HMWG at the Saratoga County Fair

Thanks to the weaving team from Hudson-Mohawk Weavers' Guild the The Saratoga County Fair has a beautiful working barn loom on exhibit! The team spent months, doing research, gathering materials and parts, dressing the loom - all that is needed to get the barn loom working. The team also spent the Wednesday demonstrating weaving on a riddle heddle loom and spinning to the Saratoga fairgoers.

In-person mini-workshop day Feb 2024

A few weavers got together on Feb 3, 2024 at Saratoga Arts to try out the project presented by our January program speaker, Kathrin Weber. We dyed some yarn or bought kits from Kathrin and then tried out her technique of designing at the reed using multiple warp chains. It was a lot of fun, and we all learned something.

HMWG goes to MAFA 2023!

The MidAtlantic Fiber Association (MAFA) puts on a great biennial conference in Pennsylvania on odd years. HMWG became a MAFA member guild recently, and for MAFA 2023 a dozen or so Guild members traveled down to take part in the conference on the campus of Millersville University. HMWG members took part in a wide range of classes, from rigid heddle immersion to rep weave to dyeing. A great time was had by all!

Halcyon Yarn Guild Rewards - support the Guild through shopping!

Did you know that shopping at Halcyon Yarn can benefit the Guild? HMWG is registered with Halcyon Yarn’s Guild Rewards program. At the end of the year, Halcyon cuts the guild a check for 5% of our purchases! So don’t forget to mention the Guild when you are shopping with Halcyon Yarn.

Start at the Guild Rewards page and select HMWG, or note that you are an HMWG member in your order. If you have an account, you can note your HMWG member status in your account, and then you just need to log into your account each time you order. You can also set up a cookie to facilitate the Guild Rewards. The Halcyon website has more information.

44th Annual Show & Sale a big success!

A big thanks to everyone who visited us over Thanksgiving weekend. We had many happy shoppers, lots of new weavers trying out the rigid heddle loom, and a great experience over all. We will do it again in November 2023!

44th Annual Show & Sale coming up quickly!

Holiday towel woven by Colleen Kelly

The Guild is busy preparing for the annual Show & Sale. With 30+ weavers exhibiting and ~2400 items in inventory, the show will be massive! Come join us at Pat’s Barn on Nov 26-28. New for this year: a display related to the tour Guild members took to Scotland to explore that country’s textile history and a totally revamped electronic cashier process which will speed up checkout greatly. More information.

50th Anniversary Picnic

Guild members celebrated the group’s 50th anniversary with a special picnic on June 18, held at the Dutch Barn at the Altamont Fairgrounds. The weather was superb, and many members from near and far, old and new, turned up for the special event.

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 12

The Unicorn Tapestry recreation in Stirling Castle

Day 12. Thursday, May 19, 2022: Our last day on tour in Scotland has arrived! Most of the group visits one final mill, Knockando Woolmill, but a few of us visit Cardhu distillery, both in the Spey Valley. 

Our tour guide at Cardhu, Natasha, is great. We learn that single malt whisky has but three ingredients: water, barley and yeast. She explains the various steps from malting, drying and distilling, and we get to see these steps in the malt house and stills. She takes us to the original 1884 stone warehouse, and we play a guessing game to try to identify which wood barrels are made from and which spirits are in a barrel. At the conclusion of the tour, we have a tasting of three whiskies plus a whisky cocktail. Tasty, and the highball is particularly delicious! 

On the road to Pitlochry for lunch and shopping. It’s a cute little town with lots of shops and restaurants, and we spend a pleasant hour there.

Further south we go to Stirling Castle. We’re just in time for the 4 pm tour, which gives us a great overview of the historical importance of the castle. After the tour, we explore on our own. The restored palace rooms are quite different from other European castles. Of particular interest to this group of weavers, the famed Unicorn Tapestries (the originals of which are on display in the Cloisters in NYC) were recreated in a 13-year long project at the castle and a Scottish tapestry studio. During the fabrication phase, the public could watch the weavers at work in the castle. Now the completed tapestries hang in the palace, and there is a small exhibit detailing the process of recreating the tapestries, including interviews with some of the weavers. Really fascinating, and the new tapestries are exquisite. Stirling Castle is truly the cherry on the top of a wonderful trip. 

After that, it’s back to Edinburgh for a final group dinner before flying out in the morning.  We can hardly believe how amazing the trip has been.  We have seen so much of this stunningly beautiful country, been welcomed warmly by so many weavers and mills and strengthened relationships both between Guild members and with our new Scottish textile friends.  

