Show and tell

It was icy cold today and eventually we warmed up. It was good to be able to help each other progress with ideas, skills and new ways of doing things. Kept us happy and productive.

Show and tell

Karin: Beret in 11 different colours,gentle tones. 4ply commercial wool. Size three needles. 195 stitches! Asymetric shawl in crowns, creams and yellow. Tops dyed by Alexis.

Cathy: Swaledale wool from Luba  plied with other fleece dyed with bottlebrush and avocado pits. Latte colour.

Alrisha: Noro yarn ridged beanie in blues and pinks.

Sarina: Congratulations on plying her first yarn (with help from Margaret) after the bobbins had sat on her Lazy Kate for 14 years . Natural brown and fawn tones.

Marjorie: Carded suri alpaca in a light caramel colour and so shiny!

Show and tell

The weather improved over the day so we were looking at a lovely blue ocean. Very cold , though. (Okay, cold for us in Adelaide.) Plenty to look at and discuss and it was a very positive, productive day with plenty of ideas to inspire us and to work towards. Our stall at the Beanies to Berets textile day at the weekend had been very successful and we were pleased with what we achieved.

Show and tell

Marina : sleeveless jumper in alpaca browns, fawns and pinks. Dyed and natural colours .
Marjorie : dyed a skein using only a ¼ teaspoon of colour in the dye bath: pink and aqua.
Jeanette : skein of spun wool grey and white.
Cathy: a ball of spun wool brown plied with multi colours, a large crochet blanket for her grandson in the bright colours he chose.
Sheila O: a dark grey embossed patterned beanie.
Hilary : a pair of fingerless mittens in green, pink and white handspun wool.

Show and tell

It was another blustery day down at the beach front this morning and then it poured! Winter is really upon us. We were nice and cosy inside the club rooms. We were surrounded with colour and ideas. We have watched projects progress from fibre to finished product and there has been some wonderfully squishy skeins of handspun wool to admire. In winter we see all the hats, scarves and warm, woolly things. It is good and keeps us full of cheer.

Show and tell

Corina: a lovely soft shawl in soft blues/greys.
Cathy: a ball of spun wool from Sue Horne’s mixed bag plied with a plait of Alexis dyed tops.
Fay: a skein of her first spinning which was very impressive. Congratulations!
Marjorie: a beret from Susi Horne’s mystery bag and a pair of socks in pinks.
Dagmar : small beanie in pastel colours, fawns /white mixture plus a lovely cable scarf in green.
Sheila O: a frilled neck scarf in blue pastel colours and a beanie to match in a knitted shell pattern and a skein of spun grey West Highland moulting type sheep in a grey colour. Alexis has already spun her West Highland fleece and is knitting a shawl which we will see on another occasion. Sheila has also spun a skein of pale , hand dyed wool using blue and aqua.
Jan E : a skein of mixed colours from Brenda at Felting Ewe and plied it with blue from the Guild.
John has woven 2 kilim type pieces of fabric ready to make into a garment
Hilary had a visit to the Canberra Felters and came back with a few spoils by way of pre-felts and pieces of sari silk ideal for felting into a scarf or bag.

Show and tell

Another blustery day winter’s day at the beach front but at least the sun was shining. Plenty of warm conversations and happy activity inside. The colours were good to look as well as seeing what people were doing with their colours. Show and tell table had some good things to look at but we are up to the bit where people are creating their new projects again and these things take time especially when you go from raw fleece to finished project.

Show and tell

Jeanette: a ball of spun wool in yellow and white,

Hilary: Swirl beanie in rust and pink tones.

Margaret : a crochet shawl/rug in multi coloured shell pattern.

Deb: Three skeins of dyed wool in pink, blue and purples and a crochet baby blanket with a Winnie the Pooh design.

Show and tell

Very blustery down at the beach front today and the wet , windy weather made for a spectacular ocean view. Winter has arrived a bit early! Inside the club we paid no attention to the cold and had a room full of colour, conversation and inspiring ideas. Our show and tell table was full of lovely skeins and cakes of wool and some great projects.

Show and tell

Maxine knitted a beautiful long cardigan in a cable pattern with a beanie to match in dark green Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply, plus several multi coloured skeins of spun wool.
Alrisha brought in a lovely woven rug woven from a factory India that is no long making these rugs.
Cathy: a ball of spun wool green/blue.
Karin :skein of spun wool in autumn tones.
Alexis: a large skein of spun wool oranges/browns and a skein of Navajo plied reds/yellow.
Jan: bright skein of spun top pink/purple, a grey beanie with a flat top with stripes in different patterns, plus a skein of spun wool in grey.
Dagmar: two balls of spun black alpaca plied with multi coloured silk.
Sheila O knitted frilly scarf and beanie in pale yellow/lime beanie knitted in a lacy pattern plus a skein of yarn in autumn colours.
Hilary: a ball of spun wool dyed with a selection of colours which turned out lime green.
Corina: a lovely shawl in browns/fawn and cream colours plus a skein of multi coloured wool which was predominantly blue.
Alexis has been busy dyeing her tops some with multi colours and English Leicester tops in plain colours.

