A close up of the cables. I changed the neckline to incorporate a regular neckband. The original pattern had an I cord bind off but I found it a little bit low .
A few weeks ago I went to the last workshop to be held by Fibre Arts Australia in Ballarat. I have been going to these workshops for many years and have enjoyed them so much. It was full of fun and joy as participants came together to celebrate the end of an era.
The Banksia Tree, my first project, made with Banksia cones, a rock, rusted wire and some blackbirds cut out ply from a box of offcuts.
The workshop that I attended was Votives with Gordon Bain. We were encouraged to make figurative works and to use recycled material where possible. This piece was a tree made with little crucibles that were thrown away by a school. Each piece was inserted into a hole that was drilled into an old stick. The figure was made with off cuts of ply and painted.
It is a tradition of the event for the class to make an artwork for auction on the the final evening. The class project was a vase of flowers made with simple flowers shapes cut from scrap ply, painted and mounted onto springy wire and inserted into the repurposed piece of fence post. Each person made three flowers for the vase.
My first class was in 2011, Steampunk Fashion with Kerri Toose. I made several garments, this pinafore was made with recycled men’s suit jackets and incorporated a draped skirt made with Ponti jersey. The book was made in April 2024 in a class with Seth Apter. The white sculpture was made in a class with Jade Peglar in 2012.
I swapped the tunic for this machine embroidery.
This was a gift from Glenys Mann, the powerhouse behind Fibre Arts Australia. Whilst it is disappointing that these events have come to an end it is important to celebrate what was and look to the future as Fibre Arts Australia takes a different format and direction.
Blocked and ready to steek or cut apart. My first attempt at steeking, surprisingly straightforward
Cut apart and tried on before knitting the sleeves and neckband.
And then I decided to do a ‘test knit’ for a designer. There was a short turn around time to get the knit finished so I started this one.
A fabulous knit for Winter in Aran weight possum and merino blend. The design is an interesting wrapped stitch that creates A lot of texture in the knit.
Finally, it was back to the colourwork. Great to get it finished.
It has been a couple of weeks since this workshop but life intervenes and I guess better late than never. Another fabulous workshop as part of the Autumn program at Fibre Arts Australia. I find these week long intensive classes very inspiring and relish the opportunities that the program provides.
Seth is a mixed media artist from New York, here demonstrating. Lots of techniques covered in the class.
The plan was to produce a book, which was actually a collection of smaller books contained within a book. First up was the creation of papers, complex and layered papers utilising a variety of techniques
My first papers, a definite grunge aesthetic.
Then onto creating pages and books
Once I had several small books made I could assemble my outer book. This was designed to have a found door hinge wired to the spine, an internal wrap to contain the individual books.
Then onto adding to the pages utilising even more layers of collage, stamp, stitch and ephemera
A tradition of the retreat is the creation of a class project that is auctioned for charity. Our project was for each participant to create a page that would be incorporated into a series of book structures. The first image is the collection and the second is mine. I called it Walk Around Lake Wendouree. It is hard to see the reeds that are partly attached and add a dimension to the work.
All to soon it was over and it was time for the group photo.
‘Have you lost your mojo ?’ a friend enquired, you haven’t put anything on your blog for ages she said. I have been absent from this space for quite some time for no particular reason. So I thought about what I had been doing and decided that my absence has been largely due to a major remodelling my garden.
Something pretty before the destruction
It was definitely a major exercise and was done over a period of several weeks. With the parterre / hedge gone we are focussing on some soil improvement and developing a new design.
From this to this
With all of this destruction the cooking was definitely a low priority and more a case of cooking what was quickest and easiest. An exception was the making of my grandson’s birthday cake.
A cardboard Titanic sinking into a chocolate mud cake sea with marshmallow and white chocolate icebergs.
And some more from the garden, despite all of the destruction there are still some very pretty pockets of flowers and green.
Whilst not absolutely essential I feel that it would be good to use up some of my stash. Like most knitters I have been known to have an impulse shop, often attracted to a yarn for the colour or maybe perceived bargain qualities. Variegated yarns have always caught my eye, especially hand dyed yarns. Often purchased as a souvenir of a trip, however, it is usually only a small purchase and one or two skeins is not enough for a garment. Enough for a scarf or mittens but I never get around to knitting them.
In recent times I have been more disciplined and only buy yarn in amounts sufficient for a sweater or cardigan. These two yarns are examples of this. The variegated yarn was purchased last year on a holiday in Western Australia, a totally unexpected find in a bookshop that had a sideline in yarn and the grey mohair from a shop that was closing down. Enough of both to make a cardigan.
So the swatching was done and I didn’t like the lace type pattern and make the decision to just knit the cardigan in stocking stitch.
I tried the garment on at the point of picking up the stitches for the sleeves and was pleased with the fit. I knit one sleeve and tried it on again but didn’t like the dropped shoulder sleeve. I unpicked the sleeve and opted to make the cardigan into a vest.
Very pleased with this and anticipate lots of wear when the weather cools, Australian summers are too hot to get into warm knitwear.
