Spinning cotton with a support spindle

I just found this interesting video of spinning cotton on a supported spindle. i have never seen a spindle like this before. i would love to try one of these. I have been spinning cotton at home, both on my wheel and on a supported spindle. And I have fallen in love with cotton. It is such a lovely yarn at the end, so smooth and thin but strong. It has a lustre of its own, if only I could grow it here.

all things bright and beautiful

All things bright and beautiful is the saying behind this years floral show at St Davids Cathederal in Hobart this year. The hand weavers, spinners and dyers guild worked together to create a floral rug for the exhibition. Members from all over the state made squares and flowers that were then sewn together to make a fantastic rug.

Rev Jill from sorell and George from St Davids are seen here putting the finishing touches on our rug. And here we have the finished item. It is always so great to see how beautifully a project comes together that has started of life as individual pieces made by many. I would like to thank all those who helped make, sew up and create this rug. And of course george for comming up with the idea and overseeing the project.

Ross wool centre

While in Ross for our spinning day I just had to pop into the wool centre. I was totally amazed by the longest wool staples. The longest was around 63cm( if I remember correctly). Not a bad effort.

While in the centre I was trying to increase my knowledge of micron count in wool fibres. This is basically the diameter of individual strands of fleece. Here in Tasmania we are very lucky to have some of the finest merino wool in the world. I must say I was hard pressed to tell the difference between the finest of these wool, but I will keep trying to learn.

With so many wonderful fleeces to feel and learn from I really wish I had better paddocks at our place so I could have more, and varied sheep. All for spinning. I will keep dreaming.

Tullah fiber arts weekend part3

I was lucky enough to win a prize in the lucky door prize. I am not usually a person that wins anything and I cant remember the last time I have won something so I was very excited to get a prize. And to make things even better the prize was a $60 voucher for the Fibres & threads shop. As we were driving home by going north and then on to Hobart we were able to make a little detour through the Hellior Gorge (such a beautiful drive through a lush manfern lined forest) and then on to Henrietta. I found this easy to remember as one of our chooks is called henrietta. This charming farm based shop was a treat to visit. Cheryl matthews has a beautiful farm with alpacas, sheep and a goat and two dogs. She may have more animals that I dont know about. The phot above is what I chose for my prize. Silk to spin(left) dyed indian silk, and Merino wool to spin(right). It was so nice to see the sheep the fibre came from and then Cheryl showed us her processing shed. She demonstrated her picking machine. I had never seen one of these before and really wish I had taken a phot of it. And she also had an industrial carder. Woooowh, it was all very exciting for me. Cheryl and her husdand are such lovely people I can highly recomend you drop in for a visit or look up her new website. Thankyou cheryl for your generosity.

Tullah fiber arts weekend part 2

During the weekend we were luck enough to have wonderful tutors who taught us so many exciting new things. I did some of Sue Evans ( above) workshops on felting. I have talked about her before when she was at bothwell and had her beautiful art vessels and her thylacine jacket. She covered many different types of felting such as knitted felt, resist, nuno, salvy bag, needle felting and a few more I cant remember. Sue is such a great tutor and a fun person. I really look forward to doing some more of her classes some time.

There was a nutural dye workshop simmering away over the weekend. These are only some of the results.

I though I would share some of the show and tell with you. Some of these items are made by Pauline Heather. She is a very talented member of the Hobart guild. This lady has created many items across various and diverse art and craft areas. I am always amazed by her ability to create and design items. She is truely amazing.
Bellow is a photo of the lovely Straddie ( in the orange) who came up with the idea for this weekend and put in many, many hours of work to arrange and create this fantastic oportunity. You can see her husband Rob in the blue shirt and cap who also put in many hours to help Straddie. She did such a great job and there was so much fun had by so many people. A huge thankyou goes out to her and all those who helped.

Tullah fiber arts weekend part 1

These are the views from the Lakeside lodge we stayed at and also had our workshops at. You could not find a better backdrop for such a wonderful weekend. The dog in the top photo was a great crowd pleaser with its quiet nature and each morning it gently rounded up one of the local doves.

Tasmania's west coast is well know for its dams and hydro power schemes, and of course for its mines. Tullah is only a small town , with someone telling me there are only about 190 residents. This was the view I was lucky enough to look at each meal time.

West coast trip

I have just got home from a trip to the west coast. The guild had a west coast fiber arts weekend at Tullah and so Mum, Dad and my friend Glynis and I headed off for the weekend. Since it is about a 5 hour drive from our place we decided to do the round trip. We went via Queenstown. I had not been out there for many years so it interesting to see how the hills are a little greener now than when I was there last. (top photo)

These are a few shots of the mountains around Tullah. Stay tuned for the next instalment about my trip.

summer berries

I love this time of the year . The boys and I went blackberry picking along the local creek and we made this quick crumble ( rolled oats, sugar, flour and butter). We are a family that could eat blackberry pie or crumble for breakfast. lunch and dinner. As you can see all the rain this year has made lovely big berries. YUM.

Ross spinning day part 2

One of the themes for our ross spinning day was mug hugs, or warmer for your coffee cup. The ladies from the guild produced a diverse range of mug hugs, one of my favourites being the penguin by Doris. How lucky we are to have such talented ladies in our group. I always come away feeling inspired and itching to try new things after seeing what they have made.

Ross spinning day part 1

I am a little behind the time but in Jan. the hand weavers, spinners and dyers guild had their annual spinning day at ross. Ross being about the middle of this state. The weather was fantastic and it was a fantastic and relaxing day under the trees. I dont think we really wanted to go home at all.