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REMEMBER : Sept. 26 is a Thursday, not our usual Wednesday meeting day. PROGRAM Stephanie Gausted will demonstrate and teach us how to spin cotton on your wheels. Actual foot powered wheels, not Charkhas, so be sure to bring your wheel. Note: she says "large bobbin lead, single drive wheels are very difficult to spin cotton, as are jumbo flyers". So hopefully, you have alternatives. If you have a fast flyer or small whorls for your wheel, bring those, but its not necessary. Stephanie will have fiber for everyone. At the August meeting, Mindy handed out many various samples of cotton fiber that Will & Kate donated for our year of Cotton & Linen emphasis. She will bring what is left over for those who were not there. It was a great collection and will be a great start to experiment with this wonderful fiber. THE COTTON & LINEN CHALLENGE The lovely yellow bloom of a cotton plant So some will say, especially if one is not a weaver, what exactly do I do with handspun,...

The August meeting has traditionally been our planning meeting for the year. No different this year. Its a good way for all of us to contribute ideas for upcoming meetings and the focus for the year, when we choose to have one. Mindy and Linnie have stepped up to help put together programs after Laura's terrific three year term as Program Chair. Its not an easy job, and this meeting helps the program chair[s] with looking for and finalizing ideas. a cotton plant ready to pluck and spin They have already been hard at work and have a plan that we can help flesh out at the meeting. The focus this year will be on spinning and working with cotton and linen fibers. We are hoping for speakers, a workshop or two, and, of course, the July Dye Day to cap off the year. hand spun linen thread You will also have a chance, at this meeting, to sign up for a "special project"  we will have that may have a somewhat limited number of people who can participate. Those who come help plan fo...

DYE DAYS with SARA LAMB Examples of Sara's dyed and woven fibers July 27 & 28 at the home of Carol Causey. Email Pam for directions if you don't know where that is. 10 am to late afternoon both days Sara is an accomplished dyer, weaver, spinner, and expert at combining all these crafts. She is also a published author of several books, including Spin to Weave, her newest. Treadles will have her leading the "just for fun" dye days for Guild members. This is a free activity for all paid up members, if you haven't paid, fire off a check to Pam.  It would be good for us to have an estimate of how many of you plan to attend. Please email Laura, Laura_Hansen@mechanicsbank.com , if you think you can make it. If you can or can't come at the last minute, that's fine, we just need a rough figure. You can come both days or just either one. The focus will be on "painting" skeins, warp chains, fiber or roving, and gaining lots of information from Sar...

Spinning at the Winery  Our 16th Annual day at Retzlaff Winery is this  Saturday, May 25  10 am to 4 pm 1356 S. Livermore Ave. Livermore entry is $5 per person Fleeces, Fiber, Yarn & Much More! Featuring California Vendors A day of spinning, meeting, shopping, eating, and "raffleing".. Bring your wheel, a friend, your family, and a pot luck dish to share for lunch. The weather promises to be good, so plan to meet all your fiber friends in Livermore Wine country this Saturday. Treadles members: If you have not signed up for a job with Linnie, there are always things to do and spots to cover, and its not too late to help.  Come and help out for an hour or two. This event happens because of all your hard work. Set up begins at 8:30 am if you are a morning person. Take down is at 4 pm for the rest of us. Lots of little jobs during the day also. Check in at the Treadles cashier desk and we'll find something for you to do. Lots of Great Things at the last meeting with...

Treadles' upcoming meeting on April 30th will not have Mary and Roger after all. Roger tore a muscle in his shoulder rather badly and is most likely awaiting surgery in the near future. We wish him a speedy recovery and we know we'll have them back soon after that. No other program has been planned as yet, but there should still be plenty of show & tell with our Dreamy Goat Projects.

Our next meeting is a day early due to a library conflict, so be sure to mark the correct date, a Tuesday night, on your calendar. Mary Finley with their beautiful fibers! PROGRAM:  Mary Finley and Roger Salter of Dreamy Goat Design Studio Mary and Roger will spend the evening with us talking about how they make all their wonderful batts of wool for spinners. Concentrating on natural dyes, they create lovely colors and mixtures of fiber that most of us simply cannot resist. You will enjoy Mary's knowledge of spinning, weaving, dying, etc. and Roger always has a few stories to tell. Come and be inspired. This is the night your "Dreamy Goat Projects" are due. Bring what you've made and show it off, both to the Guild and to Mary and Roger. If you only got as far as making a skein, bring that too. All who bring a finished project will be able to put their name in a drawing for a fun prize. FAIR TIME The textile entries in the State Fair and in local county fairs are goin...

PROGRAM: ART YARNS with Lizette Hopkins Lizette cards up batts of what is the newest rage in spinning:  "art yarns". Mostly you need a carder that will handle chunks of fiber. All kinds of fiber; picked, locks, bits of carded fiber. Almost anything goes as compared to what we normally do. Lizette will demonstrate carding and spinning up these colorful and unusual batts with a few hints of what works and what doesn't if you want to make your own. She will also bring batts and yarns to sell for those of us who don't have access to a coarse carder. Note: Please   don't try this type of carding with the Guild's electric carder. It is meant for fine carding and could jam easily if too much fiber tries to go through. All the more reason to come see her demos and her ready made batts. Spinning at the Winery, May 25, 2013 See last months entry for detailed info. Wendy's popular donation from 2011 Members are asked to remember that we make money for our treasury f...