How lucky can one be?

I have just found out that I have won this book

by leaving a comment on this blog post by Erin – House on Hill Road. I have been a fan of Malka’s work for quite some time.

What’s happening?

What I have made recently…

Lime cordial – a thirst quencher with soda water. Goes well with vodka and gin also. We have a lime tree and every lime produced is appreciated and used in some way.

Spun baby suri alpaca fleece – so very soft. I’m slowly getting better at spinning, not that I am worried about my skill levels as I still think it is gorgeous yarn with all it’s lumps and bumps.

What is happening in the back yard…

Water lilies in the duck pond.

Plentiful supply of yabbies.

Truly amazing…

I went to a clearance sale today – something I’ve never really done before. I certainly haven’t ever bid at an auction before, other than ebay. The sale was at Glenormiston and I went because I knew there were a few looms on offer. I would like an 8 shaft table loom. However, there weren’t any of these on offer.

Glenormiston is primarily an agricultural college managed by South West TAFE.

Anyway, on with the story. Georgie, a student in my weaving class, happened to turn up. We had a quick chat, and soon after the auction began. Things happened very quickly. The weaving equipment was the very first to go under the hammer so to speak. I was hoping to get an old drum carder and a raddle, but wasn’t too worried if I didn’t.

Shock no. 1 – they offered it all as one lot.

Shock no. 2 – Georgie and I had a bid and got the lot for $30. We’re talking about 2 x huge floor looms, 6 x four shaft table looms ( on a recount there are seven of the table looms), and a huge assortment of accessories like raddles, reeds, a warping mill and much more. We literally need a truck to cart it all a way. Luckily, Georgie does have a truck and an unused shearing shed to house it all. We are returning Monday to pick it all up.

I bought one of the smaller looms home and Murray got to work on it. It has cleaned up beautifully.

As I said, truly amazing.

Part 2 of today’s story – Also at the auction was Karen, our weaving teacher, who also happens to do machine embroidery art work. We now have to bow down to her as she recently won the PFAFF International Embroidery as Art Excellence Award for her piece Ruined Forest, which can be viewed at:

http://karenrichards.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=26#

As part of her prize, she got to fly and stay in London to accept her award as well as receiving a whoopee do sewing machine. Truly amazing… More details here .

And so I don’t have a post without an image, here is the feted artist herself.

Amazing colour from beach flotsam

A visit to Crazy Kate’s beach near Peterborough produced this…

 

 

 

Weaving – Interior Project Part 3

Following on with the SEASHELL theme I decided to make use of the 8 shaft loom at TAFE and experiment with HONEYCOMB weave. For the last honeycomb weave I did, I used my 4 shaft loom.

With an 8 shaft loom I had more options. This was the sample piece.

And this is the where I went freeform – varying the size of the honeycomb cells in width and height, and varying the colour.

Now I’d like to start over again and perfect it as this piece has a few imperfections.

To be continued…

Another adventure into Kaye’s bush

And what did we find today?

Not sure. Will have to ask Kaye.

Ditto.

A potato orchid (Gastrodia Sesamoides), sometimes called Cinnamon Bells. More information here.

A spider orchid, and that’s all I know.

But here it is again from a different vantage point.

A Spotted Sun Orchid (Thelymitra Isioides)

And to finish off the walk we spied some koalas taking it very easy in the heat. That’s a cute little baby on mother’s back but it refused to turn around for the camera.

A bit too hot

As the northern hemisphere heads into winter we here in the southern hemisphere begin to heat up.

And I don’t like sweating – very unattractive.

Went for the first swim of the season today with Mitty.

The beach was magnificent. The water looked tropical but was farkin’ freezing. By the time we swam out to the pier and back we had thawed out.

At this time of the year the beach generally belongs to the locals as the summer visitors are yet to arrive.

Hang tags

More time playing around designing – a hang tag this time.

Passing opportunity

Just happened to be going past Mum and Dad’s front yard tonight when I noticed these great shadows.

