Pre-Inventory Sale This Weekend

The store will be closed to count inventory on Monday, June 30, but before we do, we want to offer up our current summer stock on sale this Saturday and Sunday. Come by and catch some great deals!

Springwater’s own Spectrum line is 20% Off

Summer Yarns are 25-40% off and include:
Spectrum Cotton, Zitron Evita, Filatura Di Crosa Brilla, Fibranatura Flax, Rowan Cotton Glace, and Organic Cotton!

From 10% to 20% off you will find:
Happy Feet Sock Yarn, Sockotta, Lamb’s Pride, Plymouth Tweed, Roving, and Galway to name a few!

Baby Yarns are 10% to 40% Off!

ALSO ALL NOTIONS ARE 10% OFF!

Enjoy and hope to see you at Springwater this Saturday!

Springwater Still Needs Your Help

This email just went out from Springwater's Board of Directors.

Dear Friends of Springwater,

Your dedicated support of Springwater has kept us going throughout the last 8 months of crisis. We still need your help to keep building Springwater back from the ground up.

During the "Big Push," our donors accomplished a lot for Springwater.

• We held two successful sessions of classes (Winter and Spring) and planned for the current Summer session.
• We retired our debt and re-established good relationships with vendors.
• We retained and refurbished our classroom space and store.
• We hired two professional, full-time staffers to handle education and management.
• We restocked and reopened our supply store.

There is no way to describe how grateful and humbled we are as the board and staff to know that the community support for Springwater is so deep and so generous. Each of you who donated and fulfilled your pledge has our deepest gratitude.

The community support placed in sharp relief the changes that needed to be made at Springwater to make it a financially viable and successful nonprofit in the future. We are making those changes now.

• We are working closely with our teachers to plan and execute classes in all of the fiber art fields.
• We have standardized our class pricing structure to make it more equitable for all students.
• We are re-organizing a system to more efficiently take special orders for equipment and tools not easily accessible in the region.
• We are aggressively seeking out additional grants to support our educational mission.
• We are expanding the privileges of membership in Springwater by bringing in more events and additional perks.
• We are improving our website and online outreach.
• We are planning more ways to get students, customers, teachers and supporters involved and invested in Springwater.

To keep Springwater moving forward, we still need your financial support. As a board, we planned to hold a fall fund drive as an annual campaign. But the current economic climate and end of our fiscal year have made it imperative to ask for donations now.

If you can give -- in whatever amount -- it will keep the momentum of growth and change going at Springwater. Our new dynamic board and brand new staff are excited to continue making positive changes, and we think you'll like what you see.

Please give. Springwater is committed to doing whatever we can to provide the best possible educational experience and materials for our students and customers. We want to hear your feedback about how we are doing, and we are working on improving our communication to you.

Thank you again for your continued, loyal support of Springwater.

Sincerely,
Ann Liddle
President, Springwater Board of Directors

Brand New Spectrum!

Our wall of hand-dyed Springwater Spectrum yarn has expanded.

One of Springwater's master dyers just dropped off newly dyed skeins, in everything from laceweight to bulky. Some of it is 100 percent wool, and some has a halo of mohair.

The laceweight would be perfect in an Adamas shawl by Miriam Felton like the one recently knitted by the Yarn Harlot herself. It would only take two skeins, and at $10.89 a skein, it's the perfect summer project.

And now you are asking..."but where are the pictures??"

I promise I will bring my camera in this week and post some. Unless of course it all sells before then!

Come down and take advantage of our "Week After KIP Day" coupon for 15 percent off all yarn and notions in the store.

Come KIP with Us!

Springwater will be joining the KIPpers at Belle Haven park in Alexandria at 11am on Saturday, June 14, for World Wide Knit in Public Day.

I think this map (ETA: Link fixed! Thanks, trueepicure!) shows the general location, but correct me in the comments if it doesn't!

We're bringing coupons for 25 percent off all yarn and notions. We'll also have a chance to win a fiberlicious door prize for signing up for our email newsletter.

Even though it says "knit" in public, I sure wouldn't mind a strong showing from the crocheters and spinners, too. Come and join us!

We've Got a Visitor Coming

The looms are folded and pushed to the side, and we're dusting and sweeping to make sure our studio looks its best.

Artist, writer, educator John Marshall is presenting a sold-out class on "Clothing Designs of the World" here at Springwater on Saturday and Sunday, but this Friday he will open his stay here in Alexandria with a lecture on "The Texture of the Life We Lead."

"The Texture of the Life We Lead" is a survey of how we as humans incorporate color and texture into our daily lives. A slide show depicting a full array of clothing and adornment styles, cultures and time periods help to illustrate this inspiring talk.

John's lecture will be followed by a trunk show of his unique dye work and traditional Japanese pieces for sale.

The lecture and trunk show are this Friday, June 13, at 7-9:30 pm. It will be at the Crowne Plaza Old Town Alexandria, 901 N Fairfax St, Alexandria, VA. It's one block north of Springwater and there is plenty of parking. The fee for associate members is $20; for non-associates it's $25.

To register, call or stop by the store. We will be able to accept cash and check at the door, but no credit cards. However, we want to make sure there are enough chairs for everyone, so we appreciate it if you make prior reservations.

A huge part of Springwater's mission as a nonprofit for the fiber arts is bringing in inspiring, nationally recognized artists, such as John Marshall. Thank you for supporting Springwater and making it possible!

Summer Classes Online

Joe sent an additional note about his linen coaster:

"It was made with a sett of 12 (i.e. I used a reed with an EPI (ends per inch) of 12. The weave structure is a balanced twill and is one of the ones I learned in the beginning 4-shaft weaving class taught by Carol Hasek."

