Kakapo

It took a while to get back to the studio after our wonderful break on Bribie Island but requests were piling up and the shuttles called.

 

I talked about the Kakapo, a flightless, fat native parrot in the last post on scarves.  They are very endangered and are being bred to be released in wildlife reserves including Maungatautari Mountain.  These parrots are their own worst enemy: as I said they are good climbers so several scaled the fence surrounding the sanctuary and went walk about.  Luckily they were easily traced by their transmitters and returned to safety.

 

Inspirit Gallery is not far from Maungataurari Mountain and Jenny asked if I would weave some blankets in Kakapo colours.  My plessure.

More Catch Up

Well my thoughts of keeping up to date didn't even get off the ground.  Feel like I've been chasing my tail for months and finally starting to catch up.

I can't remember if some of these projects were recorded in the past so lets run through them.

I still think this is one of the best lace patterns I've come across.  It appears on Pinterest as either a jumper or a jacket but the charts as given need lengthening.  This is knitted in a wool/bamboo mix from Bendigo Wool Mill.  I'm going to enjoy wearing it in late autumn.

A cushion which ended up at Inspirit Gallery.

A run of three twill scarves (actually two scarves and a cowl) now being shown off at Waihi Beach Gallery.

After all the excitement of having the grandchildren stay before Christmas and family staying for Christmas I took some time to play.

These name tapes are diversified plain weave and they work very well as hang tags on tea towels but, of course, take so long to weave they are totally impractical as a sale item.  The horizontal stripes are reed marks which will not wash out but effective anyway.

Then I had a play with Fiberworks software and created a turned echo with lots of transformations.  More to come on that in later posts.

I was commissioned to weave a baby blanket in dusky pinks, white and wine tones.  Cabbie really doesn't want to give it up.

Visits from grandchildren include boogie boarding when the tides right and the other half of the day involves craft.  I had 10cm left to weave when they arrived for their second visit so to keep Miss 5 year old occupied I taught her to knot thread, thread the needle and sew on buttons but then I had to make it into a bag which I noticed she wore on the trip home.

How did that picture of the wild life get there?  Seagulls after some food I'd thrown out.

Puriri blanket commissioned by a friend for her step daughter.  Sometimes the colours really sing.

This Puriri one is in Pauanesia.

On top of all this I thought it a good idea to open my studio with a half price sale.  There's still quite a lot to choose from so if you've seen anything on here and wanted it inquire if its still available. You never know, you might be really lucky.  (No blankets though, I don't keep them here.)

And that's a good step to being caught up.  There are all sorts of things coming up in the next couple of months to keep me away from the looms.  Hopefully I'll be able to share them as we go along.

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.

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.

Jenny's Kingsize Kingfisher blanket

To my shame this large Kotare blanket was ordered a year ago but what with other commitments and travelling and summer (who needs mohair blankets in the heat) and knowing it would be a pig to alter the loom it just got neglected.

Sure hope it was worth the wait.

Scarves for Men 2

Some of the scarves sent to Inspirit Gallery earlier this week in time for Field Days.

Woven in shadow weave based on a threading in "book of 8 shaft Patterns edited by Carol Strickler" but I used 16 shafts.  Woven in merino, cashmere, possum, silk at 20 epi. 

(Pics should be clearer if you click on them.)

Black and bottle green. 

 Navy and ecru was my favourite.

Brown and ecru.

For this one the brown is 2 ply but the ecru possum merino is a singles.  I wound them together on the warping reel, tied on to previous warp at the front of the reed and wound them through to the back beam.  Not a problem but if I'd stopped to think I might have realised that perhaps it wasn't the best choice for a warp thread.

Jenny at Inspirit Gallery is delighted with the design line.

Scarves for men

I've been asked by Inspirit Gallery to design a series of scarves for men in time for Field Days, the biggest agricultural show in New Zealand.  I keep having this vision of a farmer pulling on his "black with two red stripes at the cuff" gumboots at 4 in the morning and saying, Now just where is my Dianne Dudfield designer scarf. 

At the same time as Field Days Inspirit is featuring an exhibition on conservation so I'll incorporate some possum/merino/silk thread into my scarves since possums are one of the biggest threats to our native forests and birds - wear a possum, save a tree.

Low Tide Exhibition at Inspirit Gallery

You wouldn't believe it but the busiest week of my year, the week I've been working towards for soooo long and I've got a winter virus, eyes, nose, throat, the works.

Yesterday was "hanging" day at Inspirit so I drove the 1 1/2 hours to Hamilton with car loaded with goodies.  After the arrival of Colleen and Dave and coffee and scones we got going.  I think I'll let the pictures, which were taken before everything was finally settled, do the talking.

The fabric for the Theo Moorman work is courtesy of Pauanesia in Auckland.  Once it came off the loom it was machine embroidered to enhance the image.  I'm not too keen on the height of the two pieces in the middle of the top picture but the hooks were already in the wall!  The monofilament and shell pieces are what inspired the title of the show.  I love walking the beach at low tide and some days if there is the right amount of cloud and the sun in the right position it feels like walking on clouds and on a rare occasion if everything is perfect its magic, like walking in space.  I really like the way Colleen Dewhurst's paintings and my work complement each other.  A proud moment for me.

There is a lot more to see as Jenny also wanted a selection of my scarves and blankets in the gallery (but not the exhibition) as well.  Some are on 'necks' on the empty plinths you can see.