Blankets Kotare and Huia Bay

Yes, the last blankets for this year are finished and waiting for their forever homes.

Kotare is in Inspirit Gallery.  She is 80% mohair with about 20% wool.

 It always seems to be blowing here especially when I'm in a hurry to catch the mail.

 Lots of mohair makes for a light, warm throw.

 Huia Bay and village are in West Auckland, part of the Waitakeres. 

(Picture from Wikipedia.)

;

My interpretation of Huia Bay with the sun twinkling on the water.

  Will be in Pauanesia soon.

Possum merino wrap and Infinity scarves

Walked to Orokawa Beach this morning, glorious day and I had done my 10,000 steps before lunch.  Hence time to write to you.

I have the loom threaded with an echo warp so thought I'd use up a prewound warp I've had on the shelf for hur hmmm I don't remember.  One thread is possum merino silk and the other a fine cashmere.  The possum is about 2 1/2 times thicker than the cashmere so wondered how it would work out.  

 Worked out pretty good actually.  This wrap has a 60/2 silk weft in black.  All these luxurious fibres are devine together.

 Above is a double wrap infinity scarf and below a single wrap infinity scarf.  These have an elasticated merino weft which again is awesome, closing the warp threads up.

 The top scarf has a point twill weft and the bottom another version.  What is the difference between point twill and gebrochene - can anyone tell me?

We have a wonderful new gallery opened at the beach called Waihi Beach Gallery.  I took these in to Ana and Andrew expecting them to choose one, maybe two.  If you'd like one they are all on display at the Gallery.

We are going away for a few days to Mt Ruapehu to do some walking.  Well Pete will stride it out, I'll struggle along behind, catching up when he stops for a photograph.  Hence the training walk this morning.  Catch up next week, all gong well.

Pohutukawa Blankets

Pohutukawa blankets are available in Pauanesia store, very warm and snuggly.

Orange place mats

First up a gratuitous picture of the view from my kitchen window.  Saw the sun catching on the freight ship but I wasn't quick enough finding my camera.  Love the colour in the dunes.

  

Finished two mats in the pattern I spoke of last post and they do look so dynamic when hemmed and pressed.

Unfortunately, I'd used most of the warp making this table centre to match four mats made previously in 4 colour double weave but with an altered tie up.  My little camera had a hard time capturing them as the pattern tends to shimmer a bit.

But, oooh, I do like them.

And a better picture of this piece that can be a table centre or runner for two, replacing single mats.

I'm liking this so much I'm wondering about fabric for top or jacket.  

Dreams keep us going!

Table mats

Looking for some advice please.  You may remember a couple of posts ago I was working on these place mats.  They are finished but I haven't been able to get a "beauty" shot of them.

As there are still several metres of orange and white warp on the loom I thought I'd try another style but they aren't singing to me.  What do you think?  Too busy for a table setting?  The ends are just folded under and all the threads sticking out from the under side are trials of colour, thickness and pattern.

 

 Reverse side showing more orange.  I'm not an orange fan so maybe that is influencing my thoughts.

 My second query is, how would you present place mats to a shop or gallery for display/sale purposes?  Pinned in a stack, boxed, rolled with paper band around.  As a customer I'd want to be able to feel them and see at least one flat on a surface.

Any thoughts on these subjects?

Blankets, what else!

More blankets heading to Pauanesia soon in gorgeous indigo blue tones. 

I've had fun changing the stripe arrangement in each.

 After the tasseling is complete and before the fulling process every tassel is trimmed.

 A belated birthday gift (late only because of the mail) arrived.  Am enjoying the read and the eye candy.

 And another blanket I made as a stash buster which I called Moody Sea.  Available at the fabulous new Waihi Beach Gallery.

Creative Fibre Bay of Plenty Area Exhibition

Yesterday I drove to Mount Maunganui for the opening of the Creative Fibre Bay of Plenty Area Exhibition.

(This was an effort having spent the day before on my bed with some unknown bug!)  For one reason and another the bi-annual exhibition has been postponed for the last few years so we haven't had one for ages.