Speaking of classes, our Summer Class schedule is now online. Click through this link to find out more information, and call, email or stop by the store to register.

Keep Cool with Linen

One of our staff members, Joe Buriel, made this coaster out of the Fibranatura Flax (sorry, Ravelry link!) 100% linen yarn we have in the store.

He used the green linen for the weft, Berroco NaturLin for the warp and Filatura di Crosa Pic Nic for the orange edges.

The supply store carries a wide range of yarns for weaving, knitting, crocheting and felting, as well as roving for spinning. If you haven't checked us out lately, come down!

Introducing the New Managing Director

I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to the Springwater blog-reading community.

My name is Virginia Dorell, and I am the new Managing Director of the workshop. Most folks call me Ginny, and I'm excited to be joining the staff of Springwater as we keep moving the organization onward and upward.

I've been knitting since November 2005 and crocheting only since last month. My husband is hoping my new job doesn't mean new hobby supplies filling up the house, but I told him I couldn't promise that!

I've been a newspaper copy editor, a reporter and a representative of small businesses at the Chamber of Commerce. But I could not imagine a more perfect job than here at Springwater to combine my love of yarn, nonprofits and writing.

One of my top priorities is to keep the Springwater community informed of what's going on with the store and the school through the website, blog, Ravelry and newsletter. Please keep an eye on the blog for more frequent updates about classes, supplies and events.

I also want to know what is going on with YOU -- Springwater's loyal customers, students and teachers. I want to hear your feedback and thoughts about what we can do to meet your fiber wants and needs.

Without your support, we would not be here. So THANK YOU from all of us here at Springwater. I look forward to meeting each of you.

SAORI Weaving Class Special Offer

It’s a cold and rainy spring day in Alexandria, but of course we retail folk love that because it means customers come in and hang out. Right? We’re trying to get more of that happening at Springwater now that we’re open late hours and seven days a week. Come on by and say hello!

For example, and for the next two days only, we’re making a once-in-a-lifetime (okay, well, we don’t plan to do this again) special offer to you to join our SAORI™ weaving class. The class is for people at all skill levels - from those who have never tried weaving, to experts who want to do something wild and crazy on a loom. The offer -- 30% off the class -- extends the idea of community (mention that you heard about the blog coupon to receive the discount; no further discounts apply when taking advantage of this offer).

SAORI™ is a loosely used term for free form weaving, and at the same time a highly regarded set of principles established by Japanese artist Misao Jo when in her fifties. At it’s best, SAORI™ can be learned by anyone, taught to anyone, regardless of ability or skill. The idea has caught on like wildfire in the US. The Saori mind celebrates moving away from machinery, learning from one another in groups, developing a sense of community, and the concept of working freestyle -- anything can become a part of the weaving, from yarn to found objects to. . .

In the first week, Linda Hurt will lead us all through warping the looms (provided). From there, the group will see and develop their individual projects. Join this class if you are interested in working with kids, people with learning abilities, helping with outreach for Springwater, or just making something beautiful and absolutely one-of-a-kind.

Jot a note to yourself to register in the next few days -- the first of 4 classes is this Sunday, April 6 from 1 -4:30 pm -- by calling us at 703/549-3634 or via email. I’ll be there. I hope you will too!

Submitted by Susan Cushing

Open Again!

Springwater was at death’s door not three months ago. Now, thanks to contributions of over $110,000 to save Springwater, we’re open again! Supply store, classes, the works. Sure ways to know we are fully functioning, I think, are: that the postman actually delivers our mail; great staff is almost fully back in place; the UPS guy is learning our names again, slowly (which means we’re getting great stuff in on a regular basis); and the fibers in the store are actually matching the flowers coming up in front of our windows.

(photo courtesy Cori Martinelli)

New Supply Store Hours are:

Mon 11:30-5
Tue 11:30-7
Wed 11:30-7
Thu 11:30-8
Fri 11:30-7
Sat 10-7
Sun 12-5

Everything around here will now be happening in smaller steps. What we carry in the store will be driven first and foremost by the needs of our classes and students (please refer to our newsletter), by our mission to teaching and preserve the fiber arts, and by our commitment to pay down the remainder of the debt we carry.

There are still some disconnects: if you are not getting our newsletter or e-mail blasts, call us (703/549-3634) or email us info@springwaterfiber.org. Something happened in the technical soup, and many people have fallen from our mailing lists despite their unquestionable value to us. Please keep in touch with us. As Dionne says, it’s the Ghost in the Machine. If we’ve lost track of you, we want you back!

We're thinking about the website, but for the moment -- unless someone comes up with a huge pot of money to overhaul it -- the website will primarily be a tool to get you to our online newsletter (e.g., class information) and to this blog (check for updates every Friday).

New Arrivals

In the store: We’ve gotten in even more colorways of the fantastic bamboo fiber pictured above (Royal Bamboo, 100% bamboo); new summer yarns La Spezia (100% cotton) and Evita (cotton/acrylic/rayon) arrived last week in fab summer colors; and just today our books and magazines began to arrive. Get the Italian yarns while you can -- while they’re brilliant and light, they are also the end of their lineage -- we cannot get more.

Also check out the beginnings of what will inevitably be a felting department; some cool pre-felt squares and yardage have been added to our gorgeous merino top. For spinners and weavers, we’ve gotten lovely colors of domestic roving, both dyed and natural, and there are some nice fresh cones of all the basics. We’ve also just received a new dye lot from our own SPECTRUM line, dyed right here at Springwater.

Come by! Take a class! Join a group! We hope to see you soon!