Recent Guild Activities

Blog, Workshops

Beginner’s Weaving Course

London District Weavers and Spinners

**UPDATE: COURSE FULL

The beginner’s weaving course is back!

Learn the basics of weaving from warping the loom to getting those edges just right. Participant’s will be guided by seasoned weaver Kathy Morgan and all required material’s will be provided.

This course will in person and available to limited numbers of participants.

Location: Boyle Community Centre (530 Charlotte Street, London, Ontario)

Dates: October 17, 24, 31 & November 7, 14 (Alternative date in case of a cancellation of one listed: November 21, 2021)

Time: 10:00am – 3:00pm (Classroom will be open to participant’s at 9:30am)

Price: For member $320; For non-member $350 (Price includes use of equipment and all required materials)

Covid-19 protocools for in person courses:

  • Proof of double vaccination
  • Completed pre-screening questionnaire prior to each class
  • Mandatory masks for the duration of each class
  • Compliance with any other Covid-19 protocols set by the Boyle Community Centre
Blog, Workshops

Sheep to Sock

London District Weavers and Spinners

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!

Please let Janice know if you are interested.  Questions can be addressed to: 
Janice Watterworrth      Janice.watterworth@gmail.com     519-453-1971
Joan Janes                    joaninglisjanes@gmail.com           519-200-9158   
 

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.
If interested in avoiding shipping costs contact Janice through email or by phone:
Janice.watterworth@gmail.com
519-453-1971
Orders must be in to Janice by June 21st.



    Blog

    Online Fibre Magazines

    London District Weavers and Spinners

    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

    Blog

    Happy 72nd Anniversary!

    London District Weavers and Spinners
    ldwslogo

    The London District Weavers and Spinners Guild is now in its eighth decade. It was on April 22, 1949 that the original London District Weavers Guild was founded. There were, at that time, fourteen members who came together in a room at the Art Gallery located on the second floor of the Central Library. Their purpose in coming together was the sharing of a common weaving experience and the advancing of interest in the knowledge and art of hand weaving.

    Over the years, the London District Weavers and Spinners Guild, renamed in June of 1981, has offered encouragement to its members and fostered a sense of innovation within the weaving and spinning communities. Most noteworthy is the annual Exhibition of Canadian HandWeaving, which the London Guild proposed and organized for the first time in the winter of 1953. It sponsored this annual show for ten years.

    The Guild has met at various sites over the decades. In 2004, the Guild moved to a new home at Hutton House.  In the fall of 2012, the Guild relocated to the East Artisans Centre. In fall 2017, another move took us to our current location at the Boyle Memorial Community Centre.

    In 2004 the Guild incorporated as a Not-For-Profit organization to become London District Weavers and Spinners Inc.

    The goals of the London District Weavers and Spinners Guild remain unchanged from its inception: sharing the experience of weaving and spinning, learning and improving one’s craft and supporting others with similar interests.

    The Guild meets the first Tuesday of February, March, April, May, June, October, November and December, during which time members and guests enjoy lectures and demonstrations.  Hands-on workshops and classes are held throughout the year.

    Blog

    April 2021 General Meeting

    Paul G

    Our General Meeting on Tuesday, April 6 was well attended with close to 40 members zooming in to take part. 
    Our speaker was Alasdair Post-Quinn, a double knitting expert, author and teacher who lives in Boston, MA. He shared his research into the pioneers, early methods and books of double knitting and followed this with live video demos of techniques including double knitting decreases, yarn overs, and cables. It was quite relaxing as we watched both him and his hands from the comforts of our respective homes. Everyone had a close-up view of this opportunity (which would have been out of our budget if we had had to pay travel expenses)! Zoom certainly has its benefits!
    Check out his website, patterns and books at: https://double-knitting.com/

    Show&Tell

    Blog

    WeaveDesign© Study Group via Zoom

    London District Weavers and Spinners

    All recordings for this workshop are available free of charge for the guild members at: Recorded Workshops

    Are you a new weaver, using weaving patterns you have found in magazines or received from instructors, but would like to progress now to making your own weaving patterns? Does this just seem tedious to do with paper and pencil or just a wee bit intimidating to do on line?  Well, we have a study group that you may want to learn about and join up with virtually this month (March 2021).

    Dan Lajoie is a long time weaver and a proficient user of the software, WeaveDesign*. Dan has offered to work with a small group of guild members to demonstrate this software and show you some of the finer points of working with WeaveDesign and get you creating your own weaving patterns.

    In this study group, you will be shown how to:

    – Create, read and save weaving patterns in this software (eg. loom patterns with straight tie ups for weaving on a rigid heddle or four harness loom patterns with straight or multiple tie ups)

    – Review and edit your design using the program’s copy, cut, repeat functions and colour palette

    – Store and retrieve your patterns both online and offline

    At the end of this study group, you will have the knowledge you need so that, after a bit of practice on your own, you will be ready to create your own weaving patterns using WeaveDesign.  For those of you who have dreamed of being proficient with Fibreworks, this will bring you closer to realizing that dream.

    Registration for this Study Group is Required.

     The study group is limited to eight (8) participants.  You need to register to participate by emailing  ldwsguild@gmail.com .  You will be notified when your registration has been confirmed (or be invited to go on a waiting list for a possible future study group).

    Registration Fee: FREE
    Please register at      ldwsguild@gmail.com
     
    Study Group Session Dates:  There will be 3 scheduled study group sessions for this group – each session will be one (1) hour in length via Zoom.
     
    Wednesdays March 17th, 24th and 31st at 10 a.m.

    * WeaveDesign is a copyright © 2002-2004 software program for creating weaving drafts and drawdowns created by Bengt Nelsom and is available as a free download off the internet.

    Blog

    Wild Fibers – Zoom Lecture #2 by Linda Cortright

    Paul G

    For those who enjoyed Linda’s presentation yesterday (members of LDWS guild can watch the recording by clicking here) you can now purchase tickets for:

    Wild Fibers, Wild Places Zoom Lecture #2

    In 2004, I began my quest to see a musk ox in the wild. I might have had greater success looking for a four-leaf clover in the desert. Over the next fifteen years I traveled to a tiny island in the Bering Sea, a larger island above the Arctic Circle in the Canadian Northwest, a small cemetery in Nome (it’s one of the few places in town where the musk ox can find grass), and eventually to the Russian Arctic. Few things have demanded more time or resources to achieve. 
    This Zoom lecture will include an assortment of snowy images, tales both funny and frustrating, along with an important understanding of how qiviuk is harvested and processed. 
    The lecture is scheduled for Thursday, February 9, 3:00 pm (EST). If you cannot make the lecture, you will automatically receive a link to the recording the following day.  
    We had such fun on our last Zoom to Antarctica, I look forward to seeing you again. 

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