Water - all the way

Here is my "From the Mountains to the Sea"
tapestry.

The top strip shows the spring - with a small waterfall emptying into a lake - second strip - from there going to the left into the third part, which is the river - and to the right flowing into the sea underneath - with a little surf to the left,  against a coast line.

I like the idea of the mountains mirroring in the lake --wonder what others think of the overall idea.

I have used mainly hand spun silk, some recycled Sari silk for the 3 separating bars, some viscose embroidery yarn, acrylic mohair and metalized polyester - for silver and blue glittery bits, which unfortunately don't show up in the pictures.(scans).

If there is one thing I don't yet have enough experience with - it is how to keep the edges straight. I have no problem at all when weaving larger tapestries, but in the confines of 20 cm I get surprises every time.

I think that it is the hand spun silk. It is extreemly unforgiving when it comes to weft tension and partly confusing, because of the natural un-eveness of my hand spun (I refuse to spin like a machine, - it is part of the charm of the hand spun - in my opinion :)
I seem to have the knack of it over larger distances - but I am far from perfect in this format. I will give it more practice in my next tapestry.
And to top it off - I actually didn't realize that my warp was 21.5 cm wide - giving me measurements of 21.5 cm x 19 cm ( 8 1/2" x 71/2"). The requirements for max size is 20cm x 20 cm and I will have to find out, if my measurement is still acceptable, or if I have failed and the tapestry won't be accepted...( for the AusNZ Tapestry Group exhibition) I will let you know!
We are having rather hot weather for a week already and according to forecast another week to go - which is tiring because it is partly overcast and definitely doesn't cool down enough over night - Temps are between 21 to 23 degrees over night, between 31- 35 degrees day over 38 by next week, sigh!
Love my air con over night - but dream of cooler weather.

My little fig tree in the pot, decided to surprise me and is growing a baby fig - at the end of the top leaf stem. That will be nice, I won't say no, after all, it's something to look forward to  :-)

Wishing you all a good week and lots of creative time - yes, already have a design for the next tapestry ...

Cheerio - until next time.

Things happen...

Here I am! doing a rather long strip of card weaving.
I went to the Park for Yeva to have a little free time. I wasn't quick enough and Yeva peed on her leash while I put her harness on my trolley. I tried, not very succesfully, to dry it on the grass and decided to hang it over my trolley til it was dry. Yes, I usually clip it on to the harness, but it was wet .... apparently it slipped off my trolley as I walked. I noticed it further on and turned back, walked the whole bit twice. A lady even stopped to help look for it, but it had disappeared. Good luck to whoever felt, they needed it more than me!



So! .... there I am weaving a leash, which has to be double length,
to allow for easy control of the dog in harness

Here we are! finished!
Yeva is not used to pose for pics - no smile, - she will get the hang of it! :-)
It's such a relief to have a leash again! It's not leather, but actually the tablet woven strip is equally strong. I use rug wool. It washes easily, which is also great for going to  the beach! and is kind on one's hands.
In Lappland in the olden days of dog sleds, they used to weave the dog harnesses from those strips because leather cracks when the temps are freezing but the wool retains it's strength. They also used the strips as decorations for their coats and hoods.

I had enough wool left for an additional normal length dog leash.
It is for sale, if you are interested.
It is 108cm (40 1/2" long)
including swivel clip and handle.
I used to make lots of those leashes in different colours for my shop and used mine for years for my pet dogs. (Cocker Spaniel, Newfundland).
It's a fun way to get a little colour in one's life
and make the dog feel special!

 Only a small progress on my tapestry,  - the weather has been too hot still. I have to be careful not to be sweaty weaving with silk...
On the left is the surf, on the right a river joining the sea...to be continued :-)

Best wishes to you all.
til next time :-)

Natural dyeing saga

When I cleaned my studio I found a basket full of dried natural dyestuff - marigolds, irises, honey bush, red rose petals and something I could not identify. I thought I might just do one more lot of natural dyeing. I wanted to try out Solar dyeing :-)I started with soaking the dye stuff and then took 3 weeks to get Alum and Copper sulfate. Nobody stocks it. With help from Group mail friends (Yahoo anzweavespin) I got it online from *Virgina Farm Wool Works* (in case someone else is looking for mordant) by mail last week. Here I put the mordanted wool into the jars with dye liquid. The nice red colour (grin) is the onion bag which contains the wool.

