All About Alluring Alpaca!

Our next meeting is this Sunday, February 9, 2020, 1 - 4pm at the West Seneca Senior Center. To start off our 2020 Alpaca Theme, this month we will have a presentation by Anne Richter, owner of Woodside Farm Alpacas in Lawtons, NY. Anne will give an overview of a variety of topics like choosing an alpaca fleece, cleaning, carding, blending, and the difference Suri and Huacaya alpaca. There will also be time for question and answers.

Anne has a mini-fiber processing area on the farm which includes a carding machine (cottage carder), needle felting machine, roller felter and a full dye kitchen as she offers classes to fiber enthusiasts who want to learn about how to use fiber they grow or acquire (or maybe they just have a ton in their stash!!) She also carries a full line of blending fiber including all of the specialty fibers (pearl, rose, milk, seacell, firestar, Angelina, etc.)

Anne will be bringing fiber and spinning boxes for sale to the meeting as well.

January 2020 Meeting

We had a great New Year start in 2020. Our January meeting was so much fun and a great learning experience. Thank you Nancy Tepas for the concept for Pass the Batt. We also celebrated our guilds 10 year anniversary with a delicious cake. I can't wait to see what creative ideas everyone has for our very interesting yarn.

Pass the Batt

Roc Day: Sunday, January 12 

Perhaps something once looked good to you, now you realize you will probably never use it as hoped. You will need to bring 2 oz. of prepared, easily spun wool or wool blend, in a color way of your choice, to pass.

Start spinning with your fiber, after a few minutes, we will all pass that fiber to the next person, and so on. As a challenge we will suggest trying different ways to spin it, thick, thin, etc. There is the possibility of getting some very colorful yarn. To pull things together, you may decide to spin a single prior to the program to ply your program yarn with. Neutrals were suggested, and you may also want to incorporate this fiber into the program yarn.  Drum carder and combs will be available. 

We will offer small project suggestions for what to do with the final yarn. 

Drop that Spindle!

This is a day of explore and more.  DK will demo how to spin on a traditional Navajo Drop Spindle, and you have a chance to try that. Have a spindle you are willing to let others demo for the day?  Bring it on down. Looking at some bits and bobs of roving that have have no real purpose in life?  Bring it on down!

Have a burning desire to take your little addiction with you wherever you go?  Then stop in for the afternoon and work on several different styles.  Hey, you never know when this little post apocalyptic skill will make you look even cooler than you already are.

Also, I've recently came across this blog: https://botanicalcolors.com. She's also on pinterest. If your interested it straight forward how-to's I think this may be a good place to start. Pages on mordants, dyes, eco-printing, etc. And includes how to dispose of leftover indigo, CHM.

October 14, 2018 Meeting

What's on your wheel?

We will meet this Sunday, October 14, at our usual location from 12:30 - 4:00; business meeting starts at 1:30.  Bring your dye day results, any treasures you adopted at recent Fiber Festivals, and any creations you would like to share with us for Show & Tell.

Our upcoming programs:

November - kumihimo and braiding

December - annual potluck.

Challenges:

Keep filling out those Spingo boards.  Share your progess at Show & Tell

We will wrap up our Charity Challenge at the October Meeting.  If you donate any item, handmade or store bought, you will qualify for the name tag sticker.  All items will be donated to Harvest House in Buffalo.

September 2018 Meeting

Dye Day is always a favorite with our members.  A shout out to Liz, our program coordinator, for having the colors prepped for members as they colored with foam brushes and bottles!  Our members used fiber, sock blanks, silk, and even a little re-purposed cashmere. These photos represent only a sample of what left the studio space.  There is nothing better than a play date with friends!  

September 2017 meeting

We had a great time making felted "rocks" at our September meeting. Petra had all of the supplies ready for us to create amazing life like pebbles that will be sewn together into a rug. The wool is felted around a foam core, so each rock is soft and cushy.

Here is our creation.