Welcome to Northwest Regional Spinners' Association, serving spinners in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

As always, we promote and encourage awareness and skills in the craft of handspinning, providing a network for local guilds. Various opportunities exist to share, learn and keep the craft alive.

The conference materials are now on-line. They are in PDF format and this year, are divided out into categories. To download, simply go to the Conference page and click the files on the left side.

A lot of activities and events are coming up. Check out the latest events for information. The Calendar page has a lot of new events listed. From spin-ins, workshops, and retreats to fairs, there's something for everyone this year.

And, as always, keep on spinnin'.

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New from the Winter Board Meeting!
A debate rages whether or not to allow youth ages 10 and older to join. Several members had expressed concern that we are losing future spinners at a tender age by not allowing them to participate in our group. Other's expressed that although it's nice to encourage youth to take up fiber arts, there may be problems with behavior and disruption during area meetings.

Another discussion involved members transferring from their geographic area to another area, often for reasons of logistics. Some areas are huge and it's difficult for members, who may be technically in one area, to get to meetings. And they are often within spitting distance to another area. Members can go to any area meetings and events, but a member can only become eligible for holding office and voting in their geographic area, based on one's home address. The membership chair has been processing requests to transfer by e-mail, instead of using the forms and sending them via snail mail. The debate is whether we should make it too easy for members to transfer areas via electronically. The debate is still up for discussion.

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Areas who are just achin' to host an event such as a Board Meeting but don't have the immediate funds to front it can now apply for a loan from NWRSA. Go to the Administrative page and download the PDF's for the Guidelines and Application.

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Our judges are now certifiable!
Thanks to the hard work of Karen Goodson and Marie Gettmann. NWRSA's Judges Training program is a comprehensive two-part program designed to train judges on a certain set of criteria for consistency. After completing both workshops and taking a test as well as judging several events including our Conference Gallery, AND passing a test, judges receive certification. This lends credibility to the profession.

Currently there are no certified judges in Western Washington, although there are folk who have done judging. If you are interested in getting your certification, please contact Karen or Marie for more information.