sampling

Happy New Year

2012-01-24T11:45:00.000+11:00

Happy new year!

This is detail from an embroidered mandarin square, 15-16th century, China,

taken from a very old Unicef greeting card that I have found in my collection.

Slow

2012-01-16T08:00:00.014+11:00

One of the pre-conference talks was on the Slow Fiber studio, by Yoshiko Wada, and this was on the road when I came out of that talk.
Slow does not just mean slow in time, but a considered and 'thoughtful approach to the making of things'.
Some of the examples she gave were:
Jurgen Lehl and Babaghuri, Sou Sou, Issey Miyake, and Christina Kim, etc.
I am going to be 'slow' this year, not only with making but with other aspects of life. I have not quite figured out how to verbalise this but I think I know what to do...........
For me, the time between the 1st January new year and Chinese new year is often a time for reflection. It feels like time in suspension. It is new and old year co-existing. It gives me more time to catch up, more time to get my thoughts together about the year ahead.........
Happy new year to you!

8ISS: Yoshiko Jinzenji

2012-01-15T19:25:00.000+11:00

I thoroughly enjoyed my first time at this event. The program was full of variety: contemporary, tradition, technology, processes, sustainability, and so much more. It was inspiring, intense and exhausting - both physically and mentally. I wanted to attend ALL the talks and demonstrations, but that was not possible.
Needless to say there will be a slow drip feed of information as I process things in my brain and gradually sort out my photos and papers.......
One of the speakers was Yoshiko Jinzenji.
I am not a quilter but had fallen in love with her book published by Interweave.

I did not know much of her other work outside of this book. When she gave her talk, I thought that there was a sense of deja vu and quickly realised who she was. What a revelation! As I had also bought some fabric designed by her just before I left for Hong Kong. (from Patchwork on Central Park, her designs do not show up in the online store but is available in store)

One of her pieces at the exhibition was shibori dyed with bamboo! It gave this very subtle white on white pattern.

Who knows, quilting may be soon be on my list of things to do........

Invisible

2012-01-15T18:46:00.002+11:00

This is the last of the warp has been on the loom since 31 Dec 2010.
It is a scarf length based on the samples that I have dyed.

There is still about half a meter of warp left and will weave them up as test pieces for different dyes.

It is strange to be weaving white on white and I won't really know the final outcome until the piece has been dyed, and untied to reveal the patterning. It is a bit like writing with invisible ink....

PS These images are taken with small file sizes directly from my camera, I have not figured out how to reduce file size on iphoto yet.....so apologies if they are crappy.

Wishing.....

2011-12-24T01:00:00.001+11:00

.......you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

and may all your dreams come true!

Hong Kong_8th International Shibori Symposium

2011-12-23T13:29:00.000+11:00

I am so lucky to be able to attend this event in Hong Kong. Some pre-conference talks and exhibitions have already started.

In the last couple of weeks, Edith Cheung from Cloth Haven gave a talk on the use of wool in Traditional clothing, and Yoshiko Wada gave one on 'Slow Fibres'.

Below are some of the images from the exhibition:

Animal Fibres: Art Informs Shibori.

All the images are taken by me and if you use any text or images, please link back to here. Thank you.

Amanda Ross: Rise Up (Handwoven, Hand-dyed, Felted Shibori)

Hiroshi Murase: The Large Surcle Shibori (Yataramiura Shibori, Somewake Boushi shibori, Fulling)

Charlotte Buch: Untitled 1 (Feltmaking)

Jeung-Hwa Park: Panel 2 (Machine Knit, Tie, Felt, dye)

Jeung-Hwa Park: Panel 1 (Machine Knit, Tie, Felt, Dye)

Mie Iwatsubo: the Wave (Knitting, Shibori Stitching, Felting)

As above

Tomoko Iwaizumi: Fire of Passion (Felting, Shibori)

Jorie Johnson: Zebra Crossings (Hand feltmaking, Itajime clamp resist acid-dyed, Japanese lacquer application)

Sarah Martin: Mound #1 (Felting, Tegumo Shibori, Dyeing, Discharge)

As above

Takumi Ushio: Shelter (Felt)

This is only a small selection of work on show and all of them are breath-takingly beautiful. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

Knitting like a maniac

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001+11:00

I got into a panic about Christmas presents and the thought of fighting with the crowd and spend my money on something worthwhile was wrecking my brain. Then I saw Neki's post on 'lovely things'.

I got into this tunnel vision state, attacked my stash and (machine) knitted like a maniac. I managed to use all stash yarns for the following handmade items so I feel very virtuous indeed.

Knit Felt shawl: Avril Silk stainless and Colourmart cashmere

Kusha Kusha scarf: Avril Silk stainless and Colourmart cashmere

Scarf with random colour blocks and eyelet details: Colourmart cashmere

Scarf with eyelet details: DEA yarns cashmere

Not quite circular shawl with eyelet details: DEA yarns cashmere

All in all, I am very happy with the results and I hope that the recipients will be too. Fortunately, I don't think that they read my blog so it will stay a surprise!

Natural dyes......

2011-11-28T11:00:00.010+11:00

A couple of weeks ago, Woollenflower organised a get together to try out some natural dyeing with eucalyptus leaves.
It was a fun day and we had some good results. The smell of the dye pots were amazing with the eucalyptus fragrance. Very different with using synthetic dyes!
One thing that is even more exciting is that I will have to opportunity to learn more, much more about natural dyeing before the end of the year.
I have registered to attend the 8th International Shibori Symposium 2011 in Hong Kong at the end of December and have also signed up for a couple of workshops. One of the workshops is on natural dyeing by Michel Garcia. The other one is on Shibori by Suzusan. I am really excited with the opportunity to participate in something that looks to be amazing!
I am really keen to keep experimenting with more woven shibori in January, and finish off the warp that had been sitting on KaTe for the whole 12 months.
Another friend has mentioned that he has a persimmon tree and that I am welcome to harvest any quantity so hopefully, there will be some experimenting with that as well.
Note: usually I love having lots of images in my post. However, this time please click on the links and there will be lots of lovely surprises!

End of an Era

2011-11-24T16:36:00.007+11:00

After 55 years and 2 generations, they will be closing at the end of January 2012.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

This is 'the Shop' that had been there ever since I can remember and I think that part of my love of textile comes from looking at all these different items: handkerchiefs, tablecloths, tea towels, dressing table sets, napkins, embroideries, crochets, venetian lace.......... and the opportunity to feel and touch all these textures.

vintage pure Irish linen tea towels

Fine linen napkins with organdy inserts and embroidery

"The building will be auctioned on 8th December and the shop, which was started by Raymond and Lucie Ling in 1956 and is currently operated by their son Geoff and his wife Amy, will close at the beginning of next year.

In its heyday, the Fine Art Linen Company was a mecca for young women, who would travel from all parts of Melbourne to stock up their glory boxes with the finest, hand-embroidered linen and napery from China, and stunning silk lingerie reminiscent of 1930s Hollywood.

Most people now know it as the tea-towel shop, but some of the stock that will be coming out of the back room goes back a long way and hence the quality and workmanship is far superior to modern equivalents; there are even some vintage 1960s teatowels!"

written by Helena Ling

These things may not be everyone's cup of tea anymore but if you are nearby, pop in and have a look. If you mention you have seen this blog post, there may be an extra discount for you!

By the way, Raymond who founded the shop was my grandfather! He started exporting wool to China and imported napery/linen to Australia.

Inspired by Kiyomizu Dera

2011-11-22T20:00:00.003+11:00

When Meg organised the last Pics to Picks, these are a couple of the photos I had sent to Alienore.

I had mentioned that I have also used them as inspirations for previous projects. I was hoping that she would pick one of these as I am interested to see what other people would design with the same images.

I am always amazed, that at school when a group of us is given the same brief, how different approaches are taken and the variety of outcome.......

It is interesting to look back at the photos and still feel happy with the results. These pieces were woven in 2007 on my Ashford 8-shaft table loom - my very first loom!

As I no longer have the scarves, it is nice to have the images and the notes on them.

These are photos taken at Kiyomizu Dera (清水寺) in Kyoto:

Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have wish-granting powers.

Results: 8-shaft honey comb with wool and soy silk tape.

The tall pillars supporting the large veranda of the main hall.

I manipulated the image in photoshop with the various filters:

Results: 8-shaft twill with wool.

Both drafts are from 'a weaver's book of 8-shaft patterns' edited by Carol Strickler.

3 is the magic number!?

2011-11-21T19:00:00.012+11:00

I have learnt to do a lot of things through books, from friends and also by taking classes/workshops. This includes my textile pursuits as well as in cooking.
Usually for the first attempt, I would follow the instructions quite closely and it sort of acts as a 'control' sample. For the second time, I start make changes because I may have discovered a better/easier way; I want to adjust the design from the original, some fine tuning; or I want to try different fibres/ingredients combinations.
Lately it has come to my realisation that it often takes 3 trials to achieve the satisfying/ideal outcome.
I did a workshop last month on machine knitting and made 'Bri's cardi in wool. Somehow, I miscounted in the decrease in the second panel. I was not happy to just finish it so I re-knitted that panel.

This month I decided to knit the same garment in a linen/silk yarn from Avril. There was a yarn break in the first panel. Just before linking the panels together, I decided that I may give the garment as a gift and will not be able to mend the yarn break well enough so that it is not noticeable. I re-knitted the panel. So far, 3 panels per garment.
Now when the garment is all finished, even the unravelled yarn looks beautiful!

I also wanted to start my next hand knit project. I wanted to take it with me on the next trip and wanted to make sure that I know what to do. I have not knitted many 'lace' pattern before. I cast on and started knitting. Somehow, when I get to the 4th row of pattern, I had miscounted the total number of stitches. I unravelled. This happened twice! I cast on again. I will get some markers before I start the pattern repeats again.........
Is this why people say 'third time lucky?'

A flying visit: Praha

2011-11-18T00:15:00.000+11:00

The three days that I spent in Praha (Prague) was totally inspiring. I can not really describe the energy that I felt in that city. It was not only the activity with lots of people around you but the visual feast of textures, colours and creativity that was scattered around the city.

I apologise in advance if I missed out on credits to works of art and not being able to tell you more as I could not really read any of the signs - they were in Czech.....