Show and tell

Beautiful sunny autumn day at the beach front today and inside the club rooms it was just as warm and sunny. We thanked Marjorie for her years of reliable, steady, thoughtful service since 2004 as our club president and welcomed Karin as our new club president. We also have a busy schedule ahead of us and plan to keep ourselves happy and engaged with our textile arts and crafts. Last week’s trip to Saddleworth was a big success and members who attended spoke highly of the day they spent with the Saddleworth spinning group. Jan E reminded us that the Fibre Feast at St. Agnes is coming up on June 12th, our long weekend. Last year it was a huge fibre success.

Show and Tell

Christine finished John’s beautiful jumper in a cream ribbed pattern.

Margaret shared her hand dyed woven matt with mohair fleece.

Alexis has knitted two beanies – one pink with butterflies, one purple with dread locks. Very impressive.

Maxine had spun two skeins of spun wool with mixed colours plied with grey.

Cathy had spun three balls of spun wool in dark green, lighter green , yellow/pink and purple/turquoise

Marjorie had knitted a grey man’s jumper in homespun wool.

Deb had spun a skein of white corriedale.

Show and tell

Very busy , chatty time at the club today and the were definite signs of winter. We could watch the rain coming in and then we’d be talking about our ideas and forget all about it. The show and tell table was full of great ideas and our exchange table went well again today.

Show and Tell

Kay shared her colourful beanies and knitted felted bag . Yellows, limes and and blues.

Alrisha knitted a sleeveless jacket with a fringe around the sleeve, dark blue/red.

 Maxine knitted two very colourful chickens and shared several skeins of brightly coloured spun wool.

Cathy brought in her challenge this week which were one orange and green witch and a blue wizard, complete with colourful pumpkins.

Jan E spun and knitted a grey beanie with a cable band knitted sidewise.

Janette knitted a sleeveless vest in pastel shade and a scarf to match.

Anthea has painted small square cards with alcohol ink which make very attractive patterns.

Hilary spun and knitted a dark brown alpaca jumper with alpaca motifs in white. She also had made two felted creatures in read and blue.

Sheila Mc Had made a challenge quilt in purples and another small star quilt in creams and fawns.

The annual challenge

It was our AGM yesterday and it was decided to carry on as we were and help people when they needed it because we live in strange times. There were plenty of people there yesterday which was good for our Cancer Council morning tea fund raiser. It is an organisation we like to support and this was an easy way to do our AGM and the fund raining. This year’s challenge was to create a doll/ animal for the late Jean Greenhow range of dolls. We had been given 100 gm of fleece to spin and dye. The dolls which came back are lovely.

Marina’s owls won first prize.

Hilary’s swagman , bottom left won second prize.

Anthea knitted the big white bear.

Deb knitted the swashbuckling cat

Margaret made the beautiful robin.

Maxine knitted the lovely fireman which every grandson needs.

Show and Tell

We are ba-ack! We had a public holiday on Easter Monday , followed by a public holiday the following Monday for Anzac Day. We kept our Instagram account going but no show and tell for the blog. That all changed today because we were back, happy, chatty and very productive. So many great ideas and the weather was pleasantly sunny. Next week is our AGM which we are combining with a morning tea for the Cancer Council. That should make it an especially nice day.

Show and Tell

Cathy has made a neck scarf with heavy plait each end to go on the beach in wind, plus a ball of spun wool.
Dagmar : a lovely brown fine scarf in alpaca with a diamond pattern running down the centre. A ribbed beanie in browns with a blue trim
Anita: Red cowl with buttons to hold it close to the throat.
Maxine: a quilted puzzle block set suitable for a small child to play with.
Marina : a woven basket made at a workshop with Adele from the Adelaide Hills Spinners and Weavers full of balls of spun Shetland wool, a bag made from weaving with wooden rods with a woven handle.

Janette: a lovely jacket in spun wool and two cakes of spun silk, camel hair and wool.
Maria :small crochet beanie with a pink design.
Peter: A round weaving in greens and blues with a white centre.

Hilary: Skein of spun wool from Luba in greens, tans and pinks.

Show and tell

Winter comes June 1st in Adelaide and there were signs this morning of cooler weather and then the sunshine turned up its warmth and it was another lovely autumn day. We had plenty to talk about and so many good projects are underway. We are certainly producing a variety of colourful and textured yarns.

Show and tell

Margaret has been sorting out her stash and found these two weavings: one woven rug turquoise/blue and one woven floor mat red/grey, also a beanie with a border patterned in blue/white and yellow.
Marina: three balls spun, dyed alpaca plied with cotton, one ball spun coral wool plied with cotton.

Cathy: cake of spun wool in pink merino tops and naturally dyed polwarth
Sheila O: a large skein of wool in dyed in lime/yellow.
Marjorie: a large skein spun wool with lots of dyed wool colours plied with light grey wool.
Joanna: a beautiful small needle felted gnome.
Jan E: knitted beanies ready for Alice Springs: two in blue, one pink and one green.
Nicki: a large hairy felted gnome with a pink hat and purple boots.

