DIY electric carder

Peter and Marina had a Ron Doley carder which they had purchased a while back. They have been thinking of turning it into an electric carder. John, one of our top weavers, liked the idea of this challenge and so he and Peter have been working together for a number of weeks now to try and turn the carder into an electric one. It has required thought, testing, more thought and more testing. It has been a good brain challenge. It is great when you look at people around you setting themselves a puzzle to solve and then using skills and expertise to arrive at a good solution.

This week the carder was finally finished. John (left) and Peter (right) are justifiably proud of this achievement. Sandy, one of the Adelaide Hills spinners and weavers , was more than happy to test the carder and give it a trial run. By the way, doesn’t John look good in the Fair Isle vest Christine knitted? Suits him so well.

Challenges like the carder can be frustrating , at times, along the way but such a thrill when you achieve your goal. Peter and Marina now have an electric carder which runs beautifully off a sewing machine motor.

Below is another example of creative thinking. Katharine Jolda is demonstrating her Cyclocarder. Great way to card and keep fit and a bonus if there is a blackout!

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Weaving wonders

We had some really good weaving ideas this week. Top is the woven phone pouch Peter made and his wife, Marina, sewed it all together. He also has a matching one for his glasses. In was done on an inkle loom. Bottom left is the dog collar Marina made on her inkle loom and it looks so good and is such a good idea. She has to make another one for the other family dog! So good to be able to make the things you actually need. The dog collar is on top of a lovely woven pillow made from upcycled tablecloths and sheets. In real life it looks really nice and would be a great addition to any chair. Upcycling old clothing and manchester is a great way to get bags , cushions and mats and they are stylish items. Woven fabric has a cool look about it. It is strong and durable too. Bottom right is the tabletop sprang loom John made for Christine out of upcycled  wood. We like to make use of everything and we all have stashes of bits which can be upcycled into something we need. The tabletop loom means Christine can sit comfortably to do her sprang weaving. The bonus is we can see better what she is doing and so it raises our level of interest and involvement in what Christine is doing. Living proof you can just use what is around you to make lovely things. 

Weaving wonders

We had some nice weaving to look at again this week . John’s woven bag to the left will soon be finished. His red and white American colonial table runner is really impressive and we all loved it. Visually it is a very effective pattern. Peter has started weaving something with tee shirt strips and it looks really lovely and is so soft. Would make a nice mat or bag. Upcycling T Shirts is a great idea for weaving…and the planet. 

Knitted felted bag

We waste nothing. Alexis had spun the wool for a jumper she knitted for herself and then didn’t like how the jumper looked. It just wasn’t for her. We have all been there. She loved the colours, though. She unpicked the jumper and then cut and handstitched the new pieces with wool and upcycled it into this beautiful bag. The bag is strong and roomy. It is well designed because it doesn’t look as big as it actually is. It does the job without taking over all the space. It’s a deep bag with a round bottom. Once she had hand sewn the pieces she  felted it in her washing machine keeping a keen eye on it so that it felted to her wishes. It’s something which requires concentration and so Alexis doesn’t allow herself to be interrupted during that washing machine phase. She doesn’t leave anything to chance. Alexis takes control of the processes she uses to create something.

The colours are beautiful and we were all very enthusiastic about this bag.