SHOW AND TELL 2024

November 2024

Hazel proudly showing off her wonderful hand spun striped jumper knitted in one piece in the round. Does anyone enjoy sewing seams?

The Show and Tell this year 2024, was a fabulous presentation of almost 30 projects of members’ work over the past few months. Maybe it should be called “Show, Tell, Fondle and Coo!”

Earlier this year some of our guild members were treated to a weekend of natural dyeing at Higham Hall. This is the result of Carrie’s time there and the skeins, dyed with onion, madder and indigo, are without doubt works of art in their own right.

We all admired Susan’s two year project to create a gorgeous knitted dress/jumper from soft Herdwick and sari silk. Being surprised by the wool’s softness, Herdwick is usually used for carpets, it was explained by a low twist and loose ply during the spinning.

Note to self…if you start a large project from squares or diamonds and run out of patience to make that big rug or whatever then why not turn them into bags? This year we admired Gerda’s eye-catching domino knitted one. A lucky person’s Christmas present perhaps.

We often see hats at Show and tell but less often 2 very different and impressive hats from a single member. Jan created a pretty crocheted bag made from hand spun Shetland fleece, dyed with onion. She also designed and knitted the diamond pattern beanie, the other was knitted, felted and shaped ready for visits into town away from the farm.

With some unlabelled grey and brown fluff Chris found in the bottom of a box, enough yarn was blended and spun to make this little (but surprisingly stretchy) cabled tanktop.

Beautiful variegated BFL yarn plus skilled workmanship equals scrummy welly socks for some happy feet. Jane, long used to knitting underarm, found working with short pins quite a challenge.

More advice to members from Frances; don’t dismiss early spinning results, use a pin loom to create lovely coasters like the ones here.

.This soft and charming woven scarf by Anne has never seen a sheep but of course if made a present of some yarn we never look a gift horse in the mouth and Anne certainly succeeded in making something very desirable. We can spend a long time working on a project and just not be happy with the result for whatever reason. I wonder what will ultimately happen to Anne’s jumper. Meanwhile her ‘playing’ on the knitters loom brought a big smile to everyone’s faces with a most joyful and colourful weave.

Ooh, a puppy!! Talking of weaving, Carol’s scarf was inspired by her red fox Labrador puppy. We loved her beautiful design workings too. The scarf turned out lovely too.

Two new members Richard and Jane, bravely jumped straight in with their first Show and Tell talking about their already very accomplished weaving. Jane used horsechestnut and turmeric to dye her Shetland weft and Richard wove cotton in a log cabin pattern.

Rachel’s amazing (as always!) practise pieces in lamper’s weave stunned all members and were made into delightful little bags. Did she get them all home I wonder?

Hazel S is going to be kept quiet for some time with the cut pile weave she’s started, a slow process but very effective. Looking forward to next year’s Show and Tell. Will it be completed?

Another gorgeous woven bag by Rosie using left over commercial yarns plus a couple of stripey weaving samples using Guild Challenge fleece spun singles.

Judith’s first time spinning linen from flax, then weaving this thoroughly impressive piece.

The group were delighted to see the final piece of an ancient Greek weave project run by Jane that six members had participated with over many months. Shetland wool was spun with drop spindles and a loom was constructed in the style shown on ancient Greek pottery. There are no surviving examples of ancient Greek fabric but what a brilliant project and a rather lovely weave completed.

Ruth wove and then created this lovely tailored and lined waistcoat. So interesting to see how the same yarns woven differently create such varying fabric. Polished stone buttons completed this stunning garment.

New spinner Hazel M presented some lovely mini skeins plus some of her experimental weaving with interesting shaped edges, loops and shelves. (Sadly our much missed Heather would have loved this!)

So do you remember dolly or French knitting when we were kids? My ‘dolly’ was just a cotton reel with nails in the top. Mostly we just made tablemats with coils of knitted tails – not me, my patience ran very short. However not Kathy! She’s in the process, and almost there, of knitting an amazing child’s jumper with hers. The technique also required devising a very unique way of increasing and decreasing without making the usual ‘lumps’.

Debbie had planned a semi-circle rug on her pegloom and things didn’t go absolutely to plan, however some lucky spaniel might yet enjoy curling up on it! The next rug however was a roaring success made from Harris Tweed selvedge edges with knitting needles created from broom handles and gin bottle tops. What’s not to love!

Heard of thrumming? A Scandinavian technique of adding unspun tops to the knitting to create extra insulation in your gloves, perfect for Cumbrian winters. Janice will be finishing her second pair at her workshop planned in 2025 (see the Programme). Until then, keep warm everybody!