Carole Wycliffe discusses the sale that led her to join KHWS, her interests in the fibre arts, and her experiences in the Guild.

Carole Wycliffe discusses the sale that led her to join KHWS, her interests in the fibre arts, and her experiences in the Guild.

July 19, 2021

© Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners

Shaelagh Cull

Carole Wycliffe

Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning

Well, I joined in December of 2015, so I guess it's coming up to six years. I had been retired for a couple of years and I noticed an article in the newspaper about the Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners were having their fall sale. I had been to the Tett Centre before that for the potters' sale, but I believe that I didn't really have a good look around at the Tett Centre, I was always interested to see how it had been change because back in the day, we used to come and do dance classes with the Kingston School of Dance that were in the older building. So I was curious to see how it had been updated. And so when I read in the paper that they were having this sale, I thought it'd be interesting to go and check out the building. And also in the article, which was really the hook, they talked about how they made tea towels and these were fantastic tea towels that actually could dry your dishes, and they would be great Christmas gifts. So I thought, oh, that sounds great. So I came along to the Tett Centre, and I saw the sale. And the Guild always has members who are at the sale, who are there to ask questions of people buying things. So I met Eleanor Fahey I started asking her questions and so she took me into the studio, which was next door, and that's the very first time that I've had ever seen a loom. And then I saw lots of them. There was a person weaving at the time and so I thought it looked really cool. It looked like something that I would really enjoy. So of course, then they said, well, we have learned to weave workshop coming up, so you could sign up for that if you'd like. So I signed up for that and then the rest is kind of history. When I was a young girl, I started doing some sewing, embroidery and things like that. I learned how to knit and then when I was in school, grade seven and eight, they taught us how to sew, and how to knit and embroider, things like that. I really enjoyed sewing, so I continued doing that and I did take a few courses in sewing on the machine. And I ended up making all my children's Halloween costumes and I made some baby quilts and things like that over the years. It was always a handy thing to be able to do, to sew. I actually made most of my maternity clothes too, because they were hard to find back in that day. And then eventually, I started to do cross stitch. And I enjoyed that for a while too. I've been aware of spinning wheels all my life, but I really had no idea how they worked and knew they had something to do with the wool and sheep, but other than that, no idea. And,I was thinking about it today, I don't think I'd ever seen a loom until 2015. I'm mostly right now interested in weaving on a big loom. I have two looms at home, 36 inch and 48 inch, so I'm really enjoying using them as much as possible. And I'm working with mostly cotton, or cottolin. I've tried silk, and wool, and alpaca, but I'm very much a beginner with those fibers. Bridget Lewis, who has been a member forever, and she was actually my teacher at the Learn to Weave [workshop], you could say to Bridget, I want to know about such and such and she would say oh, there's the book right there, that's the book that you need. She knew exactly where it was and so that was quite amazing to me that she knew that much about weaving, and also great. Then, of course, there were the workshops, and the workshops were also really good to help you to take the next step in learning what to do with the weaving. Then the projects that we do on the 100 inch loom, I eventually became involved in that and I have learned an awful lot with doing those things. And that's been really fun. That's also been a great way to meet other members.