Friday, July 30, 2010

All set for the Hamilton Sheepvention Show

All the designing and making for the Alpaca Association has been completed. It has been packed and shipped off to the Hamilton Sheepvention Show for display. A description of the project can be found here.

Last week was somewhat frantic finalising my required three pieces but I did it!

alpaca shawl

A very soft and thick wrap from 3 ply commercially spun alpaca.

alpaca skirt

I’m really happy with this skirt. I initially got the idea from a picture in an old ‘Handwoven’ magazine. It began as 2 ply white alpaca yarn for the weft and 100% wool for the warp (to add strength to the cloth for wear). I dyed both the warp and weft after lots of experimentation with colours.  I blogged about a bit of the process here. So the yarn was dyed, woven and sewn into this skirt.

alpaca vest

And this vest completed my contribution. The warp is 100% black wool and the weft is handspun alpaca of a natural mahogany colour. And I really like the results with this one too.

Thanks Kirsty for the pin fastener. I love it. It is made from the wood of dead bull oak trees.

In the next post I’ll show images of the work of other students in the class.

1 comment:

t said...

Your weaving is stunning Leslie, makes me want to go and buy a loom. If only I had the patience to weave. And if only my back would let me sit for that long.

Thanks so much for showing us your wears, they are beautiful, particularly the skirt and this bottom picture of the vest.