Community Guild Studios at Slater Mill

Upcoming Events and Various Goings-On

We have so many things to discuss!  Where to start?  Well, first of all, if you haven't had a chance to go see it, the Rowan 30th Anniversary Exhibit is going away on June 25th, so you'd better go asap! 

Don't forget there are 2 fabulous classes going on this Saturday on Workshop Day!  Embroidery with Brenda Devine will be from 11-2.  I've got a couple project pics from this class to share with you all.  Here's the beginning of the project -

And here's where it will end up -

I'm told this is a completely addictive process. 

Also this Saturday is Journal Quilting with Pat St. Germain, offered from 2-5.  No quilting experience required!  Here's an excuse for those non-quilters to play with some cloth!    

Weavers - as always, feel free to come in and work on your projects from 10-5. 

And Hey!  Calling all Knitting Guild Members!  Margery Winter, Editor-in-Chief of Verena Knitting Magazine will be our special guest for our Wednesday, June 30th meeting, so please come and bring a friend!

Want even more up-to-date info about Slater Mill?  You can see the Mill's new twitter page at http://twitter.com/TheSlaterMill, or, if you have a twitter account, you can simply follow TheSlaterMill.   

Harrisville Designs Trip

Harrisville Designs is a name that weavers, knitters, spinners, and other fiber folks associate with quality woolen yarns and fleece.  Since 1971, Harrisville Designs was created with "a goal of preserving the textile heritage and economic vitality that had sustained the village [of Harrisville] for almost two hundred years. 

And now's your chance to see it for yourself!  Sign up for the Harrisville Designs Tour, leaving from Slater Mill in September!  See the email from Bernadette below - and if you're not already on the mailing list, email her Bernadette@slatermill.org to be added asap!

September 9,  2010: Harrisville Bus trip from Slater Mill

Join us as we travel to historic Harrisville, NH to visit Harrisville Designs. Harrisville, nestled in the scenic Monadnock Highlands of southwestern New Hampshire, is a village whose tradition in textiles dates back more than 200 years. Harrisville Designs is a small family owned and operated business continuing that tradition by producing high quality yarn, looms and accessories. Harrisville Designs also offers a custom wool spinning service. For the past 30 years, The Knitting and Weaving Center at Harrisville has been providing fiber arts students with workshops instructed by acclaimed textile artists.

· Bus departs Slater Mill at 8 AM, returns 5 PM

· Trip includes roundtrip transportation from Slater Mill to Harrisville Designs, tour of Harrisville Designs, weaving demonstration and driver tip. Harrisville Designs is kindly offering our group 10% off in their shop for the day!

· Trip fee: $50 members/$80 non-members (join Slater Mill now and you are immediately eligible for member price)

· Register before July 1^st and receive 5% off

Please contact me with any questions and I hope to see some of you attending our workshops and  trip .

Best,

Bernadette     

Rowan Exhibit at Slater Mill

 

In case you haven't heard, the Rowan 30th Anniversary Exhibit opens at the Gallery in the Visitor's Center at Slater Mill this week!  We are very, very lucky that this international tour is visiting us here in Pawtucket, RI.  

 In case you missed the email Bernadette sent out:

Rowan 30th Anniversary Exhibition at Slater Mill Gallery May 6-June 25, 2010

PAWTUCKET, RI: Slater Mill and Community Guild Studios partners with Rowan Yarns to bring world renowned exhibit to Rhode Island. Rowan is known as the U.K.’s leading premium yarn company. This Exhibition showcases vintage designer garments tracing three decades of design in the hand knitting industry. This touring exhibition has already appeared in several European countries as well as Australia.

The Exhibition features a selection of iconic designs and profiles the key designers who have helped create the individuality that is the Rowan brand, designers like Kaffe Fassett, Kim Hargreaves, Annabel Fox, Louisa Harding, Jean Moss, Brandon Mably, Marion Foale, Erika Knight, Sarah Dallas, Sasha Kagan, Martin Storey and Marie Wallin. The exhibit showcases a wide range of garment styles for women and men: cardigans, jackets, sweaters, coats, dresses, vests and shawls. The work involved in the exhibit garments is evident. An outstanding knitted garment on view in the show will be Kaffe Fassett’s Long Leaf Coat with some knit rows requiring over 30 color changes. This amazing coat is made from over 70,000 stitches and is a testament to what hand knitters can achieve. In all the exhibit’s thirty-three garments span the years from 1983 to 2008.

The opening reception will be held at the Slater Mill Gallery on Thursday, May 6, 2010 from 5:30-7PM. The gallery is located in the Visitor Center at 175 Main Street, downtown Pawtucket across from Slater Mill. Guests are invited to wear or bring garments that they have knit from Rowan patterns.

For information, contact Bernadette Vaughan, Coordinator, Community Guild Studios at Bernadette@slatermill.org

You can download the flyer here - Download RowanFlyer2010.  Please feel free to print it out and share it with friends!

Another important thing to note is that Fresh Purls will be there selling Rowan yarns and books, including the 30th Anniversary Magazine.  What can be better than seeing all the sweaters you've drooled over in person, AND shopping for yarn?  See you all Thursday at 5:30!

Knitting Guild Needs Volunteers

Bernadette has put out a call for volunteers for our next Guild meeting, April 28th with Deborah Newton.   Just in case you missed the email, here's what we're looking for:

One person to sit in Gift Shop and direct people upstairs. You will not miss any of the talk!

Two people to sell food - again, this is before and after the talk, you won’t miss out.

One person to help me sign people in.

Please let me know if you are interested!