Located in the foyer of the public library:

The column of books

On the river bank, it was the Prague Contemporary Art Festival:

nuclear cocoon by Carol Hummel

shendra stucki
(i don't know if this is the name of the artist or the artwork)

In front of the town hall:

Snowflakes by Cestmir Suska

Outside the Museum Kampa:

There was also an artist book and paper exhibition at the library, but they had run out of catalogues and no photographs were allowed. We were lucky to have caught it on the last day!
I hope that you have enjoyed a glimpse of this amazing city as much as I did.

Wovember: wool + wove

2011-11-06T23:46:00.000+11:00

When I first read the word 'wovember' I immediately thought it was 'Woven in November', not surprising when weaving has been on my mind. Upon reading the contents, I realised that it was about wool.

Beautiful, soft, warm, comforting, are some of the words that came into my mind. So here is some wool content from my world:

When I arrived in Vienna, the weather had just turned cold that weekend, I wasn't quite expecting the chill. Winter had (supposedly) just finished in Australia and mentally I wasn't quite prepared for it.

We found this beautiful shop ( GEA shoe shop) that sold felted slippers, woven scarves, blankets, hoods, hats, socks, and fingerless mitts/gloves. All made of wool, 100% wool. It was a very good idea that we bought some. If we are not heading into Summer, I would have bought a pair of those felted slippers...........

I have been searching for some 'loom' socks all winter. I don't wear shoes when I weave on 'KaTe' (big loom) or 'Chibi' (Saori loom) and I have been searching for what one of my friends calls 'Yeti' socks. They need to be warm and thick enough. I looked at possum/merino ones but they were beyond my price range. I even thought of taking sock knitting classes and some friends had said that they would show me how but I did not want another 'hobby' to distract me from the already many things that I do.........

These organic wool socks are beautifully made, minimal seams, beautiful pattern and colour combinations and just the right thickness and fit.

Kaz also came down for a 'flying visit' this weekend (yes, there are a lot of short visits at present) and brought along the pre-wound wool warp from Saori that I have been drooling over, ever since I saw it on her blog. The warp is 12m long and 225 ends (approx 50-60cm wide depending on the sett). It is predominantly brown but when you look at it closely, there are reds, greens, yellows, greys and pale blues. It is absolutely stunning! And the variety of textures.......

As usual it was a 'want vs need' purchase. I have no idea what I want to weave with a 12m warp. The thought of the yarn selections and the warping already done for me though is temptation indeed!

We went to the Ian Potter Centre, NGV Australia and saw the Tjukurrtjanu, and living water exhibitions. I could see weave designs everywhere, inspired by the patterns and the colours of the paintings and discussions with Kaz ( and Dave) as we wondered around. Some of the work in the Tjukurrtjanu exhibitions had very similar colours to the warp.

I was totally inspired and have some thoughts about what weft colours I can try out: black, whites, reds, pale greys, etc.

I am so pleased to see that she is renovating her studio in preparation for Saori workshops! hopefully, ready for next year......... can't wait!

A flying visit: Wien

2011-11-04T20:11:00.000+11:00

Literally, to the other side of the world,
24 hours away,
to visit my best friend,
for 7 days ( 3 in Wien and 3 in Praha with a train trip in between),
bone tired and did not do my share of reading up on the guide books..........
I think that in the end, all is forgiven as she actually likes being in charge of the map and had booked a hotel that is just round the corner from one of the top yarn shops in Vienna!
Zwei Glatt Zwei Verkhert (Knit 2 Purl 2), Josefstaedterstrasse 14, 8th district

It had a wonderful display in the shop windows, and yes, I bought yarn. Some beautiful Danish linen/cotton and silk/cotton yarns by Karen Noe.

We walked and walked. It turned out to be a bit of a tour of the work of Vienna Secession architects: Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffman, Josef Maria Olbrich.

I went to the 'Vienna: art and design' exhibition at the NGVI, in Melbourne. So to see all these buildings, decorative arts and fabrics in real life was amazing.

The post office by Hoffman is totally a double weave inspiration waiting to happen. I can visualise it in linen and even see the folds and block pattern emerging on my loom. Well, maybe next year the rate I seem to produce anything..... I think that my imagination runs far, far ahead of reality.
With our good fortune, we found a brochure in the hotel lobby of the 'Wiener Werkstätte' museum. It is in the basement of the Backhausen fabric company showroom.

There are displays of fabric samples, original design work, and in the showroom upstairs, you can buy fabric that are still in production. Of course, I bought fabric....... This, I think if you are interested in textile, is well worth a visit.

Slow.....but getting there

2011-10-03T22:55:00.000+11:00

This warp was put on the loom (KaTe) for last new year's eve. It has taken me that long to get to this point. Four dyed samples:

Sample 1 to 4 (from right to left)

Sample 1 - cotton warp & weft

Sample 2 on loom - straight pleating with twill base weave

Sample 2 - cotton warp & weft

Sample 3 on loom - patterned pleats, twill base weave

Sample 3 - cotton warp, silk/linen weft

Sample 4 - cotton warp, linen weft

I used Procion dye in Black MX2R but had forgotten that I would not get a true black. It came out more like a dull indigo on the cotton. However, on the tie weft, which was pale yellow in colour, it has dyed as a deep ink black. I managed to untie the pieces without breaking the yarn. I am saving them to use as weft on another piece of weave as it has quite a nice space dyed effect.
All the different fibres absorbed the dye well and had good coverage.
I spoke to a friend of mine and she mentioned that I may have to add yellow and blue to the black to make it more black, but if I wanted a grey, then I should get the grey dye!

Weft yarn - mercerised cotton

I think this calls for more sampling and dye tests to find the 'right' colour. This has so far been a good exercise to decide on what combination of patterning/pleating I would like for the next lot of samples. There is at least 5 more meters of warp on the loom so I don't have to worry about running out of warp!

The honour and the glory

2011-10-02T23:05:00.000+11:00

The Royal Melbourne Show is on. It is where the country comes to town and we all get to understand it a bit more. It means more than rides and show bags. It is a demonstration of living crafts, the skills of the working dog rounding up sheep, the assessment of the quality of fleece, the breeding of animals, and cooking/baking skills.

There are also cabinets of lace work, spinning, knits, decorated cakes that are truly labour of love and obsessions. I have read about how the strict the rules are for the baking entries, the consistency of how even the fruit is spread out in the fruit cakes, the swirl of the colours in the marble cakes, and perfection of the shapes, etc.

I have noticed that the categories for weave have been slowly decreasing and the number of entries fluctuates. The amount of display space gets smaller. As a result, I try to put in at lease one entry each year, to demonstrate that there are still weavers out there, that weaving can be done with fibres other than wool. This year there is one cabinet. It is a terrible photo, the lighting is bad and it is in a dark corner.

However, luck is on my side, and I am proud to say that this year both of the Pic to Picks pieces were awarded prizes. The other entries are beautiful too and I would hate to be the judge.

The P2P piece was awarded first prize and best exhibit in its category. It was displayed in a separate cabinet that was brightly lit. I wish the other pieces could have had the same treatment! The P2P2 piece was awarded 'high commendation'.

PS: I did visit the cat pavilion and there is a 'pat a cat' stand. I could not resist! I do miss my sweetie so much........

Ginkgo O Ginkgo

2011-09-18T14:19:00.000+10:00

The Ginkgo (銀杏) is one of my favourite trees and I wish that I could have one in my garden. However, I am a brown thumb and the only things that tend to grow in my garden are the undesirables termed as 'weeds'.
It is close to a year since I was last in Japan, there the Ginkgo trees are found in lots of places, as street trees where they are young, contained, pruned and grow quite straight.

In temple grounds where they are ancient specimens, propped up, fenced off and protected.

I love the fan shaped leaves and the colours as they turn in Autumn.

I love how easy it is to use it as a motif in design.

There is this talented textile print studio, Ink and Spindle in Melbourne that has translated this motif so well......

I have been making cushions out of their 'ginkgo' range, some for presents for friends living overseas and one for myself to keep! I have inserted invisible zips in the seam and sewed up the corners to create the box shape. Easy!

It was time...........

2011-09-10T21:50:00.000+10:00

My pushy cat, my Queen of Sheba.
Earlier this week she went to sleep forever, finally free of pain and diseases,
and hopefully, dreaming of chasing rabbits, catching mice and gawking at birds.
I miss the the greetings, the chattering and even the stubbornness.

But this is not all I have left of her. I have happy memories and friends made because of her,
and I will treasure them forever.....

P2P2: the big reveal

2011-09-01T19:47:00.000+10:00

Finally, the piece is completed, washed and photographed.
The image:

The yarn:

wool, cashmere, silk stainless steel

Before wet finished:

After wet finished (in the washing machine):

The finished item:

I am really pleased with the finished piece and I only wish that you can feel it through the screen as the slightly felted cashmere and wool are gorgeously soft.......
Thank you Meg for all your work in organizing this and to everyone else for participating.
It is really interesting to different design process and results!

Apologies for the really dark/shadowy photo of the piece but it was already dark by the time I got home from work and can only use the flash!

Finally, 3 colours

2011-08-13T00:05:00.003+10:00

There had been a few distractions since the last post.
I seem to knit or weave but had not seem to be able to do a bit of both at the same time. I wonder why? I got some Avril lamb linen left over from a friend's project and tried this pattern:

It was fun and quick! and made me feel like I achieved a lot while figuring out the next step with the P2P2 weave.

It had also been a while since I tried this technique, and I had to refer to the book to figure out how to do the 3-colour clasp weft properly. The knitting may just have been an excuse.......

I am happy with this, much more so than just weaving the green as per the last post. This green yarn is also a better colour and is not a super-wash yarn. It will be interesting to see how it behaves with the wet finish.
In using the green against the white, it also reminds me of this! the junction between the carefully raked sand and the velvety moss that grows adjacent to it.

Further development.....

2011-07-20T22:31:00.000+10:00

After the success of last sample, I am trying out a different colour combination. It is the same black cotton warp, black cashmere weft, and a white silk SS weft. The white will crinkle up and look more like snow.

I am also introducing the highlight colours of the tree and bird but I have to test out what is the most effective way of doing that.

This first attempt is just adding a new colour on top of the 2 base weft threads.

First idea........

2011-07-17T15:30:00.004+10:00

I am back to weaving and I am not really missing the knitting at all!?

Funny how I seem to be in phases with these things.

I finished the sample, if we can call it that. It measured off loom, 190cm long by 27cm wide and turned out to be a full size scarf.

