Wonderful Weekend

Posted on October 30, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

I had a wonderful weekend, reconnecting with friends.

Saturday was very special.  My husband, Ron, has been a member of the Kinsmen Club for most of his adult life.  Kinsmen is a community service organization that works within the local communities to provided much needed services, from sponsoring a children’s fishing derby, providing support to seniors and persons with disabilities to fundraising for victims of raging forest fires.  On Saturday night, Ron was honoured with a Life Membership of Kin Canada by the Kinsmen Club of Coquitlam for “Outstanding Contribution to the Club and Community”.  Although Ron was unable to be present in person, due to work responsibilities, he was able to join through Skype.  You gotta love technology.   The event was attended by our close friends in the family of Kin.  Congratulations Ron. Thank you all.

Sunday morning I spent at Knit City Social.  This is the second year for this event in Vancouver, a gathering of people who like knitting, spinning and other yarn related activities, with an offering of workshops and regional vendors.  Although I arrived in town too late to sign up for the workshops, I enjoyed the atmosphere and visiting the vendors and displays, and seeing some of my weaving friends there as well.  In the afternoon I joined other friends at the spin-in at Place des Arts.  The spin-in was in conjunction with Place des Arts 40th anniversary and our Handweaving and Hand-spinning display “Dreamweaver, from the Fantastical to the Practical”.  It was a wonderful welcome back to my fiber community.

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Western Australia’s Beaches

Posted on October 24, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

I am happy to be back in Canada and I am looking forward to seeing and catching up with all my friends.

I will miss the beaches in Western Australia, though.

What a sensational feeling to dip my toes in the ocean, and listen to the sound of waves crashing.  Good-bye to the beaches and oceans of Western Australia:

This serene and open beach is on the Sunset Drive along the Indian Ocean, near Joondalup, just north of Perth.

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A couple of weekends ago we took the seven hour drive over to Esperance, on the Southern Ocean side of Western Australia.  The drive over was amazing and remote, we passed maybe six other cars in five hours, driving through trees, into scrub bush that could have been on some other planet and no sign of human habitation, and then into huge salt water flats, finally emerging into beautiful ocean views.

Here we have the white sand and turquoise waters of Lucky Bay, near Esperance, on the Southern Ocean.

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And then, closer to Perth again, there was the iconic, pretty, and very popular Cottesloe Beach, on the Indian Ocean.

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Leaving Western Australia

Posted on October 20, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

Yesterday I left Western Australia, and this time, I am not sure when or if I will be back. So, I am writing this post to say good-bye to the people that have touched my heart during my Australian adventures.

To those who have shared this adventure, thanks for your friendship and support.  To my dear husband, Ron, who led me on this adventure, and whose love of life and new experiences always keeps things fresh.

To my fellow Vancouverites, I enjoyed the “Canadian Thanksgiving” with Canadian friends from around the world.  Isn’t if funny, of the six adults celebrating Canada and our Thanksgiving, only one was actually born and raised in Canada.  I will never forget what a treat it was to celebrate shared friendships and Thanksgiving outside in the warm sunshine, after communal cooking.  Thanks so much Katrina and Brendon, Iona and Christopher for your perfect hospitality.  Niamh and Chris and Sean, enjoyed your company immensely, and hope you enjoy Brisbane.  I am sure I will see you all again soon.  Maybe we can do this again next year.

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To the members of the Western Australia Weavers, Spinners, and Dyers:  Thank you for your open and warm caring and your generosity in taking me in and making me part of your community.  I had great fun at the meetings and events, sharing of show and tell, and enjoying great soup and sweets.  Special thanks to Sally,Jo, Janet and Sue, and really everyone I met. Getting to know you made my stay in Perth special.  The sense of humour of the nameless yarn bombers leads to anticipation of the Open House.  Sorry I missed it, hope you all had a great time.

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I will think of you often, and hopefully will see you again.  So just, so long for now, and thanks.

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What the Heck is a Bilby?

Posted on September 9, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

Saturday we took a trip to Bilby Yarns, our local weaving and spinning shop here in Perth.  The shop is located at the corner of Harrison Street and Hillary Street in Willagee, a suburb south of the city.  It is well worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.

