green panache shawl

This is my latest shawl. It is the panache shawl ( you can find a link to the pattern on ravelry. I knitted it in lace weight yarn. I really like this pattern, it has easy repeats and the finished designs is stunning. This was sent across the seas to Italy to a relative.

art exhibition opening

Today I went to the opening of the Tasmanian Art Groups exhibition. It was held at the Botanical gardens and the theme was four seasons. It was great to see a gallery filled with such diverse and talented works.

This stunning work is by my father, called four seasons.

opalescence

One of the workshops I did while I was at Bicheno was on creating an opalescence yarn. It was inspired by an article by Stephenie Gaustad and is about light and colour effects within a yarn. This is created by carding ( over and over a range of white and coloured fleece, silk or mohair together.  The base is about 95% white yarn with no yellow undertones then a blue/black is added to get a light grey. This gives you the opal milky base. To this is added the sparks and embers in a combination of hot pink, magenta, turquoise, aqua, purple violet and neon gree( I didnt use this). These are added in tiny whisps of colour.

1970's Bicheno style

As I was saying, the theme of the handspinner, dyers and weaver guild weekend away this year was the 1970's and here is just a little of all the fun we had.

bicheno escape

I have just been away for three days up the east coast to a wonderful little town called Bicheno. It was the HWSD Guild annual weekend away. For those of you remember last year it was all about socks, and sock blanks. This year it was all about the 1970's nut more about that in a later post.

I had the best time going for a pre breakfast walk along the coast. There are lovely beaches and fasinating rock scenery. Even though I kept my eyes peeled I did not come across a whale.

swallow tail shawl

This is my recently finished swallowtail shawl, you can find the patern on Ravelry. It was such an easy knit and I really like the finished shawl. I would have liked it to be a little larger as it is for a gift, but I like the pattern and even started to like nupps a little after doing so many of them.

Handweavers, spinners and dyers guild of tasmania birthday

Life member gather to cut the cake for the Guilds birthday.

Maureen with one of her lovely indigo dyed scarves, and a basket full of her wonderful dyed handspun.

Our vice president Di whipping up a bit of weaving.

following the art trail

there has been a three day art trail here in the channel. So I have spent two days heading up small country roads in search of art studios. It was a great chance to explore roads I would never have driven up before and an even better chance to see artists at work in their studios. I love to listen to artists talk about their work and what inspires them, and to droole over their wonderful studios. One of the stops was for the quilting exhibitions which just happened to be across the road from this wonderful shop.

Nearby we visited a wonderful gentleman, Joe Ottevanger. He is printmaker, using lino cuts. What an inspiration to talk to and listen to his wealth of knowledge.

Then on Saturday we headed out as a family and started off at Simon Pankhurst's studio.. He has a truely amazing blacksmiths forge. My boys though this was really exciting and #2 child was already coming up with ideas and sharing them with Simon. Simon was a delight to listen to and so generously shared his ideas and thoughts with us. Some of his work is below. He had wonderful seats, benches, bookshelves and even a spectacular wood basket. What a treat for the senses, and the ears when he fired up the metal. And I have to mention the beautiful gardens.

Never Not Knitting Theme Song

tour de fleece days 1 to 4

As the bike race started in France, so did the tour de fleece. The spinners version of peddling like crazy for the same number of days as th professionals do. This yaers challenge for me was to make my way through some of my merino cross (milo) who has a lovely black/brown fleece and blend it with some Yak down I have bought. The Yak down is so light and soft but incredibly short so not the easiest fiber to spin.I tried carding them together on the drum carder, but that did not work as the Yak just got stuck on the licker. Then I tried hand carding, then I tried making tight punis , as if I was spinning cotton. This seems to be the most successful so far but I am still struggling to get the two fubers to blend evenly. But I am up for the challenge so I will let you know how I get on.

spinning newspaper

It all started with spinning some newspaper. I found this very relaxing and loved the way the colours started to come out in the spinning. I started with a nice looking single but decided to ply these as I wanted to knit the end product. And I was very happy with the entire process. This piece was inspired by my love of words and how they comfort me. How I would like to just wrap myself up in them.