The piece off the loom looks interesting enough with the gauze-like texture where the silk SS yarn is used. I wet finished it and the texture changes:

The silk SS yarn crinkles up and the cashmere fulls up nicely. The cotton warp remained quite stable and forms a good base for the wefts. I think it has only reduced in width as the overall piece. I will have to measure it properly when it is dry.
I am trying to figure out how it relates to the picture. (See previous post.) The bumps and lumps resemble the snow on the branches, I think it is a textural thing.
I can see how Meg and Kaz work with the digital images and the translation that results from them but my designs feel more obtuse.
After seeing how this works, I have a couple more ideas buzzing around. They just have to stew a bit in my head and then, maybe another sample this coming week. I think I have another 2 meters of warp left on Chibi.......

Where did this come from?

2011-07-10T21:56:00.002+10:00

I have packed away my knitting machine for the moment and am back on track with the task on hand.

Somehow, this image has inspired the following weave but I am not quite sure how.

I just started weaving. I have had the cones of yarn out for a few weeks now, just sitting there waiting for me to be ready. I am trying to use stash yarn only for this project. Somehow, I have been diverted from the original idea of woven shibori but I am happy with this so far.

As I was weaving this, I could not help thinking that the curious weaver will be frowning. Kaz is brilliant with colours and KaTe (the 8 shaft countermarche loom) has white warp with white weft on at the moment and now Chibi (the 2 shaft Saori loom) has black warp with black wefts.

The warp is the black cotton warp that came pre-wound on the loom. There is about 4 meters left on the back beam. The wefts are Colourmart lace-weight cashmere and Avril silk stainless steel yarn.
The funny thing is that you can't even see very easily how the pattern is developing without the contrast white paper underneath. I have only placed that there so that the photo would work!
I am just going to weave a scarf length sample, probably about 2 meters as I think that it will be an interesting piece in its own right.
The plan is that when this come off the loom, I will wet finish it in hot water to wash off the oils on the cashmere and hopefully, it will full a bit and the silk SS will crinkle up.
I am already thinking about a second full sample and that it may have a bit more colour?
Come to think of it, my last P2P project had the silk SS yarn in it too!

Defection?

2011-07-03T13:02:00.000+10:00

Lately I feel like I am being drawn to the other side. I have always thought of myself as a weaver rather than a knitter, but I have caught the knitting bug and can't stop.
It is not only machine knitting but also hand knitting. Maybe it is the cold in Melbourne, maybe it is the portability of hand knitting as I have been in lots of waiting rooms recently, or maybe I am just going through a phase......
I am also pleased that I am using yarn from stash, especially the beautiful stuff from Avril.
This amazing knit item is one of Setsuko Torii's designs in her book 'Zoom on Knit Textures'. I have substituted a different yarn for the Pafu (pompom yarn) but using the 3 strands of wool stainless steel yarn.

The combination of stocking and moss stitch in the knit gives this very subtle corrugated texture in combination with the unique characteristics of the yarn.

Some 4 ply alpaca from stash, and I knitted this cowl for a gift. I found the pattern on Ravelry; an amazing place and believe me, I have spent a bit of time there as well. Probably why another reason I have been so quiet on the blogger front.....

I have been trying to put some order to my stash and I was confronted by how much yarn I have in stash. Machine knit is great way to use up odd balls/cones for a quick and beautiful present. I knitted a modified version of Kozue with some possum lace-weight yarn for a friend visiting from Europe. It was a shock for her to be in COLD Melbourne.
Mum also wanted one and I did a cashmere version for her.

Another skill that I have put into practice is maintaining my machine.

Some very simple tools and I can look after my relatively new acquisition:

It is an oldie but a good one. It has a light carriage and has been a life saver on my shoulder. It does not have any fancy punch card function but enough to allow me to knit the Kozues, and the part circular shawl.
I also participated in a knit-along for the first time. It was the Kakomu, a hand knit pattern that I opted to knit up on the knitting machine. Yes, I have caught the knitting bug but not so much infected that I would knit miles of stocking stitch.........

'Love the machine knitting...

2011-06-06T21:37:00.000+10:00

.......does it really do such cool stuff?!? Who knew.'
This came in an email recently from a friend. I guess there are many people who think that way.
On the last weekend of May, I attended one of two days of the MKAV (Machine Knitting Association of Victoria) seminar. There were demonstrations, a market hall, exhibition display and a parade of knitted garments by novices to experienced knitters, amateurs and professionals. All in all it was an interesting and full-on experience. My brain was bursting with new techniques and ideas. I wish I had put down my name for the second day as well but I am definitely attending next year!

I attended the workshops/demonstrations by Diane Chambers (ribber work) and Tony Bennett (design process).
Diane's workshop was titled 'get your ribber out of a rut!' Interesting technical tips and how-to's with the ribber was good but some of the information just went over my head as I have not really gotten the ribber out of its box yet, let alone letting it get into a rut!? It will happen but not just yet.....
Tony's talk was named 'picture perfect', I understood. He uses images of ordinary items/objects, taken from his daily walk as starting point to develop new designs, much like the Pics to Pick challenge except it is his own choice of images.
He showed us the original image and a step-by-step development, sometimes from a simple punch card to the blending of yarns and colours to finally come up with something that is quite inspirational and unique, and he demonstrates the final fabric in simple garment forms so that the fabric is the star of the show.

So here are some photos, and I hope that you will agree they are pretty cool stuff:

In the shadow, sample by Tony Bennett,
inspired by image of fencing wire shadow

Grate expectation, sample by Tony Bennett,
inspired by security grilles in a shop front.

Sunburnt country , human knitting machine
by Angela McGregor and others

So cheers to the organizers to a successful event, and much enjoyed by this novice.

P2P2: First thoughts

2011-06-03T22:56:00.013+10:00

Just wanting to capture the initial reactions with each picture and see what comes to mind. For me, sometimes these initial reactions can be quite a (i) literal interpretation of the image or it can be (ii) an extraction of colours or patterns.

ii) I am normally not a bird lover but strangely this image is attractive. I love the background and the persimmon colour on the bird. I have no idea what type of bird it is but if someone can tell me, I will be grateful.

I can see some sort of woven shibori with a white background, dyed to the colour of the tree twigs/branches, a grey/black/brownish/greenish colour with some highlights of the colours on the bird somewhere in the piece.

i) Literally this is a Saori clasped weft weave structure with the colours of the sea water, the foam and the various shades/tones of the sand, wet and dry. so far the most no. of colours I have tried in this technique is 3. I am sure in theory it should work with more colours but I can foresee lots of tangling issues!?
ii) Striped coloured warp with the colours as mentioned above and a broken twill weave pattern.

i) & ii) I can see a deflected double weave pattern speaking to me in the clouds. A combination of soft white fluffy yarn and pale grey colours. Actually the soft white fluffiness can be a variegated yarn with some of that sunset yellows and oranges. It is both literal and abstract at the same time!

There are 2 approached to this image. I can either work with the objects in the foreground or the pattern in the background.

i) The foreground reminds me of a combination of diamond/rose path shapes with broken twill combination using quite strong contrast colours of dark and light.

ii) The background again is a Saori-style clasped weft weave structure that is quite free forming using white and various shades/tones of green and some yellow?

ii) I think that this will have to be a 'thousand flowers' weave structure with white, green, various shades of pink, mauve and deep burgundy. I used a peach blossom picture previously to design a broken twill scarf in similar colours so I probably won't pursue this image further.....

i) I can see the frills on the dresses and it speaks of movement. The Saori frilly scarf weave can apply to this with a change of colours to match those in the image. I am not sure whether this is literal or not anymore.
* blogger had driven me insane with formatting so I will have to stop before I loose anything again or want to throw something at my computer.......

To be inspired.....

2011-06-01T14:53:00.000+10:00

We do live in exciting times and there are much around to inspire me.
If you live in Melbourne, there are a few must see exhibitions.......

From left to right:

The Shumei Kobayashi - weaving the future at the Lesley Kehoe Gallery.

Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award 2011 opens this weekend at the Wangaratta Art Gallery.

aRtECYCLE is at the Incinerator Arts Complex at Moonee Ponds.

The following images are from aRtECYCLE:

Virginia Miller
Horizon Deficit Syndrome: Antidote 2007

Anna-Maria Plescia
anew 2011

Brook Morgan
Untitled 2010

Kim McKechnie
Bound by the Collective Self 2008

I hope you make it there and enjoy.

Note: all of the photos are taken by me with permission at the gallery, with the exception of the last one, obtained from here.

Pics to Picks Design Challenge II

2011-06-01T14:13:00.000+10:00

Meg from unravelling has organized various virtual events over the years. I have previously participated in a couple of them. This year is the second Pics to Picks* and there are 19 of us participating. We each send the name we are given a series of pictures (from 2 to 6) and we use them as a starting point for a design for weave. I think that this is an interesting design method and what is exciting is that it takes me out of my 'comfort' zone a bit and makes me push the boundaries or work with elements that I may not have otherwise considered.

You can have a look here or click on the poster on the side to check out the rules and what the others are doing and how everyone is progressing.

The following 6 pictures are the ones I sent to Alienore and hopefully she finds them inspiring!

There is also a secret to 2 of these pictures. I have actually used them for 2 designs previously and I wonder whether she would choose those images and what she may do with them if she did choose them. Of course, I am not going to reveal which ones they are until the very end......

The following 6 pictures are from Geodyne and I got them this morning.

I think this bonus image of Charlie, the ginger cat, who is just focusing on some thread is to give me inspiration! and a demonstration of how I should be thinking about the pictures!

* a pick is a pass of the shuttle in weave terminology, i.e. one weft thread, and pics is short for pictures.

Speed by machine

2011-05-17T17:28:00.000+10:00

This would have been a hand knitting project that takes months (by me that is) to complete and the extensive amount of stocking stitch would have driven me insane. However, the beauty of the piece has an attraction that made me keep thinking about it.
Finally with some encouragement from Soozs (and she has given a lot of that to me lately), it became a bit of a challenge to figure it out by machine.

75g of 2/28 lace weight cashmere and 4 hours later. Completed and I can gaurantee that it will be worn heaps this winter!

In vain, I have struggled.....

2011-05-14T13:33:00.000+10:00

Thank you Meg and Neki for your encouragement but I failed dismally and it became a total implosion of yarn consumption.

I had a need for retail therapy, so I bought yarn.
I was not tempted by chocolate nor hot cross buns over Easter, but I bought yarn.
I needed to get mother's day present, so I bought yarn.
I was on Ravelry and discovered this thing called destashing, and I bought yarn.
The Australian dollar has been strong, so I bought yarn.
I discovered Madeline Tosh yarns, so I bought yarn.

