glimpses of a Thursday eve and of Red Nose day

This week, 12 + 13 of March, was quite a change from the usual routine (as if there ever is a routine!), in that lots of different activities took place on the the Thursday eve with group members and guests.

As said before elsewhere: Thursday eves Galgael stays now open until about 8pm, and clan members and friends can come to join in with sharing food and with trying out different craft activities, as well as with music making.

This week Jerry tried his hand at needlefelting whilst Anneruth carried on with sewing and needlefelting a Herbidean fleece rug. Here you can see him with the fleece that shall be going with him back to Iona.

Lynsey had brought a potter friend and she joined Ali, Naomi and Emma in Luis' pottery corner. Lynsey finally got a shot at weaving the rug, too, that night. (see picture on top of this blog)

On Friday all of Galgael went either in or on the Cldye for the Red Nose day boat race. For pictures of that go to the Urbanclansman blog here. Laryna, Sarah-Jane, Verene and Anneruth stayed in Fairley Street for some peace to work on things in peace and quiet for a wee change.

Verene had washed the wool she had spun on the drop spindle and plied on the wheel, and was now ready to wind it off into balls for knitting or weaving. Alas the skein winder is stil broken, but Laryna took pity on it. :-)

Sarah-Jane had managed to edge away from college (end of degree show coming up soon!) and at long last got a real good shot at the rug loom, christianing the rug 'harvest colour'.

Anneruth (another at long last!) finally got down to start felting the berret with the drum carded batts of moorit Shetland wool. Here you can see Helen, who has popped in from rowing on the Clyde to top up the teapot for the sailors, pretending to help Laryna to put the final fulling touches on the berret.

When the red nose rowing gang came back, as proud winner of the 3rd price, the day ended with fish supper galore!

(for more pictures of everything see our March Album)

week ending 6-3-09: lots happening!

Meet Jerry, who has been looking after John's Hebridean flock on Iona this wild winter, and who is over the moon to see how we are processing their fleeces into beautiful rugs. So we got straight down to fulling one for him to take back to Iona:

Which, at this Friday's Stakeholder meeting, meant Galgael Stakeholders were able to have a go at it as well!

Having a go at rag-rug weaving was the interest of many folks that day too. Here is a good old friend, Miriam the murial artist, looking close as Laryna demonstrates.

And then, inbetween, it was time for a song or two by Jerry, paying homage to the Hebridean fleeces - that one there is right now being processed (stitched & needlefelted, the stage after the washing and before the fulling) by Ali, and this one here is for Barmaddy, the Galgael venture in Argyll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLu4fCqfNnI

watch a wee clip of Jerry's homage to the Hebridean fleece by clicking above

And whilst you are on you tube, you might also like to catch a brief glimpse of Laryna dancing her heart out at last and some others too. {Just click on the embedded links!)

Or you might like to take the opportunity to more fully see that very special event of this Friday, the poem-song writing, music making, performance gig of Luke Concannon with Manjinga 7 at Galgael. Click here for the youtube playlist and here for the photos.

This Friday was really a wonderful opportunity to collect and display our creative projects, too, such as Jackie's Hebridean felts: the mittens and the baby booties.

Laryna's luxourios green bag and the stylish wristwarmers:

This beauty here, young David's vessel (remember him from the felting at Liz event last November?) we finally managed to capture -

You can see more shots of it and the other modest and mighty master pieces of our members on the photoalbum here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/woolcraft.atgalgael/March2009#

And here over to Laryna: who wrote:

We had a great day on Friday the 6t in GalGael. I loved especially the afternoon activities with the gorgeous band from Bristol. Such talented guys and full of inspiration, joy and love. They inspired us guys from GalGael to make our own songs out of words we gain by a brainstorming process written on a huge piece of paper. "There is so much talent in the room!" inspired us to do our very best. Later the band on stage was brilliant and eventually Luis was the first dancing and pulling everybody on the dance floor. I had great fun dancing. Then it became very noisy, because everybody was playing an instrument, mostly percussion ones. Fun was in the air!!!! I could feel the love and the joy and the fun of everybody.
GalGael, I am happy to be part of you!
From the wool ladies Anneruth, Alison, Lynsey and me have been there in the afternoon. Verene needed to go to another dance event with Biodanza.

