I was happy to see the announcement about HGA's new 'Textiles and Tea' program:
https://weavespindye.org/textiles-and-tea/

Programs are free, and an hour is just long enough to be inspired!

Member Robin Lunger sent in this article about improvements in textile development.
https://naplesdailynews-fl-app.newsmemory.com/?publink=0543ad92b

Reading it, I am reminded how fortunate we are to be able to weave because it brings us joy, not out of necessity.  How much time would we be spending daily on spinning/weaving/knitting/sewing if we had to produce ALL the textiles our family needed?

Member Kelly Grotzinger sent a link to this article about an unusual antique spinnning wheel:
https://exquisitemachinery.wordpress.com/2020/12/05/jack/

Member Kris Peters sent a link to a video from the BBC Archive about Shetland shawls.

https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/2871609249523755

For those who don't want to do the math, 70 pounds in 1964 is about 1600 current USD, and 3 shillings in 1964 is about 3.50 current USD.  (assuming I have calculated correctly)

Member Shaun Levi sent me this article to share on knitting for calm in our current time of stress.  It reminded me of a book I borrowed years ago from the library called Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting by Ann Hood. Both speak about how knitting (and crafting in general) can help us through times of stress and grief, whether it is the death of a loved one or a global pandemic. 

For me, weaving is my 'escape time' - I listen to an audiobook and weave and don't think about the world outside.   Knitting keeps me calm while moving about in the world - when I am knitting out in public people often say something like 'you must have so much patience to be able to do that' and I tell them that the knitting GIVES me patience (especially when waiting at the eye dr. for over an hour). 

How does your crafting help you manage your stress? 

Laura

Here we are - Shaun and Tara - at the Historic Dills Tavern taking part in the 105th Dillsburg Farmers Fair by providing a carding and spinning demonstration on Saturday, October 17. We were spinning fleece shorn that day. (We took our masks off to sneak in the photos. )

Click on image for link to a very thoughtful podcast produced by the Maiwa School of Textiles featuring textile artist, writer, dyer, and more, Tim McLaughlin.

Click on the above image for brief footage of now-submerged Mexian caves that hold signs of red pigment extraction as early as 12,000 years ago. You can read the complete Science News article here.

A message From Kelly Grotzinger, Co-President
​
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?