However, I am happy to say that production rate was up and I have results to show for them.

From stash, I finally made/finished these:

Twisted Rib Cowl, hand knitted - a belated birthday present.
Used up 2.4 balls of yarn, Morris and Sons Quartet 8ply.

The Irish Scarf, handwoven - a birthday present received on time.
Used up 1.5 balls of each colour, Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed.

The Noro Stripey scarf, handwoven - an early birthday present.
Used up 2 balls of Noro Silk Garden Lite and
some odds and ends of 2/28 cashmere yarn.

Rooftop Cowl, hand knitted - onto my 6th one!
To be gifted and I think that this one will stay in Melbourne.
This will finally use up all the alpaca.

From new purchases, I made these:

Another Twisted Rib Cowl, hand knitted.
Madeline Tosh pashmina - an one skein project.
Gorgeous feel and drape. For myself.

The part circular shawl, machine knitting. Mother's day present.
3 Skeins of Madeline Tosh Light from detash on Ravelry.

A crochet edge to the shawl.
I think that this took longer to do than all of the machine knitting!

I love the detail when all the eyelets converging at the top.

Trying......not to buy more yarn

2011-04-10T15:55:00.000+10:00

I have been slowly working at using up my yarn stash. It has worked to a point: 3 empty cones this year, but that was only 750g of yarn.

No where near the amount that I have bought last year. The rate of acquisition is much, much, much greater than the rate of consumption. In human terms - this is obesity.

However, yarn diet is hard.

Soozs showed me her 'not-quite-circluar-shawl' for machine knitting class homework. It was beautiful and she knitted it out of 'Madeline Tosh' yarn. So naturally, I have been finding out about them and I want some to try.
Niki showed me her 'stripey-cashmere-blanket' and I am love that as well.
I normally only try to only have fine yarns in stash so that I can both weave and knit (hand and machine) with them. Or so I tell myself.
In researching for the Madeline Tosh yarns, I saw this today and thought maybe I should expand my reportoire and start hand knitting with thicker yarns. It will be quicker!?
I have subjected myself to great temptation and my will power is weakening by the hour, and I only have myself to blame.

I am trying very hard today to focus on the 'work in progress'. I am onto my 4th rooftop cowl. I am not sure whether this will also be a gift or for myself, but I still have yarn and am determined to use them up. I have been spreading these cowls around the world: Hong Kong, Japan, Prague. There are a couple more birthdays coming up this year where this may be an appropriate gift.

Help Japan: results

2011-03-27T15:46:00.000+11:00

Meg got cone 1 (purple) and Esmae got cone 2 (brown).
I think it is an interesting result as both of them have family and friends in affected areas, New Zealand and Japan!

The lovely, crafty and independent Catherine helped pick the winners, so thank you very much but most of all, thank you everyone for your generosity and we raised A$240 towards the appeal.

Help Japan

2011-03-19T17:30:00.001+11:00

A lot has happened in the last month and at times, I find it hard to comprehend. I am glad to hear that my friends in affected places are safe and ok, both in flood and earthquake areas.

I can no longer just sit there and watch the news. I need to do something and would really like to be able to donate LOTS of money but that is a bit beyond my means at present.

However, I have yarn.
I have decided to put up 2 cones of wool/stainless steel yarn for giveaway. They were bought from Avril when I was visiting Japan.

Cone 1:
Avril M3500 wool/stainless steel, colour #75 purple, approx 60g (2 oz)

Cone 2:
Avril M3500 wool/stainless steel, colour #2997 kogecha (dark brown), approx 60g (2 oz)

This is the same as:
Habu wool/stainless steel yarn item #: A-148 1/17.6 wool stainless steel
Content: 75% wool, 25% stainless stteel
Yardage: approx. 547 yds. (492 mts.)/oz. (28 gm.)
Retail price: US$19.80/oz.
Weight: lace/weaving
Suggested epi for weaving: 20-30
Suggested needle size for knitting: US no. 2-3 for single strand, no. 10 & up for 2 strands

How to enter the giveaway:
•Each entry is for one cone. So there will be 2 winners.
•This is open to everyone worldwide.
•I will cover postage cost to you.
•To enter you must donate A$5 directly to the Red Cross Japan and Pacific Disaster Appeal 2011.
•You may enter as many times as you like but each entry/donation must have a new separate receipt number. (eg: donate A$5 ten times if you want to donate A$50- then comment ten times with your receipt numbers.)
After you have done this, return here, leave your comment with your receipt number and whether you prefer Cone 1 or 2. And make sure you include your email address so that I can contact you if you are the lucky recipient.
•This will start immediately and closes 6pm AEST, 26th March 2011.
•The giveaway is being held on this blog, in cooperation with a Bit of This and a Bit of That. A masterlist of other participants is there and will be updated.
•Winner will be drawn by random. If you are the winner, I will email you for proof of donation and then send you the cone of yarn.

Knitting with red

2011-02-13T14:58:00.003+11:00

Red is an auspicious colour for Chinese new year and I started the first knitting project of the year with this 'watermelon' yarn.

It is a Bendigo Woollen Mills 2 ply pure wool. I dyed with with acid milling dye in a microwave but it seemed to have a higher than normal twist so it did not absorb the dye very well nor very evenly. It had been sitting in my stash for a couple of years now, waiting for the right project to come along.....

The unevenness of the this colour, and the stitch pattern with its triangular repeats reminds me of a wedge of watermelon.

It is an interesting structure as the combination of plain and purl stitches, form the pleats naturally. The pattern is from the Vav magasinet (Scandinavian weaving magazine) issue 4/10. It is a simple pattern to memorise. It will probably take me a while to knit as there is 200g of yarn and I will probably knit it out as a scarf. I wonder how long that will be?
The article also mentioned a book on Gotland knitting - Pleats (Gotlandsk sticksom - Plissestickning) but it is only in Swedish. I wonder if it has lots of pictures or diagrams. If someone has this, please let me know if you can follow it without understanding Swedish!
This structure also reminds me of this miura cowl from Olga's blog and I think that they follow the same theory.

PS: Just realised that there is only 100g of yarn so it may become a cowl instead of a scarf!

Happy new year

2011-02-03T08:00:00.002+11:00

This is the year of the rabbit and these gorgeous creatures are from Ixchel fibre farm.

Charly breeds the animals and produces beautiful fibres in absolutely amazing colours.

She is having some 'bunny spin' days so check out the link for dates.

I hope that this year will be full of creativity and fibre content........

New recruits......

2011-01-25T16:30:00.002+11:00

We had a wonderfully productive sunday afternoon of maching knitting by 10-year old 'A' who came over with her dad. Both of them have never done it before but at the end of 4 hours, they each had finished pieces!

'A's' younger sister also helped to push the carriage but she was a bit young to do a piece on her own. She knitted a scarf 40 stitches wide by 1000 rows, based on card #8, tuck stitch.
Her dad knitted 2 panels of 50cm by 120cm to be linked partially together to form a wrap. That was on card #3, tuck stitch.
I am off to Christine's this evening to do the linking and hopefully, she will show me how to block the pieces as well!

Under cover

2011-01-20T08:00:00.009+11:00

I have been meaning to do this for a while.
The skein winder comes in this beautiful unpolished timber and it has been sitting on top of the book shelf, gathering dust. I use it but not often enough that it stays dust-free.

During the break between Christmas and New Year, I made some carry bags from Ikea fabric, which I use for groceries. I love their bold prints as I am not mad keen on those green 'environment' bags. From the bags, I seem to have these strips of fabric left over. I have been thinking of ways to use up fabric scraps, so I took the skein winder out and did a bit of wrapping with the fabric and it fits perfectly! Bonus points for using zippers from my stash as well.
They were so easy I managed to whip up three of them, one for myself and the other two are on their way to new homes.

Queensland Flood Relief Appeal Auctions

2011-01-16T16:31:00.001+11:00

We have had so such rain and there is flooding not only in Queensland but also in NSW and Victoria. Some of them have experienced it more than once in recent months.

Toni from Make it Perfect has organised the QLD Flood Appeal Auctions.
To help out, I am including two hand woven scarves.

Scarf A:
Colour and weave pure wool scarf
Colour: black and white
size: approx. 13 in (33cm) wide, 52 in (132 cm) long with 6 in (15cm) fringes

Scarf B:

Collapse weave pure wool scarf
Colour: black and white
Size: approx. 3.5 in (9cm) wide, 62 in (160 cm) long with 5 in (12cm) fringes

This is how it works:

1. Bidding starts at $80 (Australian) for each scarf.

2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3. Please nominate which scarf you are bidding for.
4. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
5. This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE worldwide.
6. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.
7. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post the scarf to you.
8. Thank you for participating and happy bidding!

Don't forget that as you are paying directly into the appeal fund, you can also ask for a receipt for tax purposes!

Also check out Make it Perfect for other auctions.

Woven shibori II

2011-01-09T08:00:00.007+11:00

Our little Shibori group get-together has been cancelled. I think that this time of the year can be overwhelming and I certainly feel that. I need to feel calm and collected before going back to work on Monday!

In the meantime, I can prepare more samples till we do meet.

At the base of the photo, you can see the 2/2 twill woven in a contrasting waste yarn, so that I can check the pattern. That is the background cloth structure. This sample has a regular pattern for the tie threads and hopefully, the result will be a more stripe-like pattern.
The shuttle is one that I bought in Japan. It is made of oak and has a very wide opening for the yarn to come through. I think that it is designed for thicker yarn so that it does not get snagged or caught as the bobbin unwinds.

Woven shibori

2011-01-02T09:00:00.000+11:00

The sample piece is off the loom and tied up, ready to be dyed.

When I bought the yarn for this, I was thinking white cotton. Suddenly at the check out counter, I realised that the pattern weft will be better as a contrast colour so that I can see it! I bought a pale yellow so that when it is over-dyed, I may be able to keep it if I can undo it in one continuous length. I have been saving the yarn from other shibori pieces for a future project.

This is very exciting and I am looking forward to the next shibori group get together!

Weaving in the new year......II

2011-01-01T23:00:00.000+11:00

We had a lovely new year's eve. We ate and talked about our aspirations and plans for 2011, our goals and how we may work towards them, our dreams and long-term plans. All in all, it was a very calm and relaxing way to bring in the new year.

We also did some weaving after dinner.........

