The Clyde Coast Guild are delighted to have been awarded a Grant from the Inverclyde Council Community Fund today. These funds will allow us to purchase new equipment to allow us to undertake more demonstrations and practical hands-on sessions in the community over the next year.
If you are interested in a demonstration from the Guild please contact us at clydecoastguild@gmail.com
It’s been a quiet summer for the Clyde Coast Guild, but we are now getting back into the swing of things and getting organised for the Autumn months.
Our next event is a visit from Woodland Turnery on Sunday 16th September.
They are coming to give a talk on how their business has started and how it has grown to being the success it is today. They will also be holding a spinning wheel and weaving loom clinic, as well as selling some of their lovely hand-turned woodwork.
The event is being held in Inverkip Parish Church Hall, which is across the road from the church, from 12pm to 4pm and everyone is welcome.
Teas, coffee, and home baking will be available.
It is free to members of any Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and there is a charge of £5 for any non-members.
We hope to see you there and do get in touch if you’ve any questions.
It seems to always be sunny on Guild days and the Sunday we went to visit Gilmour Bank Alpaca farm was no exception.
We were warmly greeted by Margot and Cathy when we arrived at the farm. After a rest and an introduction about the farm and it’s history we headed off to meet the alpacas.
The alpacas couldn’t have been cuter or friendlier and it was great to see them with the fleeces still on.
The farm has 82 alpacas at the moment and they have various colours from the white to the fawn coloured and then to a gorgeous black.
Each field we entered we were welcomed by a crowd of alpacas who came to see what we were doing, and also what the 3 Westies that lived on the farm were getting up to as well.
After meeting all the alpacas we had lunch and then headed off to look at the fleece for sale. The fleece from the alpacas at Gilmour Bank is gorgeously soft and quite a bit ended up going home in the car.
It was a fantastic day and if you get the chance it’s well worth a visit to the farm, and I’m sure we’ll be heading back there again.
At the end of March the Clyde Coast Guild in association with Transition West Kilbride held a one day workshop on the basics of tapestry weaving and spindle spinning at the new Craft Town Scotland Barony Gallery.
It was a great day as it was the first time our Guild had ever held a demonstration workshop like this so we were eager to see how people new to the craft would take to it, and also how we would find teaching.
The students were very keen and eager and they all went home clutching their items and yarns that they made, and some even bought a loom or spindle to take home to carry on.
We also found what a joy it was to teach people who had never really tried the craft before, and it was lovely to see how quickly they picked it up and were diving in for more fibre and yarn to add to their creations.
It was a learning curve for all on the day, but the end products have definitely made everyone involved want to do it again.
Our April meeting we spent at Once A Sheep in Gourock and we played with drum carders for the day.
Squeals of happiness kept on drifting through from where the carders were as experimentations were done with merino of various shades, silk, and other types of fleeces.
Batts were then lovingly cuddled and some were even spun straight away.
Due to unforeseen circumstances the March meeting is now cancelled.
The next Guild event is the Transition West Kilbride Class and Demo day on Sunday 25th March.
The next public meeting is on Sunday 22nd April at Once A Sheep, Gourock.
We’re sorry for the short notice and please do get in touch if you’ve any questions.
I’m afraid we’ve had to have a change of venue for the Sunday 18th March meeting, so it has now moved to Once A Sheep, 60 Kempock Street, Gourock instead of being in West Kilbride.
It will be a public meeting so members and non-members are welcome to attend.
Do get in touch if you want any further details.
We had our first proper Guild demonstration on Wednesday 22 February for the Ripe Bunch in Greenock. The Ripe Bunch were a group of enthusiastic ladies who were keen and eager to hear about spinning, weaving, and dyeing, and some of them even had a go themselves. Innes gave a great talk about spinning and a bit about the Guild as well which went down really well. Below are a few pictures from the morning.
Sandy spinning and Moira sitting spinning
Ange setting up the looms
Table full to to bursting with our handspun and handwoven samples
Innes talking to the ladies
Innes demonstrating the Easy Spinner
Sandy carding some fibre
From fluffy fibre to yarn
Innes and I ventured down to the Dumfries Guilds Annual Gathering.
It was a great day out and we were very warmly welcomed and looked after by the members of the Guild.
Inside the hall there was:
Wheeldale Woolcrafts who had scrummy hand-dyed yarn and fibre and inspiration kits
Gilmour Bank Alpacas who brought excellent quality alpaca fleece and yarn and other alpaca goodies
Fiona Moir who had hand-woven baskets and beautifully dyed yarn, silks and cotton fabric
A display by the Dumfries Guild with the objects from this years challenge which was to design a piece that was inspired by Sanquhar knitting
Lovely hand-woven textiles by Brenda Telfer
A great selection of yarns from Linton Direct Yarns
Beautiful beaded and metal jewellery
During the afternoon there was a very interesting talk by May MacCormick about Sanquhar knitting and the patterns. She also brought samples of the gloves and the stockings which were stunning.
Overall, it was a really good day out and I think we will be seeing more of the Dumfries Guild in the future.
