Hilltop Cloud
  • About
    • Dugoed
  • Online Shop
  • Fibre Clubs
    • Time Travellers Club >
      • TT Club Spinning Hints
    • Never Ending Gradient Club
  • Online Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Hilltop Cloud Community
  • Workshops
  • Shows
  • Spinning Hand Dyed Fibre
  • Packaging
  • Fibres
    • Bases
    • Tussah Silk
    • Pigments
    • Nordic
    • Fibre Care
    • Gradient Packs
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Garment Spinning
    • Flyers and Ratios
    • Skein Length
    • Plying Twist
    • Samples
  • Hand Dyed Warps
  • Accessibility
  • Ethos
  • Quick Links
  • About
    • Dugoed
  • Online Shop
  • Fibre Clubs
    • Time Travellers Club >
      • TT Club Spinning Hints
    • Never Ending Gradient Club
  • Online Courses
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Hilltop Cloud Community
  • Workshops
  • Shows
  • Spinning Hand Dyed Fibre
  • Packaging
  • Fibres
    • Bases
    • Tussah Silk
    • Pigments
    • Nordic
    • Fibre Care
    • Gradient Packs
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Garment Spinning
    • Flyers and Ratios
    • Skein Length
    • Plying Twist
    • Samples
  • Hand Dyed Warps
  • Accessibility
  • Ethos
  • Quick Links

Summer School

18/8/2013

 
The timing of this post seems rather apt. I'm in the middle of converting our static caravan in a custom dye studio. I've been using it for my dyeing for the last 2 years, and finally decided to knock out some walls, the minute caravan kitchen, and the TV unit in the living space and install stainless steel workbenches, and a proper sized sink. In doing so I've had to clear out wardrobes and cupboards and came across the stuff that I'd shoved in the caravan when I came to Wales 3 years ago. At the time I didn't know what I wanted to do in the future so I kept nearly everything, boxes and boxes of teaching resources and books that I'd accumulated over 3 years. Ironically most of it was only used once, lack of permanent classroom space in all of my schools meant that once I'd used a resource I had to store it at home, so it wasn't in school for when I wanted to use it next...

Now 3 years on I won't be going back to teaching anytime soon, and if I do most of my resources will be out of date as the government seem incapable of leaving a curriculum/examination system in place for longer than 2 years. I need the space, and nothing was irreplaceable so it's all gone, to the charity shop, in to recycling, or the bin. So after saying goodbye to a school of one kind, I found myself this summer in a school of a very different sort.

I'm a member of a local Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers. If you do spin, and you're not a member of a local guild I recommend you check them out, you can find a full list of guilds on the national association website. I won't lie, it took me 2 attempts to find a guild who were a good fit for me, and the average age of most guilds is above 50, but they're a great place to learn new skills, exchange ideas, and be exposed to new crafts, and borrow more expensive equipment like wool combs and drum carders. I know there are lots of younger spinners out there and it would be great to see more of them at guild meetings. 

One of the things the association organises is a bi-annual summer school. They take over a university/college campus for a week, and run week-long workshops with expert teachers. The list of workshops is varied, and it's a chance to explore a given subject over a longer period of time. My busy summer schedule meant that I couldn't go to the summer school as a student, but I was invited to the trade fair at the end of the week, and also had a chance to look round the classrooms to see what the students had been doing. 

(Photos taken on my phone, so please excuse the quality)

Picture
Picture
This class was based on collapse weaving, you weave the fabric, and then when you wash it the pleats and folds activate and you end up with beautiful 3D fabric. 
Picture
Picture
This class explored natural dyeing, the range of colours, and the brightness of the colours was very impressive, no sludgy greens to be seen!
Picture
This class was on tapestry weaving, there was some beautiful work, including some very clever 3D additions, I'd love to see this 4 seasons piece finished. 
Picture
These were skeins from a class focusing on spinning short fibres, lots of chance to try unusual fibres, with expert tuition on how best to spin them. 
Picture
This class was all about making up lengths of handwoven cloth, tailoring is such a tricky skill, and handwoven cloth is irreplaceable so it was nice to see it being put to use.
Picture
Finally the class I liked best, they'd spent a whole week dyeing with madder, using historical recipes, testing the effects of different water, trying different techniques, but they'd been wonderfully methodical about recording the results.
Picture
Using the whiteboard walls in the classroom to detail the techniques, ask further questions, and attaching samples. As a visitor you got a real sense of how the class had worked, and as a scientist the methodology really spoke to me!

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    More
     BlogPosts

    Categories

    All
    Advent
    Bees
    Chickens
    Countryside
    Dogs
    FO's
    KitILove
    Non Wool Club
    Rhinebeck
    Shop Talk
    Spinning
    Spinningwithapurpose
    SpoinnersAdvent
    Weaving

    RSS Feed

    follow us in feedly

Hilltop Cloud

Hilltop Cloud- Spin Different 

Beautiful fibre you'll love to work with. 
Established 2011 

VAT Reg- 209 4066 19
Dugoed Bach, Mallwyd, Machynlleth,
​ Powys, SY20 9HR
Our Ethos
Eryri Ambassador 2023
Gwynedd Ambassador
Subscribe to our 
​Email Newsletter
Join the Hilltop Cloud Mighty Network