February Video Meeting 2021

We had a big turnout for February's video meeting and guild members and guests have been busy making this winter!  

Dawn has been retrofitting a Singer sewing machine that she ordered online to make it into a hand crank. She offered to share what she learned with guild members who might be interested in doing the same thing. 

Karen T. showed her recently stitched grand-dog ornament as well as her woven birch hearts with skeleton keys. Thanks to some hand exercises a friend gave her, Karen's hand is feeling better and she's been able to get back to more basket work. She's been working on a large cylindrical basket to trade with an artist friend in Duluth. It is around 8"x12", has a wooden base, spruce root rims, and torn bark. 

Mary has continued to knit, completing another of Katie's Keps and mitts, a doll sweater to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, and more Arne & Carlos ornaments from their birds book. 

Phyllis has been busy this winter! She needle and wet felted 19 pieces exploring color relationship in preparation for the faculty show at Finlandia.  Also part of the show are marled cotton circles that she crocheted. She's been spinning some fiber (and trying to get the smell of mothballs out of it) and finally finishing up with the ends of the rug project that has given her some challenges this winter. As you can see below, the solution involved a complex set up of card weaving and clamps. 

Melissa was able to get physical therapy for her shoulder and has been able to comfortably weave again. She finished weaving her experimental rug and is working on preparations for her Buellwood's Best submission in May. 

We were joined this week by Mary's friend Grace. She's a piano teacher who has kept sheep and spun wool in the past. Recently she knit a sweater using yarn she purchased in Germany 30 years ago. Her daughter modeled it for us. Thanks for joining us Grace! 

We were also joined by John's friend Linnea who has been a rug weaver and basket maker. She's interested in learning tapestry weaving and asked for some help finding learning resources. 

Karen L. showed a Buffalo plaid shawl that she recently wove on her rigid heddle loom. 

Jimalee recently finished knitting an elaborate baby blanket, but has already gifted it so was unable to show it to us. She's also been working on hats for her husband - a seaman's hat from an 1898 patter with double garter ear flaps and a Tunisian market hat felted on a form from corrugated cardboard. She also recommends the Modern Daily Knitting field guide on intarsia featuring designs from Kaffe Fassett. 

Denise finished up her day of the week embroideries and has started a crazy quilt. She gave up on a knitting project that was frustrating her, which led Phyllis to remind us all that it is important the our processes satisfy us. This inspired Clare to rip out a cabled baby blanket that's been languishing on her needles for 6+ years! 

Clare finally finished knitting her Fogline Pullover using yarns dyed in Dawn's 2017 natural dye workshop at the guild retreat. She also shared info about pieces in the Kalevala show at the Copper Country Community Arts Center (which because she is so late writing this blog post is no longer up). 

John asked for advice on shrinking a wool hat he has without over-shrinking it. Our felters offered advice. 

David wasn't able to join us live because of work, but he sent along some images of the yarn he's been spinning on his Schacht Matchless recently. 

Poppy also had to miss out on the meeting because of work, but shared some images of projects she recently finished. She started the needlepoint around 1976 and decided about a month ago that at 45 years old it was ready to be finished. She also made a hat and two willow projects. 

Our next meeting will be Monday, March 15th at 11am. Check your emails soon for the Zoom link. 

December Video Meeting 2020

For the last meeting of 2020, we met again on Zoom to chat and share some projects we've been working on. 

John reminded us to start thinking about our entries for Buellwood's Best this spring. And Clare shared a call for art from the Copper Country Community Arts Center in Hancock for their annual celebration of the Kalevala during Heikinpäivä. The theme is Animal Life from the Kalevala and the submission dates are 1/28 and 1/29 with the show in February. 

Karen has unfortunately been suffering from trigger thumb and has be unable to do much making as she gives it a rest. She did share with us some of her lovely handmade earrings she's been working on for gifting and selling on Etsy. 

Denise has been doing some embroidery of some adorable days of the week. She is also working on a warp for a towel project and asked some questions about floating selvedge tension and selecting a boat shuttle. 

Dawn has been continuing to work on dyeing, braiding, and felting roving rugs. Her felting technique involves putting the piece into a pillowcase in the washing machine with soap. She suggested this as a possible workshop for our next guild retreat. 

Jimalee couldn't make it to our meeting, but shared some of her finished projects by email. She knitted and felted colorful balls that she uses as winter decoration. 

She made these baskets on the shores of Lake Superior - Bark Bay near Cornucopia, WI- where she canoed each summer for 20 years. She says that the baskets hold nice memories for her and while she was inexperienced when making them, she found Baskets from Nature's Bounty by Elizabeth Jensen to be a helpful resource. 

Jimalee also shared a picture of this santos from Mexico, holding this year's Christmas tree, and standing on a handwoven Norwegian runner. 

Kathie finished sewing up a batch of reversible potholders designed to cradle a hot bowl of soup so you can hold it without burning yourself. 

Melissa was also unable to make it to this month's meeting, but had a project to share. She spent a week in November cleaning, de-rusting, sanding, oiling, and replacing heddles on a Union loom a friend found for her downstate last year. It's now in good working order and she has started a rug with the long warp that came with the loom. 

Clare showed a hat/bonnet that she knitted recently using some yarn from deep in her stash. The pattern is Beloved  and the yarn was a skein (held double) of Stonehedge Fiber Mill's mill ends purchased in Marquette back when there was still a local yarn shop there. She also showed of a sweater-in-progress with yarns dyed in Dawn's guild workshop in 2017. Pictures coming when it's off the needles (hopefully before our next meeting!)

Phyllis was wearing and told us about a big lovely knit sweater that she purchased in 1998 in Estonia.  She showed us some crocheted ornaments with buttons that she's been working on recently and has been spinning and Navajo plying some yarn. She also shared these lovely pillowtops that she's been sewing using shirts that belonged to her parents. 

Inspired by the sweater sharing, Kathie also showed us a very soft Russian vest and John shared an impressive sweater he bought in Scotland. Perhaps we should all plan to wear and share our favorite handmade sweaters to our next meeting! 

In the meantime, may you all stay healthy and find some joy in making. Happy holidays!