Alternative Thoughts started on Chibi, the Saori loom and had fun with the various coloured and textured yarns that she brought with her.

Shipbuilding started on the double weave and did a sample size. It was hard going on the table loom as she has a floor loom at home and had not used a table loom for a few years. I understand what she meant as I struggled a bit with the P2P piece on the table loom. It takes a lot longer to weave. Fortunately, I think that the Ashford loom has become the sampling loom so I won't have any negative thoughts about it!

I had a go at the woven shibori on KaTe. It took me ages to do the tie-up so I will investigate ways to improve that. It should not be too difficult. I think that will need a blogpost of its own.

The weaving itself was a dream. It did not take long to do a small sample so it gave me an immense sense of achievement. A good feeling on new year's eve.

Weaving in the new year......

2010-12-30T17:12:00.000+11:00

This year, instead of the usual new year's eve party with lots of food and drinks, I decided on something different. One of the things I have enjoyed most this last year was actually getting some weaving done and keeping in touch with my textile/weaving friends. So what better way to see in the new year than to combine all the things that I enjoy!
So I asked a couple of them (shipbuilding and Alternative thoughts) to join me with a 'weaving party'. We have a round robin set up with 3 looms, 3 different warps, and 3 different types of weave structures.

Barb who came to visit from the country for a couple of days helped with the preparations. She can't stay for new year but wanted to be part of it. So she has helped to wind the warp, threaded and sleyed it. This will be a woven shibori warp (hence white) and is on KaTe, the 8 shaft countermarche.

This one is a double weave stitched fabric. Cotton and wool, threaded and sleyed on the 8 shaft Ashford table loom, but will only be using 4 shafts.

And then the last one will be Chibi, the 2-shaft Saori loom. And we will try to connect up with Kaz via skype so that she is part of the weaving party as well!

Finally, before the end of the year........

2010-12-30T11:01:00.000+11:00

This week had been monumental in the number of things that are being completed. However, the item of the most significance was this. I finally completed the Pics to Picks piece and I can say that it has been completed in the year that it was started!

I am not great at keeping records and as I was trying to use yarns and warps that were on hand, I could not remember how much black warp was on the loom. I knew that I had about 2m of the coloured warp and that I wanted the horizontal plane change over at about the halfway mark. As I kept weaving, I noticed that there was not that much black warp left on the back beam. This is a bit of designing on the run, so I made the horizontal layer change and hoped for the best.

There was enough coloured warp left to give a decent length scarf so I decided to keep weaving. As the warps were on 2 different back beams, I could cut the black warp off and continued weaving until I ran out of the coloured warp as well.

I washed the piece in hot water by hand, and then rinsed and spun dry in the washing machine, hoping that the silk stainless yarn will do its thing and crinkle up. I can not describe my exictement when I got it out of the machine and it worked to my expectations!

I am pleased with the results and will definitely develop this idea/concept further.

Thanks, Meg for organising this, Esmae for sending me the picture and Kaz for leaving behind the demo warp from the ikat workshop!

Seasonal greetings

2010-12-24T08:00:00.001+11:00

These are the first fruits off my nectarine tree. How appropriate then that they are also the Christmas wreath!

I saw beautiful images in the Sept/Oct issue of the Selvedge magazine of Gonul Paksoy's* 'edible beads', and thought that I can be inspired to make an edible version of the wreath.

Happy holidays!

*Lovely Miss C is doing some work over there in Istanbul with Gonul Paksoy so have a visit of her blog.

Shibori catch up

2010-12-23T20:30:00.001+11:00

At the beginning of December, a few of us who participated in the Yoshiko Wada workshop got together and did a mini-dyeing session. We had a lot of fun eating, chatting and did some dyeing. We also discovered that we all enjoy sewing and will probably get together to do some of that as well!

Here are some of the results:

Jane R. had a piece of cream coloured silk and she had already started a serious of ties before hand and finished them off while we were getting everything ready.

The dye we used is a Procion MX Morrocan red. It resulted in different shades and intensity of the colour depending on the fibre and the base colour.

This was mine and it was a piece of ready-rolled hem silk scarf that I had left over from the workshop. I was not very well prepared for the get together and only rolled and knotted the scarf on the day.

Esmae folded, tied and knotted this piece and it also came out really well. The colour is more pink but this is a cotton base.

Jane S. who also prepared an eucalyptus natural dye pot had to leave hers in the pot overnight so we don't have a visual yet. She is also the person instrumental in getting all the dyes so we were very grateful for her expertise!
We are going to get together again in the new year so it will be interesting to see what we come up with next time!

Shibori blooms

2010-12-20T08:00:00.001+11:00

This came as a little pre-tied bundle of white cotton. At the last shibori group get together, we set up som procion dye in 'Morrocan Red'.
I never thought that shibori can be this easy. Literally open the packet and add dye.
The hardest bit was waiting for this to dry so that I can see what it looked like as it unfolded.

This little bundle of surprise (54 x54 cm when opened fully) was bought at this amazing shop. The Tanaka Tadashi dye shop which was established in 1733. So if you are in Kyoto or Tokyo, put it on your intinerary.

Keep calm and keep weaving

2010-12-18T22:55:00.000+11:00

In this period when it is sometimes called the 'silly season', it is nice to focus on something that is set up already. All I have to do is wind the bobbins and weave.

When I am weaving, the frenzy of Christmas approaching is somehow forgotten. I can put the multiple batches fruit cakes in the oven and forget about them for a couple of hours. No thoughts of shopping malls, supermarkets, etc. Just the shuttles going from side to side, and making sure that I have not crossed over the weft yarns so that the 2 layers remain separate on the edge.

For the black layer, the weft is of the same cotton. For the coloured layer, I am using a single strand of Avril's silk stainless steel in black. It will be interesting when wet finished whether there will be any textural changes.

Saori, Osaka: IV

2010-12-17T19:57:00.001+11:00

Although the Saori loom arrived with the warp pre-wound on the back beam, threaded and sleyed with the standard black cotton.

At the studio we also learnt to put on a new warp using yarns of our choice. We used the warping board with the cone holders fixed at the top, and learnt to use our fingers, with some deft movement, creating the cross with multiple strands of yarn as we wound the warp. There was no need for a warping paddle. It seemed smooth and easy at the time. Kaz had taken some videos and I hope that when it comes to doing this again, it will remind me how to proceed!

I have never wound a warp from front to back, nor have I ever seen one of these cross-boxes where you can sley the reed and thread the heddles off the loom. I have read about tying on a warp from front to back but they looked a bit different from this. I suppose this is one of the appealing aspects of these looms, no bending over to thread and sley.

The reed is held in place in a horizontal position on the table. Each end comes off the cross-box in sequence and is pushed down by the sleying tool.
Then the shafts are put in front of the reed in a vertical position and again, each end is treaded in sequence. There is a weighted holder for the ends. The ends can be combed so that they lay flat in the groove and was held down by the metal rod. It works really well with cotton and silk but I did not use it for the wool warp. The wool was a bit 'sticky' and did not work so easily with the holder.

The combination of reed and shafts were then fitted back onto the loom and the ends were tied onto the rod at the back of the loom.

The other end was tied to the handrail and the loom pushed away to create a certain amount of tension. The warp is then wound onto the back beam slowly. It was easy, quick and we did not encounter any problems with snagging.

The ends were then secured into the clipping rod at the front. Easily done!

I hope that when it comes time to wind on a new warp, I will remember everything and it will be as easy as how I have described it!

Talented people:II

2010-12-10T08:00:00.001+11:00

I feel honoured to be friends with these very talented people! I am in awe of their ability to create and to inspire. Best of all, they have encouraged me and I am grateful.

Shipbuilding has a limited edition of textile creations and she has launched an online shop.

I admire her ability to work with different mediums: yarns, textile, and paper, and her patience for printing her own fabrics and dyeing her own yarns.

Alternative thoughts has just graduated from the RMIT textile course. Her works are displayed at the Fuse exhibition. So I would encourage you to go to see that.

She works with an amazing variety of materials and techniques. This is an example of her glass works. Her blog is being updated slowly. Blogging takes time and effort. I also understand that when you are new to blogging, it takes even longer.

Jane B. is a shibori and batik artist whose patience is amazing. Her attention to detail is admirable and the length of time it takes to create one of her pieces is mind boggling.

As I said, I am in awe of them. I feel privileged to know them and I have learnt much from them.

Rooftop Cowl

2010-12-02T08:00:00.001+11:00

A photo of one of the rooftops at Nijo Castle in Kyoto. I originally took the photo as inspiration for a weave pattern. I can see it so clearly as a weave.

However, since being home, I started to knit the 'alexandria cowl'. It is a gift to a friend in Japan and hopefully she will get it in time for their cold winter. As I knitted, I kept seeing the image of the rooftop in my mind, especially in this colour.

I love the texture, the contrast of thick and thin creating these ridges.

I have knitted this before and had also given it away. I think I will end up knitting it a third time (and hopefully the last time, for myself).

In the meantime, this edition has been re-named the 'rooftop cowl'.

Tools of the trade: I

2010-11-29T22:09:00.002+11:00

I love tools - tools for making things. Tools for cooking, for knitting, for weaving, and even tools just for admiration as they are so beautiful.

Japan is a great place for tools. Fortunate or not, there is a limit on luggage allowance so there is also a limit on how many different tools I could buy.

A few years ago, I visited the Inagaki Kiryou manual weaving supplies shop. It was established in 1897, on the outskirts of Kyoto in the Nishijin area. I did not have my camera with me. I told all my weaving friends about this place but I felt that my words can not truly describe it properly nor could they describe how I felt when I was there.

They are traditional tools, beautifully made and functional. The owner has limited English. Between that and my knowledge of Kanjii, a bit of sign language, it was enough for us to communicate and to explain what the different things are used for.
(On their website, they do recommend that you have a translator with you as they are not fluent in English.)
He brought out all the selections. When we have picked a shuttle, he brought out all that he had so we could choose the which one we wanted as they all had individual wood grains and colours. The shuttles were made of oak. We could get bamboo or timber bobbins to use with them. (My swedish cardboard bobbins also fit with some of these shuttles.)

There were a lot of things that looked familiar but also a lot that were ( I think) peculiar to Japanese weaving!?

We saw those ceramic weights that I found in Melbourne, and found out what their use is.

They are added to the swift to slow down the speed!
In the ceiling, there were all these old tools hanging there. They have all acquired that mature timber patina and gave the shop this amazing atmoshpere. There were bobbins, shuttles, old bamboo reeds, etc.

