Magic Mushrooms

Received confirmation that the three pieces I sent in for the CF National Exhibition have all been accepted - Yay!  As I don't have a photo of them to post I will show what has popped up in my garden during the weekend . . .

Never a dull moment!

Red Wrap

It has taken a while but I have finally finished the red wrap. I'm very happy with it and love the yarn - 70% alpaca, 30% silk.

If you wonder what the funny shapes are, it's because I draped it over the back of a chair to let the light through.

Next plan is to do some experimenting on a LONG white scarf warp that has been sitting around for years.  I have a new book, 'Magic Materials to Weave' and it has prompted me to use some shrinky/stretchy yarns to see what effects I can get. So here I go sampling.

Back to Something Like Normal

Whew!  My entries for the National Creative Fibre Exhibition are not only in the post, they have arrived in Wellington. I always forget what a long involved process it is to remember . . . and find . . . and use . . . the sew-in labels necessary and the form filling and packaging. This time I was clever enough to fill in the packing slips at the same time as the entry forms, but it's still a hassle and takes ages.  In the bustle I forgot to take a photo of the length of fabric I sent, but here is a look at the linen I finished recently. I sent 2 pieces - one very long white one and a shorter natural-colour in  linen and cotton.

The napkins are still haunting me. Four more to hem . . . and then what do you do  with a dozen or so napkins with a threading error!  I did sell a couple at the Co-op shop in Picton but I have now finished my association with that in the meantime. It was well worth being involved but I'm not prepared to participate during the winter.

Today I cut off a red alpaca/silk wrap which I wove with a delicate lace pattern (3 thread huck rather than 5 thread). I'm dying to see it washed but need to finish  the ends first and it's a slow process. It's a good excuse to make the most of the last lovely sunny Indian summer days we are enjoying while I sit and fiddle with the fringes.

April Spools Day

Thanks to friend Meg and her quirky ideas this is April Spools Day (much more fun than the alternative) where weavers get to show the spools and bobbins they use for weaving.  Mine go Way Back, starting with the bobbin winder made from an old sewing machine motor, adapted to take commercial fly-shuttle pirns, , , though I don't use a fly shuttle. For these I have 'custom built' end delivery shuttles of the rather robust variety.

I have two sizes of pirn; Quite Large and Even Bigger!  Here they are, with also a view of the end, hence the creative fitting on the motor.

Even though these pirns, have done sterling service over 30+  years, I now use for preference some plastic bobbins for a couple of very nice Le Clerc side delivery boat shuttles I acquired a couple of decades ago.  They don't quite fit the machine  but if I hold everything right I can manage quite well. This system has served me well and never broken down over the decades and I am counting on it to continue for many years yet.

Some years ago a lovely lady gave me a beautiful damask double shuttle.  I think it is intended to take paper pirns but I discovered a now obsolete sewing thread spool (Drima) fits it well and I keep my eyes open for them at garage sales and op shops.  I haven't used this shuttle nearly enough and this might be resolution time to make more use of it.  These little bobbins have a purpose made adapter to fit the bobbin winder. Half of it is used (somewhat drunkenly) for the bobbins above, but here it is as it was intended to be used. (There is a bit of willow stick protruding from the right hand end to bridge the gap.)

 And here is the lovely shuttle

Thank you Meg for prompting this discussion.

The Cavalcade

A few more pics from my travels before it all becomes ancient history.  On Saturday 2 March the annual Otago Goldfields Cavalcade converged on Tapanui from eight different trails. They end up at a different Otago location each year.  Some came with heavy waggons, some light waggons, some riding and some walking.  We saw the Grand Parade and here are a few of my favourite photos.

Other entertainment included -- believe it or not -- dancing tractors. Four large (men) and 4 small (ladies), painted red and polished for the occasion performed a square dance to the instructions of a caller -- all correct down to the last do-si-do.  The photos don't do it justice of course; you would need a movie for that (forgot I could take a movie on my camera.) How they did it without locking wheels in the tight circles I don't know.

The ladies take a bow. It really was impressive.  The drivers' costumes could do with a bit of improvement but the execution was superb.  TV1 was filming so I hope it turns up sometime on the screen.

More about my travels

After the PWN Seminar I drove south, making a few visits around the old stamping ground on the way, and ended up with Mary and Bill at Mosswood, Tapanui.  I don't know how or where the time went there; it was complete relaxation after the hustle and bustle of the previous days and weeks. I parked my car under the spreading tree by the corner of the garden the turkeys like to scratch in and blobbed out. I realised when I was checking my photos that I didn't take one of Mary, or of Charlie (bird), or of the turkeys with their 16 half grown chicks.  I must have been tired!  I did catch up on some people though and here they are.

Bill was taking me to see Bridget milk the cows but had a flat tyre to deal with first.

You can tell Bridget loves her job!  I forgot to ask how many cows she milks twice a day but the flash new rotary shed takes 54 at a time.

Not quite 2 months old but Madison goes to work in the cowshed where she has her own nursery!

Nic is 'the Boss . . . Neville is 'the Boy'

That will do for now.

Some catching up to do

There has been a bit of water under the bridge since my last post . . . and a lot of miles travelled.  Weaving-wise I finished a number of linen table runners and took those with me on my next road trip and did almost all of the hemstitching while I was away. 

Part of the trip was to the PWN annual seminar, held this year at a youth camp site at Raincliff, not far from Geraldine.  Here I am at show and tell time with one of my linen runners.  One of the seminar sessions was about photographing our work. I didn't spend nearly enough time or attention on it but did manage to get a clear close-up of my linen.

One of the highlights of the weekend was a visit to the home of Maggie Sewell of Adobe Alpacas. It was neat to meet some of her animals . . . all individually named.

But even better to be allowed into her yarn store!

Almost everyone queued up to buy and we all left clutching bags of beautiful loot.

The best part of these seminars is meeting up with friends and colleagues who all talk the same language . . . plus having our meals provided. In this case the quality and quantity were delicious and generous.

Wil looks as though he is giving thanks on behalf of all of us.