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 11

Johnston’s of Elgin

Day 11. Wednesday, May 18, 2022: Up and at ‘em early as we have a ferry to catch at 7 am. Luckily the ferry is just around the corner. The vans roll on, followed by an enormous bus, all into the belly of the ferry. Another smooth journey as we bid Harris and Lewis farewell and head back to the Scottish mainland. After debarkation at Ullapool, we drive to Beauly for a quick stop to see the ruined priory and fuel up with coffee and pastries. 

We push on to Elgin, where our main destination for the day awaits. Johnston’s of Elgin is a complete vertically-integrated mill founded in 1797. It is also a beautiful manufacturing site, a rarity in the manufacturing world. The original stone buildings are complemented by masterful gardens. We have lunch at the Weavers Restaurant (yes, really!) which is decorated with wonderful photos of the weaving process. The mill shop is full of luxury cashmere clothing and home goods. While most of us don’t live a lifestyle that lends itself to a 100% cashmere bathrobe, clearly someone does. We all marvel over the twice woven selvedge blankets; such a clever idea to use up scraps. 

The mill tour is very polished. We are allowed to pet the cashmere, but we aren’t allowed to take photos inside the production areas. This may be partly a safety thing, but primarily because Johnston’s does private label production for very high-end couture lines and they must maintain customer confidentiality. As a vertically-integrated mill, Johnston’s starts from raw fiber and dyes, cards, spins the yarn, weaves/knits and finishes the final product. Did you know that teasel heads (a natural plant head) are still used to brush finished cloth to bring up the nap? 

We walk around the ruins of the Elgin Cathedral and visit the biblical garden next door. The garden is peaceful and beautiful, even if the religious sentiment isn’t everyone’s thing. Dinner is in an old pub in town.

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 10

Standing stones

Day 10. Tuesday, May 17, 2022: We have the incredible privilege of meeting with the CEO of the Harris Tweed Authority, Lorna Macaulay, at the HTA headquarters in Stornoway. We are all tickled with the furnishings in the conference room - check out the chairs and table! Lorna gives a great presentation on the history of Harris Tweed®, the legal protections it has, but also the challenges with counterfeit and improper use, and it is a great opportunity for us to dig into economic/industry questions we have. After that, a mill weaver demonstrates on both a Hattersley single width and a Griffith double width loom for us in the HTA brand room. 

We head to the Callanish Stones, a 5000 year old standing stone arrangement. Each stone has its own beauty, and the arrangement of them must have had some intense meaning to the original architects.

We move on to a restored blackhouse village. These old dwellings have stone walls and thatched roofs. The stones on the roof help to anchor the thatch and prevent it from sliding down, and they give the houses a very distinctive look. Some blackhouses remained inhabited until the 1970s. They were heated with peat fires, and as we drive  today along the less rocky side of the island we see evidence of recent peat cutting.

Just up the hill from the blackhouse village is the Carloway tweed mill, the smallest of the three Harris Tweed® mills. Our textile expert Kitty gets the okay from the mill for us to swing by for an impromptu visit. We meet with the mill director and learn about the operation. He graciously lets us poke around in all the nooks and crannies to see what there was to see. We see piles of greige cloth waiting for processing, and dyed wool waiting to get carded and spun together into a beautiful yarn. The mill has some finished fabric available for purchase in a small mill shop.

The CEN museum is a small but wonderful museum of island life. We see peat shovels and harvested peat. A Hattersley loom and pirn winder is on display, and an older woman leaving the busy archive room stops to tell us she spent 5 hours each day winding pirns for her dad. An installation of old analog instrumentation banks represents the Decca navigation system, including a small booklet written from the first hand perspective of a man who spent 30 years operating and maintaining the system in Scotland. Fascinating! 

Then we visit Margaret Rowan at Adabrock Weaving Company in the small village of Adabroc. The village air is perfumed with the scent of peat fires, as these modern houses use peat furnaces for heat. Margaret’s weaving shed is two shipping containers set together, and she’s got a lovely view of the ocean from the big windows in front. She is not a native islander, but she has embraced the lifestyle and it’s obvious just how much she loves it there. Her tweeds are more contemporary and daring, with asymmetric stripes. Look for the lamp made from a Harris Tweed® shade and a Harris gin bottle. Everyone on the island seems to have a stash of empties!

Our final stop of the day is the Butt of Lewis, the most northerly tip of the island. It is simply breathtaking.  Our time traveling around the entirety of the Isle of Harris and Lewis truly helps us understand how “from the land comes the cloth.”