One of the really sad things was that as the tool makers retire, unless there is a new generation to take over, there won't be anymore supplies. This is the case for some of his beautiful timber tapestry beaters.

So if you are in Kyoto and you are a weaver, this should definitely be on your itinerary. However, if you can not get there, they have also developed a good website in English and it is worth a look.

Saori, Osaka: III

2010-11-27T21:21:00.000+11:00

The red building of Saori was visible from afar. Kenzo Jo mentioned that he was impressed by the red barns that he had seen in the United States. When they had the opportunity to establish this new building, he wanted it to be this colour!

Misao Jo is 97 years old and she still goes into the studio to weave each day!

At the Studio, every bit of yarn is put to good use. It changed my way of thinking when I was on that shopping spree. I no longer worried whether I had to buy enough for a 'whole' piece/project. If I saw something interesting, I can just get 10/20g or one ball of knitting yarn. I now have inspired uses for the thrums that I could not bear to throw away, or the few bits left over on a cone.

If people had fnished with a bobbin and had left overs, they were left in a neat arrangement so that it can inspire the next person. It opens my eyes to combinations of textures and colours that I would not have dreamt of before. It was very liberating.

The built-in bobbin can be used in many ways other than winding on yarn. Kenzo Jo and Setsuko both showed us various ways to spin fleece into yarn, to creat fancy yarn, to form loose/tight twists, S and Z twists as you wind the bobbin.

This blue fancy yarn we created on the bobbin reminded me of all the overhead power lines we saw in Kyoto. This way, you don't run out of yarn. You just make as much as you need.

Note: all the photos except the one of the powerlines were taken by Kaz.

Fuse 2010

2010-11-27T20:32:00.000+11:00

This is the graduate exhibition of the Diploma of Textile Design RMIT TAFE and some of my friends are finishing this year.

It is at the Counihan Gallery in Brunswick until 18 December. If you are in Melbourne, (Australia) and you like textile in any way, please please do try to get there to have a look!

Confessions of a yarnaholic

2010-11-18T08:00:00.027+11:00

Is it possible to save the world economy one ball/skein of yarn at a time? I wonder if each knitter, weaver, crafter, etc went out and bought some yarn, what difference would it make.

It sure does feel like that at times. Stocktake sales, art and craft expos and shows, online shops, the temptation is all around and I have had a few moments of weakness lately. In addition, there are all these ideas floating around. New things I want to try but I don't seem to have the right yarn in my stash........
Or should I design my projects around yarns that I have in my stash?

Do you buy yarn with a project in mind or do you buy it just because you like the feel/look of it?

I had a conversation with a friend from Japan recently and she imagines that there are a lot of sheep in Australia and therefore we should have an abundance of choices with woollen yarn. Sadly, I told her that most of the wool/fleece are exported and processed and milled abroad, and that I have to buy 'Australian' yarn from the US or other countries.

So when I went to Avril, I totally lost control. I visited the retail stores, the one in Shinsaibashi, Osaka (level 2 in Daimaru) and the one in Sanjo St, Kyoto. Look at those beautiful cones on the wall. The colours, the textures. I was like a kid in a lolly shop.

At each store, they have displays of Setsuko Torii's designs. You can feel them and try them on. They are beautiful. There are people doing hand knitting workshops, and learning how to weave on knitter's looms.

However, my favourite one is the head office. I roamed along the corridor, shopping for yarn like I am at the supermarket shopping for grocery. Each type of yarn, in various colours neatly stacked on shelves. Large cones and skeins. At the end, the quantity I wanted is wound off onto cones. Usually when I have too much choice, I can't make a decision and I don't buy anything. For some reason, it was the opposite at Avril. I can look at each cone and think of a project for it. My imagination goes wild. I am inspired, I am giddy with excitement. I was there for hours.

I bought a bit of everything: linen, silk, wool and cotton. I bought for weaving on the Saori loom. I bought for a few projects I have seen in the Vav magazine.
Thank you Masumi for your patience with me. Avril truly is my favourite yarn store in the world!
Now I just have to weave, knit and make some beautiful things with my stash!

New addition to the family

2010-11-14T15:09:00.000+11:00

Her name is Chibi and she came pre-warped, threaded and sleyed! Yes, and built-in bobbin winder, too.

The setting up took half an hour; from box to ready-to-weave......

But first the P2P piece, I am determined to finish that before starting another weaving project.

Saori, Osaka: II

2010-11-13T08:00:00.002+11:00

We started by learning various techniques on these beautiful 2-shafts looms. There are so much you can do with 'just' plain weave. It really lets the textures and the colours take center stage. There is emphasis on expression, not too bogged down by how the selvedges look, etc.

This beautiful red sample is woven by Setsuko. She was one of the instructors during our week at the Studio.

This second sample was woven by Kenzo Jo and the first part showed the effects of the various twists in the yarn and the pattern that can be created by that. The yellow and orange parts are the similar technique to the red sample.

I wove 3 pieces in the 5 days. That is probably more than all the weaving I have done this year. This first piece was more of a sampler of all the techniques including clasp weft using 2 and 3 colours, looping, the textures similar to the red sample, insertion of fleece, and the blending of colours.

I think that the big revelation for me is that I can work with colours! I am not sure why but I have always find it extremely hard...... Somehow, at the Studio, with all the cones of yarn in front of me, that fear of colours seem to have diminished slightly. It will be interesting to see if I can keep that momentum with the next pieces that I work on.

This image shows how the piece progressed and the photo was taken with its full loom width of 60cm.

It is a little short for a wrap but works extremely well, doubled up as a short scarf. The softness and the drape is amazing. It is a limitation with images that you can not feel.....

The second piece is a joint effort with Kaz. We both wove on this. I have wondered how to achieve this, especially after the machine knitted pieces with the ruffles.

Again, some highlights from the brave new world of colour.

I think that this will be pushing my blogging skills to the limit as there is so much more textile content from our trip. I will try to keep up while everything is fresh in my mind.

Saori, Osaka: I

2010-11-12T08:00:00.003+11:00

Last month, Kaz and I were fortuante enough to spend 5 days at the Saori Studios in Izumi-shi, Osaka. It was a beautiful studio filled with natural light and ventilation.

As you can see, looms were all set up ready to go. Everyday, people turned up just to weave. Experienced and new weavers, young and old, couples and children. It was a pleasure to see how easy it was, no hang ups about threading or sleying. You just pick the colour and type of yarn, wind up a bobbin and off you go.

There was an extensive selection of yarn to choose from. Each cone is colour coded to show fibre: wool, cotton, synthetics, jute, etc. You can blend fibres and colours. The warps were all set up in fine black cotton at 5 ends per cm and they all have 2 shafts.

Everything has its home. Shuttles, bobbins, scissors were all provided for. You literally just need to turn up and start weaving. At the end of the day, tools were returned, warps were re-tied and each loom is ready for the next person. The studio is opened from 9:30 to 5:30 each day, 7 days a week!

We were also fortunate that the condominium across the road was available. Saori has the property to house people who had travelled to weave at the workshop for a very reasonable sum. It is a fully equipped apartment across the road from the Studio.
The most wonderful thing about the apartment are these Saori curtains in each room.

bedroom

There are 2 bedrooms, a tatami room, kitchen, living and dining area. Each room can sleep up to 2 people. On the second night of our stay, a lady from Okinawa joined us. She was on her way to Tokyo and stopped by to weave for a day. She arrived in the afternoon at about 4pm and started weaving straight away. By dinner time, she had a scarf. The next day, she learnt how to wind a new warp and to set up the loom (threaded and sleyed) from scratch as she had bought a loom to take home the last time she was at Saori.

dining area

living area

It was a wonderful experience. It opened my eyes to a different way to weave and a different way to utilise the finished pieces.
Please look forward to the next installments......

The real thing

2010-10-26T20:14:00.000+11:00

I have come to the conclusion that often I have to repeat something 3 times before I am totally confident with it, be it a weaving/knitting/sewing project, or a recipe. Each time I learn something new.

This is the third time I have woven this scarf and it is the second time that it is woven in exactly the same yarn as well. It had taken a few years to get to this point.

The first time, it was on my ashford table loom, in my second year of weaving. I was still learning how to keep my weaving balanced, how to beat gently and my selvedges neat.

Each time I threaded this pattern, I have made some sort of mistake. However, I realise that this often happens when I am in a hurry or if I was distracted. I am learning to make better notes so that I don't do the wrong thing over and over.......

The second and third time was on the countermarche floor loom. Did I ever mention that she is named KaTe?

I practiced with some Bendigo yarn to get used to weaving on this loom. I think I have only had 3 warps on it previously. I did make a mistake with the winding of the warp but it came out fine.

I was surprised at how fast it was with the treadling compared to weaving this on the table loom, painstakingly manipulating the shafts for each pick. This pattern has a repeat of 50 picks. Of course, it took me a little while to get into the rhythm.
The pieces of red thread is there to help me check the measurements of each repeat pattern. This is a tip from Shipbuilding. In this case, I was on the verge of being obsessive as the pattern is circular and if it wasn't balanced, I would end up with ellipses.

Finally, the scarf was washed, lightly pressed, boxed and gone onto its new owner.....

Happy food

2010-10-19T20:16:00.002+11:00

Where is Spring? It has gone missing.......

It has been a long winter. Not so much like European or northern American winters where there is snow and freezing temperatures. It has been gloomy and wet. Don't get me wrong. I am thankful for the rain but it is the greyness that gets to you after a while.

I read somewhere that yellow food makes one happy. This winter, I have been trying that out. Not sure that it is so effective as a long term solution but certainly satisfying at times. Here is my all time favourite yellow foods.

I stocked up on mangoes at the end of last summer. I scooped out all the flesh and froze the purees. During the year, I made mango sorbet. Easy recipe: equal quantity fruit puree with 1:1 sugar syrup and churn in the ice cream machine. Beautiful sorbet at the end of 50 mins. with no effort! I do the same with apricot, plums, persimmon, etc.

My other all time favourite is this lemon syrup cake, grilled. I used to love it fresh, on the day it is baked. However, a friend of mine has introduced the grilled version. Now, I can't wait till it is ready for that.
I cut up the slices, freeze it and whenever I need a fix, I can get a slice out and put it under the grill or in the toaster. Just make sure it doesn't get burnt.
Beautiful with ice cream for a after dinner dessert as well.