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February

Well, the biggest event surely this month was the birth of Isobel Lucie on Sunday the 8th of February. It happened quietly, and blissfull new mum Anna is still keeping very quiet, but she and sleeping beauty are well and send this photo. Can you see the edge of the Shetlandwool blanket Anna knitted in midwinter? And below you can see the Alpaca blanket Anneruth spun, wove, sewn and felted ready now too for Isobel's pram in spring. The needlefelted Alpaca is onion skin dyed and is truly lumionous in colour sheen: what a miracle Alpaca is! Thank you Breeze (that is the baby alpaca whom you can meet here too)

Babies and mothers was the theme of that week: Here is Alison making a fairy for her soon to be born nieceAnd here is Samantha and son trying out needle felting for the first time.

Helen has been asked again to provide input into the local nursery at Bellahouston, and she is doing it all by herself this time. Good on you, woman! You were the young mother last February, weren't you?! (we must get a new picture of them!)

Otherwise this month was mainly taken up with forward planning of our big baby: the woolcraft at Galgael group. We have tried our luck in putting a funding application through so that we can build a more solid base for proper outreach in the future. There is just not enough space and time, but the demand is clearly there, and it is so good to be a vibrant part of a vibrant Galgael, and to now be even part of the big Operational Plan.

We have started to take part a little in the Thursday evening drop-in sessions, which got kicked into action also partly because of our pesterpower. See more about them here.

However, the space we would need is not quite available on the Thursdays either... so we are still looking, and also thinking of making use of our local members homes and gardens :-)

Meanwhile, another big baby of the month:

The upright tapestry has been given space at Galgael! Hurray!

It seems that everybody wants a shot at making rugs of the tartan offcuts from the Isle o Lewis - but right now when to camera was ready to shoot - it stood just proudly waiting next to the other big loom in the foyer now:

January

Yes, and now more the 'new' loom. An uprioght tapestry loom, gifted to us from the Coachhouse Trust (thank you!). It is in need of some TLC, but Laryna and Ian are at the case, and there is its space for the moment, in the cold (brrr) workshop, and then it is set to go Sarah-Jane's flat for the time being, until we have more space at Galgael.

Oh, and did you notice: Ian has got yet another new hat made by a woolcraftyatgalgael one! Well, you see - Naomi had great success and joy here with knitting wiht handspun wool: she loves it! And so does he needlessly to say! (what one earth has he done with all the other hats?)

Whilst we are in the showing off mood: a camera finally got hold of the beauty Jackie felted last year: her shoulder bag! It is already much loved and in good use. It can be used in two different ways. See our photoalbum for more details.

Then we have Hazel being mega productive with the sewing machine she had been given for Christmas: making little pouches and big teddybears! Well done Hazel!

Other products in process? Of course the baby blanket! Here you can see it now off the loom, being stitched together (2x90x28 cm pieces). It has not been fulled yet, but you can see the little off-cut having been heavily felted for to make a little bag out of it: it has mega shrunk!

And then we have another miracle of the month: Here you can see Alison very sucessfully learning how to spin (she has been dreaming about that for ages!)....

And here is what she wrote later on that week, reporting back from the woolcraft at Galgael input (sorry no camera on site: your imagination is engaged now)

The re-shuffle took place on the 31st January. It was an event for the community and for all to get together to discuss community issues. This was an opportunity for the woolcraft group to get involved and to promote our group so that more local woman and men can get involved, particualry on the new slot on thursday evening and to check if there was any interest. Naomi, Hazel and myself where involved. Naomi worked with the kids making gods eyes, Hazel sold some of her own beautiful merchandise and I taught some spinning. I thought this was a good opportunity to speak to local people, considering that at present we are discussing of where the woolcraft group is going. It was really just as an addition to help in our plans and see if there is an interest from local people in learning woolcraft skills and what would be the most suitable time in the future if we where going to establish a group to local people. It was a quiet day but I was able to get some names and email addresses to correspond with in the future. The results where that people where interested but only a few would make it on a Friday morning.

Well done Girls!

Midwinter times

Singing Carols at the Galgael solstice celebration by candlelight, and dancing with old and new friends...

for more pictures click here....

