WS&D National Exhibition

These are just a few of the things that I really liked at the exhibition of our WS&D,s National Association held at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum on Saturday.Of course I thought I would remember whats what or find it in the catalog. Some I can and some I can't. The blanket or afghan as it is called is knitted in hand spun wool ans silk with natral dyes.

The panels of this skirt are shibori dyed and I love it. Will try to have a go at one myself  I dye silk scarves in the same way how lovely to have a skirt.

Both of these wall hangings show the range of things that can be made with in our crafts.

These panels where made from a blanket cut up and dyed with natural dyes. Names and pictures of the dye stuff used have been machine embroidered in each square.

Knitted Bag

I knitted this bag from odds and ends that I had in my stash of hand spun wool. It came out better than I expected and I really love it.

I have lined it and added pockets inside as well as a zip for security as I will use this bag a lot and I want it to be practical.

The pattern is adapted from a jumper. Greys and browns are natural colours,pink is jacob dyed with madder, yellow is onion skins, the green is dyed with cow parsley with a copper modifyer and there is comercaily dyed silk.

The handle was made on weaving sticks and I did not like it  at first because it was to loose so I put it in the washing machine to felt it and it was much better.

New Venture

Because I am a bit of a butterfly never keeping my mind on one thing for long. I have taken a bit of a side ways step with my business and started to produce hand dyed silk scarfs. It is still natural dyes on natural fibers. This is the core of my work and I will stick to it as much as possible. But if I can create something wonderful using other materials I will. Nothing is written in stone, and I won't be hide bound by rules. The end result is the important thing for me.

The scarfs are brought in and I dye them in the Shibori style with indigo. The indigo vat can be tricky to start with but once you have mastered it the results are fabulous. It would take to long to describe here but if you are interested these books have been a great help to me.

Wild Colour by Jenny Dean, if you are interested in natural dyeing Jenny Dean is must. Any one of her books are full of the best advice and information you could want.

A Handbook of Indigo Dyeing by Vivien Prideaux.

Shibori by Mandy Southan.

There are many more but these three have been the ones I use the most at the moment

I will be a bit more precise about the methods I use in future posts.

The unplaned project.

I have had the most horrible cold and have not felt like doing much of anything for nearly a week. This has given me some time to think about how I am going to finish the pinafore top I wrote about last time. I do have enough of the recycled mohair and Shetland mix to finish the bands and straps, it's the triangle panels of the skirt that are the problem.

At first I was using a madder dyed pink fleece, (Oxford Down) hand carded and spun with some space dyed pink, red silk. I rolled the silk into the rolag before spinning and was very pleased with the results. Then as I ran out of fleece I had to think again. Fortunately there was some similar coloured fleece in my stash but the method of spinning did not suit it so well. It was not labeled so I dont' know what it is. There's a lesson to remember LABEL EVERY THING. It's not hard and can save you a lot of trouble.

This fleece worked better if I spun it straight no carding. Then I spun a single of silk and plied them together. The colours link these two different yarns enough for me to work them into the pattern of the piece. At least I hope they will. Watch this space for the finished article and judge for yourself.

How much better it would have been if I had put a bit more thought into the planning of the piece in the first place and made sure I had enough of every thing to start with. Still it will be a unique garment that's for sure.