Those who follow my facebook page (diannedudfieldsweaving) will know that my table runner, Ravenna, spoken about last post received the Barbara Wilson Award for excellence in weaving.  A big thrill.

But then it got better and I received the Best in Show Award for "Dragon's Breath"

So very exciting.

It was a super day catching up with other weavers and friends

and I might have just come home with a couple of cones of merino, possum, silk.

Mosaics of Ravenna

A while back Peter called me to his computer and asked what do you think of this, want to go visit.  It was a whole page of pictures of Ravenna, a city in Northern Italy and steeped in history and art.  You bet I want to visit.

At the same time I was gob-smacked.  It was just what was on my computer screen (sort of) in Fiberworks (for the uninitiated  fiberworks is weaving software) and I was threading the loom with a navy and turquoise cotton warp sett at 40 epi.  The pattern is a 4 colour double weave with blue and an apricot in the weft.  Treadled as the warp threading with weft threads pretty much the same thickness as the warp to square the pattern.  I thought I was pretty clever with that allowing for shrinkage at different rates in warp and weft.  Don't fall off your chairs, for once I did sample.

I'm really smitten with this pattern, there is so much going on.  Are they square tiles or diamond shaped?  The patterns within the tiles are fun and where the diamond tiles meet there is another circle event happening.  The straight draw border brings it all together.

And here is the reverse side with a whole lot of more fun.

The ghastly labels are not mine but this has been entered in the Bay of Plenty Area Exhibition and one must follow the rules.  Selection was last weekend so think I'm safe publishing this.

Its a bit odd photographing a table runner on the deck but someone was filling ink cartridges for a photographic printer and had an ooopsy!  Our table is not the best now.

The second runner on the same warp with the same weft colours is designed using an altered tie up similar to what Marian Stubenitsky shows in her wonderful book "Weaving with Echo and Iris".  Its still four colour double weave but I've altered one half of the tie up.

Have now tied another warp on, this time orange and white.  I just love it when the knots all line up nicely.

These are still on the loom and again, lots of little pattern areas to make me excited.  Again woven with an altered tie up on 16 shafts in 5 end advancing twill.  This time the weft threads are slightly thinner than the warp giving the warp more emphasis.

Love these echoing hearts.

Can't wait to get these mats off the loom.

There has been knitting ...

Last year sometime my daughter in law asked if I could make matching jumpers for her and her now 4 year old daughter.  Of course I could, it just takes time, a lot of it.

This pattern, Little Miss Myra's Sweater designed by Laura Simonson of Knot Enuf Knitting, seemed like a good bet but it only comes in children sizes up to 10 years.  I figured D I L would be about a size 12 and both girls are very long!  With this pattern you start with the cable band around the shoulders, then work up and then down and lastly work the sleeves.  First thing I realised was that the cable would be small on an adult so sat with pen and paper and quickly worked out a bigger, but matching, cable.  Then I'd knit some on the small garment, then switch to the bigger to do the same.  I did take the cable to the bottom of the garment including it in the rib band.

Then, of course, buttons became a problem as the nearest habby shop is an hours drive away.  A quick fossic in Granny's button box found some old glass buttons.

Then the jumpers were in the post, too late for winter I thought, but goodness have we had some cold days lately.  

Clean up and blankets

It finally happened.  I couldn't stand my studio any more.  Boxes and mess everywhere.

The only thing I could think of to try and make room was to remove all the boxes to the guest bathroom and start sorting from there.  Shower cubicle filled and the bath and then the floor.  It is  (or was) winter here so not expecting visitors.  Of course, best laid plans .. etc. a friend decided he would call in so with a couple of weeks notice I set to.

I did have some "before" photos but seem to have deleted them (probably just as well).  With throw outs and a box of "give aways" I had three rows of shelves completely full and one row empty, just enough space to take the boxes of cotton I bought earlier in the year.

I'm slowly catching up on blanket orders.  These Kakapo blankets have gone to Pauanesia.  Glorious green shades of olive, moss, chartreuse and more.

And everyone's favourite, Pohutukawa.  

Jenny will love to show you this one at Inspirit Gallery.