Nilus Leclerc 4 shaft / 6 treadle Floor Loom
36 Weaveable Inches
Comes with a Reed, Two Boat Shuttles with Bobbins, and Two Lease Sticks
Back Beam Folds in for storage
$550
e-mail: mcmechandenice@hotmail.com telephone: 250 265-4366
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Sallie Bankes is moving to Ontario.
We're having a farewell luncheon for Sallie Bankes on Friday, July 24th at 12:30 p.m. at the PRESTIGE INN (restaurant) in Salmon Arm. For those members who know Sallie Bankes, come and join us for lunch to see her off! For those who do not know Sallie, she has in the past been a long-time member of our guild, a very talented artisan in many areas of artistic endeavour, and we know everyone in Salmon Arm will miss her. She is a very talented weaver and spinner. I know this is short notice, but Sallie's schedule has been hectic and she has very little time available now before her move. We invite all our guild members to join us. See you there for lunch!
Celebrate BC Day
Come and help CELEBRATE B.C. DAY with your guild. Just a reminder that we will have a Spin In at Piccadilly Mall on Friday, July 31st at 10 a.m. Bring along your wheel, weaving, knitting, or whatever you wish. This is a special celebration that Piccadilly is having to help kick off the B.C. Day long weekend. Lots of fun things going on at the mall. There will be a pancake breakfast, farm and craft market, customer appreciation day, barbecue, contests, multicultural entertainment and and a craft station for the kids. We'll be in the mall, so it will be nice and cool! (I can hear you all cheering). See you there! jg
Just a note to say
I understand we have a new member, GLENDA HUGHES! We'd like to welcome you, Glenda, and hope to see and meet you soon. If you need any help or instruction over the summer, please don't hesitate to contact one of us. Although our guild officially has the summer off, we do get together over the summer and will have a fair meeting August 13th at Mona's house. Perhaps we can meet over the summer! Again, a big welcome from all of us at Shuswap Spinners and Weavers Guild!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Black Sheep Gathering 2009 Eugene Oregon
Finally got to the Black Sheep Gathering! It's been on my to-do list for many, many years, and somehow just never happened. This year, Gloria and I decided to go. Wayne and Dave packed their golf clubs and off we went. Of course, the only thing Gloria and I needed were our cheque books! I had high expectations of this event (built up over the years) , and it did not disappoint.
(Wesleydale Sheep)
The Black Sheep Gathering is a large sheep and wool fair. Of course, sheep are big there, but it also has a large component of angora goats, with the national show being held there, as well. Many breeds of sheep and goats are shown and exhibited and quality of judging and livestock was extremely high. It was such a pleasure to be able to look at some of the rare breeds and see wonderful examples of their breed. The more common wool breeds, Romney, Merinos, Rambouillet, etc, were there, plus Shetlands, Jacobs, Wensleydales, Teeswater, Navajo-Churro and more. They even had coloured angora goats. Coloured fleece of any kind is big at Black Sheep!
(Some Rare Breed Sheep)
The trade show was fabulous. There were over 80 vendors, three buildings full! Prices were reasonable. Anything you would ever want to buy was there, fibre, knitting needles, books, dyes, patterns, yarns, etc, in thing you would ever want to buy was there, fibre, knitting needles, books, dyes, patterns, yarns, etc, in spades. Parking was free and admission to buildings was free, as well.
The fleece show was superb with outstanding quality. The fleeces were judged, then set out for the spinners to preview them before the sale the following day. Spinners lined up
(more than a block and a half long) before they open the doors for the sale. (Gloria and I just watched this amazed!) Instructions were given, there was to be no fighting over fleeces! High prices reflected the high quality, with prices well over $100 for top placing fleeces, with lots of outstanding fleeces in the $50, $60, $70 range. Black Sheep usually has over 500 top quality spinning fleeces entered each year.
There was a beautiful gallery show with many entries. We spent a lot of time in there just looking!