Finally, yesterday evening I took all the wool and silk out to dry ready for a 37 degree day today.               I had the glass jars in a hot place at the back of the house standing on gravel and wrapped with black plastic garbage bags, hoping that would provide enough heat. The colours are pale though - and I assume the temperature was not hot anough. The brown silk is an overdye. I dyed it with walnut husks, which are supposed to give a chocolate brown without mordant, and though we had 38 degree days it came out so pale it was not worth keeping it that way and I over dyed with the red rose petals.

Here is the wool with a white silk in the middle to show off the colour. I am so happy I managed a green colour, dark red rose petals with copper sulfate mordant. It does not show up beautifully but it is a lovely soft pea green (on the right top). On the left is the marigold yellow :-) The wool is superfine Merino sliver. (sooo soft!)

Here is the silk, keeping the white silk as comparison.

Here is a better pic of the pale gold silk(top left in the previous picture

And one lot of silk cocoons (empty :-) which did not get quite dry yet.

In the meantime I started the small tapestry for the AuNZTapestry group exhibition. I won't be able to show the completed tapestry until after the exhibitions (travels over Australia and NZ) but hopefully can show some details.

The first tiny *Golden Nugget* mini pumpkins (ideal for just one person!) are forming!

and the first pumpkins *Jarrahdale*. I planted those in the ground between my new mandarin tree and the pinapple guava (both are still small) and the pumpkin plants seem to like it. Bees buzzing around every morning... I hope they will keep growing well :-)

I spun one big skein (100g) of the green silk which I dyed last year. I will use this for weaving, for my new larger tapestry, which I will start when the weather cools down again in autumn. It will have a rain forest theme which is why I will use a lot of green. I'm still working on design details.... :-)

Naked ladies have popped up in 3 places in my garden!  (Big Grin) - in case you don't know: they are called *naked ladies* because in spring they grow heaps of leaves, which then die off during early summer so that there is nothing there and when one least expects it one large stem grows up and those pretty flowers open -- and no leaves in sight

Also in the meantime I have updated my web site. If you have not had a chance to check it out, here is the link to it: http://people.aapt.net.au/~vermiro/index.html  I hope you will like it,

Wishing you all a good week and coming weekend!

Yikes! Spring clean... and a visitor

Just made it before the warmer weather set in and re arranged my studio - in as: hiding everything which should be in a garden shed behind my big loom. It's not a bad room divider :-) Before, I had all my storage bins there and had a hard time squeezing in and finding the right box.

I put the storage boxes in the corner next to the door, - look at all the space, even my warping board fits in.

I decided on boxes to keep the dust out of my yarn.
Of course I dreamed of tall shelves with glass doors, but once I found out how expensive glass doors are... I am very happy with my storage boxes!

Yeva is there too, she is quite happy keeping me company in my studio (we don't go there when it is hot!

The boxes are all labelled and contain colour ranges of different yarn for tapestry weft. For eample one box has light brown, another dark brown yarn, and so on, which makes it easier to locate and keep yarn.

Yeah! keeps me fit too, lifting boxes, - it's always the box 2 further down :-) but it will be bliss to have enough space to move.

 I also shifted my sewing-up frame to stand near the rug loom, and shifted the table with my table loom to the middle. That allows me more space to get to the window, and enough space to use the two trolleys next to the loom to deposit shuttles, since I weave with two different colours. - This is my single bed blanket for next winter out of hand spun warp and thick bulky hand spun weft. (Natural colours and dyes).
And it makes the area look more roomy.

