Wednesday 7 July 2010

June 2010

GUILD NEWS


Direct Deposit has now been approved for payment of membership fees. Please a copy of the deposit form with your membership form and put a reference of some sort, e.g. your name or member number, on the deposit form.

The Guild Ravlery Group now has 73 members.

Members of the Guild have access to advice from a professional conservator, Tamara Lavrencic, who works for The Historic House Trust of NSW and was the guest speaker at the 2101 AGM. Questions to her can be sent either via Ravelry or the Guild Website or via the post addressed to The Secretary Kate Venn at the Knitters Guild.

The Guild will appoint a Publicity Officer in the next few months. The PO will be responsible for all Guild publicity and to assist with media enquiries.

2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW. There will be a double page spread regarding this in the next newsletter.

The display at next year's Stitches and Craft Show (June 2011) will be “Christmas in July”. A knitted Xmas dinner, including a turkey, will be featured. Volunteers are needed to knit silver leaves for this display. Yarn will be supplied. please leave your name with Ally if you can help. Members are also asked to supply objects of interest to display.

Because The Knitters’ Guild of NSW has a reciprocal agreement with The Spinners and Weavers Guild of NSW, members of one can attend the workshops of the other for member price. A list of workshops of the Spinners and Weavers Guild van be found at http://nsweave.org.au/



DEMONSTRATION

Jenny and Phil Dunne from Virginia Farm Woolworks were our guest retailers. Jenny gave a talk on needle felting, showing three different gauges of needles .The needles have small barbs at the end that tangle the fibres. The meanings of terms like roving and wool top were explained. Jenny recommends wool top as the best for needle felting .The coarser the fleece the easier and quicker the results will be. Needle felting is quick but not as fine as wet felting. You can make balls, teddies and flowers for brooches. Knitted garments can be decorated with needle felting. The longer you work it the more solid and finer the felt will be. Start with a coarse needle and slowly work your way down to a finer one.

Instructions for making a ball
Put a bell into a pill bottle and wrap the bottle in wool and start poking it with the needle to felt it. Be careful not to hit the bottle as the tips of the needle break easily. Work your way around so as to keep it a sphere. These can then be embellished by felting different coloured tops or commercial wool onto it. These balls are great for cats and small children as they tinkle when they roll.

Items available from Virginia Farm Woolworks
many coloured tops
needles in different gauges
a Wooden Needle Felting Handle which holds five needles ($29.95)
books on needle felting


RETAIL (Jenny Dunne in pink, Phil in background)



BACK TO BACK CHALLENGE
The teams at the Back to Back Challenge at Kurrajong didn't do as well as last year. From sheep’s back to finished jumper took 7 ½ hours this year as the fleece was very sticky from all the rain that we have had. Over $10,000 was raised for Breast Cancer research. The raffle prize was a hand-painted spinning wheel and was won by our convenor, Alison.


ADDITION TO THE LIBRARY
The NSW Knitters Guild Website Made Easy


SHOW AND TELL
This intarsia blanket was made after being inspired by a Liz Gemmell workshop . Judy brought this to show newcomerswhat the Guild can do for you.





RAFFLE
The raffle was won by Denise.


NEXT MONTH
All day workshop with Lynne Johnson on feral knitting and colour work starting at 9.30am. $40 per member and $50 for non-members. Please bring your own lunch. Morning and afternoon tea supplied.

Retail : Susanne's House of Wool selling hand dyed roving and yarns.

Afternoon tea: Robyn G, Robyn C, Denise and Stanis.
PLEASE NOTE: We need more volunteers for the next six month's roster


photo of our second youngest "member"


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