January 2004 Newsletter


"A Wool Gathering" 2004 Will BE Held September 18-19

The 2003 Wool Gathering is history, and, with excellent weather and the efforts of demonstrators, exhibitors, and vendors, it was the biggest and the best effort to date. We are looking forward to the 2004 Wool Gathering, already set for September 18 and 19. So mark your calendars!(Dates were wrong in the snail mail version of this newsletter)

In 2003 we added a very special feature, a picking band for kids, with fiddle, banjo, and lap dulcimer, under the direction of Jeb Mac (Jeff McKinley). Kids and parents played along on a collection of spoons, bones, washboards, and washtubs. The result was tuneful and, more important, lots of fun. We’re hoping to have the “Picking Area” back in 2004...if you want to contact Jeff for your own event, he can be e-mailed at jmckinle1@juno.com.

John Allread from St. Paris, Ohio, returned with his Border Collies, trained to herd ducks (and sheep) around an obstacle course. The dogs, as always, made it look easy to move livestock (those of us who use “people power” to move livestock know it’s not easy).

Eugene Haudenschield also makes it look easy to remove a fleece from a sheep, all in one piece in no time at all. Sheep shearing is always fun to watch, and the audience gets to see the very beginning of the beautiful hats and sweaters available from our vendors.

Thanks to the Society for Creative Anachronism, whose costumes are beautiful and whose spinning and weaving talents are excellent. This year the group completed a shawl as the audience watched and asked questions.

Thanks also to the Weavers’ Guild of Miami Valley, the Dayton Knitters’ Guild, and the Clark County Extension and 4-H Office for demonstrations, knitting lessons (thanks, Lynn McCown), and rope making. What makes the Wool Gathering work is the many crafts- people who are willing to inspire and teach.

We expanded the craft area this year and added pom-pom sheep to our list of projects, joining CD spindles, felt pictures, weaving, rope making, and worry dolls. We were still crowded in the craft area and will make more space next year. We’ve learned that some of our spinning, knitting, and felting crafters from previous years have continued with these crafts they first learned about at A Wool Gathering, and we are delighted to offer this fun, free introduction to the fiber arts.

For the 2004 Wool Gathering, we’ve decided to keep the same physical arrangement–that is, two big tents and space in the middle for outside vendors. We’ll continue to emphasize quality and variety and to maintain our fun, family atmosphere. So plan on joining us at Young’s Dairy September 18 and 19, 2004, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. And if you have any suggestions or if you would like to volunteer to help, please contact us. You can contact us through our web site, at www.awoolgathering.com, by mail (Midwest Festival of Fibers, 4400 Gateway Blvd, Suite 104, Springfield, OH 45502), by e-mail (Lmpelekoudas@erinet.com). or by phone, 937 325-7781.

Place Mats
By Corinne Whitesell

Corinne is a spinner and weaver who has studied and taught in Ohio, Alaska, and New Zealand. She presently lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and teaches weaving at Sinclair College and in workshops for the Weavers Guild of Miami Valley. Corinne points out that place mats can be woven on rigid heddle looms and even, with size limitations, on frame looms.

One of my favorite things to weave is place mats. I can use a whole “wardrobe” of place mats myself, and they make great gifts. Since I sew a lot, I have leftover fabric I can strip up and make into little “rag rug” place mats to go with any color of dishes. Here are some of my favorite tricks for place mats.

I usually use ordinary crochet cotton (white) for the warp, but cottolin (50% cotton, 50% linen) works well. Other fine to medium weight cotton yarns (i.e. 8/2 cotton) are appro- priate. The primary design value is in the weft fabric strips, with the warp value being mini-mal. For this reason the warp should be only 10 ends per inch, and not a heavyweight yarn. I cut my fabric strip width at 3/8 inch.

How do I decide the place mat size? I put a complete place setting on the table and measure, allowing for a one-inch border to “frame” the place setting. Dinner plates are usually 10 inches in diameter. This means I need a mat at least 13 inches wide, so that one inch of the place mat shows below the plate and above the water glass. I find a 16 or 17 inch length works well. This makes for a standard rectangle with an approximate 3:4 ratio, width to length.

But size is partly a matter of preference. The Greeks used a rectangle ratio in their art and architecture that has become known as the “Golden Rectangle.” It was thought to be the most pleasing ratio (1:1.618) of width to length. If you know the desired width, multi- ply it by 1.6 to get the length. If you know the desired length, divide by 1.6 to get the width.

Plan for shrinkage!! Nothing is more discouraging than carefully weaving the exact size you desire, only to find it change when you take it off the loom, and change again after laundering! I weave a 19" length under tension. It is shorter when not under tension after taking it off the loom. After putting it through the washer and dryer at maximum temperatures, it shrinks again. I can expect to end up with a 16- inch length. As for the width, I put a 15-inch width on the loom, and expect it to have a pull-in plus laundering shrinkage of two or more inches. If the fabric strips are pajama flannel, I can expect the “more” in shrinkage. It sometimes helps to make a small sample and measure the percentage of shrinkage after laundering. Un-doubtedly, however, you have discovered, as I have, that sample results are not always consistent with results on the larger final item.

