Road trip to Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

First stop, Beachport

Pool of Siloam, seven times saltier than the sea, which is reputed to relieve sufferers of arthritis and rheumatism. The high salt concentration in the water makes swimming very easy, as the water is extremely buoyant.

Meningie, located 152 km south-east of Adelaide on the shores of Lake Albert.

T'was the harvesting season.

Spooky. Just had to visit the infamous bank at Snowtown. This is where the bodies of eight murder victims were stored in barrels in this disused bank building. It was the worst serial killing in Australia's history, and it didn't happen that long ago either.

Port Germein boasts the longest wooden jetty in the Southern Hemisphere.

Lots of wheat fields.

Our main destination - Coffin Bay

Coffin Bay National Park

My other half doing what he loves second best.

A visitor to our front yard in Coffin Bay - the Pacific Gull

The front yard at 'our place' - truly amazing. Surrounded by the sea on three sides.

A very common sight in South Australia - the lone church.

And lots of old buildings, either in disrepair or lovingly maintained.

Horrock's Pass - great landscape.

Finished Scarf

I finished this scarf during our road trip holiday. We were at the Coorong in South Australia. Knitting it was an absolute pleasure, using yarns from Lara Downs and a pattern from the Lincraft site.

Here is a closeup of the pattern. Although it may look tricky to some, it was incredibly easy. Three rows out of every four is plain garter stitch.


This image is a scan from my journal showing the details of the yarns used.

The yarn was 1. mulberry silk and 2. cashmere blended with silk. It is so soft to touch, and has a beautiful drape.

Surprise!

Before we left on holidays, this male wood duck was a constant presence on our pond. We thought he was interested in our domestic duck.


But no, he had been keeping sentinel for his missus, which we now realise, was incubating a dozen eggs in the long grasses at the edge of the pond. Imagine our surprise to come home and find these twelve babies (I know, there are only eleven in the photo) grazing on our front lawn and swimming on the pond.

Gum Blossom

Just adding this because I can. I took this photo a few months ago and have just discovered it again. One day I hope to use it as a basis for some type of creative work. Feel free to copy it.

Weaving for TAFE

Having recently returned from a holiday (maybe more on that later) I was able to get into the weaving required for a pass in the weaving component of the TAFE course. Winding the warp was a disaster and very time consuming due to forgetfulness and errors. It took the good part of two days before I finally had success at winding the warp and transferring it to the loom. Hopefully, the experience has taught me a lot that I will actually be able to retain. Maybe...

Here is the weaving in progress. These are samples of traditional patterns.

Here is some plain weave I did just for the experience of whipping the shuttle to and fro, instead of the immense concentration it takes to do a pattern.

These following patterns are from the Johann Schleelein's no. 123 series. Sounds pretty bloody professional, just a pity I really don't know what I'm talking about...yet.

This sample demonstrates atrocious beating.

And this one I'm pleased with. Just as well as I need to use it for a final piece. For the weft I used chunky yarn that was dyed in gradations.

I like this sample also, mainly for the subtlety of the colours used.


And this is what it looked like when taken from the loom. The warping up of the loom took me longer than the weaving!

More felting...

Where on earth do bloggers find the time to create AND blog so frequently. I am completely mystified how some creators make incredible stuff as well as update their blog almost daily. Anyway, today I had close to the perfect day. I felted all afternoon at a relaxed pace. Bliss. And these are the results - done specifically for the Experimental Textile course I am doing at South West TAFE. Felting is just a wee part of the course, but I find all the rolling and bashing very therapeutic.

Beautiful wool tops from Lara Downs - felted unbelievably quickly, even though I am no expert. Few threads and silk fibres for embellishment.
Half way through the process.
And voila! Oh btw, this is not meant to be a hat, well it will go in the grandkids dress up tub in the end, but it has another job first. And that is to be in a student exhibition hanging the other way up from the ceiling with it's two partners...and here they are.
A really good link to felting instructions for beginners can be found here at Fibre Fusion.


Couldn't resist including this photo - granddaughter no. 2, taken today, during a visit to Granny's.

I have so many great photos of my grandchildren but daughter no. 2 gets a tad nervous about having her children on the web. However, this one is unidentifiable and belongs to daughter no. 1.

Purchases from traders at the Geelong Forum

I can't resist this yarn from Lara Downs. When I make a trip to Melbourne, a visit to the Lara Downs shop in Victoria Street, Fitzroy, is something I get very excited about. I'm in the process of knitting an absolutely gorgeous scarf from yarn I purchased previously - nearly finished. Will post a pic of it when I'm done. This yarn is top quality and oh so beautiful to touch - very luscious. And I've just ordered even more via email. The solid colour is a cashmere silk blend of 2 ply and the boucle is from mulberry silk.

Thought this may come in handy adding little curly tufts to felting projects.

Also couldn't resist this purely because of the intensity of the colours. It is for felting highlighters - mulberry silk hankies also from Lara Downs.

Even though I am relatively new to felting, I have now felted with a few different fibres. These merino tops, again from Lara Downs took me by surprise at how quickly they felted. Hope to do some felting on the weekend. Will post pics.

Felting @ Rocky's

Recently spent a day at Rocky's for a day of felting, with Kaye and Jill. We spent before lunch wandering the farm, mainly checking out the alpacas, and then after lunch the felting began.

This poor girl needs a trip to the orthodontist.

Checking out the fleeces, an area of extreme ignorance for me. But not for Kaye or Jill. Kaye earned a living from spinning and Jill was a sheep judge at Shows.

This pile of wool turned into a pair of child's boots. Was quite pleased with the results. Jill made a pair of slippers and Kaye made a hat for her large head. Rocky was too busy directing our efforts to get anything made. Rocky is a felter from way, way back.

Felting @ Rocky's

These two babies are being trained on a lead so they behave properly at shows. Update: Greystoke, the alpaca second from left, came first in his class @ The Royal Melbourne Show.

Just liked this image. Kaye bought wool that she had dyed naturally, from a long time ago. She wasn't sure whether she would need it for felting or not. She didn't.

Got so excited

Wow, I got so excited because I had had 2 visitors leave comments - people that I haven't met, so decided to get serious and do more bloggin'. Alas, not a visitor since...

Felting - 50th birthday present for Annie

For Annie's birthday I wanted to make her a pouch for her very well worn yoga book. It is literally falling apart and held together by a rubber band. Kaye had told me blues and greens were her favourite colours. So I set up on front patio and had a very cathartic experience...


I added some silk fibre of brilliant colour. This was all very experimental as I haven't done much felting - have only just got into it, but I love it.


It was very much working things out as I went. I actually ran out of blues and greens when it came to doing the back of the pouch so I had to add some crimson coloured felt. I haven't got a great variety of felt yet, YET being the operative word.

What are the best places for acquiring felt? When I initially started bloggin' I thought there would be no way I'd get any visitors other than family and friends. Well, I still haven't informed family and friends. However, I have had two people leave comments to my amazement, therefore the question at the start of the paragraph. I have hope that someone may actually answer it.

Had to also work out how to form the shape of a pouch with a flap for closure. Was pleased with the results. The size was a bit hit and miss, with much more shrinkage length wise and not width wise. I figured Annie now has room to spare for her candles and incense.

Two Mile Bay

Early morning phone call. Annie suggesting a walk to Two Mile Bay. Yep, sounds good.

Beautiful weather. We are incredibly lucky to live in this part of the world.

The whole two miles of beach...all to just Annie and moi.

Water is freezing but Annie being Annie, stripped off all clothes and submersed herself.

The view from the hill we climbed. My thigh muscles were VERY stiff for three days!