Crochet felted bag

Alexis shared a really good crocheted, felted bag for show and tell. We have shown you knitted ones. You knit or crochet a big bag. You can hand felt it or put it in the washing machine once or twice , depending on how much you want it to felt. The bag will shrink at least by a third. Why felt it? It produces a softer look. it is very durable fabric and so a bag like this can be used to carry heavy things and quite a lot. Knitted or crocheted felted bags go to work as soon as you make them. Use wool and it is a good project for leftover colours because they will blend well when they are felted. There are some good crochet bag patterns on crochetpatterns. If you want to felt them, make them bigger or your bag will be at least a third smaller than the finished item.

Grannie square blanket

Maria and Cathy have crocheted grannie square blankets and you can see how cheerful they are. Colour choices make a difference and an impact. Grannie squares can be big or small and all of that changes the look of the blanket. Maria’s is a wool blanket. Cathy’s is acrylic yarn . What you use depends of whether you or the recipient of the blanket is prepared to hand wash it. Machine washables are better if there is not much opportunity for handwashing. Wool is warmer and heavier. Your choice of yarn makes a difference to the weight of the blanket so you can make them for different weather conditions.

Maria’s is an African flower grannie square. You can find the instructions on cuteandcozycrochet. Cathy’s is the more traditional grannie square pattern but the centres of some of the squares were altered to give a different visual effect. You can find lots of free patterns for grannie square blankets on crochet kingdom. It also gives you a chance to see how different colour choices play out.

Show and tell

Lovely sunny day at the beach front today and so much to see and appreciate on the show and tell table. The colours were great and the colour combinations were inspirational. Everyone is buy and happy with their projects. Last week’s day trip went well and it was good to hear about it.

Show and tell

Karin: Blue beret, orange tones beret and spectacular Fair Isle beret from a pattern from an American designer in 11 different colours – golds, pinks, greens.

Cathy: Ginny’s hat from the Tanis Grey knitting book in fawn and peach threaded with corespun yarn. Crochet blanket in white, pink and blue grannie squares.

Maxine: Two knitted  jackets and a jumper for her great great nephew! Hooded one in blue, one in autumn colours, one in green. Attractive buttons.

Margaret: Cable jumper in natural colours in mohair and wool.

Marjorie: Grey double ribbed beanie, two green ocean colours beanies in overdyed wool.

Dagmar: Cowl in natural coloured , spun wool with two flower trims.

Alexis: Crocheted , felted bag in green and pink speckled colours .Two Fair Isle beanies in nature colours.

Maria: So many lovely beanies both crocheted and knitted in greens, maroons bright colours, white, Most had stripes. African flower blanket in bright colours. Knitted child’s jumper in blue, red and yellow.

Where did you get that hat?

More hats on the show and tell table recently because we are coming into beanie season and we need to be ready! Top left is Marina’s beret she knitted onto a garter stitch band. Top right, is Sheila O’s Gryffindor hat from the Harry Potter knitting book by Tanis Gray. Top middle is Sheila O’s beret from her homespun , hand dyed colours. Maxine knitted the layered hat in the middle . Such an interesting effect and would provide some real warmth. Bottom left are some plain, homespun beanies by Maxine followed by two home spun beanies with the flower motifs. Such good colours. Then comes Maxine’s knitted a black beanie and trimmed it with Anthea’s red poppies. She has been on a beanie knitting spree. Cathy used Anthea’s red poppies on a purple beanie which Margaret had knitted but Cathy felted and trimmed it. Such striking colours and some good ideas to make beanies look that little bit special.

Knit a cute Easter bunny

Claire Garland has shred this cute little rabbit to knit. You could make it in traditional pastel Easter colours or nice fluffy yarn and it would be something to delight everyone. She takes you through her pattern on the video. Have fun!

Monday fun day

No show and tell today. We operated as two groups today. Half went on a trip north to woolchambers , where you can get rare and unusual fibres, an then onto yarnarama .The other half kept the club seats warm for next week. Those of us there today had a productive , useful time and it was good to see the colours, the spinning, the needlefelting and the weaving projects. Next week we shall be able to hear all about the trip. Today was a good chance to catch up on our yarn projects and really enjoy the ocean views.

Show and tell

Beautiful day at the beach front today and some beautiful things to look at on the show and tell table. Such good uses of colour and design. We also have a very welcome exchange table which made everyone happy.

Show and tell

Christine: skein of spun grey rabbit hair, round crochet lap rug with design in black on colourful , variegated background

Cathy: Beanie in dark alpaca and fawn wool, knitted felted purple hat embellished with crochet poppies, green and grey crochet cowl in handspun wool and silk.  

Maxine: layered, colorful beanie, black beanie with red poppies, hooked cushion in handdyed wool, purple and turquoise beanies with pink flowers,  plain grey beanie, stripe brown blue, grey and brown wool beanie.

Margaret: Crochet bag in fawns and pinks from a vintage club challenge, cute , handmade teddy.

Sheila O: Harry Potter Gryffindor beanie, handspun colourful beret.

Sheila Mc: Washed and skirted fleece which she dyed in an array of colours.

Sue: Purple felted fabric which will be sewn into a bag.

