The Queen of Canine Spinnables!

Sometimes a project comes along that you just have to do. It's a challenge and interesting and, more importantly, it's of special importance to someone. Just such a project has come my way thanks to the meeting place that is my local cafe 'Bien' at the Greville Rd shops.

One of my 'neighbours' has asked me to spin Samoyed hair from her previous dog. She has collected the 'blow' each year from her Samoyed and kept it. She has also lent me the book 'Knitting with dog hair' from which the 'Queen of canine spinnables' come from. This was obviously a special friend and  a labour of love.

Some has already been some spun in Tasmania and a lovely job. She has a little knitted sample and the halo is just amazing. It's like Angora rabbit and you could argue just as soft.

So, with all this in mind, I need to spin to match the current sample, but I want to create something that will reflect my own interests and fulfil the need to have something that reflects the relationship. At the moment we're contemplating a woven rug and I want to keep it as simple as possible and add interest by spinning two different yarns: a plyed yarn to match the sample and a single to add contrast.

These are my first samples and I'm very happy with them.

Now I have to spin bigger samples, 10g plied and 10g single. This will give me an idea of how long it will take and, more importantly, how much length I'll have to play with!

Home is where the heart is!

The City of Banyule has just opened its first dedicated gallery: Hatch Contemporary Arts Space....Hooray! What was the Banyule Arts Space (no it really wasn't a gallery), has been renovated inside and beautifully done, and looks like a proper gallery, though they're apparently still working on the lighting. It's also been given a facelift on the outside.

It's now very bright. If you want to visit it's at 14 Ivanhoe Parade, Ivanhoe and is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm. The exhibition runs from the 4th April till the 11th May, 2013.

The very first exhibition in this new space is Home: Reframing Craft and Domesticity, curated by Claire Watson. The exhibition is divided into 'rooms' where the works, both from the Banyule Art Collection and  from a variety of artists have been selected. It includes work  from woodworkers, ceramicists, embroiderers, jewellers and all sorts of contemporary art relating to the theme of Craft and Domesticity.

There is a program surrounding the exhibition with workshops, talks, to try and involve the whole community in the opening of the new space. For more information you can visit www.banyule.vic.gov.au/arts

I have been lucky enough to have some of my work selected for the exhibition, three of my little empty nests sit in the 'lounge room'.

It's a jam packed exhibition and well worth visiting. Hope to see you there!

Yes, I do have a new wheel

I'm not really sure why, but when you have one spinning wheel, after a while, it seems to need company and eventually you have more! I have four. Now to justify the first three is sort of easy: one is my first wheel, an Ashford traveller, which lives at the beach; the second is a traditional Ashford, which I keep for my general, everyday spinning; the third is a Poly wheel, which is for all my big chunky spinning.

Surprisingly, I have been on the lookout for another wheel, but it was supposed to be for fine spinning and portable. Unfortunately, my friend Marion from Fancy Spinning a Yarn had a lovely wind wheel for sale. I resisted for quite a time, but finally succumbed.

Here it is:

 It's a wonderful quirky wheel that I've seen over the years. Everyone who has one loves them and I've had a spin on them and they're a very gentle wheel. Needless to say, I've always wanted one. It does fulfil one of my needs it does fold like this:

It's an Ettrick wind wheel and there's a history I don't quite know, but they weren't the original designer of the wheel. It has changed over time and they're still currently being made. Check out Ettrick. There's an interesting website, Australian Spinning Wheels, that has a brief description of various Australian wheels, including the wind wheel.

After my spilling of oil on the drive band, the wheel is slowly returning to normal...note to self...be careful with oil!

Back from Harrietville

The annual Handweavers and Spinners Guild weekend at Harrietville at the Mountain View Retreat, proved to be slightly different from the past few years. This year, my photographer friend, Leanne, was asked to take a class teaching us how to take photos of our work. This encouraged me to take my photography a little more seriously, so each morning I took a quick walk to get some exercise and take in the surrounds.

We also stayed on an extra night and went off to Lady Bath falls in the Mount Buffalo National Park, Leanne, to take photographs, me to sketch and Rhonda wandered further on. A lovely afternoon, that was terminated by the impending storm. Funny sitting in sunshine, listening to thunder!

I liked my photographs, you should see Leanne's, but had a frustrating weekend with my spinning. Note: DON'T drop oil on your drive band, it will slip for the rest of the weekend! It's my new wind wheel and it's still not quite right, nearly.

We drove back through Milawa where we stopped at Brown Brothers and I tasted and bought some wine for my husband. Oh, and I managed to stop at First Editions going up, to buy, and going down, to introduce my friend Rhonda to their wares!

My new image

There's so much to blog about: Harrietville, spinning Samoyed, the guild group exhibition, 'Home' exhibition, Herring island and so much more. There needs to be a lot of catching up.....

But I'm ignoring all that, I'm so excited, I've just picked up my new business card:

and my new swing tag:

They were done by a local printer: Copies R Us and the lovely graphic designer, Michelle. 

I can still write on the inside of the tags, as I have done. I like to give each article I make a history and a personal touch, so that the recipient knows exactly what has gone in to producing the item. But I have thought I needed to update the image to something more professional.

It was a difficult decision as the picture is of my 'Empty Nests' sculpture, which is artwork, but the tags will be attached to more practical items. It is also now the image on my Etsy shop. It shows handspun paper, woven into nests with copper wire.....it's me!

 

Driving to Warrandyte

I'm currently in the unenviable position of having two boys learning to drive....The youngest has been keen since before Christmas and as he's about to turn 18, this is a good time. The oldest (21!) hasn't been that keen, but I think I've just got him in the right mood. Don't get me wrong, I'm not forcing him to learn to drive, he tells me he wants to learn, I just had to get him motivated.

Anyway, I decided that a lovely drive to Warrandyte would do the trick. It's half an hour from here each way, with lots of interesting traffic to negotiate, lovely scenery and a gorgeous town centre on the River Yarra, with coffee shops galore. Just right for a Saturday afternoon.

It was, but imagine my delight, when it seems I've managed to pick the weekend when the pottery expo is on! Yeah!

I have been meaning to go for years, I love pottery and have a pretty good collection of handmade teapots. But I bought this!

It's on again tomorrow, and it's well worth the trip!

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