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Bilby is a friendly and welcoming shop with a good variety of spinning tools and supplies, as well as weaving yarns.  I spoke to the proprietor, June Lynn, about her business, and I was particularly interested in her philosophy about the shop.  June told me she started the shop in 1993 to support local Western Australian sheep breeders and to educate weavers, spinners and other crafters about the qualities and benefits of Western Australian wool.  June noted that she had run the yarn room for the local guild prior to starting Bilby’s.  Bilby’s is a “not for profit” shop June started by using her Superannuation, and started because June found it difficult to find local wool available for crafters.  June also provides therapy support to cancer patients and believes in trying to keep people busy by providing jobs and welcomes lots of helpers to the store.  June also try to support the WA Weavers and Spinners Guild as well.

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I had a lovely time looking around the shop like a kid in a candy store, and choose some lovely natural coloured wool tops for spinning, and bought a new niddy-noody as well.  The wool is Corridale/Merino cross, natural coloured in silver, light grey, white and charcoal.

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I predict lots of fun spinning ahead.

By the way, a Bilby is an Australian endangered species, a kind of Bandicoot, a marsupial mammal with rabbit-like ears and a backward pouch to prevent it being filled with dirt while digging.

 

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Back in Perth – and it’s Spring Again

Posted on September 5, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

Well, here I am back in Perth, Western Australia.  It has been a little disconcerting to move from Winter, to Summer, and back to Spring all within a month, but I am adjusting.  Spring started out grey and overcast,

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But today the sun came out and I am definitely noticing the colours in the gardens,

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Even the greens are greener,

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and the smell of spring is in the air.

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Travel Days

Posted on August 29, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

I find travel days very disorienting, especially these long trips where I cross over the International Date Line.  I left Vancouver on Sunday, August 25, on the 11:15 pm flight to Sydney, Australia.  My body flew (on the plane, of course) through the air for 16 hours of my lifetime.  When I landed in Sydney, it was 8:30 am, Tuesday, August 27, a difference of 33 hours and 15 minutes.  Where did those extra hours go?

I had two hours on the ground in Sydney, just enough time to go through customs, collect my bags from the baggage carousel, carry the bags across the terminal to the far end, check my bags again, and go through security again, take a 20 minute bus ride across the tarmac to the domestic terminal, and board the plane to Brisbane.  I was very happy to see Ron waiting for me at the baggage carousel in Brisbane and grateful that he carried my suitcase as he accompanied me to our hotel suite.  We would overnight in Brisbane.

After a short nap, I dressed up to go out to dinner.  It was, after all, our 42nd wedding anniversary (In Australia, today, but in Vancouver, tomorrow! – does that mean we can celebrate twice?)  Dinner was at a classy hotel overlooking the water and the Storey Bridge.  We watched the boats go by with their twinkling lights as we dined on delicious food.  Sorry, I was too tired to take photos.

Next morning I took a long walk along the riverfront, on the South Bank.  I walked along the River Walk and looked across to the city.

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Then I walked along the Rain Forest Walk, where it was cooler and shaded.

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Walked past the Nepalese Pagoda

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Afterwards, I met Ron for lunch and a glass of wine on the patio before returning to the airport for the six hour flight to Perth.  Finally back to Perth at 9:30 last evening.  Good to be “home”.

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Coquitlam Weavers’ Dye Day

Posted on August 27, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

On Sunday, I was lucky enough to attend our annual Coquitlam Weavers and Spinners Dye Day graciously hosted by Marilyn.  This year, six of us attended the event and after we set up the dye pots, we kicked off the day with a yummy pot luck lunch while the dye pots simmered.  We talked about our summer experiences so far, and about our upcoming show at Place des Arts.  Trudy had just returned from six weeks as a camp host in the interior of BC near Revelstoke, and I talked about my experiences in Australia.  Marilyn showed her patchwork quilt, which she had just finished making for her grandson – with fabrics representing his passions for hockey, baseball, golf, and cards – beautiful work.  Marilyn also showed her fabric she was experimenting with – wrapping white cotton around rusty iron items and copper pennies, to created rusted-coloured shapes in her fabrics.  Irene has a small shawl she had spun and knitted from fibres dyed by Felicia at Sweet Georgia.  Irene has put this up on Ravelery.  Terry showed the lovely soft and cushy blanket she had made as a gift for a family member – in a twill structure she designed and she dyed her weft in various colours of blue to resemble an old comfortable pair of blue jeans.  Kristin showed her lovely basket she had brought her lunch in, and worked on weaving a gathering basket through the afternoon.

