Fiber Arts and Equipment – Page 59

Colonial Christmas 4th grade style – 12/20/2019

The fourth graders at the local elementary school have just finished up studying about Jamestown and today is the last day of school before winter break. There are 3 classes that rotate with 3 teachers for Science and History with one, Math with one, and Language Arts with one with a 4th teacher that is support. To end their unit and try to have some level of control on this last full day, they planned a Colonial Christmas celebration. In one room they dipped candles, in another they made pomander balls, the third room had a Christmas movie playing, making herb coated ornaments, and me in Colonial clothing with a lesson about colonial clothing, textiles, spinning, and weaving. I always take many “toys,” several different types of spindles, lucet, combs, carders, my wheel, and this time a borrowed rigid heddle loom. I love this type of event.

The children had an hour in each room, so I had 6 groups for about 30 minutes each to talk about a brief history of spinning, history of homespun, and some weaving. Some groups watched and asked a few questions, the most common one was, “Do you wear that every day?” Some groups wanted hands on and I allowed carding of wool and playing with the various spindles that I demonstrated first. With the number and age of the kids, I didn’t let them handle the sharp combs and knew that letting any of them use the wheel I was asking for trouble. And as the rigid heddle was borrowed from a friend, I only demonstrated on it.

There were photos taken by various adults, but none by me.

My favorite question though, was as I was packing up to leave, a tiny little gal approached and very quietly asked if she could ask me something. Of course, I replied. She asked, “Where you around in Jamestown?” I laughed my way home with that one. The old lady with her spinning wheel.

Another great opportunity to teach the youth and maybe interest some of them in pursuing an interest in fiber.

Rabbit Holes – 12/10/2019

Various crafts have come and gone from my life, but most have been fiber crafts with limited equipment and consumable supplies. My mother switched crafts like clothing and most of her crafts required cabinets full of molds; candle making and cake decorating come to mind. She tried cross stitch after I started, bought boxes of bobbins and colors, embroidery hoops, and needles, but failed to keep her crosses all in the same direction and consistent and lost interest. Later in life, she helped on a quilt for her church’s retiring pastor and decided she wanted to become a quilter. I have what I think is the only quilt she ever completed. It was made for my husband and me as a wedding present. She pieced the top and had it quilted by someone else. It is lovely, but has never been used, just displayed because every time it is spread out, I have to sit with needle and thread and re-applique sections as she used a poly cotton blend and her stitching was too long.

Each of her crafts required lots of equipment and when her health failed and my parents sold our childhood home to downsize prior to her death. I went to help pack goods for donation, trash, and the move. Boxes and boxes of candle and cake molds, alone with other craft goods were packed up and taken to a donation center. I don’t remember if the quilting frame had been borrowed or purchased.

I do have an antique spinning wheel and a contemporary wheel I spin on, a 5 foot triangular loom with an easel, hand cards and combs that I use when demonstrating spinning at living history events. A set of interchangeable knitting needles and a couple of crochet hooks, but I have been doing this for quite a while now and continue playing with fiber.

My weaving experience has played with a rigid heddle loom for a few times and learning to weave on the Tri loom to use up some of my yarn more quickly. Having borrowed a small rigid heddle for the upcoming Colonial demonstration at a local elementary school, I needed a refresher on warping it. I posted a bit about it a few days ago. I wove off the short bit that was already on the loom and will make a small bag from it. Sunday, I stripped the rest off and tackled warping it with a 7′ warp.

To my surprise and delight, I was able to do it and it only took me about half an hour. I started weaving some of the gray and some of the teal wool yarn I had purchased to warp it and demonstrate on it and just kept going. I wove about 40 inches, carefully removed it and tied the remainder back on the front bar for the demonstration and made a cowl out of what I had woven.

Weaving the cowl, tying and twisting the fringe took just a couple of hours. Knitting a cowl takes much, much longer. This could become another rabbit hole, but it is easier on my arthritic wrist and hand.

Fun With Friends – 12/5/2019

I belong to a spinning group that meets once a week during the day and has an offshoot (maybe the original group) that meets once a month at night. The group is called the Spunsters, nice play on a term. We are mostly gals, but not entirely. The daytime group are mostly retired women, but a few that still work outside the home that come when their job allows. This group is very generous with their knowledge and often their equipment as well. I had recently taken up spinning with a drop spindle when I discovered them, then using the Community Room at the local library. Eventually, the library started preempting us, often at the last minute, so we relocated, finally landing at the Recreation Center. A couple of times each year, one member who has a lovely, large home that is centrally located holds a social event where we bring snacks, she furnishes beverages, and we have sale and free tables and at the holidays, we have a Dirty Santa exchange. The gift must be of fiber or fiber related theme. Last year the event was just after mid December and we had just had a snow and ice event a few days prior, so her driveway was a bit treacherous for some of the gals. She decided to try to beat the bad weather this year and we held the party today.

There are a lot of food allergies in my group of friends, and I often try to make something that is gluten free, dairy free, and nut free. This year I didn’t. I love shortbread, but didn’t want to make plain shortbread. I made the recipe, added Almond extract, topped it with a thin layer of melted Giradelli dark chocolate, and sprinkled crushed Heath Bars on top. I did put an allergy list on it, but still half of it was consumed.

Half the fun of the Dirty Santa game is to have folks that don’t just pick a wrapped gift from under the tree, but peruse the already opened gifts and select from one of them. Most of this group are reticent to do that, but a few of us will. One gal couldn’t stay for the entire Santa part so she didn’t participate in it, and as she was leaving, the hostess told everyone to wish her goodbye and quickly grabbed an opened gift. Lots of laughs and exaggerated perturbation over having their gift taken. Sometimes they go get a different wrapped item, sometimes they will take another open gift. There were lots of very nice gifts today, fiber, yarn, notions, and books. I took an opened gift and it was taken from me. I took another opened gift and came home with this.

I also came home with a fringe twister and a Mayan spinner that will be added to my spinning equipment that goes to teaching events. The fringe twister was the result of my asking for knowledge assistance as I spent hours untying knotted fringe on a shawl and hand twisting the fringe into a more finished twisted fringe. The Mayan spinner a gift to add to my demonstration tools.

On December 20, I will be a Colonial spinner for the 4th graders at a local elementary school as they conclude their unit on Colonial history. One of my Spunster friends is going to loan me a small loom and help me get it warped so that I can have it set up and demonstrate it that day too. It will be a fun day of demonstrating how labor intensive having clothing and household linens was in Colonial times.

I don’t get to this group weekly, but enjoy when I have the opportunity and appreciate the generosity of these spinners of their time, expertise, and loan of equipment.