East Grinstead Spinners

Many people had brought their spindles - some of us had experience, others were learning. Good fun was had by all. Top whorl spindle Madeline presented the workshop with a few tips and tricks, which were much appreciated. She also showed us a couple of possibilities of setting up for plying - to easily remove the singles cob from the spindle, it was suggested that a quill of card was wrapped around the spindle shaft. Shoe boxes and knitting needles come in very handy A very advanced lazy kate Many different types of spindle were in use - mainly suspended spindles, which included a couple of Turkish spindles. Towards the end Laura demonstrated supported spindling. A display of spindles. The displayed spindles are as follows: A takli spindle for short fibre spinning - a very fast supported spindle, which needs to be supported in a container which doesn't get damaged by the sharp metal shaft. 3 further supported spindles, the middle one being a Russian type spindle, these are all made

Our group was again very busy working on items for The Queen Mother's Clothing Guild, which is long established and supports many different charities who apply to it for various items.   In 2022 we produced a total of 139 items: 12 Blankets 30 Hats 15 scarves 8 pairs of gloves 5 pairs of socks 13 child jumpers 24 child cardigans 2 baby sets 28 neonatal items 1 quilt 1 twiddle muff

Each year we have a dyeing/craft day in August. In 2022 we prepared this in a workshop of Stitched Shibori. Some examples Small samples of stitched shibori The way the above samples were stitched A Japanese mat   The Stitching From the workshop     Some previous stitched shibori work Laura was inspired to  work further with the Shibori technique:

A Workshop in Modular Knitting As shown below this method can produce very beautiful results, with various colours used for the moduls. Samples shown: A cardigan with beads added in each modul A waistcoat A few images from the demonstration Moduls are knitted and set up for adding a next modular row This is also called domino knitting and the modules may be attached in several ways A participants finished sample

 A Demonstration of Steeking Linda shared what she had learned when making her cardigan. Steeking is where a piece of knitted fabric is secured and cut for shaping or as here cutting up the front to make a cardigan. A demonstration of the process A finished cardigan. This was worked in the round and cut up in the front to make a cardigan.

We haven't managed to post for quite a while, so this post is to catch up with images from a few of the workshops we did last year. A Workshop on Kumihimo First some examples shown Necklaces made with beaded kumihimo Kumihimo used as a base for Dorset buttons and a pendant. More beaded kumihimo necklaces Some of the works in progrress The set-up for the pattern The worked beaded cord comes through the middle hole.

Madeline co-ordinated our donations to QMCG again for 2021 and we are busy working towards our 2022 contribution. Our total in 2021 was an amazing 265 items! Which comprised:- 54 hats ranging in size from neonatal to adult and 23 scarves 39 assorted blankets 4 pairs of bed socks, 3 pairs of gloves and 67 girls dresses 6 patchwork quilts 30 child's and baby cardigans, 19 child's jumpers and 1 adult jumper 2 pairs babies bootees 16 Octopus (requested by neonatal units) 1 twiddle muff These are some of the last items to be collected in and from Dorothy this hat and sleeveless jumper   From Wendy this baby layette   and blanket of Granny squares   Carla bought a bag of mixed yarns from the charity shop and made these lap blankets  and this bag contains just some of the many blankets Pat has crocheted