Hemstitching into fabric strips doesn’t work well, so I begin and end each place mat with four picks of the warp yarn. When hemstitched, this produces neat finished edges that sort of frame the place mats. I hemstitch only three warp threads at a time (my personal choice for most medium to fine warp yarns that are sleyed at only 10 ends per inch).

I usually warp up for six places at a time. I leave 8 inches of empty warp between each place mat. Even though I hemstitch each end of a place mat, I worry that something won’t hold when it is put through the washer and dryer. So I tie each group of hemstitched warp ends with an overhand knot at the fabric’s edge just to make sure everything is locked firmly in place.

By leaving eight inches between place mats, I have four inches of fringe at each end after cutting the six mats apart. I need that much length for knot-tying wiggle room. (Ever try tying an overhand knot with a two-inch length of yarn?) When all the knots are tied, I give all fringes a “hair cut” to a 1-1/2 inch length and head for the laundry room to give the mats some rough treatment in the washer and dryer. Thereafter a good steam ironing on high heat completes the finishing process.

Upcoming Fiber Events...
  • “Learn to Spin” workshop, February 28
    Center Township Fire Hall, 9986 Bowling Green Rd. East, Bowling Green, OH, The Black Swamp Spinner’s Guild of NW Ohio, cost $20. To register (by 2/15) or for more information: sevenstrickers@msn.com.
  • 19th Annual Market Day and Fiber Fair March 27, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
    St. Marks Lutheran Church Family Life Cen- Ter, 315 S. College Dr., Bowling Green, OH, The Black Swamp Spinner’s Guild of NW Ohio, demos, spinning/weaving equipment and supplies, finished items, books, fleeces, roving.
  • Fleece Fair, April 9, 4 p.m. - 7 p.m., April 10, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
    Putnam Co. Fairgrounds, Greencastle, IN. Demos, workshops, competitions, and many vendors. This is an excellent show for raw fiber. More info. at www.fleecefair.com, or contact Pat Fender at 812 829-4501.
  • Mid-Ohio Fiber Gathering, April 24, 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
    Winner Barn and Conference Center, 1 mile east of the Route 47/Route 235 Intersection, DeGraff, OH. Vendors and demonstrations. Susie Smithers, 937 585-5161, Lee Ann King, 419 682-1427 Leellama@bright.net; Tina Stellhorn, 419 428-0303, wcalpacas@saa.net.
  • Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, May 1-2
    Howard Co. Fairgrounds, West Friendship, MD. This festival has it all...demos, work- shops, vendors, animal and fiber competi- tions, and thousands of fiber enthusiasts. Website: www.sheepandwool.org, or con- tact MD sheep & Wool Festival, PO Box 99, Glenwood MD 21738, 410 531-3647.
  • Great Lakes Fiber Show, May 29-30
    Wayne Co. Fairgrounds, Wooster, OH. Vendors, workshops, fleece show and sale, Angora goat and sheep show. Contact Linda Reichert, 330 264-9665, website: www.lambzown.com/GreatLakesFiberShow.htm


T-shirt design
We like Jill Fisher’s design for our new T- shirts and sweatshirts.
They’ll be back at our 2004 Wool Gathering.


Fiber Activities for Children
One of the most popular features of A Wool Gathering is the Make-it, Take-it projects for children or adults. We’ve taught folks how to use a drop spindle, how to knit, how to weave, how to twist yarn into ropes or braids, and how to felt. These fun activities can be done at home and allow creative crafters to learn the basics of fiber art.

If you’d like to try our earliest and most basic craft, plate weaving, make 17 cuts about 1/4 inch deep at equal intervals around the edge of a paper plate. With yarn, warp the plate. Fasten the warp in the middle by passing it over and under the spokes, going around and around until you run out of yarn or want to change colors. When you finish the weaving, carefully cut the loops and tie them together in pairs or fours in order to hold the weaving in place. If you weave tightly, your finished product will cup like a dish when you are finished; looser weaving results in a round flat piece.

Weaving with paper strips works well also. Linda Donaldson brought cut paper frame looms and cut paper strips to a Kids’ Night program at Youngs’ last fall, and the children enjoyed making placemats.

The following "Burn Chart" is intended to help you identify fibers in your stash whose nature is not known. (If you're like me, you sometines forget to label and find bits and balls of fiber and yarn whose origin has been forgotten.) JoAnn Powers, spinner and spinning teacher from Columbus, used this at a workshop; she says she got it years ago from the Yarn Barn.



As shearing time nears. we thought you might be interested in addresses of wool processors. Here are a few to start; let me know if you have others to recommend:
  • Wooly Knob Fiber Mill Inc.,
    PO BOx 171,
    207 S. Main,
    LaOtto, IN 46763,
    260 897-4477
    woolynobfibrmill@aol.com
    Jamie and Matt came to the Wool Gathering last year to pick up fleeces; I was pleased with the results from the fleeces I sent with them.

  • Ohio Valley Natural Fibers,
    8541 Louderback Rd.,
    Sardinia, OH 45171,
    937 446-3045
    www.ovnf.com

  • Zeilinger Wool Co.,
    1130 Weiss St.,
    Frankenmuth, MI 48734
    877 767-2920
    989 652-2920
    www.zwool.com


Barbara Kalman, who knits high fashion scarves, would like to share space with someone for the 2004 Wool Gathering. If you're interested, contact Barbara at Bobbie5742@aol.com
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