Steampunk

We did a trip to Oamaru last year and I have a heap of interesting photos so I thought I would post a few here. The exhibition was very good.

We had a really great day :)

viv

whew

And now back to normal transmissions :) I killed the comments section by trying a new widget. Very bad! Took a while to get the comments back again but they are now working properly (I hope).

We did a short trip to Milton the other day to visit the wool factory shop. I got quite a bit of wool and a new pullover for Matt. Amongst the wool, I got some noodles (half spun wool) which I am going to make hats out of as it knits quite well. When I had finished untangling and winding the wool into balls there was a bit left over so I decided to try a needle felt object. I've done a lot of felting but I've never tried needle felting before. I only had black and white so I ended up with this.....

He is under 2 inches high and cost me a lot of finger pricks because I am new to this but I thought he came out quite sweet :) He is now sitting on my keyboard. I won't be pricking my fingers so much next time :) If there is a next time......

Morris dancers

A whole crowd of Morris dancers morrised their way up the street the other day. There was a convention in town apparently :)

So there you have it :) A little bit of interest for the day.

viv

Cut away pieces

The Art fibre Dunedin site has a couple of photos of me and my things but I thought I would post a couple of my own pics as well because I did two of them and Pat got the photo the wrong way round:)

The orange and blue thing was using a piece we did at the marbling event earlier along with a few bits of plain commercial stuff. I was rather pleased with the outcome as I have struggled to use this fabric in other directions (there's a derelict piece hiding in the corner looking at me mournfully right now!). Then I got keen and set out with a piece of fake fur in lurid yellow, a piece of old curtain net. part of an old blouse and a bit of reject dark brown stuff. The result was definitely interesting. Somehow there are animals in that set of random shapes :)

I think I might explore this type of design a bit more.....

viv

ps the yellow is much brighter in real life - I should have used the flash or something :)

viv

small pictures

I got keen for a bit last week and decided to finally quilt up the four little pictures I made a month back. They have been sitting in a dejected heap since then so now they have nice new clouds and waves. I had thought I might keep one but now I don't know which as they all have their good points. The rest are to go for sale eventually - probably on 'Felt' where I have already put a few bits and pieces.

Someday I'd really like to have my own shop site just to display stuff and sell the odd thing.

See what you think is the best:)

viv

And just for good measure - a small felted picture

viv

Christmas bells

Its been Christmas bells all the way round here. I think over half the kindy and school have already gone there and so have a selection of adults. I have to admit that they do look good. We have used ex kindy paintings this year (the ones either not named or done by teachers/helpers) as they are on pretty good quality paper and cut up really well.

The bells are easy to make. The kindy ones I make with three sides and bells around the bottom edge. Even the three year olds can tie a few knots and cut a bit of line when encouraged :) The senior kids and adults make the eight sided ones. I have found that pegs are great for holding things in place whilst knots are tied.

I tried lining one with gold paper but it was a large amount of work getting it together and it was really stiff to fold. I didn't think it was worth the effort so won't go there again. If anyone would like the pattern, leave me a note on e mail and I'll get back to you :)

viv

Ballet

William got a part in the Royal Ballet performance of The Sleeping Beauty. It was more than a walk on part this time. The four boys had to actually dance with the big people this time and they all did very well indeed.

William was the Arabian Prince (junior) so without further ado, here are some photos.

(I made him take off the socks under his tights after this!)

The last image was taken during the technical rehearsal. Very impressive sets!!!!

viv

Island woolly thing

I have at last got access to the photos taken on St Martins Island.

For the record, we had a blast and nearly everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves. I got a little sunburned which I wasn't expecting. It was just about a perfect day. The felting went really well and I'm only sorry I didn't have a chance to do all the other activities. I did have a go at spinning with a spindle and, despite not having spun anything for 10 or so years, I did manage to turn out a reasonable thread on a spindle made out of an old stick and a potato.

The dyeing looked wonderful hung out along the fence and I did manage to get photos of most of the felt pieces although my battery did die a bit too soon for my liking.

I took the spindle idea to the kindy on Monday (where I occasionally do relief work) and we made a spindle out of an old apple and a twig. Several of the 6 year olds got quite a reasonable thread. I'm aiming to tackle the dyed fleece this week once I give the spinning wheel a long overdue overhaul. Anyhow, here is a selection of the photos (not all taken by me).

These are not in order btw.
enjoy

viv

I forgot to add this. Matt took this photo of the boat returning with us from the island.

And this of us unloading at Port Chalmers.

viv

slow!

Just a quick post to say I'm still alive but down to dial up speed because the boys used all the data.

William got his plates today so his mouth is full of correctional gear and he isn't speaking right yet although that will improve with time :)

It is raining fit to burst outside so my garden efforts are put off briefly until the sun arrives back. There should be lots of late blossom to photo by then as the trees are well budded up and colouring now. The rhododendrons are looking spectacular through the rain. Hopefully they will hold until the weather improves so I can get some good photos this year. Both the new apple trees are doing well and we have a brand new crab apple courtesy of the council which accidentally ring barked our last one whilst weed whacking the empty paper road next door. The new one looks about the same age as the old one so we haven't lost out and we are happy with the outcome. The man from the council said that they take on lots of temporary staff at this time of the year so there are occasions like this. I'm just pleased they apologised :)

Viv

wet felt pictures

It occurred to me that some of you might like to know just how these pics are wet felted so here it is.....

