Getting ready

Today was spent mostly paying bills and writing contributions to the HWSG newsletter, Treadles. Just in time management wins again!


However, I did manage to seal my three small canvases with Gesso, the stuff that painters use for their much larger canvases. I'll paint them black after this is dry. I decided that I'd better dry them properly, after my last effort and hung them outside my workshop door to dry.


I then managed to wind the warp for the next series of Woven Memories. This will be wider and longer and woven on my new loom! All very exciting. I found the nylon wire at a wholesale store that was clearing out all it's leftovers from decades back.

It's lasting forever, but I will be sad when it finally comes to the end, as it must. Fishing wire will

have to fill the gap, but will I be able to find something as fine and so cheap!

An afternoon at Melbourne General Cemetery

Another group that I'm part of is 3D5S, which is an inspiration and discovery group. This month we made a trip to Melbourne General Cemetery. I've been there before to take photos and find it full of texture and shape, but also age and decay. There are lots of stories, much that is sad, especially the plots where there are lists of children lost. I'm always taken by the solemnity and also just how big it is, right in the middle of our city.

We found the Elvis memorial, John King's grave, Walter Lindrums grave and the Bourke and Wills monument. Lots of different nationalities and the most amazing monuments.

I'm hoping that from all the photos will be a collection of shapes and textures that we can translate into knitted samples. This is for the next meeting in October. (3rd Sunday at the guild!)

I've been musing on the process of blogging and I'm finding it quite interesting. It forces me to go to my work every day, to document it and plan for the next day in a way that works very well for me. Working at home, there is always something else to do, this ensures, at least for the moment that I have to do something everyday. It's been fun too. I do however, wonder if there's anyone reading this. However, I'm going to keep going, regardless.

When I knit for me!

Today I went to the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria monthly meeting. I'm a member of the Teaching Committee and we have our meeting as well. Unfortunately, there are a number of issues to be dealt with and the next few meetings might well be a bit traumatic. However, it is generally a good day and I catch up with friends and finish the day with coffee at Filous (French bakery, good coffee, great conversation). I did manage to give my Experimental Spinning group and 3D5S group reports, including a long essay on the Experimental 5th birthday party. I also showed off AB bear modelling the violin scarf sample and the grown-up version. A bit of fun.

I've also decided on concentrating on weaving my 'Hangable Art' and doing slightly larger and perhaps more refined versions. I'll try and wind the warp tomorrow. I'm feeling quite positive about it and hope to get at least a few done for the next market.

I have, however, decided that tonight I'm going to do my own knitting. It's been awhile, but I think it's about time. At Craft Victoria's scarf festival, by a weird turn of events I won the Patons Speed knitter of the year and the prize was $100 worth of yarn. This is a difficult dilemma when you're a spinner and knitter with a stash, and, it was the end of the season when some were no longer available. Very generously it was also at wholesale prices. I ordered just two yarns and got lots!

This is the jumper I'm working on for me in the Cleckheaton Country Silk in the brown colour. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006. When I've knit the cable I'm going to dye it, probably red which should overdye nicely. I will test it first. But I love the pattern and the Country Silk is knitting up very well.

Jewellery on Friday

With my trip to the violin maker post-poned to next week, I was at a loose end this morning. Could have done some cleaning, instead, I decided that setting up my new loom (Varpapuu Finlandia 8-shaft Countermarche floor loom- recently purchased) would be a good idea. It was, however, confirmed that I need to find a home for the Glimakra I've been baby-sitting. At least, I need to take it apart. I can't move in my workshop (read converted garage). But it is great...photos will follow.

Friday afternoon was better, as I spend time with Carol at Shacara Beaded Jeweller (http://www.shacarabeadedjewellery.com.au/) learning new techniques. This is a very adhoc arrangement, which works quite well, as I learn how to work wire whilst making presents for my nieces and young friends. The bracelet created today, is herringbone wrapped and was quite simple.

I'm hoping to apply it to a sculpture I'm going to be working on using yarn and rocks!

Carol has a beautiful shop above my local woolshop: Woolybutt, (http://www.woolybutt.com.au/) where Lorraine and Carol provided a consultation session about my 'Hangable Art', which I had taken along to show Carol. More work to be done creating a wide and new range, I really need to warp up my loom.

It's that sort of day

It's that sort of day. I've just spent an hour looking for my camera, I've booked myself to teach on a day when I won't be in Melbourne, I don't like the work I've been doing and I just want to start again.

I started putting together my 'textile picture' and found that it started to look very amateurish. As today was a meeting of the steering committee for the 9" x 5" market, I thought I'd try it on our esteemed leader. She didn't really like it, but did suggest that perhaps it could be a smaller size to change from a 'picture' to something that might just fill a small space. This isn't a bad suggestion, however, I'm feeling just a little fragile. Hopefully, a trip to the violin maker for a photo session and thankyou....coffee, of course, afterwards.....will cheer me up.

I feel like I should just make scrunchies or maybe handspun, cotton face cloths. These aren't terrible ideas, but are they any better?

Knitting Violin Lace

I've had to blog this morning as darling hubby decided to do some just-in-time management for a workshop he's presenting today, and was up late using our computer. It did allow me time to finish my samples, so I can't really complain. So now the kids are off to school and the washing is on!

What I've done is, I think, knitted lace. I'm really happy with my sampling process. The black is the first sample and it probably was a bit too tall. Any way too much black.

So I thought I'd try with a wool that I'd dyed a reddy brown. It was purposely uneven which also suited this purpose.
It might have turned out a bit wide, and, I'm definitely going to have to block it to look really good.

Figuring out how to keep those loops in the right place was hard as I haven't done a lot of charting. Remembering to keep the loop in the same place means having to knit two together next to it working on two stitches that become a loop and a stitch.

I think that makes sense.

Knitting with Copper wire

I've started my textile picture. I managed to paint the canvas black, though I think that maybe a textile background would be better, a thin layer of felt maybe. I've spent the afternoon producing a strip of knitting on my very old, but faithful Singer knitting machine. I used a combination of copper wire and a rayon yarn I have in my weaving yarn stash.

So far, I am happy with that and have attached it to the canvas with my newly purchased staple gun. I love tools!

My next part to this is to knit a lace with that beautiful curve. It's taken me ages, but I think I've got it about right. I will try and finish that tomorrow.