Anthea: Skein of white alpaca and skein of fawn wool.

Jeanette: Thick , striped wool jumper in blues, fawns and greys.

Maria: Cute chicken egg cosy

Spinning fleece

We are surrounded by clouds of fleece . Some is drum carded, some combed, some hand carded and some have the skills to spin the fleece from the staples. Some wash and prepare the fleece first, others spin the fleece and wash it afterwards. It is a visual and tactile experience. Some make wool batts combining colours and fibres. Spinning silk and plant fibres offer a different experience. The more you spin, the more you have your own way of preparing fleece for your spinning. When you have had enough of that, you buy some tops and just spin those as a break. The clouds of fleece have such an attraction, though.

Electric wool winder and swift

A lot of spinners use mechanical ball winders and umbrella swifts but there are electric ones too and they can be quite fascinating. Sheila O borrowed Alexis’ electric ball winder and swift a while back and , as you can see from the picture, she was churning out cakes of her spun wool very easily. Alexis’ electric ball winder looks like an old dial up phone and the retro look is very appealing. There are others. The video shows you one so that you can see how it works. There are also home made ones which clever people invent. Then, how could we resist? There are LEGO wool winders and umbrella swifts which , although not electric, they could be and are fun 🙂

One piece jumpers

Margaret is knitting and adult size one piece jumper which is looking really nice. Maria is knitting a cheerful one piece toddler jumper. One piece knitting minimises the amount of sewing you have to do . It also minimises the amount of changes you make across knitting a jumper. Sometimes you are in the mood and sometimes you aren’t. One piece jumpers are easy to carry around too!

There are some good one piece baby jumpers on intheloopknitting and the Lyon Brand wool site has some good one piece patterns.

Show and Tell

A well attended meeting today and our monthly Exchange Day created a really good feeling. We had some lovely colours to look at and plenty of ideas for projects . Very productive day.

Show and tell

Cathy: Ball of wool and silk in green with splashes of other colours.

Maxine: Four skeins of wool dyed with Tasmanian blue gum leaves and a fifth skein in blues, pinks and yellows where she added commercial dyes to the mix.

Karin: Woven scarf made from her handspun wool in greens and pinks.

Margaret: Skein of finely spun,. fawn wool dyed with Tasmanian blue gum leaves courtesy of Alexis.

Deb: Knitted beanie from the green wool she had cold dyed at the dyeing workshop.

Anthea: Two skeins of hand dyed , handspun wool and alpaca from Equipment Day.

Sue: Hand dyed silk from dyeing day. One large purple skein and other smaller bobbins in assorted colours.

John is in the process of weaving a jacket on his heddle loom and Sue is into some serious purple felting. Looking forward to seeing the finished items.

Dyeing Day

These are not all the colours from our recent dyeing day but they are a very good example of how much fun it was, how much it inspired us to work with colour and how important colour is. Some dyed skeins , some dyed fleece and some have already been spinning their colours because hey ended up so great. We used cold dyes and left them outside in the warm sun for a day or two. It makes a difference and sets the colour. All in all, a very success way to start our year.

Show and tell

Great day today because we shared the dyeing we did last week and the colours were just so good! Plenty to look at and discuss. So many ideas about how to get colours. It was inspiring.

Show and tell

Cathy: Beret with faux fur pompom in Panda Rockery yarn. Black with other colours. One ball of spun mixed fibres , mainly green. Bobbin of last week’s dyed wool in ultraviolet.

Maxine: Two hand towels with crocheted edges, one pink, one white. Knitted light brown teddy in its own knitted checked bed. Tops dyed in turquoise and purple.

Sheila O: Skein of dyed colours in greens, pinks, lavender. Skein of wool dyed with Tasmanian blue gum leaves.

Marjorie: Basket of dyed colours and then two bags of dyed orange and blue fleece.

Jan E: Dyed skein of wool in blue and yellow.

Kay: Balls of dyed lime green and opal coloured spun wool. Crochet beanie in lime green and brown.

Sheila Mc: Four balls of spun wool which she dyed. One mainly pink, two

mainly blue and one mainly lavender. All variegated.

Margaret : Dyed wool – emerald, red, fawn and brown.

Deb: Ball of lime green and blue dyed wool.

More beanies

Beanie styles and designs are a never ending source of more inspiration , knitting challenges and fun. They can be for warmth and protection, a fashion statement or a challenge knit to learn new techniques . The ideas never stop coming. They can dress up an outfit or they can be just plain sensible. Commercial yarns and spun yarns produce a different look and effect. So many choices! So many colours! Recent beanies show, once again, just how different beanies can be.

Top left, Alexis used a Lang’s Mille colori yarn to make a soft, gently beanie. Bottom left, Cathy did the opposite and broke out the fluoro colours in her stash. Top right is Sheila O’s beanie. The fleece is hand dyed and the colours are very attractive. The Fair Isle patterns looks striking in these colours. Middle bottom are Cathy’s hand dyed colours and some peach tussah silk. A gentle Fair Isle pattern for a very warm beanie. Bottom right, Jan E’s hand spun yarn has a jewelled effect as she has knitted a soft beanie in colours which would cheer any winter’s day.

