the ulster guild of spinners, weavers and dyers

November meeting

2011-10-30T09:48:00.002Z

1 November 2011

Kamal Maani-Hessari is coming to give a talk on Oriental Carpets.

October meeting

2011-10-02T19:12:00.003+01:00

Tuesday 4th October 2011

Peg loom weaving with Dorothy Dinsmore. Dorothy will bring along her peg loom for us to have a go on.

September Meeting

2011-08-25T14:40:00.003+01:00

6th September 2011

Good to be back, time to catch up with everyone news. Members that went to summer school will tell us about their course. Do you have any interesting pics of your hol's(I mean textile related) then bring them along and share.

1st March 2011 meeting

2011-03-11T10:33:00.003Z

Silk Handmade paper. Anne will demonstrate how to make silk paper. There will be an opportunity to have a go. If you have an coloured fibres bring them along, you will not require very much of any one of them.

1st March 2011 meeting

2011-02-13T16:37:00.001Z

Natutal Fibres - a talk by Michael Harnett on the history of linen.
Bring your wheels along.

1st February 2011

2011-01-09T11:21:00.002Z

Crochet and Knitted Flowers. This is a change from the printed programme which was to be Silk handmade paper; this will be later meeting. Please bring knitting & crochet needles plus oddments of yarn. Look forward to seeing you all there.

4 January meeting

2010-11-29T10:57:00.002Z

Respect the Spindle (DVD) This meeting is not at the Museum but at David and Claudia bookstore - No Alibis 83 Botanic Ave., (opposite Starbucks & close to the Botanic train station) usual time 7.30pm

7 December meeting

2010-11-29T10:53:00.003Z

Christmas Party & Secret Santa

This year you are to use 75 - 100gms of your own fibres to make a gift for the Secret Santa.
If you have not made something please come along anf join the party.

From Bonnets to Bloomers

2010-10-22T10:47:00.003+01:00

2nd November 2010 meeting

A talk by Joanne Burns from the Museum on 19th Century costume.

5th October 2012

2010-09-22T09:22:00.002+01:00

Hackling, Drum carder and Wild carding.

These pieces of equipment will be demonstrated and you will be able to have a go. Bring along some washed fleece and a small selection of tops. Remember to bring your spinning wheel as well.

7th September 2010

2010-09-05T10:07:00.003+01:00

First meeting of the new programme. Good to be back, time to catch up with everyone's news.
Bring and Buy Sale/Swap shop, this went down well last year. New members very welcome.

2010-05-06T11:23:00.002+01:00

1st June 2010

Party and work for exhibition !

Please bring work to display at the Portaferry Tourist Centre later in the year. As the exhibition is not manned, work that fits into our box frames may be best.
Party ! Please bring some food to share and a rug and we will party out side. See you there

2010-04-18T09:33:00.002+01:00

4th May meeting

Competition and AGM

Please come along for the competition and bring your entries. Back in December and January fleece was given out for the Challenge - what could you do with the fleece given to you? We also need theses and more for the exhibition at Portaferry in July. The AGM will not take long.
We hope to have a June meeting and party. Watch this space.

13 April 2010 next meeting

2010-03-18T11:04:00.002Z

Tuesday 13th April, due to Easter we have moved to the second Tuesday in April. Angle Beggs from the Lisburn Museum/ Linen Centre is to give a talk on Linen from the Lisburn area; she will also bring her flax wheel and give a demonstration.

2010-02-07T12:24:00.001Z

2nd March meeting

Unagh McCullough will teach us how to make stitch markers to help keep count of all those awkward patterns. A small charge will be made to cover materials.

2010-01-03T17:36:00.003Z

2nd February An evening for spinning or working on whichever project you are currently working on. The ideal chance to start preparing your entry for the Fleece Challenge.

2010-01-03T17:10:00.003Z

5th January An outing! David and Claudia will show use an Elizabeth Zimmerman DVD at their bookstore, No Alibis, 83 Botanic Ave., (opposite Starbucks), Belfast. A portion of the Fleece Challenge will be given out.

Autumn programme

2009-08-20T19:23:00.002+01:00

Coming soon............

First meeting of autumn will be Tuesday 1st September 2009 7:30pm in the Linen room, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum

Wool Day 2009

2009-06-01T16:49:00.004+01:00

As always the weather was fabulous. The spinners gathered at the Corradreenan farm where we had a lovely day spinning, knitting and chatting. There were lots of visitors to the folk park and hopefully a few new members for the guild!

Purl Celebration

2009-05-17T18:31:00.001+01:00

Keep an eye on your inboxes for details of the venue and time for the Purl Celebration. Remember to RSVP by Friday 22nd May. And contact Lorna (secretary) if you have any queries....

