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Guild NewsDesk

Guild Open Days are back!

The next Open Day will be Saturday 21 August at Lee Mills. It will be held in the Mill House, right next to the Collection Base in Scholes. As soon as they are finalised, details will be published here.

See you there!

How to find us:

Lee Mills, Scholes, Holmfirth, HD9 1RJ
Contact Tel: when the Mill is open 07908 322248 (T-Mobile – see below) • 0113 266 4651 at other times

This is the view from the road as you come up the hill

Lee Mills approach

The mill owner's house is the building on the left.As one enters the mill complex, up a short slope the garden to the house is straight in front. Parking is behind the building.

• detailed street map (at www.streetmap.co.uk) – Lee Mills is in the square in the righthand column, second row down, on the corner of Park Side and Leas Gardens just about where the 'G' is

• aerial view (at www.multimap.com) – Lee Mills is between 'The Boot & Shoe' and 'The White Horse' in Scholes.

• get there by road from: East & North • East & South • West (North & South), but please note: do not rely exclusively on what your SatNav tells you or you may end up in a nearby street called 'White Leas Gardens'

• Mobile: We now have a T-Mobile phone at the mill. It will be switched on at Open Days (and working days) for people to contact us if they get lost, as it's no use them ringing Liz's phone in Leeds when she's in Scholes. The number is 07908 322248

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Woolly Hat Day logoHats on for homeless people
– Woolly Hat Day
on Friday 22 October

St Mungo's is asking members of the Knitting & Crochet Guild to support its first ever Woolly Hat Day on Friday 22 October, a day designed to raise funds and awareness about homelessness in modern day Britain.

The charity is asking people to show their support by putting their 'hats on for homeless people' in a variety of ways:

Woolly Hat DayWhatever way, every £1 that's raised will help St Mungo's open doors for homeless people and support them as they rebuild their lives. So whether it's a bobble hat, a beanie, Tibetan style or big baggie hat just make sure that, come Friday 22 October, you're wearing your woolly hat to show support for homeless men and women.

The funds raised by Woolly Hat Day will allows St Mungo's to continue offering a recovery pathway from being homeless through to a more independent life. St Mungo's supports people in London, Bristol, Oxford, Reading and the south of England, housing more than 1,500 people every night of the year. The vision of the organisation is simple - everyone should have somewhere to live, something meaningful to do and satisfying relationships with others.

Ed ByrneTop comedian and actor Ed Byrne is backing St Mungo's Woolly Hat Day. Between gigs and Mock the Week, he found time to visit one of the St Mungo's hostels and meet some of the residents. Ed says: "Use your head and put a hat on to show your support for the ground breaking work that St Mungo's does for our homeless population."

Tanya English, St Mungo's Executive Director of Fundraising and Communications said: "Rough sleeping is not easy any time of the year but as colder, darker nights set in, homeless people can face particular problems on the streets. That's why we chose a day at the end of October, just before the clocks go back, as our first St Mungo's Woolly Hat Day. Our hope is that many people will take part and the day will become a major national fundraising focus for people to show their support for homeless people as well as a significant awareness builder for homelessness issues and the good work that St Mungo's does in helping people recover."

Fundraising packs are available from www.woollyhatday.org, by email from or by telephoning 0845 2 WOOLLY (966599).

Follow what we're up to at:
www.facebook.com/woollyhatday
www.twitter.com/woollyhatday
www.myspace.com/woollyhatday

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Craft Club – a national campaign for craft in schools

The Crafts Council has launched a national campaign in early 2010 for craft in schools called Craft Club, and it so far it is having a great effect in bringing the joy of craft learning back into the lives of the younger generations. The first element in this exciting new project, brought to life in collaboration with the UK Hand Knitting Association, is KNIT 1: PASS IT ON. Children of various ages have been learning how fun and educational knitting and crocheting can be, through the help of our trained volunteers and the WI.

There is a fantastic range of downloadable resources on their website, including patterns, 'how-to' videos, other project ideas, and there is also a forum for volunteers to communicate, and a gallery upload area where schools can upload photos of their projects and become eligible for our price every semester for the best work (chosen by a knitting designer).

