We had a mini-workshop, led by Janet Major, in which we made silk bowls:
Jess Johnson, Arts and Heritage Outreach Manager, gave an informative talk to us about the Diss Heritage Triangle and the Corn Hall Project. This is a £3.2m investment programme (with £1.65m from Heritage Lottery Funding) in the heart of Diss. It is in fact 5 projects and the physical aspects of this relating to the Corn Hall are due to be completed very soon (in Spring 2016). Our exhibition in the Corn Hall will be our first (public) involvement with the project. It was fascinating to hear about the research that had been carried out since the start of the project and which has built on previous work done by the Diss Museum and its members into the textile industry of Diss. Many of us were particularly interested in what is being discovered about the Linen industry for which Diss was such a large and important centre.
It was also good to hear about the computer simulation of change in the town over the centuries, the previous (textile related) uses of buildings in the Textile Triangle, and the exciting new facilities being completed in the Corn Hall.
We could have listened for much longer and, as a Guild, we will be involved in some of the further research. It is all very exciting for us and for Diss. Many Thanks to Jess for a brilliant start to the programme for 2017.
We often get asked whether we can spin a fleece (or other fibre) and also if we know what is involved with commercial spinning. One of our members has put together some information which we hope will help.
Get into the habit of labelling everything, however small! It can save you hours. Try having a bundle of labels close to your weaving, spinning or dyeing (and a pen/pencil) – it will make a difference. It is always useful to record the Date and the type of Fibre. Other information might include the Dye used, the Loom used, the Sett, the Weight of the finished piece. For Spinning, you might add the Method of preparation (combed, carded, etc.), type of Fleece, and Wraps per inch (WPI).
If you find you have a loose warp thread, fill a 35mm film canister with baking beans and tie it to the warp thread to act as a weight. To weight a floating selvedge, wrap the thread around the canister then trap it under the lid to stop it unravelling.
A pair of hemostats can be used in the same way; they just clip right on.
A great little tool for knowing wraps per inch or cm. Will even fit on a keyring. Useful when you are out and about and spot some yarn.
When you spin finely, at some point, you are likely to find that the thread breaks! Being fine, it often embeds itself in the spool of completed yarn and it can take a long time to find it. A way to avoid this happening is to add a strip of card now and again and then the worst that can happen is that you go back to the last time you used a card strip.
‘Figure of 8’ ties around skeins, three or four of them per skein, help to keep the integrity of the skein during the dyeing process. Don’t be mean with the amount of yarn you use – the fibres need room to move. If the ties are too tight, you will find the dye isn’t taken up well by the fibre under the tie.
If you can see this, it means the site is currently under construction. In the meantime, our old website is still available here, with information about previous and future meetings, and the guild itself.