Basket Making

There were a few of us. More than in the pictures. We gathered at Rocky’s and Margy’s place. A great shared lunch to get the creative juices flowing and then outside to make baskets from various vegetation found there on the farm. And we didn’t let the drizzle hinder our progress. We were lucky to have four very experienced basket makers – Margy, Kaye, Rocky and Jill.

Jill, Georgie, Kaye, Annie and sorry but I forget her name.

And here is Kaye amongst it all – her favourite place.

I was feeling fairly crap by the end of the day because of chemo side effects so didn’t get the images I would normally get – like the finished products!

But I have ended up with a basket that I will treasure. I can still take a photo of that and post it in the future.

Tiny Teddies

A gift from Jill. A tiny teddy each in the colour we use the least of. I received the blue one.

Woven Creations

Finally getting around to posting images of the woven creations of other students. These items were exhibited at the Hamilton Sheepvention Show early this month and will also be shown at The Royal Melbourne Show. The majority of fibre used was alpaca, being part of a deal done with the Alpaca Association and SouthWest TAFE here in Warrnambool.

First off the ranks are three scarves woven by Jeanette Tollerbond.

And two wraps also woven by Jeanette.

The next four items are by Georgie Crow. As a matter of interest the bottom wrap in the second image as well as the wraps in the final two images were all woven on the same warp.

The next four are a variety of knits by Jill Hunter.

And last but definitely not least are items by Rocky Blair. Rocky has used alpaca fibre from her own alpacas and felted it to produce these hats with the final image being a skirt and wrap woven on the same warp.

And to conclude, I must thank our stunning model who suffered all types of indignities without complaint for this photo shoot.

The display at Hamilton.

Alpaca Project

 

 

Remember this. It is now this colour. A blue-purple. Jill wasn’t too thrilled with the results but once it is worn it is quite striking, amazingly so.

Prolific Jill has knitted a scarf using bits of handspun and undyed alpaca fibre. The scarf has been knitted on circular needles horizontally. I can’t remember how many stitches she cast on but it was a shite load.

 

Maybe the Alpaca Project should be called the Jill Project. Here is more of Jill’s knitting. Short length scarves that work really well, like a cravat – knitted from commercially spun alpaca fibre and dyed with Landscape dyes.

Dye colours from left: wheat, kelp, red ochre (removed from dye pot early) and mountain blue.

Lots of yarn

While waiting patiently for our commercially spun alpaca yarn to arrive we have easily kept busy on other projects.

Here is Georgie weaving a beret on cardboard. In the background you can view our revamped room. Much more civilised now. Oh and BTW, Georgie has a sore knee. She isn’t really that lay back.

And Jill and Rocky hand spinning alpaca fibre.

Jill is the most productive, spinning and knitting beautifully. Below is a wee bit of her hand spun alpaca yarn.

And Georgie was unable to wait. She warped up with an unknown from the store room and used hand spun alpaca by Rocky for her weft. Georgie is experimenting with lace weaves for her alpaca project.

And I stole some fibre that had been dyed for another class. I walked past it, saw the colours and couldn’t help but take just a small bit to spin up. I love it. On the bottom left is the single thread and on the right is the plied result. Should have pinched the whole lot.

Jill again. More hand spun alpaca yarn. Beautiful stuff.

And another ebay mistake! I bought quite a large amount of tussah silk from some guy who was destashing his weaving studio. It looked luscious so I bought a kilogram of the stuff. This is the photo supplied on ebay.

Here is what I got. Very beige with no sheen and it sheds. I hate shedding. When will I learn? I’ve washed it and whacked it but it still sheds, otherwise it could still have been used in some project .

Alpaca Project and other stuff

Each Tuesday morning we congregate in the art department at the Sherwood campus of Deakin University at Warrnambool.

Below is an assortment of alpaca fleece spun by Jill.

Jill decided to experiment with the brown and white plied yarn and dye it blue. These are the results. The verdict is still out.

Jill bought in her Majacraft spinning wheel to show me. She loves it and now it is on my wish list.

Here is Georgie warping up for her first alpaca piece. Georgie is concentrating on lace weaves for her theme.

THE OTHER STUFF

The flower ( not sure what it is) was photographed for an assignment on ‘composition’ for the Photoshop course I am doing.

And these birds are corellas. There are lots of them around at the moment, having a distinctive squawking noise. They also seem to be public enemy number one in many parts of Victoria for the damage they do to crops and the environment.

India Flint Workshop

I had a wonderful five days at the workshop organised by SouthWest TAFE and led by India Flint – learning how to colour cloth with ecologically sustainable dyes from plants.

India is a r(eco)fashion designer, writer, feltmaker, cloth colourist & costumiere.

Jill was there.

Rocky and Sue also.

And Judy as well. Judy teaches textile subjects at SouthWest TAFE.

We went in search of plants. We felted. We experimented. We watched pots boil. We got excited about opening bundles of cloth.

India Flint

A small selection of our resulting work.

Admiring a completed “landskin” by India.