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News

There's not much "news" in the world of stay at home businesses revolving around hand crafts, so I thought I'd give this page a "bit of blog" feel. I'll update this page regularly so you can know what projects I'm working on and the like. Unlike a blog there won't be the facility to post comments, but your feedback is more than welcome, so email me.

Friday 19th June

Short and sweet, but this will certainly guarantee that I get into more action with proactive spinning and dyeing.  I will be contributing to an "Aussie Fibre Sample Box".  If you would like to order a sample box or need more info go here.

 

Monday 5th June

Firstly, I must thank all my wonderful customers who have been keeping me incredibly busy with knitting and spinning and therefore not keeping the website current.

I did not get 2 scarves done for the Geelong Scarf Festival, but you can see the one I did finish and read my "journey" here.

I have been estranged from my spinning wheel for the last several weeks, but I plan to rectify that as I get myself better organised.

 

Tuesday 3rd February 2009

Happy New Year!

I know you're thinking it's late for a New Year salutation but this is my first post for the year.  Christmas has passed us, the kids go back to school in 8 days (but who's counting) and now the "work" year shall commence.  That doesn't mean I haven't been busy spinning, knitting and dyeing.  I've had several customer orders that have come in and gone out and all that is left to do is finish 2 knitting projects.  Fortunately you can knit just about all year round in Tassie.

2009 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Natural Fibres.  Since the 1960s, the use of synthetic fibres has increased dramatically causing the natural fibre industry to lose much of their market share. In December 2006 the United Nations General Assembly declared 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibres (IYNF); a year-long initiative focused on raising global awareness about natural fibres with specific focus on increasing market demand to help ensure the long-term sustainability for farmers who rely heavily on their production.  So let's get behind natural fibres and use less synthetics.

This year I will be participating and/or attending various events:

    Bothwell SPINin - February 27, 28 & March 1, 2009
    Geelong Scarf Festival - June 20 to July 20 2009, National Wool Museum Geelong
    Alice Springs Beanie Festival - June 26 to 29, 2009
    Keep the Fleece - a competition for fibre artisans, to celebrate the IYNF

Where I have goods displayed or for sale I will try to keep the site up to date with happy snaps.

Have a great 2009!

Friday 28th November 2008

Look at these beautiful slippers and cute little sunhats.  I know sunhats and slippers don't seem very complimentary, but here in Tasmania you can wear your slippers just about all year round and anywhere in Australia at this time of year, babies need to be protected from the sun.

Hats are suitable for babies approx. 6 months old - $7.50 each and are 100% cotton.

Slippers can be made for children - $17.50 or adults - $25.00 in either fluffy or plain upper, the soles on all are sheepskin.  They are warm and soft and quiet on wooden or other hard surfaced floors.   Email me with your request.

 

Wednesday 8th October 2008

And as I once again bemoan the speed of time I am marvelled to see some new goodies ready to go onto this site.  With the best of intent I rumbled through my stash to produce scarves, beanies and dogcoats, however I discovered some Merino tops that needed spinning and some Alpaca that needed to get ready to be spun and I found yarn that could be used for other things but this is what I've come up with since the end of July.

Yes, there is a scarf and some children's hats but there is also some beautiful handspun yarn and a wonderful shawl based on the Faroese design.  The people from the Faroe Islands wear their shawls as they work so they have special shapings to keep them from falling off.  The best application for this in today's society is that for those of us that talk using their hands, their shawls stay on.

There are 3 handspun yarns of the same design that I call "Funky Monkey" - a thick, merino core plied with a commercial "eyelash" yarn.  There is also another yarn called Marine Sparkle - a thick/thin merino single plied with a metallic blue thread that has been threaded with glass beads.

 

Wednesday 30th July 2008

As the end of the month rapidly approaches my hope of having socks, scarves, beanies and dogcoats up on the site is fading.  However, there are some socks, you will just have to wait a little longer for the rest.

Thursday 3rd July 2008

The new financial year has arrived and with that I'm working on a slightly different look for this site.  The good part of that is that I'm incorporating a shopping cart (thanks to PayPal) which will allow you to purchase directly from this site - hooray!!

Expected time of changes to be implemented is by the end of next week (11th July) - stay tuned. 

Monday 16th June 2008

Well, the blur that was the last 3 months has added these yarns to my stock ...

... that's approximately 20 skeins of yarn, weighing in at around 1.5kg and measuring approximately 2km.  

The colours of the rainbow shine in these yarns - some are chunky, some are beaded and they are for sale (except for this one - I'm making it into a scarf).  Have a look at my handspun yarns for more info.

 

 

Wednesday 28th May 2008

March, April and May have been a blur. Number 1 daughter has been to and returned from China.  Fortunately she was not in Chengdu at the time of the recent earthquakes and tremors.

I have been working on various prototype designs, none of which have been a success so it seems like a lot of time wasted.  However, I did handspin a beautiful beaded yarn that I made into a crescent shaped shawl for a gift.  Unfortunately, I photographed in a hurry before posting and none of the shots showed it clearly.

There are still plenty of things on the needles - I'm working on some "baby cocoons" that are like body stockings for babies.  Good for swaddling, but great for photo props.  I'm spinning a batch of beaded yarn that is a blend of black, grey and white - can't wait to see how that turns out.   

Wednesday 2nd April, 2008

Wow! What happened to March?

I discovered that when I went to photograph some completed works;

1. Summer Pudding - a handspun yarn that is thick and thin without being chunky. It combines the colours of summer berries on one single with natural on the second single. I have 8 skeins (each weighing approx 85g) available. 100% Australian merino.

2. Lavender & Lilac - a 100% cotton square that is great as a wrap for baby but can also double as a towel.

3. Shades of Blue - a circular shawl for baby with plenty of lacy motifs.

4. Gelato shapes - a square baby shawl that is made up of mitred squares and rectangles and finished with a lace edging.

                

 

                                         

There are no plans for April but who knows what might happen!!

Archives

Click on the links for earlier news.

    March 2008

    December 2007

    November 2007

    September 2007

    August 2007

    July 2007