WYTHNOS PEDWAR DEG CHWECH - week forty six

7/8/2025

This week’s been a bit of a whirlwind with a mix of CIC work, Brynty bits, Uni deadlines, and all the usual life admin thrown in. At the start of the week, Veronika and I met with Cathy at her studio in Northern Lights (Baltic Market) to begin learning how to spin fleece. When we arrived, there were a few people Cathy wanted us to meet, so the teaching didn’t start until later in the day. I had planned to go with Veronika to meet Elena afterwards, but as things ran behind, I decided to stay on and get stuck into the fleece work, it’s taken us so long to get to this point, I didn’t want to waste the opportunity.

We began by sorting and washing fleeces. Cathy had a mix donated by a farmer, but it wasn’t in great shape, lots of muck and twigs. I offered to take a couple of bags home to clean as a thank-you for Cathy’s time, so that’s my summer sorted! Later, I had my first go on the spinning wheel and wow, it’s much harder than it looks. I couldn’t quite find a rhythm and kept breaking the yarn. I think Cathy assumed I was more experienced, and I definitely underestimated how tricky it would be.

We also chatted more about the retreat. I hadn’t spoken to Cathy directly about it before, it’s mainly been Veronika in touch with her. Cathy mentioned she’s planning her own retreat in October at a spa hotel, charging £600 for the weekend. I was honestly quite shocked; I thought she needed support to run something like that, but clearly not. There seems to have been a real miscommunication — she looked surprised that we’d already planned everything and just needed her input on the fleece and equipment side.

That evening, I felt quite deflated and stressed. I realised I’m nowhere near ready to teach spinning, I barely know what I’m doing myself. With Cathy’s daughter no longer available to help, the pressure would have all fallen on Cathy, and that didn’t sit right with me. I felt uneasy about going ahead and risking the retreat being underwhelming, it could reflect badly on the CIC and our reputations. Thankfully, Cathy messaged the group the next day to say she wouldn’t be able to commit this year, which honestly felt like a relief. It confirmed what I’d already been feeling.

I’ve learned that communication (clear and early) is absolutely essential when co-creating something like this. We all came into it with different assumptions. I also recognised how easy it is to get excited by ideas without fully assessing our readiness. Although it’s disappointing to hit pause on the retreat, it feels like the right decision. Cathy’s suggestion to plan something next spring or summer, where we guide people through the whole fleece process over several months, actually sounds much more aligned with our ethos.

This links strongly to the aims of the CIC, offering community-led, skill-sharing creative sessions that are genuinely valuable and well-executed. Rushing something half-baked could’ve hurt the trust we’re building. It also ties into my MA project, learning these traditional crafts myself means I’ll be better placed to incorporate them into Stiwdio Bach in a meaningful way. The week reinforced the importance of pacing myself, especially with the new job starting and final MA deadlines looming.

On Wednesday, we had a REcreational Wardrobe board meeting. I met Esther properly for the first time (Cathy couldn’t make it, she’d had some bad news about her studio’s building going into administration). It was just the three of us, and we discussed the future of the CIC. Esther is going to put together a visual plan for us on Canva ready for the next meeting. We also did a strengths/weaknesses test for our business roles, which I’m curious to see the results of. I think I already know my areas, but I’m glad to have someone more experienced steering the strategy side for now. I’ve committed to hosting bi-weekly creative socials from September, which feels doable alongside everything else.

The rest of the week I focused on my Uni work, mainly the Business Proposal, which is nearly there, though I’ll revisit it to fine-tune things. Now that the retreat’s on hold, I’ll shift my focus to developing more of the hypothetical elements of Stiwdio Bach, layout, decor, and workshop menu ideas.

On Friday, Veronika and I went to see a fellow MA student’s exhibition, the Sari Forest, at DoES Liverpool. It was a lovely immersive piece made from donated saris, set to traditional music. I didn’t stay too long as I was up early the next day, but I’m so glad I went. It gave me a confidence boost, seeing someone host a creative event reminded me that I could do it too. I took mental notes on what worked well and what I’d approach differently, so it was both enjoyable and useful.

I’ve also started booking visits for my research trip in a few weeks. I’m heading to the National Wool Museum, Hiut Denim Company, Melin Tregwynt, and St Fagans. I’d love to visit the London Cloth Company, but Craig’s dad is having surgery that day, so we’ll have to head back early. I’m definitely planning to go another time, ideally when I can see or try out the machinery.

Action Plan:

• Fleece work: Continue cleaning the bags at home and documenting the process for future workshop content.

• Business Proposal: Review and refine the final version, particularly focusing on layout ideas and workshop offerings for Stiwdio Bach.

• CIC planning: Prepare for the next meeting in 2 weeks.

• Creative socials: Begin planning themes and session ideas for the September bi-weekly gatherings.

• Research trip: Finalise logistics and explore ways to record or reflect on the experience for my hand in

• Long-term retreat planning: Begin mapping out a spring/summer 2026 timeline for a slow-paced fleece-to-fabric project, incorporating lessons from this week.