And of course I had to have a fiddle in Photoshop.

This, to me, is more dynamic with a slightly abstract edge. I like it. I like the hard copy too.

Interior Project part 2

The SEASHELL theme suggests to me lightness, airy, breezy, delicate, fragile…so I’m going with open sett weaves and natural or muted colours.

Winding the warp – I’m getting better at this.

And beaming the warp – this was the first time ever that I didn’t have any dilemmas, which I put down to good quality yarn. It didn’t catch or shred or anything, just did what it was meant to do. Truly amazing.

I began with plain open sett which I am quite partial to.

I noticed as I wound it over the front beam that it has gone out of whack. It’s not a bad look. I will photograph it when it is off the loom.

I experimented with the leno weave structure – reminiscent of seashells. This image is confusing as the woven cloth can also be seen winding on below.

I also tried Brook's Bouquet weave structure.

And the Danish Medallion weave.

Looking forward to seeing what happens with the weaves once off the loom but I still have more experimenting to go.

To be continued…

Interior Project – Weaving

As a part of the WEAVING MINOR unit that I am studying at TAFE  I have to undertake a project that involves producing woven fabrics for interiors.

Firstly, I had to select a theme. I selected SEASHELL after coming across this image.

The muted colours and delicacy of the shells appealed to me.

The aim is to weave a range of six coordinating samples related to the theme, using more than one warp. Following this a final piece has to be woven.

To be continued…

Visit to the Grampians National Park

Had an overnight stay with Mitty at Hall’s Gap last week. We went to check out the spring wildflowers.

The township of Hall’s Gap is situated in the heart of the Grampian’s National Park

This image is three photos stitched together to create a panorama – a typical Grampian’s vista.

Walking at Egan’s Track

Morning phone call from Annie. Do you want to go for a walk? If you say yes, you can generally count on being absent for the rest of the day, and because I was moping around lacking motivation I knew I had to say yes.

We had a chauffer – Isobel Younis, it being her 78th birthday. Issy enjoys revisiting the countryside and while we walked, she enjoyed herself with reading and the odd fag.

It was a perfect day for walking. And why does simple picnic food taste so much better when eaten outdoors?

We walked Egan Track, slightly south of Carlisle River. Driving there takes you past some beautiful land – lush farming land, forests, national parks, heath lands, rivers, creeks, valleys and more.

Our driving route – Rounds Road to Eastern Creek Road to Melrose Road to Princetown Road to Fords Road to Valley View Road to Boulevarde Road to Gellibrand River Road to the turnoff for Egan’s Track. After the walk we drove the short distance to Carlisle River to check it out.

Egan’s Track

Lunch time where the food tasted wonderful.

Coral fern

Coral fern again, mainly dead and dried out.

Only saw this once. Photogenic pods but what are they?

I’m guessing a leafy purple flag.

This plant was beautiful. Most specimens weren’t at the flowering stage until this one at the top of a hill. Will have to find out what it is. Have found out - WOOLLY EVERLASTING.

Rug weaving

I really need to update my computer. I am starting to strum my fingers in between mouse clicks. Oh so frustrating.

This is Georgie busy on the rug loom.

One of the projects we have to complete for our course with TAFE is to weave a rug. Some kind soul donated this loom to the Art Department and Georgie was the first person to tackle it. It has been a challenge but she has managed to tame it and is busy producing a rug from her own design.

Information on the loom - built by Stanley Dann.

Will give it a go…

But if I don’t make it I’m fairly sure no-one will either notice nor care.

Day One – My friends Mitty and Russell travel extensively for a couple of old farts. And one of their many favourite places is Guatemala.

“The Republic of Guatemala is a country in Central America, in the south of the continent of North America, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, Belize to the northeast, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast.”

Before I started weaving I didn’t really take that much notice of the Guatemalan weavings they had brought back from their travels. I appreciated them and liked them but didn’t really study them. But now I have – pretty amazing weaving and gorgeous colours.