Midwinter times are quiet and cosy times, esp when we met at Verene's whilst Galgael was shut over the New Years' time. By candle light with punch and food, four of us carded, spun, knitted and made a warp. And the warp was for the baby blanket for Anna's baby, to be woven by Anneruth

Anna is here carding the alpaca wool herself, which is from Breeze in Ford (you can admire her here) .

Once Galgael opened again Ali and Sarah-Jane had an actual first in winding wool, namely the alpaca (spun and washed by Anneruth) from a skein into balls. Gosh, don't you remember doing that with your Gran?!

And Verene also had a first: namely plying and skeining her very first skein of wool at last!

You can still see her playing it above (in the back of picture, behind the loom not warped up for the blanket), and you see it here in full glory.

Melissa came to sit with us to do some knitting, and inspired Ali to rediscover her knitting skills. She also sported Anneruth's felted hat which suited her splendidly!

You can see it all and more for yourself if you go to our midwinter folder here.

Such as Sarah-Jane starting with needle felting her puppets hands, and the tapestry loom at the Coachhosue trust... well but that is for the next blog: January/February, really ...

Welcome to our woolcrafty at Galgael blog

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Here you can find and trace what has been going on in our modest and exciting adventures in 2008. Up to the beginning of October you can see a weekly log of them, and from then on you will find highlights as and when they happen and get published.

For a general intro to us and to our backgrund, please read our previous introduction entry, which has now been put into the archives, and is here:
http://woolcraftatgalgael.blogspot.com/2008/06/general-introduction-to-woolcraft-group.html

As live action is the motto - you will enjoy the wee video snippets live on
http://uk.youtube.com/user/woolcraftatgalgael and also a little over on http://uk.youtube.com/user/urbanclansman

Sarah-Jane now sings AND spins!

And as one picture tells many a story - see an abundance on

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/woolcraft.atgalgael

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/urban.clansman

This are some of our group and friends in front of a big piece of woolcraft 2008 action:

the Felt Portal, from the Plantation project in August/September

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In the course of this year there have been more than 30 folks (mainly but not only women) who have been learning and teachings a wider variety of woolcraft skills. The Galgael comunity has been enriched by the 'fluffy' group, and we have been enriched by the burly banter that is Galgael. Friendships grew, and life changes too. We are all volunteers when 'at home' (at Galgael), but increasingly in demand (and not able to fufill the demands due to lack of time) to do outreach, to teach and to facilitate in the wider community, in schools and events, in wellbeing projects and drop-ins.

We know there is a big need to expand this small part of Galgael, that is beginning to outgrow the small bothy with all its wools and tools, and busy hands and the gift of the gab :-)

We are looking forward to see where 2009 will take us. So far it seems into consolidation of skills.

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we have much to celebrate: stories of finished personal projects

watch this space: featuring some of our finished pieces or projects we are proud of...

everyone from the wool craft group is invited to show and say a bit of the piece she did this year and feels most proud of and why...

we have much to celebrate...

Here is one sample:

Pictures are great but feeling (touching) and seeing is best... It is very soft!

I am proud of this wee shawl because at last I had the time and the space to weave again almost properly (fully properly would be if it was a 'proper' loom with foot pedals!). It took ages, still, the whole procees, but every step is a great wee memory now: getting the warp threads cheaply from the Kilmahog Mill near Stirling, plying the , making the warp 5 threads per inch on my garden table with the wee chimnea keeping me warm on the cool summer night, warping it with a friend and some song whilst we were doing it; weaving it any free minute I got (which were not many!) and then making a last minute bash out of weaving it to the end. At the very end of the warp I experiemented with spinning some blend carded icelandic + blackface wool, to see how the set would work out and what it could yield. Then, after cutting it off, measuring it and tying the warpends, I fulled it, and was so pleased with the result: a hard stiff and widely woven piece of material became a soft fairly close woven hugable shawl! It can now just be left as a shawl, or I can weave another same piece and make a waist coat type wearable out of it. The little experiment piece is a table runner in its own right, but it is also showing me what to use in terms of thickness of thread for future projects.

There is potential in that little rigid heddle loom, thanks to my Galgael woodwork friends who fixed the heddle stick ends, and who made me warping pecks.

I know I have not given you all the info yet (length, weight, shrinkage, etc) - but you may ask. Please do! Need to dash now and hoover before it gets early dark here!

c u soon

Anneruth