And last of all, my lunchtime staple. zucchini slice with farm fresh eggs. One of my other friends has moved to the country. She has established a orchard with all sorts of fruit trees and has her own chickens.Whenever she comes to town, she always bring me some eggs. They are delicious!

Mixed frills

2010-10-14T13:29:00.000+11:00

My shoulders have been playing up and the last item of machine knitting I finished was the purple frills. This piece was full of frustrations as the colour was perfect but the yarn was not of great quality despite being pure wool. It was made to go with 'Curly' and they were birthday presents for 2 little girls. In the end, it turned out ok. There were lots of broken ends to weave in, which is NOT my favourite task!

I was also keen to try out this version of the silk/stainless steel yarn and wool. However, I was also aware that more machine knitting is not a good idea. In the end, Christine had very generously offered to knit this up for me!

She is a real champion of the craft - generous with her time, equipment, enthusiasm and most of all encouraging with novices. I admire her energy at the MAKV stand, promoting machine knitting at craft shows, demonstrating alternative styles of knitting with simple shapes and interesting yarns.

This was knitted with some Avril grey silk/stainless steel yarn and a merino(70%)/cashmere(30%) variegated shades of grey by 'the bunny lady'. This is her nickname by another friend and I have adopted it. Once I remember the 'real' name, I will let you know.

She makes wonderful spaced dyed yarn in this mix and also beautifully dyed fleece for spinning and felting right here in Victoria (Australia)!

Weave juice

2010-10-11T20:12:00.002+11:00

A little while ago, this beautiful parcel arrived in the post from Kaz. She had made up these cards called 'Weave Juice' to help inspire designing weave projects. (I think that most of them can equally be used for knit projects!) They are exquiste. They also came in this origami box that she had folded as well.

There is only 12 weeks left of this year. A few friends and I are planning to weave in the new year. We are going to set up the looms at my house and start weaving something on New Year's eve, through midnight and into early morning. (well, that is if we don't fall asleep)

We thought we can start planning to that the looms are warpped up ready to go. We can use these cards for inspiration and come up with various designs for each warp.

More to come as we progress........

Excursion......

2010-10-04T23:08:00.000+11:00

Spring is a month late in arriving this year. Last Saturday, there was lovely blue sky and the temperature just crept above 20C. Perfect day to get out of the city. Shipbuilding and I took a drive here to see this.

It was well worth the 2.5 hours each way!
There is something about seeing things in real life rather than just in photographs or in a book. The textures, the colours, the drape of the cloth. It was beautiful.
So if you are anywhere near Ararat, it is worth a visit.

Shibori with Yoshiko Wada: III

2010-09-28T20:00:00.001+10:00

There were twelve of us at the workshop so we took turns at the dye vat, making sure that we did not get too much air into the vat while agitating the bundles of fabric. I don't think we did that very well as the indigo dye did not survive well into the second day. Yoshiko and Colleen Weste revived it and we tried to be more careful.

While we took our turns at the dye vat, Yoshiko demonstrated the capping techniques using some special tools.

There was a 2-dollar shop downstairs and some of the others wrapped their fabric around strings of plastic beads. It was a simple and quick technique but very effective. Yoshiko was encouraging minimum effort, maximum results! I can't agree more.

We wrapped the fabric around the PVC pipe, tied with string and pushed each section up as tightly as possible. In the midst of all the action, it was actually quite difficult to keep up with taking photographs.

Another technique we touched on was using the sewing machine to help create the paths of resist. We laid layers of calico over the fabric. In this case, a bit of cotton/silk off cut that I found in my fabric stash. (I knew there was a reason I don't throw them away!)

I really liked this technique as it was quick and easy. The quick-unpick tool came in handy. It is like a combination of fold/clamp and stitching but gives quite clear, defined shapes.

You can see some of the works by the others in the class. They were far more patient than I with the multiple dipping into the dye vat. I think the piece at the back, with the circles was made with the machine stitching technique. the larger piece in the middle was stitched. and then some of the smaller examples in the front still has the knots and marbles in place.

Shibori with Yoshiko Wada: II

2010-09-26T13:39:00.000+10:00

After rinsing out, the cloth was pressed and the patterns revealed themselves.

miura - pressed out

spider - pressed out

It was a 2-day workshop. On the first day, we also tried out some folding and clamping techniques. I learnt to fold some interesting shapes.

On the second day, we learnt Arashi (pole wrapping) techniques. I used a gauze cotton, folded it in half and wrapped it around the PVC pipe. I tied it with a crochet cotton.

I love this pale indigo colour. There were a few of us wanting to dye on the last day and we only had one dye vat. As a result, I took mine home still on the pipe, thinking that I may dye it again at a later date. Curiousity took hold and I unwrapped it. I untied it carefully so that I kept the cotton in one continuous length as it absorbed some dye and resulted in something I can use, maybe in my weaving!It was so similar to the folded feint* ruled paper!

*feint 2
— n
printing the narrowest rule used in the production of ruled paper
[C19: variant of faint ]
from www.dictionary.com

Shibori with Yoshiko Wada: I

2010-09-04T20:30:00.002+10:00

I should be stitching my homework for tomorrow's class but I am too excited and needed to share.

I am lucky enough to get a place at the Shibori workshop with Yoshiko Wada, organised by Leanne from Kimono House. There are 12 of us and today, we learnt to do fold & clamp and some of the stitching techniques.

Yoshiko and Leanne had prepared a synthetic indigo dye bath for this workshop and we all had a chance to dip our samples into that today.

What was so exciting for me was to learn how to do these tying and stitching properly and effectively.

miura (loop binding) - tied

miura - untied

Note: the top 2 rows are demonstrated by Yoshiko and the bottom 2 rows are mine. You can see how even hers are, all in a straight line where as mine are all different sizes and a bit random.

spiderweb - tied

spiderweb - untied

I would like to get a sample for ori-nui (fold & stitch) done tonight. Tomorrow, we will move on to do arashi-patterned cloth (pole-wrapped).

Pink!?

2010-08-07T21:02:00.000+10:00

It is mid-winter but my peach/nectarine tree is already in full bloom. Maybe because it is in a pot and has a warmer micro-climate. I hope that it will survive the rest of the season and bear fruit this summer.

Seeing these blooms and recently using up that 'green' yarn, reminded me of this scarf I wove a couple of years ago. A friend wanted something special for her mother's birthday and said that she liked pink. My first thought was 'a pink scarf? I can't do something that is all pink!?' Then I saw the blossoms and thought about the colours that tied in with pink in nature. I broke them down into the pinks, the browns and the greens. This made me feel more comfortable with the idea of weaving something 'pink'.

Initially, I could not find a green yarn commercially that worked with the other colours. In the end, Barb introduced me to dyeing small quantity of yarn in the microwave. This resulted in that 'green' yarn.

I wound all the different colours in a group and then randomly distributed them. This prevented a rigid pattern of stripes and worked well with a broken twill pattern. It was all 'Bendigo Classic 2ply wool' except for the pink silk yarn that also gave it a highlight sheen.

The scarf was well received and I was happy that I achieved the brief of 'pink'.

Winter Garden

2010-08-07T20:41:00.010+10:00

Thanks to my green thumbed friends, there are some beautiful things to enjoy this winter.

Freesia

Freesia buds

Michelia

Snowdrops

And a bountiful harvest of these golden coccoons:

Fortunella margarita, or the Nagami kumquat

Black and White

2010-07-26T19:44:00.000+10:00

Can you believe that it has been 5 months since this warp has been sitting on my loom? Yep, since February! This year is flying by and I honestly am not sure where the time has gone.

This is a colour and weave (yes Kaz, it is black and white - they are colours!?) practice warp (and it has become a full scarf sample) and I had actually forgotten how long the warp was when I decided to stop weaving. I should have checked the blog post! If I did, I would not have gone into a panic and thought that I had not allowed enough for some other bits of sampling I really wanted to do!

The woven length prior to finishing was approx 150cm. I was happy with that, but I had forgotten to allow for the shrinkage after wet finishing. It shortened to 140cm...... Well, it is still long enough to wear but not enough to loop around twice nor to double up and thread through.

It was great having this project on KaTe (the 8 shaft coutermarche floor loom). It gave me a chance to get to know the loom, to try out something that demanded a balance weave and to admire the overhead beater that almost does the work on its own. The beautiful solid piece of timber that carries its own momentum in its weight makes the beating a breeze.

The foot treadles also made this 50-pick repeat so easy compared to the table loom, and so much faster!

I love my fringe twister gadget from Leclerc. I would not have been able to bear doing all those twists without it. It helps with consistency and speed.

Ruffling with the knitting machine

2010-07-26T19:23:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I helped out Christine at the MAKV stand at the Craft and Quilt show, with some demostration of handmanipulation techniques.

Very simple one, just lifting some stitches from a few rows below to the current row and knitted them together.

I used a 'Brother' machine. A very simple machine that only did stocking stitch and any variations are by tension change or hand-manipulation.

The effect reminded me of the curly seaweed that you get at Japanese restaurants! well, especially in this colour.

This is made of 2 ply Bendigo Woollen Mill 'classic' wool and I dyed this colour with Barb. We used acid milling dye and the microwave.

It also satisfied my search for various methods of creating ruffle effect with machine knitting. More on this obsession in another post.

Pics to Picks

2010-06-04T18:57:00.004+10:00

As per the previous post, I decided to use the cotton warp left over from the ikat workshop. I also found another black cotton warp from a previous project of the same yarn type. What luck!

Then I got thinking, what about a double weave. I delibrated between a double weave where I can form folds on the upper layer and possibly with a twill weave structure and a plain weave on the bottom layer or this interlocking structure as per the diagram below. (from the book on Doubleweave by Ursina Ann-Grishott)

Since they were already 2 separate warps, I wound them onto 2 beams. This will also give me the flexibility of re-threading and trying out something else if I did not want to keep with this idea.

The book also has a very good explanation of how the threading and treadling works:

I had cut the ikat warp in half and used the 2 parts to create a contrast at the vertical intersection and to make it a wider piece.

The ikat warp is slightly wider and will slightly extend beyond the black layer. For both layers, the weft will be the same black cotton. This is reminiscent of the texture of the canvase in the image.

I would have liked to at least started weaving to see if what I envisaged would work, but this is as far as I got.......

How things can change......

2010-04-25T15:00:00.000+10:00

I was having a discussion with Michelle about how many things I have on my plate when I decided to actually get all those things out so that I can see them: then it is not just a list in my head that has grown out of proportion. I started rumaging in my yarn boxes to see what i can use for the pics to picks project.

