Welcome to Septober
Fall is my favourite time of year. It brings cooler weather but with bright sunshine; the garden is overflowing; the apples are pressed into juice (this year we did our apples and pears together and it is fantastic. Just sayin ).
And of course with autumn comes Thanksgiving Day. I usually do feel thankful every day of the year, but on the Thanksgiving Weekend (which we just had in Canada) I do reflect a little more deeply on all the blessings I have in my life. I have so many:
- I have a wonderful and supportive family,
- I live in a wonderfully supportive community,
- I have an amazing staff running my business.
And, not least, I have been able to spend my life weaving and fostering our little business.
Few of us would be doing what we get to do (weaving and spinning and knitting) without all the farmers who grow the fibre in our yarns. When I think about it, we have silk rearers, flax growers, cotton farmers, and shepherds shepherding all those beautiful hoofed beasties – the alpacas, the angora goats, the numerous breeds of sheep – all working for us. Then there are all those hard-working folks who turn the fibre into yarn and all the dyers who pour their colourful hearts into it. An army of artisans stands behind every cone of natural yarn, and I am thankful to all of them.
A few weeks back I was cleaning up some really old files and I came across my very first order to Henry’s Attic back, in January of 1992. I was reading the list of yarns on that order and I realized that we still sell all those same yarns. Now, I have never met either Henry or Samira, but I feel like I know them somehow after all these years and I’m thankful to them because they have been at this forever, too. Then I started to think about all our other yarn suppliers and the mills we have been dealing with for all these many years and there are so so many. I am grateful for all these long-lasting partnerships, alliances, and connections.
And then there are all my students and customers and members of the Online Guild, we would not be here without you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for trusting in me and supporting me personally and JST as a business. I am so grateful.
Harvest Splendour tea towel kit
A few weeks back Joan and I were wandering around the yard marvelling at all the fall colours. We started to collect little piles of leaves, twigs and Japanese maple helicopters , it was such a beautiful pile. When we got back to the studio I was looking at all the amazing colours and decided to design the Harvest Splendour Organic Tea Towel Kit.
I started with a 3 stripe overall division of space but after I wove them I decided to make the sides a bit narrower and the centre stripes a bit wider. I know this will give you more curry and brass to play with while weaving and I love those zinger accents in the weft.
I also decided to weave these in Venne Organic 8/2 cotton, it was a no brainer… it was Mother Earth who provided such brilliant inspiration and therefore I needed to honour her by using the kindest yarn we sell. Organic cotton is kind to the earth, plain and simple.
Blog
We’ve started a blog – I have it on good authority that they’re quite the rage. Here’s the first two posts:
In Praise of Good Selvedges: Practical Tips for Weavers
Weaving Philosophy: Find What Works For You
If you want to subscribe to the blog, you can do it here:
Mohair price increase
The price we’re paying for mohair has increased. We’re going to hold off increasing our prices until Nov 1.
If you were thinking of making one of our mohair blanket kits – Spring Stripes, Three Stripe or Two Stripe – then now is the time to buy it… unless you foresee a slump in the worldwide price of mohair.
Jane appears on the Weave Podcast
Jane chatted with Weave Podcast host, Sarah Resnick, about the Online Guild and weaving in general.
Listen to Episode 36: Online Weaving Guild with Jane Stafford.
Online Guild price increase
When I first envisioned the Online Guild I budgeted to present one hour of video each month. All the filming we have done in 2018 and for 2019 has produced videos that are 2-3 hours long! I have completely blown my budget. But how can I cut anything out? I just can’t!
Alas, after much number crunching the Online Guild dues are going up to $99 (Canadian) starting December 7, 2018.
If you’re not already a member Online Guild, you can Join the Online Guild before December 7 at the original rate. If you are a member, unfortunately our system doesn’t allow renewal in advance.
