Monday, December 31, 2007

Two scarves.




Two projects I'm working on at the moment. Ihis one is some handspun Suri alpaca I've spun and am in the process of weaving on a four shaft loom for the breeder of this animal. the colour is actually a light tan colour and it
really gleams as I work with it. there's a little bit of texture there, the alpaca had light coloured tips which have produced a slightly nubbly texture.





I dyed this wool yarn to produce long stripes of pattern by making a very long skein on my warping board and dip dyeing approximately two feet of yarn at a time.
I planned to weave a scarf using the same yarn for warp and weft.
Below are the results on the loom, which is a rigid heddle loom. I'm using a pick up stick to produce a repeatable pattern and provide a bit of texture.
The pattern produces a lace effect and keeps the weft open in places for a light fabric. always looks too open on the loom but i know washing the finished fabric should produce the handle I'm looking for.


Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas got in the way but here are the birds.



Well I was going to put entries on this blog regularly, but the last week has flown by. the day job requires a fair amount of my time at this time of the year. should get quieter next week.
I've been sorting through some of my tapestry crochet pieces. I find it quite inspiring looking at older pieces of work, seeing the direction I've taken and then maybe revisiting some of the abandoned ideas again. I wonder if its linked to this particular time of the year when you take stock ready for the New year?
This blanket was my daughter's baby blanket 15 years ago made from natural dyed handspun yarn. much of it 'singles', i.e. not plied yarn. Crocheted in half trebles (half double crochet). Worn rather well I think. Some of the colours have faded and changed in tone with the use and washing, but still looks pretty good. I was pondering on making up an indigo bath soon as I have a scarf I want to shibori dye so may as well put in some skeins of yarn to exhaust the dyebath.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Alpaca and merino heaven

Since moving to NZ from the UK in 1998 I've truly gone to fibre heaven. Here's a pic of my more recent carded batts of alpaca blended with luscious merino and silk. I get to say hello to the alpacas up the road before stealing their fleece. Its alright though because they're growing some more. Some of it I've dyed although the brown is still in its natural state. I enjoy the whole process from sorting, washing, picking, dyeing etc, weird hey? Fortunately other spinners seem to like my fibre too, so I get create and play with more than my fair share of fleece:)