What a co-incidence or how lucky can I be? you may recall how I mentioned that colour is not my strong point but I am working on it.......

This is a painted warp left over from the ikat workshop with Kaz. In fact, I have a suspicious feeling that this is the demonstration warp she did!

The colours are perfect!

So now the ideas for this picture has evolved. It is no longer a clasp weft structure but some sort of twill/plain weave/repp weave type structure.

When I examine the picture closely, I can see the texture of the canvase amongst the colours. I think that it will have a black weft.

Time will tell what it will become.......

Pics to Picks

2010-04-20T14:45:00.003+10:00

I got my pictures from Esmae a while ago but have not had the time to do a post on them until now.
Machine knitting class has been taking up all my 'down time'. I have been doing samples in the evening after work, on weekends, and any spare time in between other things. It is wearing me down and I keep thinking of all these other things that I have on the go as well. Last sunday, I had 'stitching' group and managed to finish the linen jacket. I was so happy!

On friday evening, I skyped with Kaz and had a brief chat about the images I had received:

menorah

Painting

meadow

mountains

I thought there is only about 6 weeks to go and I need to come up with something soon!

My first impression was that they are not images that I would normally use to inspire a weave design, but then, that is the idea! to do something different.

I look at them and can see more literal translation into weave patterns or structures. Kaz looks at them and can see the meaning and other connections with the pictures. She sees historic and cultural connections. I think that even if everyone who signed up were given the same images, the end results will quite be varied.

Menorah: some sort of double deflected weave, block design, 2 colours, probably wool for the deflected weave to work properly

John Papas painting: some sort of clasp weft soari-style weaving with the colours from the painting. I don't work with a lot of colours so the choice of colours is a bit 'scary'.

Meadow and mountains: I have not read the poetry component of the images but have focused on the colours and the shapes. They are calling out for a shibori weave dyed in varying tones of blues. A bit like an indigo process. In fact, I think that all the colours in the 2 images can probably be achieved through indigo dyeing.

Kusha Kusha

2010-04-20T14:17:00.000+10:00

I had bought the yarn from Avril and Colormart last year and have had this project queued in Ravelry. At last, I have resumed an interested in hand knitting and had started this scarf. The instructions are from Purl Bee and very easy to follow. The silk stainless steel yarn had no give, so it is not so easy to knit. I think it will take a while.

I have attempted to knit this on the knitting machine but the stitches are too even and loses the texture that I have seen of other people's images of the finished scarf.

I have also got the instruction of my mom's gathered stitch pattern! Both Deep End of the Loom and Kaz are interested:

I think that mom also varied the number of rows of stocking stitch to make it more interesting.

At last

2010-04-20T14:04:00.004+10:00

I started this last year aiming to have it ready for spring/summer but at last, it is completed. Fortunately, the autumn weather is still warm enough to wear it.

The pattern was rated easy but it was not so easy and definitely for experienced sewer with time. There was a confusing section in the instruction on the collar stand and that made me put the project on hold for a bit, while I try to find out what I was supposed to do. Finally, a friend and I worked it out over some tea and cake one day!

It is made of an Italian linen I bought on sale for A$10/m, beautiful to work with and I had washed it before hand so that I won't have to get it dry cleaned. I also found these painted buttons made of coconut shell that matched perfectly! They are 40mm dia so I decided to sew snaps/large press studs behind instead of making button holes.

One thnig leads to another and this side of the press-stud needed to be covered. I found the instructions to do them on the Threads website. Very easy to follow and am very pleased with the results. If I had a thinner material, it would have been better, but this works.

Easter

2010-04-04T10:36:00.000+10:00

Eggs: symbol of rebirth

These are fermented eggs so I am not sure how that relates but they look beautiful, a monotone version of easter eggs and so well displayed.

I like Easter. It is quiet time. It allows me time to catch my breath and reflect. Not in a religious way but just time to contemplate.

Talented people

2010-03-30T22:43:00.000+11:00

My greenthumb friends (Anne and Michele) came to the rescue with my plants. They were near death just before Christmas and you can see the evidence on the brown leaves of the Bay tree. The whole plant had looked like that. Anne helped me (well she did the work while I watched) re-potted all three plants and gave them a new lease of life and they are thankful. There are 10 limes on the Kaffir lime tree ( the most I have ever seen, and lots of cumquats for marmalade this winter........

Kaffir Lime

Bay Tree

Cumquat

And my super knitter mother made this for me!

The yarn is soft and absolutely heavenly. She knitted it single strand and the stitch is similar to all these collapse weave and machine knit structures with which I have been experimenting. This is the hand knitted version!

Not so plain beige

2010-03-28T00:55:00.013+11:00

I am doing machine knitting at textile school this semester. The first project was to familiarise ourselves with machine knitting again and to experiment with punch card #3 on the Singer machines.

This was the inspiring sample. I often wonder how to achieve similar textures or patterns in different ways of making cloth, ie with weaving and knitting. I like the folded effect that one can achieve with double weave and this is my version in machine knitting. I am sure other people have come across this before but I figured it out on my own and it was satisfying.
I thought, it was all very well to do a small sample but what would it look like as the 'real thing'? I tested and had probably half a dozen discarded samples. In the end, I got this scarf.

It was knitted without weights as it would stretch the stitches and the folds would flatten out and also become less even.
I kept my fingers crossed the whole time that it won't jump off the machine (well, figure of speech as I needed both hands - one to steady the knitted section and the other to move the carriage).

The texture gave this colour a bit more 'life'. This yarn was in my 'discard' stash. I had given up hope of making anything interesting out of it, and then this happened!

I also like the way the edges are slightly 'frilled'.

I am going to try it again with a few other colours, varying widths, but that may have to be later in the year........

Big red

2010-03-28T00:34:00.017+11:00

Weaving has taken a back seat at the moment. Hand and machine knitting seem to have taken over.

When I was sick last year with that terrible flu and chest infection, I wanted a warm blanket on the couch. I wondered about knitting, weaving or crocheting one. I had always admired this, but also wondered about this. In the end, I found this yarn and love the colour.

I decided on knitting and found the pattern in the 'Opinionated Knitter'. I used 2 strands of the yarn and it was 3 stitches to the inch, with only 30 stitches on the needles at any one time.

I also like the simplicity of the shape and the construction of the whole thing. The mitre corners seemed easy, I followed the instructions but decided that I did not like to see the holes from the short rows. I did some more research and found that I can do wrap short rows and it would eliminate that 'hole' effect.

I also found out about the craft clinic at this yarn shop in town. I went and met Judith. She is a wonder and helped me with my un-knitting (she calls it tinking: knit spelt backwards) and showed me how to do these wrap short rows.

I have finished the knitting part now and will have to go back to see her for help to sew it all together. The pushy cat has taken a liking to it and has staked her claim. I think that is a pretty determined look!

Figs, figs, figs aplenty

2010-03-28T00:13:00.015+11:00

This was the text message on my phone. Before I knew it, I got 10 kg (22lbs) of figs in my kitchen. Luckily, I was well prepared and had enough jam jars on hand.

I made 26 jars (300ml each), enough to last the year for myself, for birthday and christmas presents! By the fourth and fifth batch, I have perfected the recipe and had jam that set well.
The first 2 batches was more syrupy in consistency but still good. They will probably get used first.

I also found this recipe and decided to give it a go. It turned out well. I still have some figs left and will be making this again for lunch tomorrow. The pastry was a breeze with the food processor. I rolled it out on some freezer paper and it was easy to handle.

There is also this other recipe that I will try later on. I have made a version of it with cranberry jam/hazelnut and it was delicious.

Happy new year

2010-02-14T23:15:00.011+11:00

Good-bye to the ox,

and welcome in the year of the tiger,

wishing everyone a year of prosperity, inspiration, creativity, knowledge, and success.

More exhibitions: Part II

2010-02-07T22:07:00.006+11:00

And then there are the embroidered purses. They are small pieces, approx 15x 10cm (6x4 inches).
More decorative than practical use.

More exhibitions: Part I

2010-02-06T21:52:00.024+11:00

I was fortunate enough to see this when I was in Hong Kong over Christmas. It is part of the permanent exhibition so if anyone is there, it is worth a visit. (and entry is free on a wednesday).
I found out that photography was allowed in this exhibition (no flash, of course) and I went back the next day with my camera. The lighting level is higher than I expected compared to those at exhibitions in Australia, but it helped with the photography.

This cylindrical shaped object is a thumb ring holder, so you can imagine the scale of the object. The diameter is just close to one inch.

This fan has a woven floral image with a straight twill background. It is such a subtle design and the carving on the handle is a continuation of the floral pattern.

The following 4 images are that of 'cloud collars'. They are primarily decorative but can also prevent grease stain from the hair getting onto the dress collar! The shapes are interesting as are the different decorative styles.

This last item is a headgear called a 'tianzi'. It is decorated with pearls, semi-precious stone and inlaid with kingfisher feathers. All the turquoise coloured parts are made of feathers.

In this last image, you can see the grain of the feather. The workmanship is spectacular.

Ikat weaving demonstration

2010-02-05T21:14:00.012+11:00

In early Nov last year, there was a demonstration of ikat weaving from the island of Flores, Indonesia, at the National Gallery of Victoria International. It was fascinating. I have heard of and read about backstrap looms but had never seen one in action before. It is amazing what is woven on them and how much space they take up compared to my 'huge' countermarche floor loom!

This is a miniature example of how the warp (or the weft if it is a double ikat) is wound and tied, ready for dyeing.

A view of the pattern on the warp and a section of woven cloth.

The 'heddles' I believe is a continuous piece of string looped over/under the warp threads.

A flat piece of timber is pushed through to create a shed, and the 'shuttle' is a rod with yarn wrapped around it in a tube. (you can just see it in the top right hand corner).

The 'shuttle' thrown and pulled out at the this end.

It was truly amazing and inspiring.

Ikat workshop

2010-02-04T21:47:00.008+11:00

Last year, Kaz came to Melbourne and taught us how to do painted warps. This is some of the woven results.

My colours turned out more subdue than some of the other ones but they remind me of maple leaves colour in Autumn. We used procion dyes on mercerised cotton.

These ones are Michelle's and they are about an inch wide, with the single black edge.

These very vibrant colours belong to Barb and she woven a section in repp weave,

and a section in a twill, which makes a wider cloth.