By the Skin of my Teeth

By the skin of my teeth.
What an odd expression! 

Where did it come from? and what does it mean?

(by a very narrow margin; only just.)

My mother used to say it a lot.

I think its probably appropriate for this.

840 threads 72/2 alpaca silk hand dyed, 

that's all that's left.

Now to thread the loom.

Crammed and Spaced Scarves

Very bright crammed and spaced scarves in beautiful merino.

2/1 twill didn't cram as much as tabby.

  Red through yellow cashmere warp with merino weft.  

Beautifully soft.

Now for sale at the Cargo Shed in Tauranga.

The Knitting Year 2014 in pictures

I was a busy trooper, didn't realise I'd knitted quite so much!

Annis scarf.  Strictly speaking this was knitted in '13 but I blocked it in 2014.

Rinda's cocoon wrap.  Very pleased to see her wearing it often.

Zoe's jumpers

Thrums knotted together and knitted into sofa throws.

Jack's grandpa jacket.  When he opened the parcel he announced 'I don't wear green, only blue'.  When you're cold you wear green!

Handspun sliver from Fibre2go.  Steven West Metalouse pattern.

Dr Who socks

TV slouch socks machine knitted.

There are several projects either partly or almost finished and I did knit many samples to be used in a workshop I'm presenting at Festival in April.  

The needles aren't idle for long.

The Weaving Year 2014 in Pictures

Happy 2015 to you all.

Its really interesting to research a summary of the weaving which happens during the year.

This past year, 2014, my records tell me I wove 67 articles, mostly blankets and scarves 

with a little sidetrack into tableware.  Below is a selection of photos of some of the articles.

Kowhai blanket, a new colour exploration for me.

Summer and Winter table mats.
Several sets of mats and runners gifted to family members.

37 blankets in total this year.

Paint pallet.
My favourite piece this year.
Shibori using the same summer and winter threading as the table mats but the treadling altered.

Displayed and sold at Tauranga Creative Fibre Exhibition.

More shibori as above.  Unbelievable they could be woven on the same threading!

 I was commissioned to make a series of Scarves for Men by Inspirit gallery.  Below a couple of examples.

Navy and white.

Brown and taupe.

Huia blanket.

Huia Korowai.

There was quite a lot of experimentation with 4 colour double weave.

Tangerine Dream, winner of Design Award at Creative Fibre Experience exhibition.

Chromatic Reflections, third prize at Waikino Exhibition

Chromatic Reflections

Coral Habitat.

Pohutukawa blanket commissioned by Inspirit Gallery.

Series of cotton scarves all from the same warp using an interleaved threading and different treadlings.

Speaker cloth for retro sound systems.

Hope you've enjoyed seeing this summary as much as I enjoyed making each and every piece.

Look out for one on knitted projects soon.

What's on the looms 1.1.15

That's easy - nothing!

Except for the old warp ready for tying on on the blanket loom

and the pile of crap important stuff for filing on the table loom.

But there are plans for the Mecchia.

Multi brights hand dyed merino for scarves or wrap

and, if that works, I can tie on this cashmere. 

Now to crunch numbers and wind warp chains.

If you'd like to see other blog posts on this subject follow on Meg's Loomsday page.

Speaker cloth

I'll just sneak in with this one before the end of the year. 

5.2 metres of cloth for son in laws speakers.  

Its not all for him unless there are mistakes made! 

Black is linen plied with an unknown manmade fibre.  

Sand is 3 threads of 20/2 cotton from DEA yarns.

Draft from 8 shaft patterns (Strickler) book, pattern no. 715, 

because that is what was on the unit its replacing.

"Just what he wanted" was the verdict.

This evening is New Year Eve which is shaping up to be windy and wet.  I've moaned quite a bit about the weather recently, apparently with good cause.  Our summer is 6 weeks (6 weeks) late arriving so not here yet!

Enjoy your celebrations

and all the best wishes for 2015.

Seasons Greetings

 The pohutukawa tree (NZ Christmas tree) 

as seen from the deck over my front garden taken a couple of days ago 

as a storm was approaching.

Wishing everyone everywhere

a wonderful time with family and friends

over this holiday time.

(And spare a thought for those who have to work to keep

the country ticking along, including

nurses, police, ambulance and MAF staff at the airport.)