We've been busy!

We've been very busy getting our guild artifacts and visibility going. We started with the Google groups, then as we were coming up on the Norfolk Mini Maker Faire we realized there was an opportunity to do a few more things. Handouts! Business Cards! Lists! More lists!

All that and a blog.

We don't have a physical and regular meeting location so I suppose you could say we are a virtual guild. For now.

Donations
We received two anonymous and one non-anonymous donation today:

• 19" HP LCD flat panel monitor - this will be great for displaying slide shows of finished objects, photos from past events, and pretty much anything related to fiber from source to completed object. Neat!
• "A Weaver's Book of 8-Shaft Patterns" edited by Carol Strickler. We are very fortunate to have this as the first item in our guild library. It's a seminal work that weavers across the world look to for inspiration and guidance. 
• 9 issues of Handwoven magazine, 1989 and 1994. These were acquired by me (Erin) and I'll post the exact issue dates and contents when I start the library list. These are interesting in that they are prior to Handwoven's editorial change to a more four-shaft weaving focus for less experienced weavers. This was also a time when their articles were longer and incredibly informative. 

If you have any spinning, weaving, or other equipment or books that are gathering dust, please consider donating them to the guild. If you don't know whether we can use it, just ask. Here are a few items we'd like to acquire: carpet remnants or area rugs - clean but used (the objective is to cover a 10'x20' space); weaving/spinning books of any type in reasonable condition; money (yes, it costs money to do the demonstrations, print documents and business cards, etc), folding chairs.  

Members of the guild may borrow from the library free of cost. 

About Events
At the moment there are a core group of folks who are participating in events - me, Kerry, Tara, and Donna.  However, in addition to having people to work in the booth/exhibition area I'd really like to see others take on the role of demonstrator so Kerry and I aren't carrying the full load. Not all events are everyone's cup of tea. The Harvest Faire required that participants where period-appropriate-ish "garb." Isn't it great that we have some folks who can are willing to wear that stuff? Maker Faire was loud and busy. The Hermitage Museum is probably a much more low-key affair where not a lot of teaching will occur, but possibly question answering and definitely spinning and weaving. That might appeal to the less-outgoing members. In other words, someone will find a fit.

Upcoming Events
October 27-28 - Cornerstone Alpaca
We are hoping to participate as an exhibitor at Cornerstone Alpacas next weekend, October 27/28. As soon as I know for sure I'll post it here and the group forum. We may need volunteers to help answer questions, explain spinning and/or weaving. All the better if you are familiar working with alpaca fiber - either as a spinner/weaver or knitter/crocheter.

December 8 - Hermitage Museum
Kerry and I will be at the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk spinning and weaving. Again, more to come on that.

Past Events
Annual Harvest Faire, Endview Plantation, October 13-14
Hands-on demonstration, gorgeous weather, camping, Renaissance-themed. Tara, Kerry, and Erin went, and we wore garb. And we camped out, which was fun for me, but Tara and Kerry found it a little chilly.

Lessons Learned: ask for a more level spot. Bring a large rug. Camping is fun, but it multiplies the amount of equipment by two. Small dogs are a real draw (we brought along Sarah Dog, the dachshund). Come for the dog, stay for the spinning.

Norfolk Mini Maker Faire, October 20
Loud, exciting, and packed. Donna, Tara, Erin, and Kerry manned, and Peg Graham stepped in to help us put kits together. There were more children than I thought we'd see, but Donna had the bright idea for some kind of "make and take" situation. We put together about 105 make-your-own-spindles kit with assembly and use instructions and we gave out 80 of them to children and adults.

Lessons Learned: make more kits; we started hoarding them a little, but with about double the amount we wouldn't have had to. In fact, we might want to triple the amount for next year. It's a great item. The folding screen made a really good display stand. We need to be prepared to have items available for sale. Only Kerry was prepared on that front. Bigger loom would be impressive - next year I'll bring Bam-Bam.

Happy Spinning!