Thanks!

Bernadette

bernadette@slatermill.org

Who's Presenting at the Knitting Guild Meeting 4/28?

Here's a hint: 

Still not sure?  Well, I was going to give you more clues but I'm too excited.

It's the Clasica Coat from the Fall 2009 Interweave Knits designed by none other than Deborah Newton!  (I know!  I can't believe it either!) 

She has prepared a slide show and presentation for us, and you will certainly not want to miss out, so come on April 28th!  We will start at 6:30, so feel free to get there early for the good seats.

The presentation is free for Guild Members - those that still need to renew can do so that evening.  Feel free to invite non-guild members along, they can come for $5, payable at the door.  

We will also be selling some refreshments, all proceeds to go to the Knitting Guild (you might be able to talk me into making some blueberry scones if I get lots of comments hint hint). 

I hope you can all be there, it should be a really amazing evening. 

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact Bernadette at

bernadette@slatermill.org or myself at communityguildstudios@gmail.com

April/May Classes and Workshops

I'm very excited today, because there are so many great things to do at Slater Mill this spring, and I want to be at all of them! 

First of all, there's Free for All Sunday, sponsored by Amica Insurance - read more about that here. Folks at the mill are looking for volunteers to come knit at the Brown House (next to the big yellow building!) from 11am-3pm.  I know some folks are planning on coming - you can talk about it here on Ravelry.

I will be adding the updated class schedule to the Classes/Events page, but it's going to take me a little bit (this whole job thing is really cramping my style today!) so I'm going to give you the brochure to download in the meantime, until I can get everything all tidy and in the correct place.

Download Cgs_class schedule brochure_aprilmay content 2010_page1

Download Cgs_class schedule brochure_aprilmay2010_page2

If you open those files, you will see that April's Workshop Day includes a Beaded Bracelet class (more info to follow!) and and Indigo Dyeing Workshop!  Unfortunately, Brenda Devine will not be teaching an embroidery class in April, but she will be back for the May Workshop Day, so don't worry! 

Also new for Spring are some more of our popular Quilting classes.  Please check the Quilting page to see some photos and descriptions. 

As always, contact Bernadette Vaughn at bernadette@slatermill.org with any questions, or leave a comment here. 

Coming up soon - some information on a couple Gallery Exhibits - one I know all the knitters out there are going to be VERY excited about!

More Workshop Info

I've told you about the Embroidery and Surface Design Workshop, and the Drop Spindle Workshop, and now I need to tell you about the Finishing Techniques Workshop.  This workshop will be offered by Cirilia Rose, and as those of you that took her class during the 2nd Annual Knitting Weekend can attest, no matter how long you have been knitting, there's always something new to learn!  If you are on Ravelry, you can see Cirilia's designs here.

There is a short homework list for the class, so if you're interested, get crackin'!  You need to bring four blocked swatches, approximately 4"x4", all stockinette, no garter edges. 

You will also need to bring:

• A tapestry (or large eye) needle
• worsted weight yarn
• size US 7 or 8 needles
• crochet hook (any mid-range size is ok)

IMPORTANT: Your swatches and the yarn you bring to class should be TWO different colors and should be smooth, basic yarns in easy to see shades.

 

2nd Annual Knitting Weekend Recap

If you are anything like me, you were lucky enough to attend Slater Mill's 2nd Annual Knitting Weekend this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and, if you are anything like me, you are still recovering from the fantastic time you had.  The Mill is always a fun place for me to be, but it truly seems to come alive during such an event.  Even while the weekend was drawing to a close, I heard people chatting about their next guild meetings, upcoming classes, and events that they would like to see in the future.  To me, this means that the Mill has become more than a place to visit now and again, it has instead become as much a part of our lives as the crafts that we enjoy. 

This was certainly evident on Friday night, as the conference room was packed full of knitters there to hear Mary Jane Mucklestone give a presentation on improving ones knitting photography.

Knitters learned tips and tricks to improve their own photos, and enjoyed a look behind the scenes of Interweave Knits.  I will never look at walls the same way!

Designer and Knitting Weekend instructor Cirilia Rose also brought a trunk show from Berroco Yarn which highlighted many of their new Spring designs.  Knitters shopped for patterns, tried on samples, and sipped cocktails while chatting with instructors and fellow students.  It was a marvelous kick-off to the weekend.  I was sad to leave!

The next day was frenetic and fun, with classes going on in the three spaces upstairs, and a not-so-mini Mini Marketplace downstairs.  The vendors looked amazing tucked in with the the machines in the textile museum, it was such a fitting atmosphere.  

 Because I was in the Marketplace on Saturday, I didn't take a class until Sunday.  But several Guild members were able too, and smuggled me some photos. 

Here Cirilia Rose teaches a class on Finishing.

 

There was also Mary Jane Mucklestone teaching color work - here she is with some of her students and their giant piles of yarn.  Knitpicks was kind enough to donate the yarn for the class, and each student went home with enough yarn to make about 5 hats!

 

Rose Ann Hunter taught classes on designing rugs and knitting with fabric.  Here she is with some of her students, demonstrating a technique.

 

On Sunday I took two classes - a moebius or infinity scarf class with Helen Bingham of Fresh Purls, and it was so much fun that I'm almost done with my scarf!  I will hopefully post a photo by the end of the week.  I also took a one-on-one workshop with Leslie Wind to make my own shawl pin.  The hammering of the wire was cathartic, and I got a lovely copper pin to boot.  

To see the rest of the pictures from the knitting weekend, you can click here, or check out the photo album on the left of the page.