Show and tell

Marvellous summer’s day for our dyeing day today. Thanks to Hilary and Marjorie’s careful planning and a little help from their friends, the whole day went like clockwork . Those of us who wanted to dye, dyed in small groups on the outside decking and we got a chance to dye the colours we wanted and we emptied all the bottles! We can safely say it was a successful day. We are looking forward to seeing the colours next week.

Show and tell

Jeanette : two balls spun wool 1 pastel shade dyed by herself, one mixed with a plait from Brenda.

Deb : a skein of white fleece from Susie Horn.

Jan E : Blue beanie with other colours for contrast, dyed skein of fluoro aqua and aqua, dyed pink and lavender roving.

Sheila Mc : Project keeper for small quilting projects to hold the project flat and safe. Blue and white floral fabric.

Show and tell

Lovely blue ocean at the beach front today on a warm , summer’s day. More of us were there today and there was plenty to do and share. Today’s show and tell had some lovely colours and a good use of colour.

Show and tell

Alexis: A pair of beautiful socks knitted from a very expensive yarn , also a beanie from the leftover yarn. Can you see how differently the colours have played out in the beanie and socks?
Cathy: Two beanies – one in autumn homespun tones with Fair Isle pattern, one in bright yellow, pink , orange and grey.
Sheila O : A beanie in Shetland Fair Isle pattern in homespun wool.
Marina has made a large bag from crocheted squares she found in her stash . She had made them a few years ago but they are a lovely bag now.

Show and tell

Another warm, humid day but a good day to be at the beach front. Members had a few things to show today and some produce to share and are excited about the dyeing day on February 14th. We normally start the year with plenty of focus on colour so it will be good to have that day soon.

Show and tell

John has built his karakumi weaving loom and is working out his braiding with it.

Jan E : two skeins of spun tops: one multi coloured blues, one multi coloured reds which Jan Navajo plied, plus a classic white beanie with a brim which was cable knitted .

Marina: two cakes of spun alpaca fleece

Scrumbling

Scrumbling is free form crochet or knitting but today we are looking at crochet because Marina made a really good bag with her scrumbling. It is a great way to use up odds and ends but it is also a project which you develop as you go. There are no set rules. There are plenty of You Tube clips to get you started. In the end, you can do as you please and make hats, bags, jackets, cushions, wall hangings. You can do what you like! There are some tips here on Craftsy. The video will give you an idea of how to get started. Look at different things to see what you like.

Show and tell

Warm and humid day today but there was much to see and talk about in the group. we are planning a dyeing day on Feb 14th so sure to be full of love and colour. This week’s show and tell was very inspiring. We thank Alexis for modellling Maxine’s jacket/coatigan.

Show and tell

Kay : One multi coloured beanie, six natural-coloured beanies, a large bag knitted in rug wool ready for felting, a beautiful jumper in natural brown and some skeins of white spun wool.

Maxine: long cable wool coatigan in Bendigo Tan. 

Karin : colourful beanie in orange with multi coloured stripes.

Nicki: a pair of boots as a trial effort in green/pink.

Marina : a crochet scrumbled patchwork bag which was multi coloured.

Knit a Care Square

If you are in Adelaide and like knitting squares to use up oddments, keep an eye out for the 2022 Knit a Care Square community project which is a part of the realtimeheart website initiatives. If you are on Facebook, you can follow Knit a Care Square there and get the updates more easily. On their website you can see just how much they helped our community and all by inviting others to knit a square. Sometimes it is good to look at your local area to see if there are easy ways to help others. The squares they use are 20cm by 20cm and they have drop off points for the squares. Their Facebook page has all that information more easily available. In the end, if you want to help others then finding the small, doable things is good.

Fair Isle beanies

Fair Isle patterns a a bit loosely termed these days and tend to refer to stranded knitting and colourwork and include Scandinavian patterns, Fair Isle knitting has a history and traditional stitches . If you want to get serious and take on some modern Fair Isle knitting then there are some lovely things to try on The Spruce Crafts.

Members have been enjoying Fair Isle knitting . We are lucky to have Alexis in the group who knows so much about it. The beanies we have seen are just lovely. It is a skill worth mastering.

Alexis beanies are top left and so striking. Cathy knitted the black red and grey one. Karin has used Shetland wool to make the pink and rust one and Sheila O has made a modern Fair Isle in the homespun red with the OOOOOs and a traditional homespun one in fawn and cream. This selection shows you just how different and visually interesting Fair Isle can be depending on your colour choice and the patterns you use.

Kumihimo – Japanese braiding

One of John’s latest projects is to build a kumihimo , Japanese braiding, frame like the one in this video. He has been researching it and his skills allow him to take on projects like this but his love of weaving means he likes to challenge himself to learn all sorts of weaving techniques. He has made a lot of braids and they are very useful for bag handles and textile decorations. Being able to make your own braids is very handy if you like yarn arts and crafts. We are looking forward to see how he progresses with his new project.