spinning paper 2

I have been spinning more types of paper lately. I had a go at toilet paper. This was easier to spin that it was to knit. It tended to want to break easily if I was not very gentle while spinning.

spinning with paper

Lately I have been exploring spinning with paper. I started off with some newspaper then I tried some washi (japanese paper), then some fish and chip paper and finally some toilet paper. I had a lot of fun playing around with new materials to spin. These are photos of the washi (japanese paper) I spun up and then plyed with kimono thread. I was inspired by the idea of Japans culture of softness (washi) intertwined with its strong cultural heitage(kimono thread) all of this woven into the shifting and unpredictable natural landscape that makes up this country.

my birthday lunch

I
I just found this old post I forgot to post. This was my birthday lunch out with the family. We went to an up market fish and chip and pizza restaurant.
Followed by  a walk along the near by beach. You can see the Casino in the distance and the revolving restaurant at the top where we went for our high tea. All in all it was a great way to spend my birthday.
 

 

 

 

Handweavers, spinners & dyers guild of Tasmania exhibition

It is that time again. The guild is having their exhibition again and it is shaping up to be a fantastic one. If you get a chance to go along GO. If not I will post photos later from it.

judbury craft group

Once a month the Judbury craft group meets. The venue is one of the nicest possible with the hall being by the banks of the Huon river. (which was at full capasity and racing past this Monday) It is such a great group of ladies and men that gather there and one of the things I love about it is the  variety of projects that go on. What a talented group of ladies and men, they produce such wonderful things so I thought I would share a few photos with you all.
There was amazing glass etching, knitting, spinning, quilted pillows and of course Shirley had whipped up a few more shawls and lots more. It is so good to be around such inspireing people.

I went with my boys to see the local medieval society day. We got there at th end and watched the  knight on horseback. I love the whole knights and all, I am so happy my boys like it too so I can have someonr to go to these events with. We were luck enough to see some of these while in england, so it is a little out of place here in tasmania but Still I am happy there are some very dedicated followers of the traditional life of the medieval people.

Dyeing divas

Google has don it again. I will try and return these pictures but These are done by Carol Kingston. Natural dyes on paper. I am so sorry for all the head on side to enjoy these but when I first saw these I was totally taken by then. The photo doesnt really show the texture of these pieces. Visually stunning and I could not believe it was paper they had been painted on. There is just so much texture in them. I a huge favourite of mine, and also for my dad.

Dyeing Divas2

As you can see google seems to have turned my photo sideways, but if you turn your head you will see these two wonderful dyed pieces by Di Mcpherson. They are just stunning. These were part of the Unravel exhibition by the dyeing divas at the botanical gardens. Such talented women who make wonderful art fron nature. There was so much to be inspired by at this exhibition. I hope this group exhibits some more.

Dyeing divas

I went to UNRAVEL by the Dyeing Divas. A exhibition held at the Royal Botanical gardens in Hobart.All the dyes are natural. I really liked these dresses. More photos to come.

birthday flight

 

 

 

 

While I was at the Bream Creek show I gave myself a birthday present. My youngest and I went for our first helicopter flight. We flew over the show(photo 1) and then headed out over Marion bay beach and then over the water and then back towards the show. I had a great time and loved the views, so I wanted to share them with you.

bream creek show

 

 

 

This weekend I went down to a fantastic local country show at Bream Creek show. These are some photos from the show. I love the giant pumpkin competition and looking at all the home made food. There was also a great array of vegetables and a table of apples. Tasmania is well know for its apples. There was lots more to see but this is just a little taster.

Surfing the holidays

As the school holidays headed to a close I took the boys down to the shack and they had their first surfing lesson. Already accomplised boogie boarders they were keen to try out the big boards, and they were not alone. The water was full of sufers of all ages and abilities.

It even made me think about having a go, but maybe I am getting a bit old for trying my luck at surfing.