Birmingham and District Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers 'Annual Exhibition 2011'

Today was the Annual Guild Exhibition Day, it is a chance to showcase examples of our work throughout the year  Also you can eat cake and drink lots of tea.  I quite like it because I get a chance to sit and spin.  I love to look at what others have been working on and chat to like minded people.  I whizzed around taking a few pictures before the 'Public' arrived.  I should have  taken more and have made a note to myself for next year.  It is quite tricky to get the balance right for a blog post, too many photos or not enough, sometimes you can't win.  This year we have had workshops on:

Colour Theory
Design Theory
Flower Pounding
Everlasting Christmas Crackers
The History of Ribbon Making
Natural Dyes

That is to name a few.  All of the displays looked impressive this year.  I particularly liked the Weaving tables.  We have some very talented weavers that are in their eighties.

Examples of a variety of methods of weaving were on display.  It fascinates me to see the skill involved.  There are also several 'Sales' tables.  I was fairly good today and did not spend!  I am due a large quantity of 'raw' Alpaca fleece at the end of the week and I don't know where to hide it, so I really had to resist more yarn or fibre.  I was asked if I wanted eight large bags of Alpaca for free!  What is a girl to say?  All the giver would like in exchange is something made from the fibre.  I think it is a stroke of good fortune but I will of course let you know.  It will definitely keep me out of mischief for a while.
At the Exhibition there is also an Annual Competition, this year the theme was 'The Sea'.  I am such a fool not to have taken more photographs but I got carried away spinning once I settled.  The entries were fantastic.  I was frogging mine on Thursday night, so gave up and didn't enter this year.  It is my own fault for getting addicted to 'Rippling' instead!  I remind myself that craft should be for leisure and pleasure anyway and if something becomes a chore I leave it alone for a while.  I did get a photograph of my Mom's entry.  I feel very proud of her and I think she did an absolutely fantastic job using entirely her own handspun yarn and some of the techniques and ideas we have picked up throughout the year.  She didn't get placed but the standard of entries was incredibly high this year.  Mom's piece is a 'Winner' in my eyes, I love it!

The Recycled Sari Yarn Industry

I have been doing some internet research into the production of Recycled Sari Silk Waste Yarn.

Why?

1) Because the yarn is beautiful.
2) I feel there is something exotic about Sari Silk.

3) I am fascinated about life and culture of India/Nepal.

4) Something beautiful created out of a recycled waste product has to be a good concept doesn't it?
5) A product that enables individuals to earn a living from craft skills is also good.
6) Supporting others to support themselves.
7) I am interested in spinning and working with additional fibres to wool.


Visually this yarn is impressive not only for the mixture of vivid, rich colours but also the sheen the silk gives off enhances the yarn and reflects the light.  I have read this is because of the prism shaped celullar structure of silk threads.  Silk is a protein fibre harvested from the silk worm. 

So how does this...

Get to this...

Then to this...

So I can make this...

A silk worm is not actually a worm, it is the larvae of a moth.  Silk has been Harvested for thousands of years and used to make the finest cloth.  The purest white silk is produced from silkworms raised on Mulberry leaves.  They 'spin' silk to form their cocoons.  These cocoons are then harvested and they need to be de-gummed to have a sticky resin removed with warm soapy water.

The degummed cocoons can then be spun into very fine thread.  They do not need to be combed or carded and are very easy to spin with.  Long rovings can be pulled from the mass and the indidvidual silk fibres are long, fine and lustrous.

Spinning silk to be woven in to Saris provides a living for many across india. 

Skills get passed on by traditional methods.  Many familys have simple spinning wheels and large weaving looms.

The cocoons are often dyed prior to spinning and some rich, vibrant colours are produced.

It take skilled work and many hours to produce some of the finer saris by hand.

As with many processess silk production creates waste.  The ends of the threads off the looms can be gathered and recycled.

This is known as throwsters waste and it can be spun to produce beautiful and unique yarns.

These yarns can then be made into a variety of Garments and items.





Adventures in Dyeing

I have experimented with dyeing fibre or yarn three times so far.  I can't really say any of it has been a success.  Attempt two and three were an attempt to rescue some Merino roving that failed to take on colour in a mixed berry dye bath.  The yarn I dyed was pretty awful, but the roving was even worse, an awful bluey, browny pink colour.  To be positive I invented aroma yarn as even after rinsing it smells very Tutti frutti.

Here you can see why it needed help.  I used Alum as a mordant, and raspberries, blackcurrants and blackberries for dye.  I really should have made more jam, as that turns out a beautiful colour. The rovings had loitered in the shed for a few months in disgrace and I did not want to waste them.  So I ventured on a learning curve with food colouring as the fibre was already treated with mordant. 
I used my very old slow pot and 'cooked' the wool on medium for about six hours with the colouring added.  Then I let it cool in the pot.  No stirring because I did not want to make felt.

Not a subtle result.  If I can spin it fine enough it may make a pair of socks, or it could make hats for children to wear when you take them to busy places and do not want to lose them.  A woolly hat like this would be great on a crowded beach for example, when it helps if your child sticks out like a sore thumb.  To achieve this beauty I used whatever red and yellow food colouring I had left in the cupboard.  I also had very orange hands the next day.

This is the other marvel.  I used whatever black food colouring that was left in the cupboard.  Blended with the orange I think it could be used to make an anti theft hat, scarf and glove set.  No one would ever steal garments made from this stuff.  To evaluate this little experiment I can conclude I will no longer use berries or food colouring to dye yarn.  I will be patient and wait for the 'Birmingham Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing Guild's' planned 'Dyeing Picnic' in the summer and I hope for more attractive results then.