In May I organised, on behalf of Creative Fibre for the upper half of the North Island, a workshop with Melanie Olde of Australia,  "Thinking Outside the Plane".   To quote Melanie "Weaving often deals with effects to manipulate the single flat plane of a cloth, but what if you expanded, pushed and pulled that plane?  Handweaving offers many opportunities to explore and design the 3-dimensional plane, taking cloth to another level through specialised multi-layering techniques."   The workshop covered how to increase and reduce the surface area of weaving, how to merge ..read more

In New Zealand we have a group called The Professional Weavers Network (PWN).  PWN was started in 1992 to  further the art of weaving through the pursuit of excellence and the promotion of handwoven textiles. PWN is a group of handweavers who promote excellence in their work, ranging from tapestries through to fabrics. One of the aims of the group is to promote textile and fibre arts so that they can be acknowledged as a vibrant and exciting contemporary art form that is able to speak to others within society.   Every three to four years we present a major exhibiton and  Ng ..read more

Here we are, at the beginning of October and I hadn't realised I have been working with Deflected Double Weave most of the year.  Still am actually.   This particular pattern I got off Pinterest but changed the tie up.  I was very surprised to find, when I cut it off the loom, that the new reverse side was the same as the original design.       Paua above and below again using leftovers from previous projects which can really give a creative edge to the garment.    Hydrangea above, Rhododendron below   Waihi Beach Gallery asked for some scarves i ..read more

The 2022-23 summer just didn't happen as far as blue skies and sunshine went.  In January the country was hit by Cyclone Hale and in February the devastating Cyclone Gabrielle caused havoc followed by several tornadoes making landfall on Waihi Beach.  Its very unusual for tornadoes to make it to land here; usually we just see water spouts out to sea. This is the view from my kitchen.  The dunes used to be level at the higher point.  The massive waves breached the dunes and formed a lake behind the scrubby trees.  By about seven in the evening we could see that half th ..read more

I have been enjoying reading other blogs so thought I'd have a catch up starting back at January 2023. I did a wee demonstration at the Bay of Plenty Weavers group on threading front to back, tying on a new warp and lacing the warp to the front beam. I wanted a fairly simple threading so that my old brain could cope while demonstrating.  I chose this Deflected Double Weave, Fantasy on 4 Shafts, from Double with a Twist by Marion Stubenitsky, page 70.   It is so effective for 4 shafts, 4 treadles Blue Gem Hebe I was so taken with the pattern I had to try other colourways ..read more

Continuing on with the 2022 summary.   Here we have a warp chain wound from a cone of variegated merino yarn with the colours stacked as I wound. A series of scarves for Kina Gallery, New Plymouth follows.   The warps for these scarves were wound the same way in a darker colourway reflecting the Takahe.  Also at Kina Gallery. More scarves for Kina Gallery in Teal shades.      Blanket reflecting the Paua, also at Kina Gallery.   I did a wee demonstration at the Bay of Plenty Weavers group on threading front to back, tying on a new warp and lacing the ..read more

Happy New Year Lets see if I can't do more than one post this year. I'm getting an understanding of why it doesn't happen already!   2021 ended with a run of Kingfisher (Kotare) blankets which are always well received.       The only work to be blogged about last year was this gorgeous crochet wrap of handspun yarn.  I think the pattern is Nova Shawl by Sara Kay Hartmann but I could be wrong.  There are many versions on Pinterest!   Anawhata Beach blankets for Pauanesia. Unfortunately Pauanesia closed in 2022.  It was my honour and pleasure to ha ..read more

I started this crochet shawl mid 2021 but have been saving similar patterns on Pinterest for years.  I believe the pattern is Nova Shawl by Sara Kay Hartmann though it could be a French or a Russian one. It is made from a handspun sliver from Anna Gratton Ltd called Everglade, 29 micron Corriedale plyed with a fine commercial Merino.  3.5 hook. Making use of an under used Pilates mat and way under used knitting machine weights to block the wrap on our sunny deck.  I actually thought it was going to be too small and enquired of more sliver from Anna!  More coming soon but s ..read more

What better way to celebrate summer than with some beautiful summer blue blankets? Available from  Pauanesia store in central Auckland.   ..read more

So here we are into April with autumn knocking on the door and the first weaving story of the year. This is not a warp under control but a lot of patience and stubbornness got the warp with about 50 and more different types of yarn and different red shades onto the loom.  I tie onto a dummy warp which allows me to spread each variety of yarn reasonably evenly across the loom thus avoiding the seersucker effect.  I say reasonably because I use the eyeball method.  One rule I follow is a smooth yarn always goes next to a fluffy mohair one. Some of the threads are quite fluffy esp ..read more