( Silk Shawl above and a Navaho rug below)
There were also many workshop and seminars to choose from. They were very reasonably priced, roughly $40 for a half day and $75 for a whole day. I spoke to a few Canadian gals there and they had good reports about their workshops. There were, of course, a lot of spinning workshops, however, they did cover all topics from rug hooking, sweater design, rug weaving, tapestry, dyeing chemical and natural, felting, and much more.
We also watched the Sheep-To-Shawl competition and brought home some new ideas which might be a consideration for our competition in the future. Some of these ideas might solve our competition's financial problems. More on that later.
(First place in the Sheep to Shawl competition)
There were some very beautiful shawls, but I've got to say, our teams could have stood up to any of them! Do teams in our competition (tucked away in a cozy corner in the Interior of B.C.) realize how beautiful their shawls really are and appreciate the high standard of quality they have reached, both creatively and technically? I hope so.
I'm convinced the teams that participate in our competition can hold their own in any sheep to shawl event, no matter where it's held.
Two thumbs up for Black Sheep!
jg
(Wesleydale Sheep)The Black Sheep Gathering is a large sheep and wool fair. Of course, sheep are big there, but it also has a large component of angora goats, with the national show being held there, as well. Many breeds of sheep and goats are shown and exhibited and quality of judging and livestock was extremely high. It was such a pleasure to be able to look at some of the rare breeds and see wonderful examples of their breed. The more common wool breeds, Romney, Merinos, Rambouillet, etc, were there, plus Shetlands, Jacobs, Wensleydales, Teeswater, Navajo-Churro and more. They even had coloured angora goats. Coloured fleece of any kind is big at Black Sheep!
(Some Rare Breed Sheep)The trade show was fabulous. There were over 80 vendors, three buildings full! Prices were reasonable. Anything you would ever want to buy was there, fibre, knitting needles, books, dyes, patterns, yarns, etc, in thing you would ever want to buy was there, fibre, knitting needles, books, dyes, patterns, yarns, etc, in spades. Parking was free and admission to buildings was free, as well.
The fleece show was superb with outstanding quality. The fleeces were judged, then set out for the spinners to preview them before the sale the following day. Spinners lined up
(more than a block and a half long) before they open the doors for the sale. (Gloria and I just watched this amazed!) Instructions were given, there was to be no fighting over fleeces! High prices reflected the high quality, with prices well over $100 for top placing fleeces, with lots of outstanding fleeces in the $50, $60, $70 range. Black Sheep usually has over 500 top quality spinning fleeces entered each year.
There was a beautiful gallery show with many entries. We spent a lot of time in there just looking!
( Silk Shawl above and a Navaho rug below)There were also many workshop and seminars to choose from. They were very reasonably priced, roughly $40 for a half day and $75 for a whole day. I spoke to a few Canadian gals there and they had good reports about their workshops. There were, of course, a lot of spinning workshops, however, they did cover all topics from rug hooking, sweater design, rug weaving, tapestry, dyeing chemical and natural, felting, and much more.
We also watched the Sheep-To-Shawl competition and brought home some new ideas which might be a consideration for our competition in the future. Some of these ideas might solve our competition's financial problems. More on that later.
(First place in the Sheep to Shawl competition)There were some very beautiful shawls, but I've got to say, our teams could have stood up to any of them! Do teams in our competition (tucked away in a cozy corner in the Interior of B.C.) realize how beautiful their shawls really are and appreciate the high standard of quality they have reached, both creatively and technically? I hope so.
I'm convinced the teams that participate in our competition can hold their own in any sheep to shawl event, no matter where it's held.
