tsbtextile in the project space at the Textile Art Community

Oh boy, yes I know it's been awhile....so I'm not going to fill you in! :) I'm going to tell you about what I'm doing in September at the Textile Art Community where I have a studio till the end of October.

My studio, after I moved in...it's still tidy!

The Textile Art Community now has a project space and a workshop space. The project space is where an artist can have the month to work on a project or idea. The first month was August and Karma, Samy and Gail worked on Hessiats.

Ready for the celebration party, hats, scarves and more!

September is me! I'm going to be playing with fabric, making it into yarn and using the resulting yarn in basketweaving. A bit of research into techniques and possibilities. I do have a final project in mind, but more on that another time.

The first week was a bit slow as I went with my dad to the Degas exhibition. A great day on a day I would usually be working. 

Beautiful statues at the Degas Exhibition at the NGV

I have made a start and created some yarn and knit a little dishcloth.

Fabric yarn, cut, spun and plied. The knitting is fun!

As part of the project I have to run some workshops, so on the next two weeks, I'll be holding a make fabric yarn and make it into a dishcloth or coasters, and then I'll follow that up with making little bowls, when there will also be a party. These will be on Saturday the 17th and 24th from 1.30 till 4.30pm. Check my TSBtextile page on facebook for details.

And finally, I'm going to set up my display with fabric plinths. I've started but still have a little way to go.

My first fabric plinth!

Will work hard next week. Come and visit and see how I'm going. I'll be there Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, just give me a call!

Tactile - A community collaboration

As part of having a studio at Waterdale road has been my involvement with the Textile Art Community. For most of this year we've been working to an exhibition which has highlighted the involvement of the wider community and utilised materials that other people think of as rubbish. I've co-ordinated a weaving project and there have been a series of other projects. Our opening was last Thursday and a great success with the resulting works looking great in the gallery space, works from each of the co-ordinating artists and a live dance performance.

Speeches were short and sweet! The wonderful Gail, the inspiration for the project and her community tree.

Our dancers...their feathers are cut up milk bottles, and music composed by another community participant

Lots of lovely weavers worked on my piece, only a little of my weaving.

I learnt lace making! There's one I never thought I'd get to, but thanks to a Saturday workshop, conducted on a Tuesday, I learnt a little bobbin lace.

 

The exhibition continues at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre, and, we're going to be continuing the workshops. So for more information see the Textile Art Community Facebook page.

Sock Madness 10 - waiting for Round 6

Ok, I made it through Round 5 and am waiting for Round 6, ANY MINUTE NOW! This means that I'm in the last 10 for my team and only ONE will go through to Round 7.  There are several fast knitters in my group, should be fun.

Here are my socks up to this point for Sock Madness 10. One theme peeking through is me running out of yarn, for no good reason.....

Not another Mystery KAL!

As I seem to be spending my time today doing anything but important things that do need doing, I might as well add in a blog entry, for good measure.

My wasting time project is the HWSG Mystery Knit A-Long that has been divulged over the last four Treadles newsletters. You can catch up with others that are also participating, at Ravelry on the Guild's Forum.

I'm not usually very good at the KAL's as I either run out of time or enthusiasm, but I've decided to do this one with the dual purpose of supporting this lovely effort and making a blanket for my oldest son.

So far I've completed the first three along with two filler squares. I'm using blue for the pattern squares and brown for the fillers, all from stash. Yet another attempt to stash bust!

So, today I finished the second brown square for last month and have now started this month's square. Called 'Sea of Cables' it gives me a good chance to practice cabling without a cable needle. It is possible. Here's a video to show you how. Isn't it wonderful what you can learn on the net, though I did learn how to the old-fashioned way, in a class. 

Catching a train tomorrow, so more knitting!

Discoveries in books and knitting

I had a week of finding some new books, among them was the following small volume;

It contains lots of patterns with delightfully difficult names like Aggregation, Anfractuous, Phyllotaxy. They all refer to different patterns found in nature.

I've had this idea of using knitting to respond to the world around me and being so taken with this book I've decided to have a go. The first pattern is Agglomeration which refers to two things not totally mixing.

 This is the first pattern I've tried. One of the difficulties is finding the right size of the pattern. It's about 7cm square, which is about enough to do in a day, if required. It might mean that you could knit en plein aire.

More of this to come.

Sock Madness 10 has started!

Yes, it's started again.....Sock Madness, number 10. Last year I actually made it to Round 6. Remember the first five rounds: last blog in May. So far we've had two warm up socks and I've just finished the first round.

The first sock, called SlipStripSpiral, is a mix of two yarns in a simple, but very effective slip stitch pattern, the interesting thing is the jogless change of the stripes. One colour is used for the toe, heel and cuff. So for the second sock I reversed the pattern for these. It makes an interesting fraternal pair of socks.

Last year one of the socks was based upon the Stroopwafel biscuit, apparently a favourite of the Dutch and Sock Madness participants. A friend gave me some last year, and, this year, the lovely Fitzie (on Ravelry) has given me more. I don't know if they do make me knit faster, but who's to argue!

 The first round finishes on the 14th March, so if you're interested go see Sock Madness on Ravelry.
I'm looking forward to being put in a team and seeing how far I get this year.

Meandering Mind

All bloggers seem to have a love/hate relationship with their blogging. I would like to do more, I always thought that being a writer would be nice....even though I can't write well! My initial reason for blogging, that is keeping myself focused on my work isn't really needed anymore, studios, exhibitions have all added to that and I can say that I do work. So why write now? Because I want to. Do I care if nobody reads it? Sort of, not really, maybe??

So, where am I?

With a studio at 601 Waterdale Rd.

 I'm working on my red madness. Three metres of all sorts of yarns with a woven backing. Don't know if it's going to work yet.

Working on using recycled materials found at 601. Look what a bit of old rope can do!

Participating in the projects of the Textile Art Community making community works for an exhibition in June. This is my Daily Weave project and the second length finished by some willing helpers. 

Whilst at home, I'm participating in Sock Madness (on Ravelry). This is the first pair of warm-up socks, before the main game in March.

Finally, trying to finish the now woven Samoyed Blanket. Just working on the edges before washing.