Clever ideas

Maria had nearly finished her vintage jug potholder when she arrived this morning and completed it during the day. It is double sided , cotton and the colours are great. It is a clever idea. It is a bit different and it looks really good.

There are free patterns for a jug and sugar bowl potholders on antique crochet patterns.

While Marina was away she was finding ways to keep up her weaving. One idea was to use an embroidery frame, warp it up and then use yarn oddments to create a nice woven fabric.  The mini loom was a chance find in an op shop. It is so small but very handy . Marina had to repair it and that was all part of the mini weaving adventure while she was away. It really is a clever little loom. She made the fabric for the needle holder on it. This little loom is totally portable and a weave anywhere kind of loom.

Show and Tell

Plenty of lovely, well made , colourful stuff on our show and tell table this week.

John’s woven shopping bag is finished and he is working on the next one.

Wendy produced a beautifully finely spun ball of lavender tops dyed at the work shop.

Peter: the blue weaving from last week made into a large rug by Marina, and a skein warp of brightly coloured yarn ready for the next project.

Jan 3: her very finely spun cream crochet scarf finished with a lovely pearl beads edging.

Marjorie: a beret in Autumn colours, Navaho plied tops from Brenda, 2 Bionic bags in readiness for the challenge winner…

Hilary: 3 woven straps in bright cotton from the mountain Hills Tribe  community in Thailand.

Wonderful weaving

John brought along some of his weaving so we could have a look. It is always important to know what you can achieve . Peter and Marina have started their weaving journey and need something to aim for and to have ideas. The rest of us can just admire the neatness and the colour choices and how beautifully made these items are. Woven bags would make a good choice for sustainability and not everyone would want a bag with a flap. The scarves are colourful and lovely and would dress up any winter outfit. We especially loved the lime green and navy blue scarf.

Spinning cotton

A while back , Hilary brought in a bulk purchase of cotton to spin and we could buy it a tiny prices. Marina had decided to spin hers and she found out it spins far better on a bigger, older wheel than on a small wheel. You need a strong pull on the fibre to get the cotton to spin nicely, so a wheel where you have a good chance of changing ratios and tension. The dyed cotton wasn’t actually something we thought looked particularly good but now we have seen it spun up it looks great and can be plied with itself or some silk and makes a really nice yarn. If you don’t try things, you don’t know. Looking at it tells you nothing. Cotton is good for bags, tops and wash cloths. It is totally sustainable and cotton growers are getting smarter at using less water. As a plant based fibre it is easily composted. As a lightweight, breathable fibre it is good to wear next to your skin so learning to spin cotton gives you more yarn choices for projects. Some people are allergic to wool.