Two thumbs up for Black Sheep!
jg
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Fibre Week at Olds
I thought I would pass along a few of the pics I took at Fibre Week. The wool judging classes were amazing - what an education. Wool of dozens of breeds of sheep, alpaca, llama, and mohair. Next year they're hoping to add a cashmere class. I always enjoy the Fashion Shows 0 some awesome items, with handspinning for many different types of projects - all part of the Master Spinners assignments. Our guild-member Denice McMechan also took part in an impromptu team in the alpaca to project competition. Lots going on!!!! Sharon
We send our condolences
We were very sorry to hear that Suzanne (from the Kalamalka Guild) lost her husband very suddenly a short time ago. Her husband had a heart attack. Suzanne was away in Quebec visiting her family at the time. Suzanne has been a familiar face at our sheep to shawl competition. She comes along with the Vernon team and always lends a hand in our tea room, giving assistance wherever she can. Her help has always been so appreciated. The Shuswap Guild has sent a card expressing our deepest sympathy for her loss.
MORE SAD NEWS . . .
I AM PASSING ON THE SAD MESSAGE BELOW. I KNOW MANY OF YOU WILL REMEMBER VIVIENNE AND HER HUSBAND BILL AT OUR SPIN INS ALL OVER THE PROVINCE. SHE WAS WELL-KNOWN AND LOVED AND WILL BE MISSED IN OUR SPINNING COMMUNITY
MORE SAD NEWS . . .
I AM PASSING ON THE SAD MESSAGE BELOW. I KNOW MANY OF YOU WILL REMEMBER VIVIENNE AND HER HUSBAND BILL AT OUR SPIN INS ALL OVER THE PROVINCE. SHE WAS WELL-KNOWN AND LOVED AND WILL BE MISSED IN OUR SPINNING COMMUNITY
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Just a Note
JUST A NOTE . . .Our guild year officially came to an end this June and it seemed to sneak up on us, didn't it! I'm always surprised when it's June, and I don't know why. The guild year flies by so quickly, we turn around and June is here. Some members (who wish to combat guild-withdrawal) have decided that it might be fun to continue to get together over the summer. If you want to hold a get-together, please let me know. I'll be happy to send a fan-out email about it.
Having said that, we'll start our summer activities with a favourite spin-in at Darlene's home at the lake. That's on July 14th at 10 a.m. Please try to come (that includes all weavers and knitters, too!) as it's always enjoyable. Bring your bathing suit, if you wish! If any new members need directions, please email me and I'll give you Darlene's phone number.
Also a friendly reminder for those who still have library books out. Please return them as Darlene is about to start her new library cataloguing system.
Another thing we need everyone to be thinking about is our new guild year starting this September (I know, I know, it's only July!). Election time will be just around the corner and we'll need a new roster of people. Have you been thinking there might be something you would like to do for the guild? Maybe you would like to stand for one of the executive positions or perhaps a committee. Don't be shy or hesitant because you have no experience in such things. Your input is invaluable and we, as a guild, always need it. A guild is only as good as its members! The more people participate, the more they will enjoy it.
If you hold a position now and are willing to remain, please let me know. If you need to step down, please also let me know that, as well, so we can look for someone to fill it.
Enjoy the summer!
j.g.
Having said that, we'll start our summer activities with a favourite spin-in at Darlene's home at the lake. That's on July 14th at 10 a.m. Please try to come (that includes all weavers and knitters, too!) as it's always enjoyable. Bring your bathing suit, if you wish! If any new members need directions, please email me and I'll give you Darlene's phone number.
Also a friendly reminder for those who still have library books out. Please return them as Darlene is about to start her new library cataloguing system.
Another thing we need everyone to be thinking about is our new guild year starting this September (I know, I know, it's only July!). Election time will be just around the corner and we'll need a new roster of people. Have you been thinking there might be something you would like to do for the guild? Maybe you would like to stand for one of the executive positions or perhaps a committee. Don't be shy or hesitant because you have no experience in such things. Your input is invaluable and we, as a guild, always need it. A guild is only as good as its members! The more people participate, the more they will enjoy it.
If you hold a position now and are willing to remain, please let me know. If you need to step down, please also let me know that, as well, so we can look for someone to fill it.
Enjoy the summer!
j.g.
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