You don’t have to have a frame. You can do Kumihimo braiding on a disk and that is really useful to know because it can be used as a carry around project which takes little space and can be handy if you find yourself having to wait anywhere unexpectedly. You can see how these disks work on the PieceWork magazine site. There are also beginner videos for Kumihimo braiding on You Tube. If you are interested in knowing, Kumihimo means gathering threads.

Show and tell

Show and tell is brought to you today by Mickey Mouse and isn’t he going to be just wonderful? He is full of life and character. Today people worked on their projects. It was a warm , summer’s day and it means we have had a chance to enjoy summer’s benefits , like solar dyeing. Far right is Karin’s solar dyed , homespun alpaca fleece. Lovely autumn colours created in a jar in the summer sun. Far left is Karin’s yarn. She had ordered the Bendigo Woollen Mills blue which comes ready to spin and plied it with “Jewel ” from Kathy’s Fibres. She also made another beautiful Fair Isle hat from Sunspun yarns. Such lovely projects and Mickey did a good job of showing them off.

If you are interested in things Mickey Mouse, there is a free amigurumi Mickey Mouse crochet pattern on Free Amigurumi Crochet . There are lots of Mickey Mouse ideas , patterns and graphs on Knitting Patterns.

Knitted felted bags

Knitted felted bags a re a great way to use up leftover yarn from other projects but they also make good presents and so you might use custom made yarn. You can add buttons, beans and other embellishments so it is a good way to use those things you might have at home too. We tend to make big roomy bags. They are sturdy and strong when you make them with handspun yarn and so good for projects and shopping! We avoid plastic bags as much as possible and handknitted felted bags look so good! As you can see from the pictures, choosing colours is important. You can do colour work or just simple stripes. They are going to look really big when they are knitted but shrink in the washing machine. You can wash them with your other things as long as the yarn is colourfast. It may take two washes to make the stitch definition disappear so that it becomes felted fabric. Allfreeknitting has some good felted bag patterns to try. Deb’s bag this week(top left) was knitted from her handspun wool and is ready to go into the washing machine. It will look good!

*** There is nothing to stop you crocheting and felting a wool bag. ***

More beanies

Today’s post shows you , yet again, no matter how many beanies or berets we make they are all different. They all play with colour, style, texture. They can be stylish, fun, classic or traditional. The patterns and colours make for the look and the way in which the beanie can be used. Homespun wool is very warm and so these hats protect well against the weather. Beanies can add colour to winter and comfort to an outing into the cold. There are never enough beanies. Nor berets! Christine’s fawn handspun alpaca beret from this week (top left) has a good 3D effect with the pattern. This week’s plum coloured beanie by Margaret (second row left) is a lovely colour. Her matching spun angora fleece beanie is soft . Sheila O’s adventures into fair isle are colourful and the beanie with the circle pattern is visually very appealing. The fawn and cream one is a nice classic. So many choices!

The droplet beanie is a nice one to try.

Show and tell

It was a warm , sunny ,summer’s day for our first day back this year and we had a lively meeting full of ideas and plans. As you can see from our show and tell, members have been happy to use the Christmas break to make some inspired projects.

Show and tell

A Christmas card from the Murray Bridge Spinners & Weavers
Janette: a pair of house slippers black plied with a multi coloured spun tops and a bag of dyed pink fleece.
Anthea : a ball of spun wool blue/white
Margaret : two beanies – one white angora rabbit, one purple both the same design.
Sheila O : Fair Isle beanie white with green/tan Shetland pattern. Alexis dyed the wool for the pattern. One beanie in bright red, blue, yellow and orange, one shawl black wool plied with dark red silk.
Christine: alpaca beret in the same pattern as Margaret’s.
Deb a knitted bag in blue/red stripes ready for felting.

Make wooden buttons.

There are all sorts of ways of making your own buttons. Christine reminded us in our last meeting that we could make our own and even use avocado pits! That was worth knowing. You need steady hands and courage to cut the pits which you have left drying. Joyfuel has shared her way of making avocado pit buttons.

You can use other hard plant seeds like hakea pods or just go the easier way and use a tree branch and saw. Some older roses get such thick, woody stems they can be used. This wikihow shows you , in steps, how to make your own buttons from branches. This You Tube clip shows you quickly how it can be done so you can work out for yourself whether you are up for a wooden button challenge or not.

Pantone’s colour of the year 2022

Wishing you all a wonderful new year and hope you will have fun with this year’s colour by Pantone: PANTONE 17-3938 – Very Peri. It is a bold mix of red and blue.

“Very Peri, a warm and friendly blue hue with a carefree confidence and joyful attitude, emboldens uninhibited expression and experimentation. This enthusiastic blue hue displays a dynamic presence and a whimsicality that lends itself to unpredictable color harmonies and spontaneous color statements. Futuristic in feeling, PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri takes on distinct appearances through application to different materials, finishes, and textures, from shimmery metallics, lustrous sheens, and high-tech materials, to hand-crafted looks and natural fibers.” Colour of the Year.

The video shows you so many different ways of combining this colour with other colours. There are other You Tube videos which focus on this new Veri Peri colour. It is a bold colour and makes a statement and it can be used to evoke a futuristic feel. Enjoy!

