Year: 2013

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Gosh, Golly! Where is the year going?

Workshops

The end of October brought with it the end of our workshops for 2013.  What a year is has been.  We have done 12 retreats, 3 fundraisers for the Maiwa Foundation, 3 workshops with guest teachers….a trip to Alberta during the big flood of 2013, Fibre’s West and a Louet Dealers Retreat….no wonder we are so tired.  Seeing it is only November 1st we actually did all that in 10 months.  To all my ladies on Ravellry, I’m sorry if you felt ignored.

Update on 2014 Retreats:

The first half of next year is completely full. However, there are still spots left in Pushing the Boundaries of Plainweave and Twills on Four during the second half of the year.  Check out Class Descriptions on the website and the Workshop Schedule.

Win yourself a spot in a 2014 Retreat!

We are having a special draw for the last quarter of 2013.  The winner will receive a workshop spot in Pushing the Boundaries of Plainweave or Twills on Four which includes Tuition and Farmstay.  A value of $1200.  All you have to do to enter the draw is buy some yarn.  The more times you buy, the more times your name gets entered.  We will draw at the end of December.

 

We did end the year in style with our first ever Deluxe Retreats.  We did 3 of them back to back and I must say I was blown away by the accomplishments of all participants.  Imagine spending 6 days with us here on Salt Spring and walking into a studio with 10 looms all dressed with projects and you get to weave 5 of those projects in 5 days.  What this all adds up to is 15 days for weaving for 3 groups.   21 weavers!  Net produce:  21 Baby Blankets, 21 Mohair Throws, 21 Silk Scarves, 21 Cashmere Scarves and 21 Linen Towels…..not bad huh!

In the afternoons if your project was finished you got to go and hang out with our chef Rosemary and play in the kitchen working with a different set of ingredients.  We toured the island, visited the Saturday market, hung out a Lorrie Irwin’s farm “Ewetopia Farm and Elf Leatherworks”, visited Salt Spring Cheese, got massages from our good friend Liz who brought her travelling massage table, went for walks along the ocean, drank a lot of wine, ate a ton of excellent food and generally had a wonderful weaving awakening.  Every singe participant was blown away with their achievement.

We plan to run another set of Deluxe Retreats in 2015.

Our third quarter winners are:

Cynthia Davies and MIchelle Parzentry!  They will both receive $125 Gift Certificates to JST!  Congratulations Ladies!

 

Spinning Fibre

Do you know that JST has fabulous spinning fibre?  We have lots of natural and dyed fibre.

Check it out online.  And to help you spin up some snuggly warm winter yarn, it’s all 15% off for the month of November.  In stock fibres only.

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Hot Line of Hand Dyed Yarns

Our Hand Dyed Silks are phenomenal.  We have all 32 colours dyed in stock and ready to go out the door.  We have 30/2 Bombyx Silk, 20/2 Bombyx Silk and 20/2 Tussah Silks available.  They make wonderful scarves.  You can get one scarf out of a skein and if you get three, we’ll throw in one of the patterns from the deluxe retreats.

Weaving with this silk is extremely easy. It is beautifully spun in Switzerland, is strong and has superb lustre.  The colours of our pallete blend beautifully together.  The scarves to the left were woven in Buddah Berry, Persephone’s Pip and Chocolate Cherry in 30/2 Silk sett at 30 epi in a turned twill.  The block design allows for varying width in stripes so each scarf can look so different.

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Shipping Free on Yarn Orders Over $200.

If you purchase $200 or more of yarn we will pay for your shipping costs.  Gather your friends together for a group order and if you buy $500 or more of yarn we’ll pay for your shipping costs and take off 10% before taxes.

Mailing List

We want to expand our mailing list.  If you like getting the Old Ladies with String Digest, even if you’re a young lady or a gentleman, please spread the word.

Remember the Helpline.  We are always there for you.

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2014 Schedule

 

It’s October, and you know what that means!  It’s time to post JST’s schedule for 2014.

Our 2013 workshops are coming to a close and it has been quite the year.  So many workshops, so much success and so many people on the wait lists.  Keeping those wait lists in mind I have decided to do three each of our foundation series workshops:  Colour & Design, Pushing the Boundaries of Plainweave and Twills on Four.  With two workshops on Units, Blocks and Profiles.  This has filled up the whole year!  In 2015 we will be offering a few new workshops and more multi-shaft workshops.

