A message From Kelly Grotzinger, Co-President
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This is not a note about staying safe and out of range of the pandemic, but about behavioral affect revealed during self-isolation--relating to weaving, of course. What clothes are you wearing day to day now that you do not go 'away' or 'out' except to hike around the yard or in the neighborhood or to the grocery store? Well....I have replaced jeans with yoga pants so that my posterior is not chaffed from so much time on a weaving bench. I have replaced hard sided shoes with fat rag wool socks, the better to manipulate treadles. So that my black wool work suit jackets do not gather dust in my closet and so that I might stay warmer in my studio, I pair them with the yoga pants, the rag wool socks, and some sort of t-shirt. I may throw a hand-woven scarf/shawl around too. Now, lest this combination not be stylish enough for you, know that I add a range of southwest style earrings and bracelets. Thank heavens that I don't need to add a mask to this 'look' in order to weave! So, although we have not had Guild time to do show and share of our hand woven projects, I wanted you to know how I have adopted an alternative personal style to accommodate my fiber focus since self-isolating. You?

By Mary Parsons

There is an old African Proverb .... It takes a village to
raise a child

Well Fellow Toastmasters and guests, I think: It takes
a village to Mentor a new Weaver! Let me explain.

Several years ago, I was looking for a new hobby to
stay active during the long, cold, Pennsylvania winter
days. I was talking to my sister in law Karen and she
suggested weaving! I was intrigued by her description–
creative use of color and texture and pattern. Hands
on, active, required planning and a little bit of math
both a good fit for an engineer like me. Your weaving
could be used in a lot of ways: rugs, scarves, handbags,
towels – in fact anyplace fabric is used. Karen was my
villager One. She suggested I read a this book called
“Learning to Weave” and and to look for weaving
workshops in my area.

A 50,000-year-old fragment of cord hints at the cognitive abilities of our ancient hominid cousins. CPGH member Denny Sirotta shares this article from the New York Times. Click on image to read.

Thanks to Ann Caldwell for forwarding this great article by Taylor Mason, graduate of Shippensburg University. During an internshp at the Renfrew Institute, Ms. Taylor studied the flax culture of Pennsylvania Germans then wrote about and photographed institute faculty member, Beth Skroban, performing flax processing tasks as part of the Institute's program: Growing Clothes: Flax Culture of the Pennsylvania Germans.

A story about how Singer modernized the sewing machine. Click the image to link to the BBC article.

For those of us who want to know why some knots are stronger than others, scientists have found a way to help explain it. Click on image for link to this Science News article.

Another great article forwarded by CPGH member, Helen Delano. Click on the image above to read an excerpt from a book called The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair.

Our thanks to Helen Delano for bringing this article to our attention. Click on the image above to read it.