulting in plain weave. Double holed heddles Then I saw heddles with two rows of holes (figure 3), the extra are directly over the standard holes.

1 - Double Holed Heddle

These heddles were traditionally used in tape looms. The top row of holes are for pattern threads. The pattern threads are in a contrasting color and are often thicker than the remaining background threads. When you lower the heddle, the pattern threads are between the slot background threads on the top and the lower background thread in the lower holes. While the pattern threads are “suspended” in the middle of the shed, you can easily pick which pattern threads you want, raising them above the shuttle, and lowering the others below the shuttle using a pointed end of a flat shuttle like a Sami shuttle. For the other pass, the heddle is raised, so both rows of holes are above the slot threads. In this raised position, all the pattern threads are selected. For each pattern thread not needed per the pattern, you need to drop it below the shuttle (in other words to the bottom layer of the shed). There may be a technical name for this weave structure, but to my spinning mind, this is a plain weave with a supplemental warp. Heddles with pattern (shorter) slots An alternative heddle will weave the same cloth as the double hole heddle, but uses a shorter slot for the pattern threads instead of holes (figure 4)

2 - Traditional Scandinavian Patterned Heddle

This heddle took more skill to create. It is physically wider, so it takes more practice to have consistent band width. For many, this heddle makes picking the pattern threads easier, because the pattern threads will always be suspended in the middle shed space between the top and bottom threads of the plain weave. You can have the same weaving results if you use a standard heddle, making sure every third thread is a pattern thread. The pattern threads will be both holes and slots. For some designs having the pattern threads in the alternating hole/slot configuration can work better. You always have to look at where your pattern threads are in relationship to where you need them for that row (pick) of the pattern. Sometimes the pattern thread is where it is supposed to be (either on the top or bottom). Sometimes you will have to either raise or lower a pattern thread. The Sami used to get the same results using a standard heddle, adding the supplemental warp threads laying over the top of the heddle. Weaving half basket weave Canvas is a familiar example of basket weave. Half-basket (figure 5) has the weft going under 2, then over 2 warp threads. This weave structure is magical in relation to pattern threads. The pattern threads float above the weft framed between two weft background threads (figure 6). The pattern threads show beautifully when they are secured above and below by going under a warp thread.

3 - Half Basket Weave 4 - Half Basket Weave with supplemental warp pattern thread

The pattern threads always float over an odd number of weft rows (1, 3, 5, etc). The fabric can be woven 2 different ways. The first uses a standard heddle, with 3 background threads between every pattern thread. This puts all the pattern threads in holes. The weaving is similar. You either leave the pattern thread where it is, assuming it is in the right place (up if included in the pattern or down if not in the pattern). Otherwise you will need to manually raise (if the heddle is lowered) or manually lower (if the heddle is raised). Some traditional patterns are optimized for this configuration, needing little pattern thread manipulation. Sunna Heddle The second approach uses a heddle with short rows that is sometimes called a Sunna heddle (figure 7), although naming of the short row heddles is not consistent. It looks similar to the heddle in figure 4. But each shorter slot is framed with either two long slots or two holes for the half-basket structure. There is some plain weave on each edge as a border.

5 - Sunna Heddle (recent design)

The weaving actions are identical to those of the heddle in figure 4. Conclusion: in researching the heddles, I was amazed to learn that the standard heddle could duplicate all of the specialty heddles by just changing the threading pattern. Traditionally these heddles were used in band weaving. You can apply the alternate threading to rigid heddle looms. That would open a world of design possibilities for wider cloth too.

REED STANDS FOR SALE

Stand will hold reeds, lease sticks, spreader battens, raddles, etc.

out of harm’s way. Constructed of Poplar, the base of the stand has a foot print of 20 inches by 19 inches and an overall height of 46 inches. The

base has a bottom panel to keep stored items off the floor. The stand base and castle supports are sanded but left unfinished to

allow the weaver to finish as they please. Reeds and other stored items are separated by dowels at three

levels; creating individual slots for stored items. Will store up to 20 reeds and slots can be made wider to store

lease sticks, spreader battens, raddle and other similar items. Price $195

Contact Annita Magee at Cranberry Hill Yarns and Weaving – (907) 868-2616

For Sale: Jerry Jensen, Ultimate Production Wheel. Hand-crafted

and signed. Excellent condition. Made of cherry wood. 30" drive wheel, double drive and scotch tension, double treadle. Spindle-style distaff included. 4 bobbins, 3 flyer

whorls $9,00. Must be picked up in Seward. Add $60 for delivery to Anchorage or Soldotna.

