Its been over a month ...

I can't believe its been more than a month since I posted on "blog".  

There has been quite a lot happening so hope we can catch up.

I had a request from a lass in London to replace a much loved blanket which her flatmate had kindly washed ..... in the machine and dryer.  All my blankets are hand wash or at the most a short run on wool wash.  The mate to this has gone to the States so I've gone international.

Over the years I've been seduced into buying velour (or chenille ) yarn and never had any success with it.  Knit, crochet or weave, it always wormed into ugly loops.  I was going to give it away and realised I was just giving the problem to someone else.

Just to sidetrack a bit, Bay of Plenty has many groups of Creative Fibre (Spinners and Weavers) but mostly not enough people interested in each group to have a special subgroup for weavers so it was decided to start a weavers' group for the whole BoP to meet once a month centrally at the Mount.  First meeting I was able to go to was talking about tabby, or plain weave.  The penny dropped and I realised tabby is ideal for velour and I had an article for show and tell.

I've also been having a play with deflected double weave - more on that in another post.

And another series of blankets are on their way to Pauanesia.  I don't usually have so little warp left.  I had to bring the knots in front of the reed to get enough for 15cm of fringe and to put a cross in (2 rows of tabby) ready to tie on the next warp.

More later, the loom is calling.

Pauanesia Scarves 2017 Part 2

Don't you just love a stack of scarves.

First up kakapo and in particular, Sirocco.

Kakapo are flightless, nocturnal, ground dwelling, vegetarian parrots on the critically endangered list.  A few years ago there were only 50 kakapo alive and this has risen to 154 birds in 2017.

Kakapo forage on the ground and climb high in trees.  They often leap from trees and flap their wings but at best manage a controlled plummet.

Here is a clip of Sirocco with Stephen Fry and friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opv8vZ6RvB0

  Next up Kiwi, the national icon of New Zealand.

New Zealand soldiers were nicknamed Kiwis by Australians during World War I and it has stuck ever since.

The Kiwi is related to the emu and cassowary of Australia and the extinct moa of NZ.

It is a flightless bird with loose hair-like feathers, strong legs and no tail.  There are 5 varieties, brown kiwi of the North Island, Great spotted kiwi from the top of the South Island, Little spotted kiwi now found on Kapiti Island, Rowi the rarest of kiwi found in Westland and Malborough Sounds and Tokoeka, meaning weka with a walking stick (love it) and found in South and Stewart Islands.

Kokako

The clear organ-like song of the kokako has led to it being described as angel tongued and devil faced.  It is one of the rarer and most striking of New Zealand birds.  

The orange wattled South Island kokako was declared extinct in 2004 but the blue wattled North Island kokako is resurging in numbers with more than 600 breeding pairs.

And the Tui.

Tui are boisterous, medium-sized, common and widespread birds of forest and suburbia.

They belong to the honeyeater family feeding mainly on nectar from native plants but also fruit and  insects and, less commonly, pollen and seeds.

It has been so much fun working on this series for Pauanesia.

Wild geranium scarf

 Shibori on the loom with resist threads.

 The shibori "snake", resist threads pulled very tight and ready for a visit to the dye house (aka my laundry).

Wild geranium.

When my Mum did pottery she said she could control everything about the pot until it went into the kiln then she had to learn to like what came out.  Its much the same with shibori; until I pull those resist threads out I don't really know what I'll get.

Pauanesia scarves 2017

I've been asked to weave another range of scarves for Pauanesia based on New Zealand native birds.

I got home from Australia late on a Friday and was at the loom first thing Saturday morning.  Nothing like a deadline to get me moving.

First up Kotuku, the white heron.

Kotuku breed in South Westland.  After breeding they disperse widely to coastal freshwater wetlands throughout the country.

 

 Then the black Robin or Chatham Island Robin.

This sparrow sized bird is endangered with just 250 birds at present.  In the 1980s the population was down to just 5 birds including one fertile female "Old Blue".

