Historical dyeing at Harrietville

Always excited to do some dyeing as it's the one area I'm not really set up to do, seriously, at home. In particular, an indigo dyebath is a must. It's a magic process, as the yarn comes out green and as it oxidizes, it turns blue. And every shade of blue. If you ever get a chance have a look at one and always take at least one skein, as there is often enough to have extras. (Just remember to ask and don't just plonk in your skein as this can upset the dyebath, or more particular, the creator of the dyebath.....the dyebath does not like air!)

At Harrietville, for each of the three sessions that you can participate in there was a different dyebath. The first was Osage Orange, the second Aliziran which is a substitute for Madder and lastly the Indigo dyebath.

I dyed a skein of each of the colours.

I also dip dyed a third. This was some wool boucle from Glenora that I found in my stash. So about half was dyed Osage Orange, the other Aliziran and then we just dipped in the middle and you can just see the blue, but also the touch of green and purple as the colours mixed.  Love it. Thanks to Jan and Carmel for their work and patience.

The 50gm balls will make fingerless mittens and the boucle will make a scarf, if I find the right pattern.

And just to prove it's not just textiley things, here's the beautiful, just picked corn from a roadside trader we had last night. Beautiful!

All sorts of things happen at Harrietville!

On Friday night, after travelling to Harrietville, eating a meal at either the pub or motel, we meet in the dining room for an information session. Of course, there have been diversions to Euroa for breakfast and obtaining supplies from First Editions, lunch in Benalla, stop in Myrtleford and other pleasantries, but this marks the beginning of the official 'Harrietville weekend'.

There are sometimes surprises. A wonderful spinning machine, in the process of being built by the very capable Graham. It's based on machinery that he saw on his trip to England which uses rings to control the spinning, and, as you do, he decided to try and build one. It's not quite right yet, as it overspins and Graham says that his machine in not 'beautiful', but I would argue with that!

After all the information, we retire to do some spinning, knitting, then off to bed trying to decide what to do first!

Some of us have other plans, and, as we have done for a couple of years, we had a surprise planned for the morning. This time it was in the dining room.

They're teeny tiny hearts from the lovely Lucy in the Attic and we did lots!

There were some extra outside.

What was really nice was that there were very few left at the end of the weekend. People wore them as earings, hung them off buttonholes and took them for friends and more! We left the last with the cafe over the road, and managed to grab a souvenir for ourselves. Success! Thanks Catherine and Anne.

Off to Harrietville

If you haven't been away on a weekend with people who share your passion then I highly recommend it. Harrietville is just such a weekend with friends, old and new, organised by the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. From Friday night to Sunday lunch, it's wall to wall spinners, weavers, knitters and interested friends.

The weekend goes so quickly, so being prepared is a must! There are a number of workshops, all of the, 'drop in and out when you feel like it' type over the whole weekend. Last year I didn't do anything but sit, knit, spin and drink coffee! This year there are two workshops that are of interest: Historical dyeing and a Blending workshop using wool combs. I think I am prepared....

I have alum mordanted skeins for the historical dyeing. We're going to be doing indigo, madder and osage orange. I never miss an indigo dyebath if I can help it and I've never dyed with either Aliziran for the madder or osage orange. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to overdye some as the different dyes will be spread over three sessions.

The blending using wool combs will help me get better use out of my small combs and maybe I'll be tempted into some larger ones. I've decided to take away a bag of red and see what happens.

And finally, I have to try and finish the spinning on the wheel, so I have a bobbin ready for the colour blending.

Oh, and, of course, I have to pack clothes, camera, the rest of my spinning gear and try not to forget the toilet bag! As I'm being picked up very early in the morning, it will all be done before I go to bed......I just don't know when I'm going to bed!

End of term 1

It's been a very short term one, with term 2 looming as a long 11 weeks. What have I been doing? My sculpture major is being worked on partly with intent, I know the first thing I want to do, but there's a certain black hole for the next piece. I want three works for the end of year. This is not set in concrete, just an aim.

What have I been doing....crocheting video tape!

Here is the initial inspiration, based on the wonderful nests of the very appropriate weaver birds.

They've become more organically shaped, with me working to see what would happen. There wasn't much of a plan, just an overall shape. This is what happened:

Certainly looks weird in the photo! I'm intending a number of large and small ones, some with different materials included. Right now I'm just hoping it works!

When you get better, you frog!

I always say that the measure of whether you do something well is how well you handle mistakes and how willing you are to deal with the bad stuff. From management to knitting, it's all the same. I must be going really well with my knitting as the two personal projects I've had on the go have both been frogged....back to the start!

The first is 'Leaving' from the Twist Collective. I highly recommend this online magazine. The designs are really interesting and there are things to read. They support themselves by the advertising, but also by selling the patterns.

I wanted to support them by buying a pattern and when I saw this pattern, I decided that it was the one! However, choosing a slightly different yarn meant that even though I swatched, it did seem to be coming out a bit small, so I started again. I kept trying to convince myself that it was fine, but you have to be honest with yourself......so I frogged and started again, AND, am much happier.

From the beautiful to the simple, well that was the second journey. I won't go looking, but I did start another cardigan. There wasn't enough yarn, my compromise sleeves were too much of a compromise and it just sat there, so:

Then, I started:

Which is from the latest Vogue Knitting (or Designer Knitting as it comes to us, via England!) I love the simplicity and if I don't have enough yarn I have a stylish and happy finish, which will involve another colour and an odd sleeve. I love that, so here it is, so far:

Now I'm a happy knitter!

Haircuts and birthdays at Rose St. Artists' Market

I spent Sunday at the Rose St. Artists' Market. March is my 'announcing the start of the Winter season' market. Not many sales, but lots of interest as, hopefully, people get a look at what I have to offer, some new things, some not so new and remember me later when they're cold and need some handmade cheering up.

Even though I didn't manage to make many sales, (the fingerless mittens with buttons, still seem to be a winner!) it was a lovely day. I got my haircut by the very interesting artist, Aero. (Sorry, no photos, you just have to ask me to coffee!) One of the stallholders had her birthday and there was much merriment and good spirits as she is a permanent stallholder there. Esther sells the most wonderful photographs.

I also had a lovely space where I could hang my wall hangings and spread out.

The main thing that I took away from the market is the usual, I need more signage and a little updating of my display. Maybe I'll get a chance this week.

Field photography in the city

Today was a wonderful day spent in the city on one of my friend Leanne's photography field trips. This was a chance to get better acquainted with my new camera, enjoy a day with a friend and hopefully get some worthwhile photographs.

If 236 photos, sore feet and this blog entry is anything to go by, it was indeed a success!

We started with a quick look down a lane and lots of stairs, before a coffee, a read of my manual and some further familiarisation with my camera and we were on our way!

Hosier Lane is renowned for it's amazing display of the work of graffitti artists. The energy, the cleverness and downright naughtiness made for some fabulous photos.

There was St. Pauls'

Lots of laneways and arcades, Myers, the Post Office and Melbourne Central.

We finished the day with another icon:

I've just picked out a random collection of photos, not necessarily the best. Please forgive me, it takes awhile to process 236 photos!

A testement to the day is that it's prompted a redesign of the blog and this entry. I feel alot happier with my new camera. There's alot more to learn.......but there are more field trips!