They are currently in the process of arranging their second phase of training sessions around the country, where they teach volunteers how to become trainers to upskill persons in their local areas, how to approach schools, how to work safely with children, and of course about the joys of knitting!

Guild members who are passionate about sharing their knitting and crochet skills with children and young persons and would like to be part of a national scheme such as this should have a look at the website to learn more:

www.craftclub.org.uk

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Knit a Neuron!

Visit the 'Knit a Neuron' blog and find out all about the project and who's behind it, along with knitting and crochet patterns
• More info

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Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award:
Love Lace – Call for expressions of interest

The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney has launched its call for expressions of interest for this award on the web.

The award seeks to challenge conventional notions of lace and its application in the areas of fashion, the built environment and digital multi media. At a time when innovation in textiles and materials is at the forefront of international design trends, we encourage the design of openwork structures in materials limited only by the artist’s imagination. We expect this brief will lead to experimentation with a wide range of materials and techniques and that we will gather work ranging from large spatial pieces to exquisitely delicate designs.

Each entry submission will be judged by a panel of Australian and International judges with reference to visual impact, originality and creativity, skill in execution and innovation in design, materials and technique. The work must be original and reflect the artist’s identity and cultural origins. The overall winner will be presented with $20,000 and there are five other prizes of $4,000 including an Australian and New Zealand student prize.

29 March 2010: Closing date for Expressions of Interest strictly by 5.00pm AEST.

12 May 2010: Successful finalists announced

25 November 2010: Finalists’ completed works delivered to the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

July/August 2011: Finalists’ work will be displayed in an exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

Visit: www.powerhousemuseum.com/lace/  
Email: lace@phm.gov.au

Please pass this information on to any colleagues or contacts that you feel may be interested in this very broad design award for openwork structures which encompasses fashion and the built environment.

Lindie Ward • Curator, Design and Society
Powerhouse Museum, PO Box K346, Haymarket, NSW 1238, Australia

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Calling all languishing or redundant knitting machines!

Do you want to be put to use in a very good cause? WORKAID is a self-help charity based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire which was set up to help tackle poverty in developing countries in a practical way. They collect donated tools and equipment from all over the UK through a network of 91 area organisers. The items are refurbished by a team of around 170 volunteers at their workshop in Chesham, then packed and shipped to approved training projects, mostly in East Africa.

In 2008, WORKAID sent out 782 sewing machines, 381 typewriters, 155 knitting machines, 490 tool kits and 190 miscellaneous items to 129 projects. One of their latest project is the Getare Youth Project, Nyamira, in Kenya, which concentrates on education for orphans and schoolleavers. Work is focusing on training in carpentry, secretarial skills, tailoring, knitting and dress-making.

So, if you (and all the other surplus unused tools and machines) are fed up with just sitting around doing nothing, or getting fluffY under a bed, get your owners to contact the great people at WORKAID as soon as possible at: The Old Boot Factory, 71 Townsend Road, Chesham, Bucks, HP52AA • 01494775220 • www.workaid.org

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The Walker Treasury Project

Barbara Walker's Treasuries are renowned as being the perfect resource for anyone who wants to experiment with stitch patterns. Copies have been known to change hands at eye-watering prices and at least one knitter has written hers into her will, to avoid unseemly fighting amongst her nieces. Nevertheless some knitters have expressed their disappointment that many of the illustrations in these books are rather small and (often) in black and white

Now knitters from all over the world have joined an online project to provide a gallery of large, knitted, coloued swathces of each pattern. Head over to:

thewalkertreasury.wordpress.com

to see the stitch patterns in all their glory and to find out how you can take part

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Hyperbolic Crochet and the Coral Reef Project

Where cutting-edge mathematics meets creative crochet meets green issues in a worldwide project … here are some links:

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K&CG Members' Yahoo Group

Want to have more contact with K&CG members? Want to have a say in how your Guild develops? Well you can by joining the K&CG online Yahoo Group – just email Yvonne Davies for details, quoting your name, membership number and annual subscription renewal date.

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