March has marched away

March is nearly over, I've been busy, busy, busy but not many photos to show for it.

We made the most of the few sunny days and went walking in the Karangahake Valley.

I always love this lime and orange ?lichen growing on the rocks, sometimes its vivid and others unnoticeable.

And to finish off the walk I was taken up the Scotsman Valley hill kicking and grizzling all the way.  It was very pretty but I'd had enough after 3 hours.

Orokawa Bay is always majestic.  Look at the sky colour and the ocean.  We hit the tide at the right time and as the waves pulled back all the stones and pebbles went rumble, rumble then a wave would crash; like listening to nature's orchestra.

Mid last year I was invited to take part in an Altrusa Exhibition at Te Awamutu (where I grew up) as a fund raiser for the Cancer Society.  So I tied a warp on to a previous project,

a few sharp tugs straightened it out,

and ready to go.

The finished wrap I called "Spoon Drift" as it reminds me of the bubbles on the water after a wave breaks.

The rescue cotton came from Agnes and it weaves beautifully.

Double threads, 32 epi, echo threading.  It drapes well, a wrap for summer evenings or scarf for colder moments.

Peter and I drove through to Te Awamutu on a rather stormy day to deliver my articles.  The rain wasn't as bad as it had been during the night but it was a fight to keep the car on the road due to the wind.

Next morning I packed my suitcase and was on the road again heading for the annual Professional Weavers Network weekend Seminar in Waikanae.  Four of us travelled together so there was much nattering and laughing and dare I say some yarn was acquired on the way.  The Seminar acts as a recharge for most of us.  Wonderful talking to and swapping ideas with like minded weavers.

We started by training in to central Wellington and a visit to Te Papa, our national museum.  We were taken to back rooms and got to see many pieces of hand weaving from the 50s to 70s.  The staff had limited knowledge of the works but some of our members had known the artists and their work.  Disappointing that no woven works have been acquired since the 70s.  Other items on the program for the weekend included a talk on weaving in Greek Cyprus and Ruka taught us how to extract muka from flax, harekeke, spin and ply the fibres down our leg and then weave a wee kete or bag.  Someone commented to me its the first time its been useful to have big thighs!!

Since then I've had visitors and more visitors and a sore throat that knocked the stuffing out of me but is nearly better.

I have had a garment/outfit accepted for the Fashion event at Creative Fibre Festival but not heard about the exhibition yet.  More to talk about when that news comes through.