The Five Rivers Fiber Guild will support World Wide Knit in Public Day with an event at the Heathsville Farmers Market on Saturday, June 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.   Local knitters, whether experienced or novice, are welcome to join the Guild in a public display of their craft.

WWKiP Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes as a way to bring solitary knitters out of their homes and into venues where they could meet other knitters and share the enjoyment of their craft. This year, at least 15 Virginia localities are hosting “knit in public” events.

Participants in Heathsville will help the Five Rivers Fiber Guild to knit afghan squares for donation to From the Heart Stitchers, a nonprofit group that distributes handmade garments and blankets to people in need across the Commonwealth. Even folks who have never knitted will have a chance to add a few stitches to a work in progress.

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When: June 11, 2010

Where: Christchurch School in Middlesex County

Tickets: Advance purchase only. Visit the Garden Club of the Middle Peninsula website for details.

It’s supposed to be cloudy all weekend. Now's the time to grab the camera and go out to shoot that (winning?) photo for the Welcome Spring Photo Contest. Here are some tips to keep in mind when framing and shooting your flora.
 
1.       When’s the best time to shoot flowers? When it’s overcast. Clouds diffuse light, so they eliminate harsh shadows, reveal details and make colors really pop. Be sure to set your White Balance to Cloudy—if you don’t, your flowers will have a blue cast to them.
 
2.       When shooting a flower close up, choose the portrait setting on your camera (or select a large aperture like f-5.6, 4.0 or 2.8 in Manual or Aperture Priority Mode). It will blur the background so your subject really stands out.
 
3.       To get a sharp photo of a flower close up, choose the Macro setting on your camera or attach a macro lens to your DSLR.  
 
4.       Don’t just stand there and shoot. Get down and dirty. Shoot at your subject’s level. Or from the ground up. Or a birds-eye view.
 
5.       Put your subject off center. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid. Put your subject at one of the four points where the lines intersect. To make sure it’s in focus, aim your camera at the subject, press your shutter half way down, recompose your shot, then press the shutter the rest of the way down.
 

So get busy snapping. And don't forget to send us your results.

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The Garden Club of Mathews celebrates its 80^th Flower Show on Friday and Saturday, May 21-22 at Mathews Memorial Library.  Judging will occur Friday morning before the show officially opens at 10:30 a.m.  Visitors are encouraged to stop by and see the 21 artistic entries on Friday from 10:30a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

A highlight of the show will be a talk on herb gardening by Susan Abernathy McCreary at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.  The talk is open to the public. Susan will share her considerable knowledge with the public at this free lecture.  Susan and her husband, Robert, long time residents of Mathews, live in their lovely 1903 home, Green Mansions in North.  They have many gardens including an extensive herb garden.  Susan and Robert established The Abernathy Gardens on the campus of Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News in honor of Susan’s parents, George and Estelle Abernathy.  Susan learned about herbs from her mother, who was a recognized expert in the subject.  The Garden Club is providing starter herbs to attendees.

Susan McCreary and Naomi Sutton.

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On Monday, April 12, the Five Rivers Fiber Guild will be treated to a presentation of exotic textile works by member Marianne Henderson.

Over the past 10 years, Henderson has traveled extensively in Asia and observed indigenous textile methods in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar. Her presentation will include a digital slide show and an array of textile samples from Turkey, Guatemala, and Argentina as well as the Asian countries she has visited.


A Vietnamese stitcher of the Red Dao tribe

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