June 21 Meeting Minutes

We had a very lovely meeting full of laughter and sharing by the 5 of us in attendance in the well lit meeting room. Please see last post for the full agenda.

We started off with show and tell where Betty, who drove up from Long Island that morning to be with us shared some exciting news. She was interviewed by Vogue Knitting with a story about her Moose Manor Hand Paints business and it will be appearing in the issue that is due to release on or before July 8.

Here is the cover so you know what to look for . . .

Sumac brought some gorgeous core spun yarns with cores ranging from bulky, to lace for inspiration and then gave us a hands on demonstration.  She even gave us a look at core less core spinning - who knew that even existed. It was very cool.  Thank you Sumac!!!!! What a great way to kick off our new quarterly meetings.

We voted on several things all unanimously at the meeting of all those in attendance.

1. There will be no official first Thursday night meetings from July - September
2. We set the dates for the next two quarterly meetings - same time (10:15-1:45) and place (Brooks Memorial Library meeting room) on September 6 and December 13. Please mark your calendars.
3. That we bring in an outside instructor (to be announced once they are secured to date and topic) from New England for the September meeting and that the guild pay for their services from the treasury.
4. That new officers are to be elected at the September meeting which will be the start of a new year for the River Spinners.

Additional items of discussion - although not voted on unanimous consent that this was how we wanted to proceed.

1. People should plan to bring dues for the September meeting we did not officially vote to reinstate as it makes more sense to do that at the start of the new business year
2. The December meeting we will have in place of the Yankee swap a destash round robin - no worries if you don't have a big enough stash to destash
3. The December meeting topic will be upcycling sweaters (Please step forward if you have expertise with this and can make the meeting) with focus manly on the following areas:
1. Salvaging for yarn
2. Making pillows from old sweaters
3. Making bags from old sweaters
4. We will plan for the March meeting to bring in another outside instructor
5. When we advertise the guild we are going to be less limiting as a spinning guild and let people know that other fiber arts and bead work is also welcome.

Happy spinning and happy solstice,

Elizabeth

Member of the River Spinners

--

The River Spinners
riverspinners@gmail.com

June 21 Meeting Notice and Agenda

The quarterly meeting is this Saturday!  

Saturday, June 21, 2014 Agenda

Brooks Memorial Library meeting room - next to Children's room on second floor

10:15-11 am Welcome with show and tell

11-12 Core Spinning with Sumac (see supplies and info below)

12-1 Business meeting/Lunch (due to so many dietary concerns we are just brown bagging it :) - Subway is right across from the library as another option)

1-1:45 Time to work on individual projects or more time to work on core spinning

For core spinning, you'll need a yarn for the core.  It can be anything, as it will be covered.  I've used cotton or commercial yarn.  Here's a good use for your favorite ugly yarn/fiber. If you want your yarn to be on the more balanced side, add more twist to the yarn by spinning it onto a bobbin. Also will need a lazy kate and some fiber to cover the core with.  "Ordinary" fiber will work, or a more funky artsy blend. Time to play!

Sumac

Feel free to come to all or part of the day. We are looking forward to seeing you! Bring a friend!

Happy spinning and happy solstice,

Elizabeth

Member of the River Spinners

--

The River Spinners
riverspinners@gmail.com

P.S. Next meeting schedule will be decided upon during the business portion of Saturday's meeting.

April Meeting 1.0 Notes

Those in attendance voted and carried the resolution to continue meeting on Thursday at 7 PM and to hold a quarterly meeting from 10:45 to 1:15 at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro. The quarterly meetings will be held on the Saturday either on or closest to the Solstices and Equinoxes--the next quarter will be June 21, during which time our dear Sumac has offered to do a corespinning demo/class. Rather than being a potluck affair, those who wish to eat are welcome to bring a bagged lunch.

There are still some unresolved questions, including that of the guild's permanent home. Leslie offered to get in touch with the Savings and Loan to see if our former meeting place might still be available; I contacted the fire hall in Putney to inquire about the community space. For what it's worth, I did succeed in reaching someone and was told that the community space carries a fee of $50 per event--or, in our case, per meeting.. ouch!--and that from now until sometime in September, the space is unavailable on Thursday evenings because there is an EMT training course going on in the community space. Leslie just sent me an email saying that the person in charge of bookings at the bank is on vacation but will return next week. So, for the time being, until the question of our permanent home is resolved, we'll continue to meet at the Putney Friends Meeting House.

There also remain the questions of dues and officers. Anyone with nominations is welcome to e-mail me directly so I can present them at the next meeting; any suggestions on dues are also encouraged and accepted. Offices held are: Treasurer, Pen, and Fearless Leader. (Did I miss anything?)

March Meeting Notes 1.0

Thanks to everyone who showed up! It turned out to be a productive meeting with lots of discussion and ideas.

All the information generated by the survey is very useful; it was proposed that the guild take that information
and use it to narrow down the possibilities to the three most popular locations given in the survey, and based
on that, a vote will be held among those who attend. That way, hopefully, we can decide on what will end up
being the guild's permanent home. However, it has also been decided that the vote on this issue is best conducted in-person; if you're not present when the vote is held, you won't be able to vote. I know this is upsetting, but for the good of the guild, the more people who attend, the more voices will be heard.

There is also the possibility that the guild will resume charging dues, especially if we end up choosing a location that requires a fee for use of space, and to help defray costs of future events and workshops. This also brought up the idea of bringing back guild officers: Fearless Leader, Treasurer, and Pen. Nominations are accepted--nay, encouraged!

The last piece of business discussed was the idea of adding a quarterly meeting to be held on a Saturday at the Brattleboro library. The rationale for this is that it would potentially give those who are unable to attend the regular meetings a chance to get together with the rest of the guild at a time and place that's convenient for more people. Quarterly meetings will likely be held on the Saturday closest to--or on-- the Solstices and Equinoxes, sometime during the day. There was also the suggestion that if folks want to do a lunch-type event that, rather than having a pot-luck, we consider doing a brown-bag lunch so that those with food allergies or other dietary concerns will be able to eat and not have to be worried about potential reactions.

Lots went on! It was a good meeting and we're grateful to those who attended and shared so many good ideas. Thanks, guys!