Off to Festival

An early morning start saw six of us board the ferry on the way to Palmerston North for the Creative Fibre Festival. Nancy was already there being busy attending meetings and being official as our new Area Delegate. Here we are: 

We ate well!

And here we are again, watching the Runway Challenge:

You can tell we were having a great time.

April Show and Tell

Our meetings these days are so exciting because we have new members, not only keen to learn but the sparkle they give off when talking about learning to weave gives us all a renewed enthusiasm for our craft.  And it's not all about new members. I visited our ninety-year-old Betsy for a bit of tech support this week and she is weaving a full width knee rug on her big Thorp loom. It is all very encouraging.

Here is the show and tell from our April meeting.

Rosemary has woven this cosy thick but lightweight throw (another "U" eliminated from a UFO) but now is wondering how to deal with the fringes. Will she make them thicker or thinner . . . add more yarn? Or ? She probably got more suggestions than she needed!

New member Kathryn has been making these small wall hangings and experimenting with techniques along the way.

Anne wove this scarf using some of the silk from the stash of our late friend Win. The photos don't do justice to the fascinating texture of the yarn.

Rose wove this fabric in two weights of wool when she realised that over recent times she has woven in all sorts of other fibres but has been neglecting one of the most important - wool.

Now it is Festival time and some of us are heading up to Palmerston North to indulge in a few days of fibre related activity in the company of like-minded people from all over the country. We would love to see you there.

Yellow for April

Topic for the April meeting was YELLOW. For some it is a bright and happy colour and for others it is a challenge - we just don't know what to do with it.  Judy had done considerable research on the topic and had plenty of notes as well as books and magazines to give inspiration. We all agreed that, whatever the colour scheme, a little bit of yellow can make a project "sing" . . . and we had plenty of examples.

from the creamy, buttery yellow

through to the springtime cheerful yellow

and on through the 1970s

to the bright, show-off gold

all variations have a place.

It's March already!

March meeting was quite informal with plans being made for the upcoming Wool 101 display and travel plans for several members going to Festival in Palmerston North. It's going to be an early start that day!
Here is the show and tell.

Joan's crackle throw from last month appeared again, this time with the selvedge edges expertly reinforced with crochet

How's this for a first piece of weaving? Betty took a loom home to practise on and brought it back with this sampler completed.

Jen's cotton runner and place mats turned out well - but just not the way she expected. We need to do a bit more work on weaving drafts.

Chris has again made use of a fabulous ball of yarn, this time interspersing the glorious colour with plain navy

With the Wool 101 promotion looming Rose realised she has been neglecting wool lately in favour of other fibres so here is her offering of textured fabric in two very different weights of wool in both warp and weft. Unfortunately it is another piece woven but not made into a garment - yet. Anyone know a good seamstress?

Not new but still two things were learned from this piece. 1: It is woven in double width twill on 8 shafts. The fold is in the middle of the picture. 2: warp and weft are both "unspun" high twist carpet wool. It was "unplied" on a spinning wheel to take take out the overtwist and soften the yarn.

Last Pics from February

Anne's two scarves were shown in the last post but how much better they look with a bit of drape Good to see different techniques being tried.

Wendy does not waste even the smallest lengths of her precious yarn. Even the leftover scrap from the sewing needle gets needle felted into this colourful piece of work. 

Corrie, our visitor from the Netherlands, showed us a very easy crocheted cowl. One size fit all.

Wendy gave us a talk and showed us treasures from Japan. She even explained a mini tea ceremony

Along with other Japanese items, kimonos were very much on Wendy's mind.

Now it's time for the March meeting so come back for another look soon.

More February Show and tell

Turned Ms & Os to great effect by Anne

Anne was not so pleased with this double weave as the rayon yarn is too springy and does not bed in well

There is nothing like linen for tea towels.

Nancy had some yarn she wasn't keen to knit with so used it to felt a multi-strand rope necklace which looked stunning.

Wool and mohair in this pretty red/blue mix is well on its way to becoming a child's jacket

New member Kathryn has been experimenting with textures.

More to come. I'll try not to leave it so long next time.

New Year - New Members

It was a well attended meeting in February and great to have two new members and a visitor to swell the ranks. Welcome, Kathryn and Betty, and welcome also to Corrie who visits Blenheim regularly from the Netherlands. 

First, let's look at some of the show and tell that emerged from holiday activities.

New member Kathryn brought along this pretty pink tufted cushion.

Jan's "celebration" tapestry has done the rounds of the Australian and NZ tapestry exhibitions.

Not one to waste any of her luxury yarns, Wendy uses the short ends from weaving to add embroidery to this multicolour felt. The more techniques the merrier.

Beautiful handle and lovely texture enhance this lightweight throw from Rosemary

This generous sized blanket from Judy set up a discussion on self-striping yarns. For some they add an extra "zing" but others feel they just "don't work". 

With different yarns there is a possibility of differing tension and shrinkage so we will be watching with interest what happens when this is washed.

Another throw from Rosemary showing her skill with strong colours and stylish design.

This one is crackle weave from Joan. All this woolly weaving must surely have been done before the really hot weather arrived.

Keep watching for more show and tell in a few days.