 

If you have never been to a workshop at JST we encourage you to start with Colour and Design.  This foundation workshop gives you the confidence and skills to design your own woven cloth.  Many long time weavers have taken this workshop and commented that they wished they had had this course years earlier in their careers.  It is the perfect workshop for newer weavers.  If you have difficulty making decisions about sett, colour or how to use it in your weaving this course is for you.   Colour and Design is being offered January 13-17th, March 3-7th and April 7-11th.

 

Pushing the Boundaries of Plainweave aka Awesome Weave will blow your mind.  If you thought that plain weave was plain, you must take this course.  You will be delighted to find out the immense diversity of this humble weave structure.  This workshop also teaches weavers how to adapt their technique to different situations, how to weave linen with ease, how to perfect the selvedge.  It could also be called “Exploration of Sett” as we travels the realms of balanced cloth, warp faced cloth and weft cloth and the many points in between.  Pushing the Boundaries of Plain Weave is being offered June 30th-July 4th, July 28th- August 1st and August 18th-22nd.

 

Twills on Four is the next step once you’ve taken our Colour & Design and Plainweave.   The possibilities available with just 4 shafts, 3 tie-ups, infinite variation of threading and treadling net the 4 shaft weaver a bounty of amazing pattern.  If you truly understand the potential of 4 shaft twills you will be ready to accept the infinite variations with 8 and more.  Twills on 4 is being offered September 8th-12th, September 29th-October 3rd and November 10th-14th.

The next step along the road is Unit’s Block’s and Profiles.  This intermediate workshop helps us define the those three words in the title and opens up the world of block design.  By the end of your 5 days you will be able to design your own block profiles and interpret them in many different structures.  Units, Blocks and Profiles is being offered May 5th-9th and June 2nd-6th.

We hope these offerings will be of interest to you.  B&B will be offered for all workshops on a first come first serve basis.  We can accommodate up to 5 weavers in our home.  To register for any of these workshop just give us a call at 250 537-9468.

Don’t forget about our Group Discounts, they’re particularly lovely.

If you’re a member of a guild, have a group of weaver friends or are just a prolific weaver yourself, remember our discount policy on yarn orders.  If you purchase $200 or more of yarn we will pay for your shipping costs.  If you buy $500 or more of yarn we’ll pay for your shipping costs and take off 10% before taxes.

Mailing List

We want to expand our mailing list.  If you like getting the Old Ladies with String Digest, even if you’re a young lady or a gentleman, please spread the word.

Remember the Helpline.  We are always there for you.

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September Newsletter

 

It’s been so long!  Can you even believe that it’s September?  Have you forgotten what we look like? So much has happened this summer, but first – what’s coming up next?!

2nd Quarter Contest Winners

Pam Barret and JoAnne Schneider!  You are the lucky winners of a $125 Gift Certificate!  Sorry it’s taken us so long to announce the prize winners – but we wanted to make sure you were good and excited.

We’ll be sending out Gift Certificates to the lucky winners tomorrow!

Upcoming Workshops

Joan Carrigan, one of our favourite guest teachers is back this fall to teach Honey Suckle Rib Basketry November 9 & 10 (Sat & Sun).

 

Learning with Joan is always fun and exciting.  You will be amazed at what you can create in just a few days.

To attend either of these workshops just give us a shout at the studio at 250-537-9468 or email jane@janestaffordtextiles.com.

What We’ve Been Up To

We’ve had a million wonderful workshops since our last post.  Here’s two:

Pushing the Boundaries of Plainweave

 

Natural Dye Workshop

We had Charllotte Kwon and the  Maiwa team transform the studio into a natural dyeing extravaganza with pots, stoves, dyes, mordants, gorgeous materials and some beautiful items from their store on Granville Island.

 

 

 

Harvest Time

The Garden has just started to slow down after a very busy and productive harvest.

 

We are so fortunate to live and work in such a wonderful place.