Selling your yarn and Purl Celebration plans

2009-04-08T08:40:00.005+01:00

Last nights meeting focused on selling your yarn. Joanne, Inga and Freda each gave a short presentation. Joanne discussed using the internet and marketing your products. Inga introduced us to 'googlewack' and 'making yourself viral' in her talk on promoting yourself and Freda talked about her experience of selling at craft fairs, shows and local shops. Hopefully everyone was inspired and maybe we'll all be decreasing our current stash so we can make a new one!

We were reminded to leave items for display/sale at Knit and Stitch with Joanne, Dorothy, Kay or Inga before Wednesday 15th April.

Forthcoming events also mentioned were:
UFTM Cultra Wool Day 30th May
Saintfield Show 20th June 2009
Castlewellan Show 18th July (TBC)
Holywood Transition Town event Sept 2009 (TBC)

As it is our 30th year as a guild a celebration was proposed. It was also pointed out that 30th anniversary is represented by pearl, so this will be our Purl celebration! It will be on Tuesday 16th June at a venue to be arranged. We hope to contact as many current and past members as possible and new members will also of course be very welcome!

Stitch and Creative Crafts Show, Belfast

2009-04-07T14:54:00.000+01:00

We will be demonstrating spinning, carding and doing a bit of knitting or crochet at the Stitch & Creative Crafts Show in the Kings Hall on 16,17 and 18th April 2009. Come along and say hello.

update to programme

2009-02-19T15:32:00.002Z

The presentation at the March meeting is now confirmed as Freda McGill of the NI Rare Breeds Trust and April will be on using the internet to sell your yarns.

update on spring workshop

2009-02-07T14:07:00.002Z

The workshop will run from 10-4 on Saturday and Sunday 7th and 8th March in the Lagan room.

On Saturday Val will talk about old wheels and her research into the variety of wheels in the UK. Anyone wanting Val and David to look at an old wheel of their own should bring it along too. I'll be taking the opportunity for a bit of child-free spinning and bringing my not-so-old louet too! It'll be our usual pot-luck lunch so bring something to share and a plate/cutlery.

On Sunday Val will teach spinning with the great wheel and Hilary will also be bringing her great wheel along so there should be ample opportunity for us all to get plenty of practice. This will include learning to card for and spin using the long-draw method, so bring your carders, some wool and wheels. Again lunch will be a pot-luck affair.

Personally I can't wait for two whole days of spinning and talking fibre with my friends!

The workshop costs £20 for the two days. There are still one or two places left if people want to attend (please contact Lorna via email to book a place).

february meeting

2009-02-07T14:03:00.002Z

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to the February meeting, but luckily for me neither could the speaker Freda McGill! The weather here was cold and frosty with snow in places and travel was difficult for many. We are hoping to reschedule Freda's talk for March or April and will update the blog once finalised.

Spring Workshop

2009-01-12T11:53:00.003Z

Dorothy is currently taking bookings and deposits for the Spring Workshop. Contact Lorna via email (maisiehandspun(AT)live(dot)ie) if you want to take part.

Valerie and David will be talking to us about their research into Spinning Wheels in the UK, David will tell us about making spinning wheels and Valerie will teach us to spin on their great wheel (which I got to try out at Woolfest 2008), it will be a fascinating workshop with something for everyone.

december meeting

2008-12-04T14:13:00.004Z

we all really enjoyed ourselves on tuesday at our christmas party/ meeting.
we munched on some delicious homemade mince pies, shortcake, spice cake, pecan and orange snowballs and almond macaroons and drank lots of tea and coffee.
we also got to cover our eyes and rummage with our hands in a big black bag - it was secret santa time! the presents were a-plenty and so well made!
may you and yours have a peaceful christmas and a new year full of happiness!
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our next meeting will be held on the 6th january at 7:30pm in the lagan room at the ulster folk and transport museum, cultra, county down.
we look forward to welcoming some more new faces!

december meeting

2008-12-01T11:18:00.003Z

Remember to bring your secret santa gifts tomorrow........
And perhaps your wheel/spindle/current WIP for a relaxing evening of socialising and mince pies!

november meeting

2008-11-18T14:21:00.004Z

at our november meeting (4/11/08) we were treated to a complete demo of weaving with a four-shafted loom by the ever-entertaining rosemary from the ulster folk and transport museum. she ran through everything from winding the weft to threading the loom and at the end we were all invited to do a little weaving ourselves. so informative!

i'm already looking forward to the rest of rosemary's demos later on in the season.

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the fiber for secret santa was passed around.

secret santa presents will be given out on tuesday 2nd december at our christmas party/gathering .

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we'd love you to join us...just drop me a line at maisiehandspun@live.ie

autumn workshop

2008-09-30T08:18:00.004+01:00

Our first workshop was on dyeing with natural dyes taken by Debbie from DT Craft & Design. As her blog already covers it in detail....... here's the link to day one and day two.

welcome

2008-09-30T03:17:00.008+01:00

Welcome to the blog for the Ulster Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. Hopefully this will become a place for those who are interested in becoming members and for those who are already members, to find out what the guild has been up to and is planning on doing.