Misc

Textile Tour to Lesser Sundra Islands

I’ve written to your group in the past about a textile tour we ran in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia for a company called SeaTrek. We are now running a revised version of that tour with a different company and a more luxurious boat – but at a significantly lower price point. The tour is 14 nights long, with 7 spent on the boat and 7 in hotels (4 nights before the cruise and 3 nights afterwards). 

Days will be spent visiting weaving communities, enjoying exclusive demonstrations of their spinning, binding, dyeing and weaving techniques – including the marine dyes used on Ternate and the fascinating supplementary and complementary warp techniques used on Sumba, as well answering the question ‘when is a warp not a warp?’. We will discover the role played by textiles in their societies, visit local markets, schools, and museums, and of course snorkel over coral reefs. This trip is great not only for textile lovers, but also for anyone with an interest in photography or learning about other cultures.

The islands we will visit are Flores, Adonara, Lembata, Ternate, Alor, Savu and of course one of the highlights is our three days spent on Sumba. The trip starts at Ende on the island of Flores on 5th May 2025 and ends on Sumba on 20th May. Both of these islands are reached from Bali by short domestic flights. Full details of the tour, including a video of the boat, can be found on our website https://www.asiantextilestudies.com/tour.html

There are only six cabins remaining so if this is of interest to you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

I am attaching a leaflet (Leaflet_2025_Compresssed) which you may wish to share with your members. 


Best wishes,

Sue Richardson

Website          http://www.asiantextilestudies.com/

Blog                https://asiantextilestudies.wordpress.com/

Facebook      https://www.facebook.com/David.and.Sue.Richardson

Instagram      https://www.instagram.com/asiantextilestudies/

Misc

Western Fair Creative Arts Competition

Good afternoon,

My name is Sierra, and I am excited to introduce myself as Western Fair District’s new Community & Customer Engagement Representative, which includes the title of Fair Competitions Assistant for our annual signature event – Western Fair – it’s my favourite part of this role, because I am crafty, and I LOVE a good fair!  

I’m sure you have heard about our Creative Arts Competitions!  They are a great way for people to showcase their artistic talents in several ways.  There are categories for almost everything: pottery, sculpture, needle felting, photography, crochet, woodworking, art, quilting, horticulture, the list goes on and on!  Over $13,000 in prize money to be WON!   

London District Weavers & Spinners has so many creative and talented individuals from our community involved with your location! We hope you would share this amazing opportunity with your staff/members.  Attached is our Prize Book – all fair competition categories are listed inside, as well as a digital poster that we would SO APPRECIATE YOU SHARING with your talented visitors. If you would be interested in receiving a couple of hard-copy posters to display, please let me know, and I will mail them to you.

I really appreciate your support of local artisans and hope you will be able to help us pass this information on to all who would be interested.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you!

Sierra

SIERRA DONNELLY​CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE REPRESENTATIVEEmail: sdonnelly@westernfairdistrict.comOffice: 519-438-7203,314Western
​Fair
​District

316 Rectory St
London, On
N5W 3V9

Listing of categories

Misc

Tea Towel Project update

A personal thank you to those who were able to came out for our celebration. We had a wonderful time moving the loom out into the centre of the East Lions Community Centre and unrolling 17 unique and beautiful Towels. 

We ate cake, drank coffee and talked to live people! We distributed all of the towels to the people that were there for hemming.  

With Diny’s guidance and our collective thoughts and efforts we have reattached the warp and its ready for weavers to finish up.  

Who wants to weave another towel?

As you may know Lynne Salisbury will be moving to British Columbia.  She wove several towels and has taken two towels for hemming. We will miss her!  

A reminder that summer camps are being held at the centre and it is recommended you wear a mask when coming to the centre.  

Be well,

Donna
Misc

Western Fair Creative Arts Competition

You may have heard about Western Fair’s Creative Arts Competitions!  They are a great way for people to showcase their artistic talents in a number of ways.  There are categories for almost everything: needle felting, weaving, crochet, woodworking, pottery, art, quilting, horticulture, the list goes on and on!  Over $13,000 in prize money to be WON!   

London District Weavers and Spinners has so many creative and talented individuals from our community. Below is a link to the Prize Book – all fair competition categories are listed inside.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Contact Info:
KRISTEN WITMER ​COMMUNITY 
ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR
Email: kwitmer@westernfairdistrict.com
Office: 519-438-7203,240
Western ​Fair ​District
​​316 Rectory St.
​London, ON
​N5W 3V9

Happy Crafting!

Misc, Workshops past

Sheep to Sock

Course Description

This adventurous group will gather once a month over zoom to work through the process of taking fibre through the spinning and then the knitting of a finished pair of socks.

  1. Janice Watterworth will cover topics and include demonstrations of the types of fibres, preparations and spinning techniques to create durable and hard-wearing socks.  It will include various carding and blending methods, the spinning of 2 ply vs 3 ply and cabled yarns.  (Spinners must be able to spin a single and create a simple 2 ply yarn.)
  2. Joan Janes will teach a cuff down sock knitting class which will be appropriate for all weights of yarns. This will be designed for beginner to intermediate knitters.  (Must be able to cast on, knit and purl.)

All classes will be virtual through Zoom.
Live virtual classes will be on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm – Sept. 15, Oct. 20, Nov. 17, Dec. 15, Jan. 19, Feb 16, March 2, April 20
Live sessions will be recorded and accessible to registrants for one month.           
 ‘Sheep to Sock’ includes both the spinning and knitting classes:
    $50 for members; and non-members: $65
For non-spinners, the knitting classes are: $25 for members;
    and non-members: $35                
Knitting Dates: Jan. 19 – Prepping for Socks, Feb. 16, and March 2.
It may be possible to have an in-person dye class with our newly spun sock yarn in January or early February: let’s wait and see on this one!

Materials:

  1. A working spinning wheel with 3 to 4 bobbins, a lazy kate, hand carders, niddy noddy or skein winder. 
  2. Joan’s multi-size ‘Sock Science’ pattern is included.  Use a set of 5 double pointed needles in a size that works for your handspun – this will be determined in the January class.  If you have sock knitting experience and prefer other methods such as magic loop or 2 circulars, go for it.

Participants can source their own fibre or order a 250 gram box of
70 wool/30 mohair blend of natural coloured roving,
(undyed) from Wellington Fibres, near Elora.
Cost is $35 including taxes.
Orders must be in to Janice by June 21st.

Misc

Online Fibre Magazines

The London Public Library is offering a great selections of online fibre magazines. Their new app: Libby, makes it easier than ever to borrow books, magazines and any other materials the library has to offer. Open the Libby app on your computer or mobile device, log in with your library card and start reading!

We included a video tutorial on our website. Go to: Members Area – Library – Borrow Books and Periodicals – Periodicals