And the red is inspired by the red beak of the pukeko.

I'm working on the second half of the order but came down with a winter bug so production is at half speed.

I've been on holiday

Its been a while hasn't it!  Anyone miss my cheery posts?

First it was school holidays and we had our two delightful grandkids to stay for a few days.  I had this strange dream that by having a warp on the loom I'd have moments to work on it.  Come on GranD.

We had hardly delivered them home when we were packing our suitcases for a couple of weeks in Australia starting in Melbourne.  I'm the first to admit I'm not a photographer but a few pics that inspired me. 

 

Holiday days are always full on for us.  We went to a couple of jazz concerts, managed to get in to the Van Gough exhibition on our second attempt (so many people the first time they closed the ticket office), spent a day tramming, training and busing to Queenscliff among other activities.
After a relaxing couple of days at Heathcote staying on my cousin's farm we moved across state to the Grampian mountains for some tramping.  I was taken by the rock formations, quite different to anything I've seen here at home.  Sorry for so may pics; I couldn't choose just one.

Stepping stone walking track.

 

This is called the Balconies.  The young lady spent a lot of time sitting down on the ledge and I have to admit my heart was in my throat.

These were the signs saying don't go there but I heard her say well there isn't a fence to stop us!

The Pinacles

Shibori inspiration

Wild life - emus.

Lichen (echo weave maybe)

Bunjil (creator deity, ancestrol being)

About 1/8th of the rock with the painting of Bunjil.

The cave had a wire cage around it as in the past the art had been painted over with white paint.

And there the photos stopped even though quite a bit more holiday to go.  Spent the time in the old gold mining towns including Bendigo where, to the uninitiated, there is a wool mill.

Coming home through customs I got caught by the dog as I'd had an apple in my backpack.  The lady removed my neck cushion and ear phones then said whats this and proceeded to pull out yarn, and more yarn.  What's in this pocket; oh more yarn.  What's down here; surprise more yarn.  What's in here; oh your coat.  OK put it all away now!  Thank goodness she didn't ask me to open my suitcase.

It was a great break but always good to be home.

Dragon's Breath Outfit

 

 Dragon's Breath is the outfit I made and had accepted for the Runway Show at Creative Fibre Festival in Christchurch this past weekend. 

The outfit consists of an over tunic, skirt and gauntlets.

I imagined the tunic as a kind of coat replacement, to pull on when venturing outside, or just as a roomy, comfortable garment.

The handwoven fabric (4 colour double weave) is highlighted by the contrasting shaggy hand knit collar.

The skirt, 5 x 5 rib, and gauntlets, plated rib, are machine knit.

And that is the end of the secret projects I've been working on the last wee while.

Now back to working on my annual range of scarves for Pauanesia.

Kakabeak Wrap

This wrap, Kakabeak, was submitted for selection in the Creative Fibre Exhibition at Entwine Festival in Christchurch.  Several weeks ago I received a phone call from the Convenor saying it could be displayed in the exhibition if it was not for sale.  The reason given was that the beating was irregular.

Well, of course, I got huffy and just said "send it back to me please".  My reasoning being that if the selectors thought it wasn't good enough to sell then I would think it not good enough to be displayed.

Then I waited to get my hands on the wrap to see if I, as a selector, would agree with their decision.

Yes, there were a couple of rows which weren't beaten quite evenly (I've now evened them out, don't ask!) but overall, no, I don't agree with their decision.  

Kakabeak is woven on a networked warp with an echo of 8 shafts.  The tie up is a plaited twill with 3.1, 1.3, 2.2 twills and a lot of tabby and these do look like uneven beating when held to the light but they are quite correct for a plait.

What about things like Suitability for Purpose, Visual Impact, Design etc.

If anything I might have asked, Where is the Magic?

I think its a pretty delightful versatile garment with the red moon shapes reflecting the Kakabeak flower.

In the end its part of the deal that we accept the selectors decision but I do think the time is coming where guide lines/rules are necessary for participants and selectors.