Materials needed

one piece bubble wrap with the bubbles facing up
one piece whitebait netting (the square kind) enough to fold over the top as well as the bottom.
various multicoloured fine merino wools (carded)
an old plastic bag
soap and water

Method

lay out the bubble wrap and the netting
Cut two pieces of wool (three if the top is to look plain) and tease out carefully to the size wanted. These should be very thin and see through for the best (and quickest) result.

Lay the first piece horizontal, the second piece vertical and then make the picture piece horizontal on the netting (sandwich like).

Fold the net over these three layers keeping the fold away from the edge. Damp down carefully with water and then rub with soap.

Work with the plastic bag crumpled up horizontally and vertically checking every so often by lifting the net (this also helps prevent too much sticking) When the piece is solid enough, turn it over and work the back. When the three layers are bonded so that they don't separate when pinched, wash the felt and then bash it lots. (the children had a great time throwing theirs at the floor :) This will make the fibres close up and the whole thing shrink.

This whole process should take about half an hour. Then let it dry and embellish as you like :)

Note - if you want more even edges it pays to lift the net and fold or push them into place well before finishing the rubbing.

viv

Felt

I teach several craft classes at the local Steiner School where my kids attend/ed and for the last three weeks we have been making felt pictures using a wet felt technique and then adding embellishments by needle felting or sewing things on. I took a number of pictures so here they are...

These are class 4 and 5 students (and their normal teacher)

And the obligatory Sprocket pic.

viv

The Gutbuster

I got a few photos of the annual gutbuster so here they are :)

The beginning

Going up

Action shot of the guy that won

The children and young peoples race

The girl that won

Panoramic with our house

The walk

Bad hair day:)

viv in nz

'bread'

There was a whisper in the air. The promise of summer was almost past and the chill of autumn was just about suggested in the little breeze that wafted in the tall grasses. The child herding geese stopped and sniffed at the wind and thought of the long winter to come. For now the memory of warm fires and woolly blankets was pleasurable. No more looking after the geese for a while. There was the small matter of having to do school work but that could be ignored with a little effort. Anyhow the legends of the past were at least interesting unlike the struggle to do the numbers.

The geese straggled out in front of her. They knew the way just as well as she did and sometimes they herded her as much as she herded them. The farm hove into view and she ran to open the thornbrush gate that led into the protected inner yard. There had been no sightings of the wild dog packs for a while but they would doubtless be back when the year got old enough and they got hungry enough. With these thoughts she gave the nearest farm dog an extra pat as she made her way to the enclosure where the geese spent their nights.

There was a mild kerfluffle behind as the goats were also coming in for the night and they were still mostly young and playful. Their elders were lined up ready for the evening milking and there was a promise of dessert flavouring the draft from the kitchen.

"Karianne is that you," her mother called from the kitchen, "Have you any berries for us today?"

"Yes mum." she called back, "There were lots down by the river. Mostly blackberries." She took the satchel off her back and headed to the kitchen with it and thought that life was pretty perfect when there was pudding for dinner.
"Go wash yourself before you come in dear." Her mother took the satchel and Karianne made her way to the pump. She filled a wooden bucket with water and, taking the bar of rough soap and the ragged towel, she washed her face and hands before removing her heavy sandals and scrubbing her feet. She then went to the kitchen door and into the mud room where she left her sandals and took a knitted jersey from a nearby peg. It was getting colder at night now and a little extra covering would be welcome as her summer garb was merely a strip of cloth tied round her waist. The jersey was old and patched but it covered her down past her knees which was a great advantage. She wondered who had been its first owner. With all its patches, it was hard to tell what it originally looked like and its colours were faded away to almost nothing. But clothes were precious and owning such a garment was not to be taken lightly.

In the kitchen, the table was set with wooden platters and horn mugs. There was a large earthenware jug of beer along with vegetable soup and hot baked potatoes with the last of the summer peas and sweet corn. There was a generous amount of cheese and butter and a pile of the usual oatcakes. In the middle of the table standing by itself on a precious pottery platter, was a small loaf of real bread. She stared at it longingly.

"Where did that come from?" she asked finally.

"It was a trade in the village for some scrap metal your brother found whilst minding the goats." said her mother.

"He has all the luck!" She said.

The rest of the family started to drift in through the various doors. First, her father from the gardens along with her eldest brother and his wife with their toddler who was still too young to have a formal name. Then her eldest sister and her grandmother along with two aunts who worked to make cloth for use and for sale. Her brother, the goatherd was next but mother sent him out again to scrub a little more carefully. There were also two farm hands and an elderly cousin who was mostly blind but still spun the finest thread. Missing was her grandfather who was now bedridden and was taken a tray. She would go sit with him later for a short time before bed and he might tell her stories if it was a good day.