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 9

Urgha Loom Shed tweed samples

Day 9. Monday, May 16, 2022: Our exploration of Harris Tweed® begins. Harris Tweed® is the only cloth protected by an act of parliament. For it to be Harris Tweed®, it must be handwoven in the home of the weaver in the Outer Hebrides and finished there, using pure virgin wool spun and dyed in the Outer Hebrides. All Harris Tweed® weavers are self-employed, although some weave primarily for the mills, receiving pre-wound warp beams and predetermined patterns, and other independent weavers buy the yarn and design their own patterns and then pay the mill to finish and inspect the cloth. There are three mills, with Harris Tweed Hebrides (aka the Shawbost mill) and Kenneth MacKenzie doing the lion’s share of the business, and Carloway Mill a very distant third. Real Harris Tweed® will have a beeswax orb stamp (generally once per every 10 meters) and will come with an allotment of woven certification labels. Part of the beauty of the tweed is that it’s dyed in the wool and then the yarn is spun combining different dyed colors. The final yarn is thus very rich in color and very complex. 

We start the day with a visit to Joanne of Urgha Loom Shed. Joanne is an independent Harris Tweed® weaver, and she also weaves other types of cloth. The walk down to her weaving shed is already inspirational with amazing views. She weaves on a single-width Hattersley Mark 2 loom. These old metal looms are noisy as all get out due to the fly shuttles. The weave structure is controlled by cams underneath the loom; the treadling powers the loom but does not select shafts. Metal cards near the fly box control the shuttle color sequence. 

We head back to Tarbert and visit the Isle of Harris distillery, where the delicious local gin is made. Just across the car park is the Isle of Harris shop, a delightful place full of bolts of Harris Tweed and handsome, helpful young men ready to help you select that perfect fabric. It was their first day re-opening after closure during the pandemic, and we feel certain they blew their sales target out of the water after our group had its way in the shop. 

More stunning beach views on our way to see Rebecca Hutton of taobh tuath tweeds. Rebecca is another independent Harris Tweed® weaver, though she’s got some Icelandic wool on her loom at the moment. So interesting to talk with her. Check out this video to hear her lovely accent and learn more about her weaving.

 Our final visit of the day is with fourth generation Harris Tweed® weaver Iain Martin of Seaforth Harris Tweed. Iain has many stories, and explains about the natural dyeing that was originally done along with how warps are wound, beamed and tied on. He demonstrates the pirn-winding machine, and we learn that most children on the island spent 5 hours per day (2 hours before school and 3 after) winding pirns!

After a long day, we head off to our hotel in Stornoway. There just might have been some whisky tasting in the hotel bar a little later.

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 8

Luskentyre beach on Isle of Harris

Day 8. Sunday, May 15, 2022: After a fantastic night’s rest in the utter silence at Greshornish House, the group splits into two.  Half head into Portree to have a wander around, and the rest head to the Quiraing Pinnacles for a hike. We have a ferry to catch, so we don’t have time to hike the full circuit, but the part we do see is magnificent. There are some tricky bits here, including a wet, slippery crossing and some scree, but it’s worth it. After our hike, we enjoy some cold beverages furnished by our thoughtful driver Phil, and then head to Uig to catch the ferry to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. 

The ferry is massive and very cool. The vehicles get loaded into the belly, and then we enjoy the observation deck up top. There are restaurants, shops and a special spot for those traveling with pets. We cross the Little Minch, a journey of about 25 miles. The ferry is smooth, though the observation deck is continuously serenaded with car alarms.

We are now in the Outer Hebrides, where Scottish Gaelic is the first language for many residents. Street signs are in Gaelic first, with English second or not at all. We have little trouble with accents up to this point, but begin to have difficulty with understanding some older Hebridean residents we meet. 

The Minch side of the island is wild and rocky. We drive south, catching stunning views of a miles-long bay beach at low tide. It’s like something out of a painting, with turquoise and blue and purple and intricate patterns created by the water. We finally arrive at Luskentyre beach. We walk past huge sea grass-covered dunes to find a stunningly beautiful beach. So, so clean. Sand is a mix of white, tan and grey, and plentiful purple sea shells. We find sea stars! The water is bracingly cold, but worth dipping your toes in. 

After a too-short time at the beach, we head to our hotels back in the small town of Tarbert. We get to try the local Isle of Harris gin for the first time, and it does not disappoint! We are somewhat surprised to find out the restaurant (and others we visit on the island) is out of many dishes. In a place where food comes in by ferry, when you’re out of something, you’re really out!

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 7

Eilean Donan castle

Day 7. Saturday, May 14, 2022: We continue north and then cut west through the Highlands. Every bend brings more mountains and shining lochs. The countryside is just gorgeous. Although many of us had brought books for the ride, we were instead glued to the windows just staring at the dramatic scenery. 

We meet more coos along the way. Look for one sticking its big tongue out.

Our morning destination is the stunning castle Eilean Donan, and our van heads for an elevated look-out first. We meet a charming Scottish pony and the biggest slug imaginable, a real life Beauty and the Beast. The castle is like something from a fairy tale. The car park is full of classic cars on a tour of some sort. 

