History

On this page, you will find a section on the early history of the guild, a listing of some of the annual guild projects, and finally a list of the workshops and special events through the years.

Early Guild History

The first meeting of what was to become NCS was in September, 1982. A small group of leaders of the Warren County 4H Sheep Club asked Marinell Harrison to teach them to spin. By December the spinning group decided to meet monthly in each other's homes. Their goals were to improve their spinning, to share the craft, and to enjoy each others company.

By September, 1983, the group had 15 members. They chose the name, North Country Spinners. During the winter months, they met in the Hope Community Center.

By May, 1984, they were busy implementing the NCS goals. They organized workshops. The first was on flax, the second was on color. They had a booth at the Warren County Fair.

1987 was a big year. The first NCS constitution was adopted in June, 1987. The first Farm Tour and Sale was held; it was a successful venture with newspaper publicity, circulars, and profits.

The Ted Carson workshop was in September, 1987. Another major workshop by Celia Quinn was in March, 1990.

Annual Guild Projects

Throughout the long history of this guild (established in 1983), there have been many annual guild projects. Some of those were:

• 1993 - Animals birthday party. Small animals dressed for a party.
• 1995 - Mushroom hat. Using the hat pattern from Fee's "Sweater Workshop" members knit a hat. Pattern stitch and individualization were up to the member.
• 1996-1997 - "Handspun/Handknit" - Members drew a project from the book based on their knitting level and made the item with guild supplied fiber.
• 1997-1998 - Hand spun and knit afghan.
• 1998 - Handspun cotton. We learned to spin Fox Fiber (tm) and then knit washcloths/dishcloths.
• 2000 - Hats and mittens for children of the Blairstown school district. Spin up your odds and ends, goody bag bits; ply with a single of guild supplied wool; overdye; then knit for the children.
• 2001 - Paper Bag Project - We were supplied with a "lunch bag" of small amounts of different fibers; spin and make something.
• 2002 - Tea Cozy.
• 2003 - Spin dog hair. "Dog fiber" was obtained from dog rescue groups; the fiber spun; the skeins given to the breed rescue group to use as a fundraiser.

Workshops and Special Events