Marilyn had started a dye pot in a lovely raspberry red – she dyed wool roving fibre, and I dipped one end of my pre-measured silk warp in the pot.  After we took these pieces out – the dye had not yet exhausted, so I added a skein of tussah silk that will be a coordinating weft for the scarves I intend to make.

I then put on a pot in cobalt blue, and dipped the other end of my warp skein, including an overlap of the red, to create a purple area, and also added a skein of silk for coordinating weft.

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My skeins were still drying when I had to leave for the airport for my return trip to Australia, so I won’t be able to play with this until I return again – but I will have something to look forward to and wonder how different the colours will look once they are dry.

Thanks, Marilyn, and friends for the lovely day.

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Summer napkins

Posted on August 22, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

Six soft summer napkins – bright and fresh from the loom – ready for a summer picnic or afternoon tea.

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and beautiful flowers growing in my garden.

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Don’t you just love these beautiful sunny summer day?

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Preparing to Weave

Posted on August 16, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

People often ask how long it takes to weave something, which is a very hard question to answer, because some of the time comes from years of experience, some of the time is in dreaming and experimenting, designing, choosing colours, and generally just thinking about what to make next.  However, once all that is done, the process involved in getting something on to the loom is as follows:

The warp is carefully measured on the warping board in the correct colour order sequence.  In this case four yards of summer green, turquoise, burnt orange and gold.

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The cross is tied to keep the threads in order, and the warp is chained to prevent tangling.  The warp is brought to the loom.

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Lease sticks are inserted through the cross.

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The threads are sleyed through the reed in order.

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The back beam is dropped and the stool allows me to sit close to the heddles which need to be threaded from the back of the loom.

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Each thread is carefully drawn straight back from the reed to a heddle.

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The heddles are threaded in order following the design draft.

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The back beam assembly is raised and the threads are tied in batches to the back beam rod.

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I ensure the threads run straight through the lease sticks to the reed at the front of the loom.

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And carefully and smoothly wind the warp through the lease sticks, the reed and the heddles and on to the back beam, each round separated by cardboard.

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When all the warp is wound on, I tie the end of the warp to the front beam rod.

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Insert a header, wind the bobbins,

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And let the weaving begin!  Time to complete all the above steps:  about 5 hours.

This warp is 2/16 cotton, 14.5 inches wide, 24 ends per inch, 4 yards long.  The pattern is Bronson Lace.

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It makes pretty, lacy little squares.

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The Queen gets a Spa Day

Posted on August 13, 2013 by spinweaverbarbara

Finally back in my home studio and re-united with my main loom, “Queen Grump-a-Lump-Bump”, named for the sound she makes as the weaving progresses: grump-a-lump-bump, grump-a-lump-bump.  The treadle is stepped on, the shafts raised, the shuttle thrown, the treadle released, the beater beaten.  Repeat and repeat.  The rhythmic sounds of the loom carry me through my weaving journey as soothing as a train rocking on the railway tracks would carry me across the country.

The Queen has reigned supreme over my various weaving studios through the past thirty years.  She was built for me by my father-in-law, Don Mitchell, in 1982 using the book Loom Construction by Jeri Hjert and Paul Von Rosentiel. She has served me steadily since then.  She is a simple 4-shaft loom, efficient and steady.

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After sitting quietly unused for the past six months while I have been away, The Queen was dusty and stiff, and as the name implies, more than a little grumpy.   “You have neglected me,” she accused, “and you need to make it up to me!”

“Ah, yes,” I said, “I will give you a spa day.”

I dusted and cleaned, and rubbed her down with Orange Tree Oil.  I tightened all her screws and bolts, and nuts, and washers.  I re-hung the shafts and worked until she glowed.

“Thank you,” she said, as she gleams with pride once more in the centre of the studio room floor.

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