Newsletter June 2023
Tangled Galashiels Fibre Festival 2023
Friday 2 and Saturday 3 June
Friends, Samira Hill of Eildon Hills Designs and Naomi Hodgson, have come together, in their words:
“to celebrate the incredible dyers, spinners and crafters of the Scottish Borders and beyond!
A truly community led event, the two-day festival offers an affordable platform for local and
independent fibre artists to showcase their products, engage with their supporters and celebrate all
things wool”.
Tickets from https://www.tangledgalashiels.com/
Fred has a collection of postcards
This is one of the first cards in my collection. Purchased through Marketplace. Pictured is a peasant
woman preparing a spinning wheel to spin flax, in front of a fireplace with antique tiles, nowadays
worth gold apiece. A bit coarse photo and blurred colors, but that's okay, since the card is almost 110
years young. Printing back then was of lesser quality. 'Groet uit Lichtenvoorde’ (greetings from
Lichtenvoorde); a village in the eastern part of the Netherlands, close to the German border and
addressed by a friend to an infantry soldier. It is the time of the Great War. The Netherlands
managed to stay out of it by declaring neutrality. This soldier was ‘defending’ the Dutch/Germany
border. Back to the front of this card and its theme: the spinning wheel: it is a castle type with ornate
carvings and eight spokes. White. Blank wood? Painted? No idea. To the left on the ground is a pile of
rough material. It looks like wool. If that is correct, the photo is staged. I don't think that's a big deal
for my collection. Even in those old days most photographs were some kind of studio photograph
Fred Kluit
Rebecca Mezoff
Rebecca Mezoff is a professional tapestry artist, weaver and teacher based in the USA. She has
recently published: “The Art of Tapestry Weaving” – a fabulous introduction to the skill. She runs
online courses (and residentials – but you’d have to get there).
She has put together a free mini-course with a PDF and video to give you a place to start
weaving your own memories this summer. You can find it in today's blog post HERE.
Edinburgh Guild
The Edinburgh Association is having a “Gathering” at Broughton, near Biggar in
August.
Spin Off at Wigtown May 15th
Since our May Guild meeting had been cancelled, we brought “small looms” to this meeting instead,
and had fun trying different things out.
Jan’s deflected doubleweave scarf
Ans was crocheting adorable, and tiny, doll bootees
Ricky was using uncarded fleece in her pegloom
Claire was spinning Icelandic fleece she had prepared herself for the first time. It is destined to be a
rug, not a wearable garment, one day!
Penny was using up stash yarn on a scarf loom. The technique involved a long Tunisian crochet hook
Penny was needle weaving this little dog
More small looms
Helen had knitted the rainbow jumper
Kath was warping her inkle loom
Julie had brought her Speedweave darning loom
Susan was splicing colours with a merino blend
A large triangle loom, and the shawl Loraine had made
Fiona’s bobbin lace making – and what it looked like later
Di’s pin loom
Logan Botanics
Part of our display
Di’s inkle band
Julie’s inkle band in progress…
…and one she did earlier
Di on her rigid heddle loom …
…and an enthusiastic visitor
Loraine finds time to relax
Helen was spinning
Penny was blending fibres and making rolags
Margaret was starting a new tapestry and had brought some of her previous work
Yes – we really were at Logan Botanical Gardens
Note from the Editor
I’d really like to hear from you!
Anything goes - information about your favourite suppliers, books you’ve read, YouTube videos
you’ve found, lessons learned on current projects….. I’m not a good enough photographer to keep
the newsletter going with photos of mine – so how about sending in some of your own?
di@dibatchelor.co.uk
mobile 07599 126112