#294 Summer 2025

‘Teamwork makes the dream work’. Rather a trite – some might say insufferable – maxim sometimes seen on posters displayed on office walls. But, as I read through the proofs for this issue of The Journal WSD I realised how true that saying is. The Journal is compiled by a team: you can see its members below this column. By my reckoning there are 13 of us directly engaged on producing the Journal and we are members of 13 different Guilds. That provides a lot of alternative viewpoints, styles and interests which this issue demonstrates well.

Many of the pieces in this Journal offer an insight into how an individual has approached a project or skill. On p.15, Elsie Hughes – one of the graduates whom the Association has selected to support – describes how her neurodivergent outlook on the world influences her work. Gilly Renshaw, on p.8, shows what happens when an idea takes root and is followed through by a determined individual who is not afraid to find out ‘what if?’. On p.12, three reenactors take us to a different era as well as offering another way to approach the use of a suspended spindle today. Yvonka Hurtado’s account of how she went from spinning novice to winning the Lylie Smart trophy within a year illustrates the rewards of making full use of Guild membership. So many different approaches to creativity and learning!

But those are only a few of the treats in store in this issue. Whether you read from cover to cover in one sitting, dip into your Journal when you can or organise your reading from the index, I hope you enjoy this issue and that you find something to inspire, challenge or help you in how you approach your weaving, spinning or dyeing.

Lesley Fidler, JEC Chair