Las Arañas Spinning and Weaving Guild holds monthly meetings and a variety of classes at their new "home."  The South Valley Multi-Purpose Senior Center at 2008 Larrazolo Road SW between Central Avenue and Bridge Street off of Atrisco.

The facility offers spacious meeting spaces, a kitchen, a computer room, a sewing room, a ceramics studio and houses our library.  There is also a gym, work out room and many places to meet within the facility.  The staff is extremely helpful and accommodating.  The facility is part of the Bernalillo County complexes of public spaces.

​Members are encouraged to visit the facility and get to know the engaging staff members.
 

Las Aranas Spinning and Weaving Guild

5th Annual Alameda Studio Tour:  Sat & Sun, Sept 12-13 from 10-5. Visit 38 artists in 15 locations throughout the beautiful North Valley. Lynda Liptak gives a special invite to members to visit Llamas del Sol at 605 El Dorado Dr. NW. Go to http://www.alamedastudiotour.com  for more info and a map.

Weaving Teacher of the Year Award:  Halcyon Yarn is taking nominations for your favorite weaving teacher. They will select 2 recipients: one based on reasons given and number of responses, and the other solely for reasons of nomination. Each winner will receive a $300 & $200 grant respectively to continue honing their weaving skills. The winners also will make appearances in the January 2016 issue of Handwoven, as well as on WeavingToday.com. Go to WeavingToday.com—click on the “Handwoven’s Teach of the Year” on the left side of the screen to get an entry form.

STS T-Shirt trade wanted:  Mary Ellen McMurtrie has STS t-shirts for 2008 & 2009 in a medium size in orange & rust. She is having a t-shirt quilt made and would like to trade for t-shirts in the blue/green/black or white range. Give her a call at 281-0306 or maryellenmcmurtrie @gmail.com if you can help.

Hebridean Islands Film: a 1934 documentary showing sheep, yarn, weaving. YOUTUBE

Essay on Knitting:  Search for “Knitting as creation story” by Barbara Kingsolver. Originally published in the Nov/Dec 2013 issue of Orion magazine.

Whenever we bring workshop instructors here from other parts of the country, they always tell us Las Aranas is known for being a large, active guild. The events this past May certainly confirm this.

During two weekends in May, Las Aranas provided outreach demonstrations to three events in the Albuquerque area. On May 16, we demonstrated spinning at Casa San Ysidro as part of Heritage Day celebration in Corrales. In two shifts, spinners worked their magic in the weaving room of the Casa San Ysidro historic home on Old Church Road in Corrales. The spinners shared the space with a 1775 Spanish Colonial loom originally collected from the Santa Cruz Valley near Espanola, NM.

On May 16 and 17, we manned a booth at the Celtic Festival where volunteers spun wool using drop spindles, knitted traditional Shetland lace patterns, wove a tartan, and exposed people to the fine art of using the lucet to create cording. Some of our members dressed the part and wore their finest knitted lace.

The first day a gusty storm swirled the air over Balloon Fiesta Park, the setting for the festival, demolishing some tents. The atmosphere created by the lowering thick gray clouds reminded all of Scotland.  As we explained our craft to fascinated visitors, it was clear the pounding beat of Celtic drums and bagpipes, the parades of men and women in kilts, surrounded by Celtic breeds of dogs and horses, and the delicious aroma of Scottish foods transported you to a different time and place where our skills were crucial to the survival of villages in the Scottish Highlands.  

On May 22, 23 and 24, Las Aranas set up a booth at the Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta. Talented members created a lovely display of entries from the various contests. Blue ribbon winners held prominent positions on the walls or in display cases, and people who toured our booth were duly impressed by the craftsmanship of our guild. The festival requires an enormous amount of work throughout the year, but all the people who participated under the leadership of Sandy Gale do it for the love of fiber. It is a pleasure to sit and spin or weave at the loom and share the passion we feel for the beauty we create.

Now on to the New Mexico State Fair in September where we set up a complete Sheep to Shawl experience so attendees, in particular, children, can view the complete process from shearing to finished piece and learn a greater appreciation of fiber and its role in our lives.