Blog stats

We have been on WordPress for four years and they have been successful, happy years . Our stats this year are positive and encouraging. Before we get to them , please allow us to thank all the good people who support and comment on our blog. We get so much encouragement and it is really nice to have that kind of support online.

Instagram, bottom left, has been a very warm, friendly place for us and we are getting close to 900 followers now. Our things are warmly received and it is heartening. Twitter is Twitter and we are down 4 followers to 58 . Not concerning because there is a lot going on in the world and Twitter isn’t really about textiles and fibre. By contrast, our Facebook page brings us a lot of traffic, people find our blog and some even find the club itself in real life. it has been well worth having our Facebook page to let others know how to find us if they want to.

The blog itself has 344 followers and has had 33 175 hits to date. We have had hundreds more hits this year. For the first year ever we have had more American visitors than Australian ones but the gap has closed considerably over the year and Australian visits are only down by 100 at the point of writing this.

You can see the sorts of things which have been popular – spinning wheels, for sure, this year. It is always interesting to see what brings people to our blog because most of our hits are from search engines now. Quite an achievement.

We have had a good year. We hope to have an even better year next year. Why not?

Show and tell

We ended the year on a real high. The weather was grey, thundery and a bit rainy. Compete contrast to yesterday’s perfect summer weather. We were full of positive energy, encouragement and good ideas. We got such a good lift off into our break so we are sure to come back with some good projects. We were thankful to those who have helped in big and small ways this year. It helps the club to run smoothly. Seventeen members took part in the Secret Santa exchange and everyone was really pleased with the thoughtfulness of the gifts. We had a nice lunch together and had some lovely things on the show and tell table. It was such a good day.

Show and tell

Cathy knitted a striped beanie for her grandson in blue/black/pale grey and shared a skein of merino and alpaca solar dyed by her little grandchildren pale pink/aqua/ lilac and natural patches.
Alexis had knitted beautiful Shetland beanie in light grey with a 4-colour pattern, also a man sized jacket with Star Wars motifs and Fair Isle patterns on a dark grey back ground complete with Star Wars buttons.
Sheila Mc has knitted and felted 2 large bags in multi colours . Very handy, durable items.

Knit a jumper…or a jacket!

We create so many jumpers and jackets in a year. They are always different and varied. Jumpers and jackets for all occasions. Big, roomy ones, stylish cable ones, neat vests. Nice, warm pullovers and jackets designed to keep you warm and noticed! People do notice what we make because of the colours, the patterns and then a home spun, home knitted jacket or jumper is unique. We can blend our yarns from different fibres. We can use up oddments and create something fun. We can dye the fibre to our colours or use nature’s colours and create from a natural palette. The jumpers and jackets on show in the post are just a sample. Maybe they will give you some good ideas.

Knitting Women has some gorgeous jumpers and perfect pullovers for you to try. Below is a video showing you how to knit a turtle neck sweater from the bottom up on round needles. No voice, just written instructions so that pausing is easy.

Handmade Christmas decorations

It was difficult to get a good picture of Margaret’s new crochet Christmas decoration. It was a triangular ball and that , in itself, made it interesting and an achievement. In real life , it is very attractive and she has chosen some good colours. She also brought along some Christmas decorations she had been given as a gift. The green wreath looks like it has been started on the ring which comes from a plastic milk or juice bottle. Easy way to get a perfect centre.

Grandmother’s Pattern Book site has over 30 free patterns for knitted Christmas decorations. The polar bears are very cute!

We are also sharing this video of the classic crochet Christmas baubles which look attractive as decorations or in a bowl or make nice , modest , little gifts.

Show and tell

We were as sunny and bright as the weather yesterday and our show and tell table was laden with fascinating finished projects. The caused discussions, ideas and so many of them were admired. We also had an exchange table laden with share goodies. Once a month we bring along things we no longer need or want and we exchange them for something on the table. Our last one for the year was very successful.

Show and tell

Sheila O made two beautiful garments, a homespun jumper in pinks and orange stripes and a cardigan with bright colours plied with black to highlight the black cable borders, plus two skeins of orange and yellow wool.

Janette had knitted lovely homespun blue/white jumper.

Cathy made a lovely Fair Isle beanie from a Lincraft pattern book which she shared.

Deb knitted a homespun beanie with an impressive hand made pompom.

Maxine shared three balls of spun Bendigo wool in wine colour.

Kay had spun the wool for a tabard in brown tones.

Sheila Mc had felted a bag in a lovely pink colour made from felted batts covered in floral muslin had knitted one ready to be felted.

Jan H had crocheted a super chicken which was looking so very cute.

Weaving wonders

John is one of our weavers and he is constantly giving himself challenges. He enjoys it, knows a lot about it and has the skills to repair looms so they work well. He encourages others and helps them to improve. Today we are showing you a sample of the sorts of weaving he does. He is always keen to try our new patterns. He likes the brain workout it gives him. Top right, the green and fawn fabric is thick and solid enough to be a mat. Second from left he has woven some fabric which he wants to turn into some sort of garment. His other fabrics make nice bags, scarves, shawls , runners. He uses different fibres to see what effects he can get. Once you know how to set up a heddle loom, then you just need to give yourself some challenges. Tess Earle explains things clearly. If you can do basic weaving you can progress to her houndstooth pattern because she makes it accessible.