Hand Dyed Hot Line

Our Hand Dyed Hot Line is now fully up on the store site!  We’ve got 30/2 Silk, 20/2 Silk, Tussah Silk, luscious Alpaca and two kinds of Mohair Boucle; Bolero and Orlando.  This stuff is practically edible.

 

2014 Workshop Dates

And last, but definitely not least, we will be posting our 2014 Workshop Schedule in our next newsletter slated to arrived in your mailbox on October 3rd.   We have over 80 people left on our wait lists from 2013! We will be offering spots to these folks first and then all remaining spots will be on the website for the next newsletter.  Remaining spots will be filled on a first come first served  basis so don’t wait too long if you want to attend a workshop next year.

 

 

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Summer 2013

Please note that JST will be closed  June 19th-July 2nd for Fibre Week in Old’s, Alberta and Canada Day on July 1st.

We will still be monitoring emails.  If you place an order while we’re away and we have the stock with us, we’ll just ship from Alberta.

Contest

Our next draw will be July 1st and all purchases between April 1 and June 30 will be entered into the draw box for two $125 gift certificates!  Even if you place the orders while we’re away, don’t worry we’ll ship when we get back and your name will make it in the box.  The two winners from the last draw had a some fun choosing yarns for projects.

Silk in Stock!  In 32 Scrumptious Colours!

 

It’s Here!  It’s really here!  We’ve got both weights of bombyx silk, 20/2 and 30/2, on the store and in stock!  All the other yarns will be up in the coming weeks.

Those yarns are 20/2 Tussah Silk, Mohair Bolero Boucle, Prime Alpaca, Alpaca Tweed, Cuddles Alpaca and Silk Noil.

Fibre Week at Old’s College, Alberta

We are heading off to Olds Alberta for Old’s College Fibre Week and to help the HWSDA celebrate its big anniversary.  We will be closing down the shop on Salt Spring for that event so we are sorry if you were planning a visit during the days between June 19th-June 27th.  We are looking at this trip as our summer holidays.   Jane will be teaching and Charlotte will be at the booth.  If there is anything you’d like us to bring, just let us know.  (Make you sure you call or email by Monday June 17 because we’re leaving on Tuesday!)

The S90 is Back!

Our S90 Ultimate Wheel will be making a special appearance for spinning aficionados and wheel collectors alike.  When it was originally released, the S90 was the ultimate wheel for any spinner.  Though previously discontinued, we’re bringing it back for a limited-edition production run of 50.  Here’s a taste of what you have to look forward to:

The S90 Ultimate is a bobbin lead wheel with our standard brake on the flyer.  Compact and portable, it folds up completely assembled – all parts stay on the wheel, including the optional skein winder!  This wheel possesses all of the elements a great spinning wheel should have: three settings for thick, medium and fine yarns; ratios of 6,5:1, 9,5:1 and 15:1; and a wide treadle which alls you to spin with your right or left foot – or both feet, if you prefer!

The built-in lazy kate holds three bobbins sung to the wheel for storage or it can be repositioned out to the left for plying.  The lazy kate is designed to control the speed of the three bobbins automatically without any adjustments!  Made of beautifully-lacquered birch plywood, this wheel comes ready to use, complete with four bobbins.

Barking Up the Right Tree with Joan Carrigan

This wonderful workshop still has places available.  We are unable to provide B&B for this event but if you check out the link to Salt Spring Accommodations I’m sure you will be able to find a wonderful place to stay.  Joan has thrilled so many basket weavers all over North America.  Come and spend 3 days learning to use Cedar Bark.

New Online Store

We’ve just upgraded our online store, it looks a little different right now and we’re still adjusting some of the features but it’s the same fabulous place for you to find all your favourite weaving equipment and yarns, spinning equipment, toys to get your grandkids weaving and exquisitely designed kits.

New Beater for the David, cute little feller!

Louet North America has developed a new beater system for the David Loom based on the fantastic feedback we’ve received from our customers over the years.  All new looms purchased will have the beater already installed, and there will be a retrofit available for older models.  David is a unique sinking shed jack loom, and has become a popular small floor loom.

