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Extravagansey At Helmsdale

14th June 2010

Photograph of Extravagansey At Helmsdale

PROGRAMME

Helmsdale - Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 June, 10am — 4pm
The Moray Firth Partnership Gansey Project invites you to a week-end Extravangansey of free activities for all the family. Featuring Norman Kennedy, internationally-known Scots and Gaelic singer, master craftsman and textile historian.

Saturday 19 June
10.00 Spinning masterclass -
Norman Kennedy: (Community Centre) —
carding wool to make good rolags
(woollen spinning), and combing to spin from longer wool fibres (worsted spinning for gansey wool).
All day session, open to anyone who can spin, even if you haven't been spinning very long. (
Lunch
break 12— 1) Break for Waulking session at 3.00 —
join in, or continue spinning!
11.00 "Extravagansey" -
illustrated talk on Ganseys -
yarns, pictures and people by Deb Gillanders
(Timespari)
11.00 Drop-in Knitting clinic —
bring your knitting, or come and try (Community Centre)
1.00 Gansey knitting class Edith Rattray introduces the special features of traditional ganseys (Bridge
Hotel)
2.00 Making Yarn -
illustrated talk by Paul Crooks, Halifax Spinning Mill (Timespan)
3.00 Waulking the cloth -
Norman Kennedy. Don't miss this rare opportunity to join in a
traditional tweed
waulking session, with songs in English and Gaelic (Community Centre)

Sunday 20 June
10.00 Flax spinning talk and demonstration -
Norman Kennedy —
Norman will be spinning line flax (the fibres are about a yard long) and talking about the processes involved. There will be an opportunity to have a go. (Community Centre)
11.00 Gansey knitting class Edith Rattray introduces the special features of traditional ganseys (Community Centre)
2.00 Textiles & traditions including ganseys— illustrated talk by Norman Kennedy (Timespan)
2.00 Spinning from the point / weaving ideas / Share and Blether -
with Kathleen Thorne:
An informal session sharing skills, ideas and craic. Kathleen and her sister Rosemary are from California and want to meet other spinners and weavers, so come along for some fun. (Community Centre)

All-weekend Activities at the Community Centre
Gansey Exhibition and Information Point -
Bring (or wear) your old ganseys, and see how the patterns compare to ganseys from other parts of Scotland. The Gansey Project needs your help to identify different patterns from around the Moray Firth, and to gather pictures and stories about the people that knitted and wore them. See www.gansey-MF.co.uk

Come and Try -
Activities for children -
different activities over the week-end, inc. knitting with giant needles, weaving, spinning and more

Display and sales, including gansey woo