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Tzouhalem Spinners and Weavers Guild NewsletterOctober 2016

Hello Spinners and Weavers,

With a winter of woolly adventures before us,

Toni Gatland wanted to share this beautiful whimsical little video “Revolution”, created by Hansen crafts on the evolution of spinning.

Just follow this link:

http://hansencrafts.com/a-revolution-in-handspinning/

Hansen Crafts LLC, 710 E Park Avenue, Port Townsend, WA 98368

Enjoy!

Cynara

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Sandi D’s woolly woodpecker and turtle, and Carol A’s nuthatch.

October Show and Tell

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Carol A, Marion and Tammi shared results of indigo dyeing workshop in Cynara’s kitchen.

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More indigo adventures: Shibori from Jill who attended the Natural Dyeing workshop at Jane Stafford’s. Below, Kazuko’s purchased shibori purse.

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Lois finished this lovely child’s cardigan from leftover yarn.

and Marion is knitting a remake of a favourite hat that had a bit of mouse damage.

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Jill and Cynara brought fabric woven with plans to sew clothing. Jill’s lovely green striped project will be inspired by the knit wear book - a great publication. Cynara wove two pieces of linen on the same block twill threading to build an interesting top. The green silk was the result of fresh indigo leaf dyeing.

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Evid took Val Galvin’s rug braiding workshop, and is loving it. Here she is modeling her basket.Marion shared her Krokbragd woven sampleGudrun is working on an interesting crochet scarf using specific lengths of coloured yarn.Carol brought two lovely skeins of her handspun which she will donate to Providence Farm.

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Kazuko shared a fun assortment of bags all made from recycled clothing which she purchased in Japan, as well as the beaded crayon bag that she bought from a Shawnigan Lake artist.Evid shared a beautiful knitted wire belt that she found.

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America shared this interesting tapestry from Bolivia. It appears to be woven, but is actually dyed roving placed between warp threads and machine stitched down in horizontal rows.

She also shared the pieces she has woven and knit to make a pair of slippers - woven toe and sole, and knitted heel.

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Tammi shared with us a photo of the amazing tapestries which she went to see at Coventry Cathedral, England..

Coventry Cathedral Tapestry 

The Christ in Glory, Graham Sutherland’s iconic masterpiece at Coventry Cathedral, is 75ft-high and is one of the world’s largest tapestries.Weighing just over a ton, Christ in Glory was over 8 years in the making and took 10 weavers more than two years to complete.

Artist Graham Sutherland was invited by Basil Spence, the architect of Coventry Cathedral, to design the tapestry - which he accepted in 1952.By early 1958, the design was accepted by the church authorities and sent to France, in preparation for the weaving.

Making a tapestry that big required a loom 40ft wide and only a few workshops could accommodate a work of this size. The firm of Pinton Freres in France was chosen for the enormous task. The loom used to make ‘Christ in Glory’ consisted of two large tree trunks. It was set up in a room allowing  only 2 inches to spare either side.

Most of the wool came from Australia and photographic enlargements were made of the design so that the weavers could have a pattern to help with the hand dyeing of more than 900 different colours. Coventry Cathedral’s world famous tapestry has 7,000 warp threads in the 38 feet width, giving about 15 threads per inch, and about 144 stitches per square inch.

It was flown to England and hung on large bronze bails 12 inches from the wall before the consecration of the new cathedral in May 1962.The tapestry was hung away from the wall to allow for the effect of atmospheric changes on the wool.It is guaranteed fade-proof and moth-proof for 500 years.

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Coventry Tapestry

The 'Coventry Tapestry' is the highlight of the historic collections at St. Mary's Guildhall, and is widely recognized as one of the rarest and most important examples of this art in the country.

Manufactured around the years 1495 to 1500, its significance lies not just in its age and remarkable state of preservation, but also in the fact that, incredibly, it remains hanging on the very wall for which it was created more than five hundred years ago.

At more than nine metres wide and three metres high, this magnificent artwork dominates the north wall of the Great Hall, and is testament to both the skill of its Flemish weavers, and the wealth of the city of Coventry at the end of the fifteenth century.

The scene portrayed includes seventy five individual characters, principally members of a Royal court, angels, saints and apostles, with an image of the Virgin Mary at its centre, and incorporates numerous examples of symbolism and hidden meaning, some of which remain unexplained. It has even been observed that light from the west windows specifically illuminates the head of the Virgin Mary at certain times of the year, either a strange co-incidence or an inspired feature of the original design.

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Evid always finds interesting books at the library to share.

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Val Galvin aka the happy hooker (Renditions in Rags) gave a tremendously inspirational overview of her hooking

and braiding artistry.

Textile Evening October with Val Galvin

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Fleece and Fibre Festival

Joanne R shared this pre-chaos photo of the TSWG booth. The Festival is so well attended that it’s fairly impossible to see anything except the frenzied fibre fixated shoppers.Despite the stormy weather, the event was well attended.