In my corner of the world, fall is the season when many activities restart after the long summer hiatus. September brings the annual start of the spinning guild year with months of new programs and sharing of techniques, projects successfully completed, and yes – the occasional reports of projects that just didn’t turn out quite right. It’s a time of anticipating what new growth we will experience as spinners, a time to plan new projects, and to dream of exploring new fibers.

Not all spinners are able to join a spinning guild. Many are isolated by geography or by business and/or family obligations. Yet, many of these spinners would like to be a part of a spinning group if only the group met when they didn’t have to be at work, taking the kids to school or sports functions, doing the farm chores, be busy with fixing dinner, or simply because you may not like to drive at night.

So, I propose that we form a virtual spinning group. If, for whatever reason, you’re an isolated spinner and would like to be part of a group, here is an opportunity. If you’re a member of a spinning group don’t let that stop you from joining this group – all are welcome and we can all learn from each other. There are no dues, no fees. All that’s needed is a bit of your time to read the monthly “Virtual Guild” article and the time to work on your Guild project. How much time you want to spend on this is entirely up to you.

Here’s how this will work:

Every month on the second Saturday of the month, I will post an article pertaining to the Guild project for the year. I will also set up a thread in the Forum section each month for discussing our projects, answering questions, etc. This will allow us to support and mentor each other as we work through the project. The Forum thread will be labeled “Virtual Guild –Sept” with one thread for each month.

We will “meet” every month from now through May 2009 with the exception of December. December is just such a busy month for most people that there simply isn’t much time for meetings and working on projects.

The project for this year will be to plan and make some type of a wrap. What’s a wrap? Anything that is worn or used by wrapping on or around the body. It can be a scarf, a shawl, a shrug, ruana, poncho, cape or cloak. It can also be a blanket, afghan, lap robe, or coverlet. This gives a wide range of choices for projects both large and small and there is something here that will work with every skill level.

Over the course of doing our projects, we will also be putting together a notebook documenting our projects from start to finish. The purpose of this is to create a project planning reference that will contain all of the information needed to plan a project from beginning to end.
The guidelines are simple:
1. Yarn(s) must be hand spun.
2. Any fiber may be used.
3. You may start with raw fibers or with commercially processed fibers.
4. You may do your project in any technique – knitting, crocheting, weaving, hooking, etc.

Come join the fun!