Don’t forget about our Group Discounts, they’ll make you dance

If you’re a member of a guild, have a group of weaver friends or are just a prolific weaver yourself, remember our discount policy on yarn orders.  If you purchase $200 or more of yarn we will pay for your shipping costs.  If you buy $500 or more of yarn we’ll pay for your shipping costs and take off 10% before taxes.

Mailing List

We want to expand our mailing list.  If you like getting the Old Ladies with String Digest, even if you’re a young lady or a gentleman, please spread the word.

Remember the Helpline.  We are always there for you.

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Hello Spring!

 

Ding Dong the HST is gone.  The Wicked HST is gone.

That means that from this day hence, there will only be 5% gst on your yarn.  You have 7% more to spend or save, as you wish!

Jane’s Hotline of Hand Dyed Yarns.

The JST Hot Line of Hand Dyed Yarns was launched at Fibres’ West in Vancouver at the end of March.  Hand Dyed by Cheryl Huseby Wiebe of Salt Spring Island, there are 32 exquisite colours to choose from.  We have been working on this colour line since last fall.

 

 

Our next big job is to scan those 32 colours and get them online. Each colour is available in 100g skeins of 11 different yarns from our Yarns to Dye For collection: 20/2 Silk,   30/2 Silk, Tussah Silk, Soie Naturelle, Prime Alpaca, Peruvian Tweed Alpaca, Orlando Boucle, Bolero Boucle, Mikado, Cuddles and Montana.

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Here are a few yummy tastes: Shameless & Favourite Wine, Autumn Spice, Pistachio and Princess Pamuk.  Don’t you just want to eat them? (well, you don’t want to eat Princess Pamuk because she’s our dog.)

 

It sure was fun naming them.

 

The Time Has Come

Remember way back when Jane decided that she’d rather give her advertising budget to you instead of the corporation?  At first we were going to do a single prize worth $250 each quarter.  But then I got to thinking … those big lotteries … if only they spread out all the millions between a whole bunch of people.   Instead of screwing up one person, they could help 32.  So along those lines we decided to make two $125 prizes.

Drum roll please …….

The winners are:

Kathleen Walsh of Powell River!

and

Sharon Butler of Ladner!

Yahooo!  Your gift certificates will be sent to you in an email.

Remember, every time you order from us, your name goes in the draw box.  Next draw will be July 1, 2013.

Lovely Louet Fibre

Don’t forget that JST has an extensive line of exquisitely prepared fibre from Louet North America.

Just in case you are looking for a specific sheep breed, here is some of what we have in stock:

Blue Faced Leicester, Cheviot, Coopworth, Corriedale, Falkland, Gotland, Karkul, Jacob, Manx Loughton, Masham, Norwegian, Perrendale, Romney, Merino, Shetland, Swalesdale and Welsh.

Not to mention Alpaca, Mohair, Flax, Hemp, Cultivated Silk, Eri Silk, Tussah, Muga and a huge selection of exotics such as Yak, Cashmere, Bison and Camel.  Plus more and more and more.

 

What else have we been up to?

I know that it’s only April 1st, but these first three months have been stellar.

We’ve hosted a wonderful basketry workshop with Joan Carrigan,

 

an exciting spinning workshop with Cheryl Huseby Wiebe,

 

our first two full retreats on Colour & Design,

 

 

Fibres’ West in Vancouver,

the Louet Dealer’s retreat where Jane trains Louet dealers from across North America,

and our favourite past time … sharing stories of India and the incredible work that Charllotte Kwon and the Maiwa Foundation do in many parts of the world.

Here we have Kathy Fimrite hanging scarves at the Victoria Weaver’s Guild event and Pat Daniels happily setting up displays in Courtenay.

 

Our display on Salt Spring Island.

Through these three events and everyone’s incredible enthusiasm purchasing the fabulous works of artisans in India we were able to raise $16,000 for the Maiwa Foundation.

Customer’s Corner

Every month we have customers walking through our door sharing the wonderful creations made from the yarns that we sell.  It’s always fun to share their creativity.

Karen Lengyeltoti from Vancouver Island’s Tzouhalem Weaver’s Guild wove this stunning  Mohair Blankie from our Brushed Mohair.

 

Sharon Hatelt took this photo out of her window looking east over Drew Harbour on Quadra Island.