Beanie love

Beanies are beautiful. You can see a selection of ours from this year and each year there are more which are all different. They can be stylish, dainty, fun, thick, chunky, Fair Isle. They can be made from thick or thin wool, depending on the effect you want. Some people live or work in very cold , windy climates. A thick, warm beanie makes all the difference. Some want a beanie to dress up a winter outfit. Some just want to have fun. Our beanies are a mix of commercial wool beanies and home spun beanies. We also have a mix of knitted and crochet beanies. Crochet beanies are quick. Always good to know a couple of straight forward crochet beanie patterns. The yarns and how you use them, add visual effects. Crochetme has a selection of crocheted beanies. Below is a video tutorial of the Greta beanie made in thick wool so it is a quick knit and an easy pattern if you are wanting to learn colour work.

Show and tell

Lovely, warm ,almost summer’s day, down at the beach front today with a calm, blue ocean. Inside there was plenty of noise and chat. The colours were inspirational. Margaret’s idea of turning a bottle cover into a Christmas ornament was fun and Maria’s little crochet angels were so pretty. So much to look at and so many tips and tricks to learn. After today, there will be two more meetings and we have yarned our way through another year. It keeps us sane!

Show and tell
Karin has woven a beautiful scarf from wool which has been rainbow dyed in orange with a little yellow highlight and the fibre on the spindle shows the colours.
Cathy knitted a Fair Isle beanie in browns, yellow and green, also a spun wool ball of mixed yellows/orange.
Jan E knitted a lovely solar dyed blue beanie with a stripes of eyelet pattern.
Marina has crocheted a market bag in red/blue glitter yarn with a plain cream base and top.
Marjorie has knitted a blue hat with a purple pattern on the crown.
Janette shared a large skein of spun wool red/orange/blue plied with black.

Crochet dragon

Jan H makes the most adorable crochet dragons and her grandchildren are the lucky recipients. She brought another one along this week and we all loved it. They are treasured by her grandchildren. The eyes just get you and then you love how the rest of the dragon comes together. If you would like to make a crochet dragon there are some free patterns for dragons, big and small, at pattern centre. There are also patterns for dragon gloves and shawls.

Show and tell

Beautiful day at the beach front this morning and it was good to let the cold snap go. Inside the club rooms it was confident and buoyant because we had had such a good day out to the Adelaide Hills last Thursday. We are all busy with our projects and the colours are just beautiful to look at. It was great to have another one of Jan H’s dragons come to visit.

Alrisha had brought along a cushion many years to ago to show the members how clever she is 🙂 Meanwhile she is unpicking a jumper so she can reknit the wool.
Cathy knitted a handspun beanie in Fair Isle with brown and yellow tones.
Karin knitted a Fair Isle Shetland pattern beanie white with blue/pink pattern.
Margaret had knitted 3 hand spun fleece beanies and a commercial fibre one : one green and two blues.
Hilary shared a small ball of spun wool from Susie Horn Finn fleece.
Jan H had made a beautiful crochet dragon.
Kay had some samples of fleece she was taking orders for.
On the table ,as well as all these beautiful items, there was a selection of things from our late member Letty Johns who was a great lacy spinner. We saw her books , trophies as well as her certificates of excellence and some of her beautiful work.

Equipment Day

It was so good to be on the bus and on our way to Littlehampton for The Adelaide Hills Spinning group’s Equipment Day. Last year we had unfortunately been forced to cancel because of coronavirus restrictions. It is an annual trip we enjoy so it was good we could make our hills trip this year. The weather was good but very windy in the hills and we had a lovely drive through leafy suburbs and the hills there and back. The Adelaide Hills Handspinners and Weavers Guild gave us a very warm welcome at the Memorial Hall and we were soon looking at all the woolly goodness. Needless to say, the bus and our bags were packed with fleeces, tops, books and anything else we had found we liked. It was a day of positive energy and creative thoughts. We stopped at Brenda’s , Felting Ewe, on the way back, enjoyed the scenery at her property and all the tops and woolly things to buy in her She-Shed. Such a good day.

Show and tell

Even though we are well into spring, we have had some very wintery weather this past week. Today was brighter but it was blowy and cold at the beachfront. The view was spectacular, though. We have lots of plans for ourselves and our group and hoping they can all come to fruition. Some great projects are underway and today there was a lot about fleece, spinning and techniques for getting the best look for our work in terms of colour and ideas.

Show and tell

There was a collection of books from our late member Letty Jones.
Sheila O has knitted a beautiful Shetland Fair Isle beanie in white with blue and red designs.
Cathy crocheted a bag with a lovely needle point design on the front, crochet gusset and woven handles. Autumn colours.
Kay brought in a selection of fleece staples. Merino/Romney mix in brown, white and fawn from a farm who is selling the fleece @$10 per kilo. Also, a book from the Tasmanian Fibre Fair Kay attended recently and she is taking orders for members who would like a copy.