# Spinners Guild - WOW!



## MamaRed (Dec 18, 2013)

I went to my first spinners guild meeting tonight and had the most fun! A speaker brought different "problem" fleeces from her farm and explained when to troubleshoot, how some of the "flaws" can actually make your yarn more interesting, and when it may be better to get something else. After that, I got to try out a drum carder. Next month, we're going to be felting wool and making mittens.

They have a library of books, magazines and Dvds, as well as different carders available for monthly rental. There is a Beginner's Corner, where new people like me can sign up for one on one lessons during the meeting. I guess that will have to wait until March, since I signed up to make mittens next month.

All that, and the nicest people. Are they all like this? If anyone has a guild in their area - or even somewhat close - I would highly recommend checking them out. Members even brought their spinning wheels with them, and were spinning throughout the meeting. Oh, and there was show-and-tell time when members shared completed projects, and told some of the challenges they encountered, and how they addressed them.

I can't wait until next month!!


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## ErikaMay (Feb 28, 2013)

Cool. I wish we had something like that in my vicinity. 

I'd be curious to know what she said about "problem fleeces"....I may have a few of those. Particularly after my pig got out and took my best fleece out of the bag and mixed it with some straw for a nice bed! grrr!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

MamaRed yes most guilds are like that, at least in my experience. Fiber people in general tend to be the nicest and warmest people on Earth. I'm so glad you were able to go and that it sounds like your guild is very active doing all sorts of fun stuff. I just wish there were guilds close enough for everyone to attend. Please keep us posted on future guild meetings and the fun stuff you learn and do. Franco posts a thread each month after his guild meeting with a little synopsis of what they did and he takes lots of pictures too.


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## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

What a wonderful guild where you meet people with your interests and you can learn new things too. I totally adore the Fiber Festivals that offer classes on so many things. I will take classes I've had before just for the fun. I'm sure your guild will lead you to a Festival sooner or later----great fun!


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

They are not all that great ..... I went to my first one last week ..... it was 3 hours , 6 of us ..... all they did was gossip about the treasurer who just got fired and there was money missing ...... I guess I live in the sticks and there are mini groups that belong to the guild that is 1.5 hours away ... I tried asking spinning questions , but it got lost and reverted to crazy conversations ! 
They meet at each others homes every other week , and sit around and spin ... 

ENJOY the group you found , thats awesome !!!


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## MamaRed (Dec 18, 2013)

Erika, she talked about different things (barley, alfalfa) getting stuck in wool, and about the different stains you may deal with. Just about anything can be carded, combed or flicked out of wool, it's just a matter of how much time you want to put into it. There was one thing, I think it was barley, she said was so difficult to get out, it was hardly worth it. It was funny, she said "honey" colored fleece is now very popular with dollmakers. They just don't let it get out that the honey color is urine stain.

Miz Mary, I'm so sorry that your group was yucky. The local group meets here just once a month, and it's in a church basement classroom. I would say there were 40ish people in attendance. The group meets about 30 minutes from where I live, but I think it's worth a 60 minute or so drive, since it's just once a month. It was a 2 hour meeting, with the first 30 minutes or so being "business," and the rest being hands on. Those who had already gone through the fleece selection talk, spun and helped each other out. I really hope you're able to find a good group.


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## Wind in Her Hair (Jul 18, 2002)

Miz Mary, so sorry your guild is less of a guild and more of a gossip group.  

If I were you, maybe I'd ask one of the more "interested" members about other options. Who knows? Maybe they feel the same way? 

In groups like that sometimes all it takes is for a couple of folks to start the ball rolling and soon you might be in the middle of something really fun and educational.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

There is a weaving guild near me, and I think everyone spins. It has turned into more of a spinner's guild than a weaving guild. Sometimes we had interesting meetings, but mostly we sat and spun. I was in it two or three year and stopped going. A knitting guild started an hour away from the weaving/spinning guild and most of the spinners belong to the knitting guild as well. In fact, I went from the knitters to the spinners.

It's nice when everyone can get along.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

I'm glad you found a guild that is fun. Our guild is spinning and weaving guild. We have Saturday Group meetings where we switch topics each month, like spinning, then weaving, then something odd like dyeing, or basket weaving, or crochet or something else. Sometimes more fun than others, but usually fun.
Lucky you!
My blog post from last meeting:
http://francosfiberadventure.blogspot.com/2014/01/swsg-jan-2014.html


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

MamaRed said:


> It was funny, she said "honey" colored fleece is now very popular with dollmakers. They just don't let it get out that the honey color is urine stain.