And this is the result of her inspiration in Zephyr Wool/Silk yarn sett at 24 epi.  Sharon created this original design called the Heriot Bay Local Tartan.  It was registered with the Scottish Registrar of Tartans at the National Archives of Scotland.  Congratulations Sharon!

And here we have the lovely Judy Moores from the Deep Cove Guild showing off one of her latest towels.  Judy has been pushing the lid off her colour box by taking a colour workshop with Jan Korteweg and by following JST’s Colour & Design article in the previous newsletter.

Pretty sweet Judy!

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Mailing List

We want to expand our mailing list.  If you like getting the Old Ladies with String Digest, even if you’re a young lady or a gentleman, please spread the word.

Remember the Helpline.  We are always there for you.

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  How can it possibly be 2013? Well … it is!  We wish you all the best.

Wicker with Nature’s Bounty

Do you love beautiful baskets?  Have you ever wanted to make one of your own?  Did you know that in just two days you can make a basket?  We have one spot available for Joan Carrigan’s workshop next weekend, Saturday January 19 and Sunday January 20.  The workshop includes a gourmet lunch each day and if you’re coming from off island we also have space left for farmstay.  Give us a call 250-537-9468.

Know your Fibre, Know your Wheel, 2 Spots Left!

Do you really know your wheel, do you?  I mean, really?  No seriously, do you?  Do you know how and when to use your whorls? Do you know how to balance the tension between your flyer and drive band?  Do you know when to adjust your treadling?  Can you go from spinning a downy wool to tussah silk in 60 seconds?  (that last part is a joke).

Well, if you’ve answered no to any of these questions, run to the phone right now and sign up for Know Your Fibre, Know Your Wheel on January 26 & 27 (Sat & Sun).

Everyone’s a Winner!

I did some thinking over the holidays and realized that I need to spend my advertising budget in a different way.  Instead of giving it to a big magazine, we’re going to give it to you!  Every time you place an order at JST, no matter what size, your name will go in a draw box.  Each quarter, some lucky person will be the winner of a $250 gift certificate.  Yes, we’re trying buy your loyalty!  (typical Jane humour).  We support you on the phone, with our helpline, on Ravelry and now we reward you when you support us.

By the way, our $500 Win Yourself and Awesome Christmas Present went to Roz Wallace of Victoria, B.C. and our second place spinning retreat went to Linda Knowles of Vancouver.

Who knows, you might be the next person to win!

Natural Dye Workshop

We are so happy to tell you that JST is hosting a very special Natural Dye Workshop being offered this summer by Charllotte Kwon August 28, 29 & 30 and there are only twelve spots.

Charllotte Kwon is the owner of Maiwa Handprints Ltd. and the director of the Maiwa Foundation. Through Maiwa, Charllotte also runs a textile archive and research library located on Granville Island. Under her direction Maiwa has produced four documentary films and a number of print publications. She also guides Maiwa’s substantial web presence.

Charllotte travels extensively each year to research handcraft and to supplement her natural-dye research. Always looking to extend natural dye use, she also teaches dyeing workshops with artisans around the world and has planned a series of natural dye masterclasses to bring exceptional practising artisans together.

 

Colour & Design

In June 2012, I taught my workshop Colour and Design at Olds College in Alberta.  I had 12 wonderful students who decided to do a tea towel exchange so that they could put into practice some of the theory they learned in the workshop.  I have photographed all of the towels and created a new document for the helpline describing their design process and showing all the towels.  If you liked the information on selvedges, then I’m sure you’ll like this.

Dyed Yarns

We just wanted to give you an update on our dyed yarns.  They’re coming along quite beautifully.  Cheryl is working on the final set of samples and hopefully we will have them ready to roll by our next newsletter.  13 exquisite yarns in 32 exquisite colours.

Don’t forget about our Group Discounts

If you’re a member of a guild, have a group of weaver friends or are just a prolific weaver yourself, remember our discount policy on yarn orders.  If you purchase $300 or more of yarn we will take 10% off your total before taxes.  If you buy $500 or more of yarn we’ll take off 10% and pay for your shipping costs.

Mailing List

We want to expand our mailing list.  If you like getting the Old Ladies with String Digest, even if you’re a young lady or a gentleman, please spread the word.