Email me to purchase: elly@goseward.com or call 491-0553 after 3:30 weekdays or any reasonable time on the

weekends. Thanks! https://ellyrayalaska.wordpress.com/

ANWG 2017 NW Weavers Conference: Treadle Lightly Location: Victoria, BC

Dates: Workshops 6/28-6/30 Conference 7/1-7/2

Website: http://www.anwgconference2017.com/

Colors: http://www.anwgconference2017.com/the-conference-colours/

ANWG is coming! ANWG is coming!

Other Fiber Activities Around the State:

Alaska has a vibrant and active fiber community. Here is a sampling of events happening around State you may be interested in attending.

Cordova Fiber Arts Guild

Website: https://www.facebook.com/cdvfiber/?hc_ref=SEARCH

Eagle River Spinners Location: Eagle River Library; Eagle River, AK

Dates: 4/15

The Cordova Fiber Arts Guild plans to hold another guild

meeting later in the year at a time TBD. In the meantime, check out their Facebook page to keep current on what members are working on.

The Eagle River Spinners welcome anyone interested in the

fiber arts. Please join us at 10 am on the third Saturday of the month at the Eagle River Library. This is an opportunity

to not only to spin together, but as an outreach to, and educational tool for, our community.

Homer December Spinning Nights Location: Knitty Stash

Dates: Tuesday nights

Time: 7pm-9pm

Website: http://knittystash.com

Join us for an evening of social spinning. All levels welcome, drop spindles too.

Seward Fi-brrs Location: A Flyin’ Skein

Dates: Thursday Nights

Time: 6pm-9pm

Website: http://aflyinskein.com/

Bring your project and knit until nine!

Fairbanks Weavers and Spinners: Fairbanks Fiber Festival Dates: October 7-8, 2017

Save the date! The second Fairbanks Fiber Festival will take place Saturday, October 7th at Pioneer Park in

Fairbanks. This year we have more room and we’re starting to plan fun demos. There will be workshops on the second day, Sunday, October 8th. Stay tuned for information about those. If you are a vendor and would like to have a table at the event, contact Linda Harriger - l.harriger@gmail.com. The Fairbanks event was very

successful last year and we look forward to the much larger Pioneer Park venue, with room for more vendors and workshops, in October. Stay up to date with our Facebook page: Fairbanks Fiber Festival.

Fireweed Fiber Guild: Meeting Location: Soldotna Library

Dates: 3rd Thursday of the month (4/20)

Time: 5:30pm

Website: http://fireweedfiberguild.webs.com/

Join us for our February Guild meeting.

VFAG: February Meeting Location: Palmer Library

Dates: Saturday, 4/1

Time: 10am

Website: http://valleyfiberarts.org/events.php

Join us for our February Meeting and Spinning Bee!

VFAG: Alaskan Fiber Arts Retreat Location: Camp Maranatha

Dates: 4/28-30 Cost: $95-130 Website: http://akcamp.org/2017-alaska-fiber-arts-spring

There are still spaces available at the spring fiber retreat!

Upcoming Events:

Date Event Link/Location

3/31-4/3 AWSG John Mullarkey Workshops Mt Vernon Commons

Anchorage, AK

4/3 AWSG Board Meeting BP Energy Center

Anchorage, AK

6:30 pm

4/8 AWSG General Meeting First Congregational Church

Anchorage, AK

10am-12pm

5/13 Spring Potluck and AWSG General

Meeting

First Congregational Church

Anchorage, AK

10am-12pm

5/19-21 AWSG Spring No Frills Fiber Retreat Info Above

Anchorage, AK

Board Member Info:

Board Member Information may be found at: http://www.anchorageweavespin.org/about.html

President: Anne Brooks, Historian: Clydene Fitch

President Elect: Truitt Smith Librarian: Vickie Campbell

Treasurer: Rebecca Pasley HGA Rep: Vacant

Secretary: Brenda Salario ANWG Rep: Annita Magee

Member-At-Large: Beverly Bronner Website Editor: Linda Conover

Programs: Laurene Stout Equipment Rentals: Bonnie Tisler

Terry Newbold Newsletter Editor: Nicole Putnam

Workshops: (weave) Christine Dittrich

(weave) Lori Wright

(spin) Marilyn Fine

(spin) Marjorie Mclaren

Our Advertisers: The new Guild year is upon us! If you would like to place an ad in the newsletter for the 2016-17 season,

please contact the Treasurer or the Newsletter Editor.