A very enjoyable Guild meet-up was had on Sunday 20th July on the balcony at the Powerscourt Centre. We were delighted to welcome Helen and Mike, who were visiting Ireland all the way from Tasmania, and we were very impressed with Helen’s credentials (she was wearing a merino wool tank top that she had spun, dyed and knit herself). Mike is a budding spinner, but still claims he was just “looking for something to tie up the raspberries with”. Helen has 5 spinning wheels at home and 4 drum carders, but she hadn’t ever used a Drop Spindle, so was entranced by Eimear’s skills with her Golding spindle. The spinners were out in force as Diane also joined us during the latter half of the meet up.

The lovely Ardelle visited us again, all the way from Connemara, and was working on a commission using her table top loom. She had some beautiful samples with her to show us, and even sported some handspun yarn braided in to her hair! Ardelle has been weaving since she was 10 years old, and took a Tapestry Weaving course as part of her studies in Trinidad and Tobago.

Local dyers Yvonne and Jenny also popped in and both were led astray by the presence of an Ashford Traveller wheel to try out. Jenny was coached by Lisa and Helen and enjoyed giving it a go, but Yvonne has been well and truly hooked and now has plans to borrow a wheel for more practice at home!

All in all it was a lovely afternoon, and we hope you’ll join us next time!