Next to the table loom is still enough room for my painting corner - and radio, of course! I love to weave to nice music.


And just when I finished all, - I got a studio visit from Jayne (NSW) today. She is a Yr 3 student doing the SWTAFE Tapestry course. I had a lovely afternoon! We had great conversations  about tapestry weaving, spinning, checking out Jayne's great photos and of course, talking about our dogs :-)

And the best news:
there is enough warp left one the loom for *one more tapestry*!

and I could not resist tying the warp back on straight away!
It took a little while and got slightly dark for the camera, but I had to share the good news :-)
Now to the drawing board to get the design finished (cartoon).
I might not get much weaving done straight away, depending on the weather.  But it is great to know it's there, whenever I get the chance.
(In a perfect world I would have insulation and inside walls and ceiling, but really, even so, - I am very glad to have my space!.
I have a design for my frame loom, to weave at inside (where it is cool), - but more about that next time.

Happy weaving and crafting! and present making :-) 

New Tapestry ready

Welcome to my:

"SECRET GARDEN"
97 cm (38 2/8" ) x 67 cm ( 26 3/8" )

I hope you will enjoy it!




and, yes, I am busy dreaming about  the next tapestry, -
 though I might weave some smaller tapestries over the hot summer coming up. I have a small frame loom inside where it is cooler than in my studio. It's a great way to use up warp which is too short for the large loom.
I will let you know what comes next :-)

Best wishes for all your projects!

CUTTING OFF ...

 Finishing late I found this enchanting cloud landscape sunset outside .....

The next day my weaver friend Anne Graebner came and she did the cutting off for me! It was so exiting seeing someone else do it! Anne took those pics of  me with the tapestry, fresh off the loom!

I like this one - it looks like I am wearing it as kimono :-)

Yes!!! Happy smile! It feel so good to finish!

Here, ready for sewing up. This frame makes the task a lot easier. It only provides enough tension for the tapestry to lay straight while sewing, and of course it's great to be able to move the tapestry along as the sewing is done, which makes it more comfortable.
I first encountered those frames when I did restoration work on 16century tapestries in Vienna, and in the late eighties, Ron Doley kindly build this one for me. He used newspaper core reels to make the width (clever man!) It can take a tapestry up to 2m wide (or high).

Now, my loom still has warp on, but, - will it be enough?
I will tackle that when the tapestry is finished,
one thing at the time, - was just wondering ...

The other good news is that I finished my jumper too.
It is a bulky and large jumper, to keep me warm next winter
 when working in my studio. I used two strands of 8 ply, acrylic, but that means it will be easy to wash and dry - something for "everyday".

The other nice news is that the native Scaevola ground cover is flowering! I think it likes it's new place :-)




Until next time, happy weaving and crafting!

Almost there - last update!

Here we are, the second tree is nearly finished and the finish line is clearly in view.
All that remains to be done
 (uhm, still quite a lot actually :-)
- is "greenery".
You may notice that, apart from a dividing line between tree leaves and greenery, there are no markings for outlines. I prefer to "Play" and weave the greenery as it comes, as I feel it, as I like it...
I think it's fun!

 A close up of the tree trunk - yes, some more Sturt Desert pea flowers - the first one is in place.
I wove the loose bark with bulky hand spun wool, natural colour. I nearly wished that I had not spun the wool so well, to get more bumps...:-)

underneath are the new flowers, which finish up the middle of the tapestry (it's easier to remember the tapestry is woven sidewise this time, since we all know trees grow upwards :-)

The middle of the tree, and the end of the flowers underneath. All the rest of the tree is woven with hand spun slk. I wanted to show off the beautiful sheen of the smooth new bark.

The top of the tree with some foliage.


Well, I hope to see you before end of October with the pictures of the finished tapestry ...
I am steadfastly ignoring weeds for now, but go to check out the strawberry pots. So delicious, can't miss that!
Enjoy spring! (or Fall with those beautiful colours!)

Happy weaving and/or working at whatever is important to you!