Dinner was the most important time in the family because that was when everyone caught up on what had happened during the day. Today was even more special because of the bread. Grain was difficult to grow in this climate because of the changeable weather. She had heard that there were big fields of it waving in the breeze further south but that was beyond what she could imagine. There were oats of course but that didn't make bread like this! Finally the thank you to the earth spirits was said and dinner was begun. The bread was saved to be the last course and each person got one slice to embellish as they pleased with butter or jam or both.

Karianne looked at the slice on her platter. The anticipation was great. Would it live up to her expectations? She spread a little butter on one end and nibbled at it. "Like eating a cloud", she thought, "No substance but melt in your mouth." She spread jam on the rest and ate it slowly.

"Reminds me of that trip I did down south when I was young." said father.
Mother said it reminded her of home. (Father had brought her from the south when he did that trip. They had walked for several weeks to return to the farm). Some said it was like edible white wool only tastier of course. Others just ate and contemplated their own voyages of discovery when it would be their turn to leave and find a partner.

Dinner was finally over when the last crumb had been scooped off the last plate. The younger ones cleared the table and washed up quickly before heading off to their various evening chores. Karianne took her knitting up the stairs to grandfathers room and settled in to keep him company until the light was gone. She enjoyed hearing his impossible tales of carriages that moved by themselves and machines that flew in the air. How unsafe must it feel with only air beneath your feet. She knitted fast and accurately to complete the socks she would need this winter. The wool she had spun was still not as fine as she would like but it would make strong socks that might escape the inevitable darns for some time. Next birthday she would be 10 and allowed to weave on the small loom. That would be a real step up. She could feel almost grown up then although her adult name would still be some years away. Sometimes the waiting just seemed interminable until she turned 15 and joined the adult world.

Hastily she refocused on what he was saying. The story was one of the old ones about the Library. This was supposed to be a vast place bigger than their entire barn and outbuildings combined, just full of books. Thousands of them just waiting to be read. Like pebbles in a riverbed they were and all full of information and stories. There were only a few books at the farm. They filled just one bookcase and were only read by the few who mastered the art of reading. She had read them one by one, carefully. Most were about gardening and farming. One was about herbal medicines and the names of the herbs along with worn pictures of how they looked. One was a book with maps in it and names of places she could only imagine and then there was the one full of stories. That was her favorite. She had read it every chance she got and the thought that somewhere there might still be a library with other such books was like a pain in her heart. Maybe she could search for that when she finally grew up.

Meantime she asked grandfather once again if he had ever seen a library for himself and did he know where it might be. The answer was the same. He had never seen such a thing but his grandfathers grandfather had. It was supposed to be somewhere to the east. With such crumbs she had to be content.

When the light had finally faded too far to knit, she said goodnight to grandfather and made her way to the room she shared with the other single women of the household. There was a platform bed along one wall with woollen mattresses and a good supply of blankets and quilts. As the youngest, her place was near the center and she was usually grateful for this as it meant warmth in colder weather. However it also meant being careful not to wake others in the night and being rather too warm in hot weather.

It was cool enough now for her to enjoy snuggling down into the quilt and sleep came fast. She dreamed of Libraries........

viv

September already!

Hard to believe that spring is more or less here. We had a couple of very warm days but it is cold again just now and there was a sprinkle of snow too although it didn't settle.

I seem to have become a wool repository at present with several people giving me odd boxes of this and that. One of them came with a half knitted jumper. The front and back were knitted to the armhole but there was no pattern and very little extra wool so it couldn't even be knitted as a sleeveless top. However, I looked up a pattern with the same number of stitches and added a striped top section. So now it is bright green, gold and orange with brown bits :) I'm hoping it will fit William as it isn't full sized. The rest of the wool has migrated to either my own collection for socks etc or will go to the school for their efforts. (There are some bigger amounts that I will keep for further jumpers too).

Matt got the deck finished to the kitchen and now is on the hunt for enough materials to close it in. Especially the roof! There is also the vege garden to arrange but it is still far too cold to do more than prepare the ground in that department. The plum tree has blossom all over just now so perhaps we will actually get some this year - last year a wood pigeon stole the lot! There were only a dozen but still.....

Sprocket tried to get into the rubbish bin again but now he has got too big for the one in Matts room (see previous photos) so he got into mine instead! He only just fits so I think that won't last very long. He does like small spaces. He also likes a brief cuddle under the bedclothes in the morning - just about 5 minutes on average. For real napping he still prefers to be in the wool basket so I have added an old jersey and a piece of furry fabric to protect my wool!

The photo is our friend Rob who did a fundraising event up our street for his handicapped daughter to get further medical treatment overseas. He got himself sponsored to do the street 26 times carrying a 50 kilo backpack! There were a lot of other people doing stuff too and they had a very successful day raising over $5,000. He has been training for a while so he did manage the whole lot!

viv