Saturday, September 22, 2012

And... more colours

 Last week I went to Wanaka to visit the Wanaka Spinners and Weavers with lots of my alpaca samples. The air was crisp and fresh with fresh snow on the mountains. Just gorgeous.
 I also found time to dye a few more colourways this one is Blanket bay, a rich deep blue with teal and purple.
 The lakeside at Wanaka was still as a mirror in the morning sun.I enjoyed blueberries and pancakes for breakfast at a nearby cafe.

We went back over the Lindas Pass and the colours in this yarn really reflect the colour I saw in the hills and tussock.













The colourway below is Port Chalmers where there is a small but vibrant artist community as well as busy port. This was the first place we lived when we arrived in NZ.
I love greys and so Eely Point above and Rae's Junction below could well join my personal yarn stash.
I apologise for the photos being out of sequence. This was the road close to Ranfurly on the way to Wanaka over the 'pig route'. Snow flurries shaped the colours of the landscape.
Finally below is Flagstaff Forest. This forest is close by to the actual alpacas who grow the fibre that goes into the yarn.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

More new colours

 'Duntroon' on 4ply alpaca,merino and nylon
 'Mount Cargill. above and 'Lake Dunstan' below also dyed on the 4ply blend.
 Plus a couple of shibori dyed scarves. The one above is handspun suri alpaca dyed with a base colour once the scarf was woven in a 4 shaft twill. The scarf was dried and steam pressed into pleats, folded with 'bulldog' clips attached to the pleats which causes the dye to resist in those areas.
The scarf below is also dyed and then folded and pressed pleats the length of the scarf. The pleats are tightly bound with cotton thread before dyeing in the second colour.
Well its officially spring here which usually means lots of different weather. Very windy today. Plenty of lambs jumping around the paddocks where we live. At least they've had a bit of sunshine as well as showers these last few days. Enjoying the lighter mornings.