The New Mexico State Fair—Home Arts Division is again planning to have a spinning and weaving category in the premium book. They are hoping that more of our members will participate this year.

Note that they have changed the definition of Amateur in this year’s book so most of our members qualify to enter.

Click here for more information

Weaving/Spinning – Amateur*
Section 164
Classes 145-148
*Amateur – someone who weaves and spins as a hobby and doesn’t make his/her living off of his/her weaving

145. Functional - Non wearable (placemats, runners, etc.)

146. Non-Functional - (Wall Hangings, tapestries, etc.)

147. Spinning - Hand spun in a complete piece

148. Wearable - Woven and/or felted

148a. Pueblo Wearables

Best of Show (Weaving/Spinning)

Receives the HGA Award & Purple Rosette

The item will be featured in the Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot Magazine.

1—Entries in this Department are Limited to Residents of New Mexico.

2—Articles shall be the work of the exhibitor and completed within the last year.

3—Entry Dates Friday, August 28, 2015 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Saturday, August 29, 2015 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM

4—Judging Monday, August 31, 2015 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Tuesday, September 1, 2015 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Wednesday, September 2, 2015 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Scoring The following scorecard will serve as a general guide to exhibitors of textiles in preparing exhibits and will be followed by the judges in making awards: Workmanship 40% Suitability of articles to purpose 20% Appearance 20% Harmony of color and material 20% Total 100%.

Many of our active members came to spin, weave and dye at the 2015 Winter Wool Festival at the biopark!

Many of our members have wearable and fine fiber art for sale at the guilds annual sale! Check out the Spiders Market 2015

DETAILS HERE

Welcome, everyone, to the new Las Aranas Spinners and Weavers Guild website. It is the creation of Flo Bargar, a dynamic young woman who has infused the guild with exciting innovative energy.

I accepted the position of president of the guild in January. Our outgoing president Cathlena Burr left me with big shoes to fill, and I will try mightily not to trip.

I am very proud of our guild. We bring workshop instructors in from all over the country, and to a person, they are exceedingly impressed by how active our guild is. Our members attend meetings, listen to programs, participate in workshops, and volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. They demonstrate at schools and events, help other organizations such Fiber Arts Fiesta put on their events, and produce our own notable events, Sheep to Shawl at the New Mexico State Fair in September, and this month’s event, Spiders Market. I am grateful that everyone is so willing to give of her/his time to make our guild the vibrant organization it is.


- Chris Allen
President 
Las Aranas Spinning and Weaving Guild

This past weekend we were pleased to have noted spinner and Ply Magazine founder Jacey Boggs here for a two-day workshop. This workshop was originally planned for last July but was postponed when Jacey suffered an injury to her shoulder. We rescheduled for February having no idea, of course, Albuquerque would be paralyzed by the worst snowstorm in years.

The always gracious Georgia Pearson offered to host Jacey. On Friday evening we took Jacey out to dinner near Paseo del Norte and San Pedro. We had a lovely time, but then some of us nervously noted the snow was beginning to accumulate. At 6:30 we left the restaurant, Georgia and Jacey in their car and me in mine, all of us headed west to Corrales. Georgia took Alameda Blvd. and I tried Paseo del Norte. It took us almost two and a half hours to travel a route that normally takes 15-20 minutes. I don’t think I moved faster than 5 mph in the “rush hour” traffic.

When Georgia finally arrived at her street, West Meadowlark Lane, she discovered the police had barricaded the road refusing to let any cars onto the hill. She and Jacey had no choice but to hike up to Georgia’s house fighting snow and ice the entire way. 

Thank you, Georgia, for your safekeeping of Jacey, and thank you, Jacey, for an inspiring workshop where we learned a range of drafting techniques, short draw to long draw, as well as a variety of plying techniques using roving and combed top. Thank you, too, Jacey, for your efforts to squeeze our rescheduled workshop into your busy schedule, and for your good humor in dealing with our unexpected weather challenges.