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PROGRAM Donna and Mike from Black Diamond Alpacas "Merlin" helping with the raking chores at the ranch [photo from their website] Located in Brentwood, CA, Black Diamond has been coming to our Spinning Day at the Winery for several years now. Donna will give some background into how they got into the business, plus some insight into living with and raising beautiful alpacas. Their ranch is open for a "look-see" at their delightful creatures. They also have a nice gift shop with yarns, both alpaca and other natural fibers, hand knit, crocheted and hand woven items, plus other great products. Donna will give us the specifics on visiting times. PARKING AT THE LIBRARY Dr Brian Hockel, the dentist right next door to the library, has offered us the 10 spaces that he has in his parking lot for our evening meetings. His office and parking lot entrance is just before the library entrance as you come down Oak Grove from Ygnacio. Hopefully, this will help a bit with the "...

PROGRAM: Lisa Souza of Lisa Souza Dyeworks Most spinners and knitters are familiar with the beautiful yarns and fibers that come from this very creative woman. We are fortunate that she will be coming to share her yarns and knowledge of spinning and dyeing. In addition to being a knitter and dyer, Lisa is also a knitwear designer and author. In her Placerville studio she now focuses on dyeing mill spun yarns, fabulously decadent luxury handspun yarns as well as hand dyed fibers for spinning. You can see more of her work and products at: lisaknit.com DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR: CNCH CONFERENCE NEWS Branch Out With Fibers - CNCH 201 4 A Fiber Artisans' Conference April 25 - 27, Oakland Marriott Convention Center   Lots to see and do. Come for the day if you have not signed up the the the whole three days. Still time to volunteer for a two hour job, which includes a day pass April 26,  Forest Home Farm Shearing Day   See last month's blog for more info - for those not going to...

PROGRAM:    Mary Finley and Roger Salter of Dreamy Goat Design Studio Mary with some of their lovely fiber 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. They will be vendors at the upcoming CNCH conference in April, with a whole new batch of great colors and fibers. Stop by and say hello. Mary's been busy with a big pot of indigo in the last week or so. On this evening, they will have some of their regular fibers and colors for sale in the parking lot, since the new ones are not quite ready. All the more reason to come to the conference, at least for a day. CNCH CONFERENCE NEWS Branch Out With Fibers - CNCH 201 4 A Fiber Artisans' Conference April 25 - 27...

THIS MEETING IS ONE WEEK EARLY FROM OUR USUAL. So make a note on your calendar! PROGRAM:  SPINNING ALPACA & STASH REDUCTION I love growing fiber for you. The big knitters conference, Stitches , begins on the 20th, the day after our meeting. In preparation for the enormous shopping opportunities there -- we are going to have a "Stash Reduction" evening. Go through all your yarns and fibers; what have you had for years that you will never use; which colors can't you stand anymore; what do you just not want anymore? Bring it to give away, trade or perhaps sell. Its good to clean out at least once a year! Bring your wheels also as we'll be taking a break from our study of cotton and linen and spend the evening spinning alpaca. We tried to get a speaker to talk about alpacas, but guess what, they're all headed to Stitches. Member Wendy donated some already to spin alpaca roving for us to play with. Another friend of a friend donated a bag of her pet alpaca fleece w...

NOTE - NOTE - NOTE This month's meeting is not only a week early, its on a different night! Tuesday evening instead of Wednesday evening. Just remember, all these small hassles enable us to have a free meeting space. THIS MEETING'S PROGRAM:   "What's Your Bag?" One of the activities for us to participate in at the CNCH 2014 Conference is a Guild Display Gallery. The theme for this conference is: "What's Your Bag?" Techniques and materials are an open field, and so we have chosen to make Oil Bottle Bags . They will be displayed together at one of the conference galleries. At left is a the type of bag we are going to be making at this meeting. We'll begin the bag by learning how to weave on a simple cardboard loom - if you haven't already done so as a child! No spinning wheels at this meeting [if you are interested is starting your bag] Everyone will get a supplies bag with the basics, including a brand new oil bottle. This will be your oppor...