:hysterical:


In angora rabbits we have "junk" wool or "seconds" or whatever. You can dye it and then spin into lumpy yarn that is very popular with knitters.

See my blog post with links to pictures: Designer Yarn from Lumpy Wool
http://francosfiberadventure.blogspot.com/2010/12/designer-yarn-junk-wool.html


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

I belong to a couple fiber guilds or groups (and I'm in the hicks!!)

*Bishop Hill Fiber Guild* meets once a month. It is a fairly large group of ladies (over 100) but there is a core of 20-30 or so that comes to the meetings once a month. It is about an hour from me. Doors open at 10, meeting starts at 11. We break for lunch (bring your own because the nearest restaurant is 30 minutes away). After lunch is show & tell and some sort of project is taught. We also have a fiber study that goes on. This year it is Down breeds. The folks that are participating get 2 oz of fiber. One person does a study & right up about that breed and passes it along to the other participating. We each spin our fiber and have a show & tell to see our differences. The meeting usually gets over between 3-4, depending on how much fun we're having. Our guild has a Fiber Festival each October.

*Seyller Rd Fiber Guild* is an off shoot of a weekly fiber guild I tried to hold at my house. It went strong at my place for about 6 months, then fizzled. This is a bunch of church ladies from a small town 20 miles from me. We usually meet every 2 weeks at someone's home or at a local restaurant. We have knitters, crocheters, quilters, spinners, dyers, tatters. Sometimes we do projects, sometimes we take field trips, all the time we eat and fellowship. Love these ladies!

Then there is my community outreach ministry *Fibers of Life*. We connect generations together through the fiber arts. There is a core group of 10-15 that meet each Friday night at my church. We have moms that bring their children, great-grandmothers that spoil these kids rotten, we have older moms that 'drag' their older children here (for the first time). It is all about connections. I've seen some beautiful relationships bloom. Grandparents whose grandchildren only visit once a year connecting up with a family of 5 young children whose grandparents live 1,000 miles away. Troubled teens connecting with another adult and talking over 'issues' that the teens are having while teaching the adult how to knit or weave.


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

MamaRed - I'm glad you found a great group and are having fun 

MizMary - You aren't alone. There aren't many options here. The closest one is a very clique-y group of fiber snobs.  I've been finding many spinners that are raising their own animals and maybe one day we'll all organize in somebody's barn and have some fun spinning  There's a weaver's guild a ways away that also does spinning to a small degree. They invited me to come join them when I can. That group of people ... sigh...i wish the people around here were more like them. They've been together for a long time and are welcoming of new people.


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## MamaRed (Dec 18, 2013)

It's really amazing how yarn can bring people together. When I was a teacher, I taught my students to use the knitting looms because they wanted to make beanies. The cool part was this was high school boys, who had been expelled from school, mostly for fighting and drugs. We'd "knit" every day after lunch. Once the boys had their own beanies, we made cute little, soft, fuzzy ones to donate to the local hospital for new babies. We called the program "Knitting with the Homies," and soon kids from other classes were asking to join us. Imagine a 16-year-old boy with an earring, shaved head, neck tattoo, and super baggy clothes, knitting a fuzzy pink baby beanie.:thumb:


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## foolsgold (Jun 8, 2013)

MamaRed that sounds just awesome :cowboy: Do you have any pictures of that?? :thumb:


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## MamaRed (Dec 18, 2013)

Foolsgold, I'm sure I did, but I'm not sure where to look for them now. Just to add to the fun I would call them "poopsy" or "sugar plum," whatever totally silly name I could come up with. Can you just imagine them in a spinning circle?


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Raccoon breath, why wait. Make phone calls to the people you like and meet at your house. As more people come into the group you can find a church hall or some place like that to meet.


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## raccoon breath (Aug 5, 2010)

I should, huh? I held off out of habit because usually this time of year here, I'm buns deep in snow with bad roads. This is a very unusual winter. If the nice weather continues, we could do it. Great idea. My luck, the snow will begin again and this group will be the closest thing to a guild for me, which is fine and I'm perfectly content with that. I am usually spinning when I'm online..spin a little, read a little seeing what everyone's doing and telling them about my projects while drinking my coffee or soda.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 22, 2008)

You can always plan to have breaks in your schedule. Our guild suspends business meetings during the summer and the month of December. The smaller focus groups meet throughout the year. You can have a 3 season group that suspends the meetings when the roads close.


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