We cross over the bridge to the Isle of Skye. We have finally arrived in the Hebrides! Our first stop is a quick break at the Enchanted Waters of Sligachan, where a taste of the flowing waters will grant you eternal beauty. We’re not so sure about that, but the water sure was tasty, and the view is stunning.

We visit the Island at the Edge Croft, where our host Yasmin serves us delicious cullen skink soup and homemade bread and cakes. After enjoying lunch, we learn about her off-the-grid croft. We meet Hebridean sheep and more hairy coos. The coos were nicknamed “Naughty Girl” and “I Can’t Believe She Just Did That”. Yasmin is a riot and we hear lots of funny stories about croft life, including the nickname for her puppy (Pissy Knickers). This visit gives us an opportunity to ask questions regarding agricultural practices we have observed during our travels which seem strange to American eyes, such as pasturing different types of livestock together.

We call it a day and head to our accommodations in the utterly fabulous Greshornish House, a former country estate. Talk about luxury! Big rooms decorated in what could be described as an “elegant country lodge” with tweed fabrics. Fabulous water pressure and big fluffy white towels. Manicured grounds filled with trees which buzz with bees (literally - it’s a little eerie) and strange-looking Chinese pheasants. Dinner was a riot. We had a window onto a little side yard, and the floor show consists of pheasants chasing each other around past the window, little bunnies hopping out, and so on. What a lovely respite for weary travelers.

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 6

Loch Lomond

Day 6. Friday, May 13, 2022: We leave non-scenic Motherwell and head north, skirting around Glasgow and headed up into the Highlands. We make two short stops in the morning: a quick visit to Glencoyne distillery, with its lovely shop and waterfall, plus plentiful Scottish bluebells, and the picturesque village of Luss, thought to be the prettiest town in the country, located on the banks of beautiful Loch Lomond. Look for the note affixed to one of the doors in the village. 

Continuing north, our lunch stop, the Drovers Inn in Inverarnan, was built in 1705. This appears to be a popular local watering hole, and we have a back room all to ourselves…as long as you don’t count all the taxidermied animals looming overhead. As we continue further north, the landscape (and weather) changes dramatically. We leave rolling green hills and enter dramatic mountain landscapes with moors covered in seemingly-dead dark heather. Rain and wind buffet the vans. We stop at the Three Sisters mountains in Glencoe, intending on a hike to the Lost Valley, but we content ourselves with just a short trek as the cold wind and rain is inhospitable. 

We push on in the vans, marveling at the snow-capped mountains, and arrive finally at Fort William. We enjoy a wee dram in the hotel bar (on the house!) to warm up.

Scotland Trip May 2022 - Day 5

New Lanark

Day 5. Thursday, May 12, 2022: We head west to New Milns to MYB Textiles, the last Scottish lace mill. Founded in 1900, it is the final remaining mill in Ayrshire. MYB manufactures patterned lace on original Nottingham Lace Looms as well as clipped Madras sheer fabric; MYB is the only producer in the world for both. The mill is a mixture of old and new technology. The Nottingham Lace Looms are mostly analog, running on punch cards, although some have been networked into computers in the design office. The Nottingham looms are VERY different technology from what most weavers are familiar with. Each loom has hundreds or thousands of shuttles which are small discs wound with thread, oriented perpendicular to the fabric. The discs pass back and forth, wrapping around warp threads. The looms have a very distinctive and pleasant melody. 

Madras lace is woven on looms which combine shafts (background) with jacquard thread control (pattern). The fabric as it leaves the loom has huge floats. The cloth is put through a machine which draws up the floats with air pressure and clips them off.

While the Nottingham lace looms produce a high-quality fabric, there are inevitable mistakes in each run. We are amazed at the ability of the darners to make invisible repairs. 

Watch for the video of two men re-threading a loom. Amazing how fast they work! Look closely for punch cards feeding through the dobby at the top of a lace loom, and a side view showing how the shuttles pass back and forth, wrapping around the warp threads.

MYB has a loom that is 40’ (yes, feet) wide, which is by far the biggest loom we have ever seen. This loom is commonly used to weave scrim fabric for theater backdrops. The theater and film industry is one of MYB largest customers.

We head back east a bit to the New Lanark World Heritage Site located in the spectacular Clyde Valley. Andy Cuthbertson, the heritage director, gave us a great tour. The old mill buildings are impressive, and the setting on the River Clyde is just gorgeous. There is a working spinning mule and plying machine, but no operating looms. We learn a lot of history, including how New Lanark had a fairly progressive model with education and healthcare available to all. One of the unintended consequences of Brexit becomes clear when Andy explains that the site used to receive significant funding from the EU, but now has a severe funding gap post-Brexit that has not been addressed by the British government.

On the way to the hotel, we spot the first hairy coos of the trip!