HTS Newsletter, August, 2009Volunteer editor: Gary Lee Phillips, fuffle@ix.netcom.com
HTS Newsletter, August, 2009
Volunteer editor: Gary Lee Phillips, fuffle@ix.netcom.com
Our next meeting will take place on Saturday, August 8, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at The Fold, 3316 Millstream Rd., Marengo (directions available here.) This month's meeting includes discussion about the show in October. Entry forms (and projects, if ready) may be submitted at this meeting. See farther below for details and entry forms.
September 12 meeting reminder: Turn in remaining show projects if possible, and join us at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival that Saturday. No meeting at The Fold.
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The deadline for the next
newsletter will be August 29, 2009. If you are submitting material for inclusion in the newsletter, I really would appreciate having it by the deadline. The newsletter continues to be delayed by late announcements and information, and I would much prefer to get it out to you several days earlier than is now possible.
When we met in July to experiment with natural dyes, someone suggested that we should form a precision drop spindle marching team. We could be featured in our local Fourth of July parades. It sounded like a good idea to me. Drop spindles are, after all, amazingly versatile and easily portable. Who ever heard of tucking a saxony spinning wheel in your carry-on luggage? But a drop spindle? No problem.
So when my husband, Mark, and I headed west for a National Geographic tour of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, of course I tucked a few projects in my bag.
We started in Bozeman, Montana, where a bear in the airport scorned a noble craft (left.) The fiber is superwash merino, dyed with fustic at our July natural dyes day. The spindle is a Driftwood, purchased from Stef Isaacson at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair. The second picture (see right) taken before the terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs, shows a silk and linen being spun on a Greensleeves Loki, also purchased at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair.
But back to the fustic superwash. Here's the Driftwood filling up in front of Old Faithful (see left.) Since the Driftwood was full, I had to pull out a True Creations for the raft trip down the Snake River and the ski lift ride to the hill overlooking Jackson, Wyoming. (Yes, I brought more than one spindle!) By the way - we also saw real bears, bison, moose, eagles, mountain goats, elk, deer, mountains, geysers, glaciers, and all sorts of other neat things. Going on a trip with a naturalist was worth every extra penny we spent. Thank you, National Geographic. Travelocity gnome, eat your heart out!
By the way, did I mention that we spent our July meeting playing with natural dyes? Here we are, destroying Susan's kitchen, and you can see some of the results in Gary's article down below. The silk hankies are dyed with cochineal. The red and black yarns are cochineal and logwood. You can see fustic and weld towards the back of the table. The very pale blue on the far end of the table is yarn that has been mordanted in copper.
A few additional dyeing photos can be seen here by using the thumbnails at the right of the linked page to scroll to the right.
August is a sit and spin with discussion and showing of items already finished for the gallery in October, and remember -- We're meeting in September at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI. See you there.
The prospectus and entry form for the 2009 Hollow Tree Spinners Show is now available on our Web site at
Read the prospectus carefully. There are no changes from last yeart except for the dates; however, it's important that we refresh ourselves on the rules, including the following.
Dates: Entry forms must be given or sent to Susan Rubendall in time for receipt by September 7. If at all possible, please submit them much earlier. Susan will have forms available at the August meeting, so if you have any difficulty opening or printing them, you can complete and turn them in at the meeting.
Projects must be given or sent to Susan for receipt by September 25. If they are ready by September 12, you can give them to her at the meeting in Wisconsin.
Entry form details: Choose your category number carefully and write the number (not the name) on the Show category line. The categories are listed in the prospectus.
Use the bottom lines of the form to provide the judge with information that will help her understand your goals and your analysis of the project. The judge's feedback will be much more beneficial if she understands what you were trying to do
The dyeing day at Susan's house was great fun and informative as well. I think everyone saw or learned something new. Thanks to Susan and E.J. for hosting the event. We're also glad to report that Susan's husband Ben, who had been hospitalized that week, is home and recovering well. The photo below shows some of the dyeing results, courtesy of E.J. For additional photos, click on the one shown here, and use the small thumbnails at the right of the resulting page to navigate forward or backward.
In my own personal news, I managed to survive the "Tour de Fleece" (see last month's newsletter for details.) Photo of my spinning results below.
Tomorrow (August 4) morning, I'll be judging knitting and crochet entries, and the first ever spun skein entries at the McHenry County Fair. I hope to see lots of your names on those tags when they are unfolded afterward so I find out who did each piece. Don't forget to be finishing your entries for the show in October as well. There are less than TWO full months left, folks. I'd like to see lots of small projects, so please consider mittens or a hat at least. We could use more felting entries too, both needle felted and wet felted. Items that were entered in the county fairs can also be entered in the show in October.
Programs for the new year: This year's schedule will be announced as early as possible both at meetings and in the newsletter. Note that all workshops are optional, and you are welcome to come and socialize or sit & spin during workshops. All of this year's presentations will be led by members, so there will be no fees. Refer questions about events or schedule to Susan at SusanRubendall@aol.com.
There are less than two months left until all show projects for 2009 must be complete. NOW! is the time to start planning for next year's show.
If you know of an upcoming event, or have a press release or web link, send it to Gary (fuffle@ix.netcom.com) in time for the previous month's deadline in order to make sure it gets into the newsletter in time.
Space permitting, members and their friends may submit notices and classified advertisements to appear here.
Did you miss the July newsletter? It's still available online, right here. Past newsletters are retained online for one year before we retire them to reuse the space.
Are you receiving a monthly e-mail telling you that the newsletter is ready? If not, you need to sign up for the Hollow Tree Spinners e-mail discussion group.
We are trying a Web-based newsletter instead of e-mailing the actual document. This should mean that anyone with access to the internet will be able to see the newsletter, regardless of the kind of computer or software they are using. Most public libraries now have internet browser access as well. An e-mail will be sent to members once a month when the newsletter is ready, reminding them to look at it and print it if they wish. Please let us know what you think. E-mail the editor, Gary Phillips, or guild manager Toni Neil with your comments or suggestions.
Meetings are on the second Saturday of each month unless otherwise announced. The newsletter should be ready by the Saturday before the meeting. Please get items, announcements, etc. to the newsletter editor, Gary, at least a full week in advance of the newsletter date (TWO weeks before the next meeting.)