First published in 1912 by Frederick A Stokes Company.

The commercial fact that tapestries have immeasurably increased in value within the last five years, would have little interest were it not that this increase is the direct result of America's awakened appreciation of this form of art. It has come about in these latter days that tapestries are considered a necessity in the luxurious and elegant homes which are multiplying all over our land. And the enormous demand thus made on the supply, has sent the prices for rare bits into a dizzy altitude, and has made even the less perfect pieces seem scarce and desirable.

The Tapestry Book by Helen Churchill Candee — Project Gutenberg

First published in 1908 by T Fisher Unwin, Ltd, Adelphi Terrace, London. This little book has been compiled to emphasise and accentuate the distinct awakening of English women and Needlecraft Artists to the beauty of the ancient laces and embroideries which we own in the magnificent historic collections in our great public Museums.

Chats on Old Lace and Needlework by Emily Leigh Lowes — Project Gutenberg

First published in 1918 by Needlecraft Publishing Company, Augusta, Maine.

Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet by Anonymous — Project Gutenberg

First published in 1865 by Emily Faithfull, Printer and Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.

The Bath Tatting Book by PP — Project Gutenberg

What day, what team you may well ask, it's just Sunday... no, not just any Sunday. It's June 1, 2008, the Back to Back Day and our team, the Rhodes Runners, are driving to Kurrajong Heights to spend the day. It's eight hours minimum, shearing, spinning, knitting and (knowing my team mates) lots of chatting.

I arrive at Turpentine Tree ready for the eight am. start. It was still cold and overcast with wind blowing into the marquee, but I have my Uggs and a small quilt just for such an occasion.

"Ready everyone" calls Kris," It's eight am." Nooo...!" from most of us. Jamie begins clipping, Sue grabs the first few cuts and passes it around, we are spinning, absolutely flat out. "First single to Linda," Kris calls. Linda is doing the plying for the whole day. Ten minutes in and Pam has the front started.

Rhonda Baldwin has arrived, she has had a long drive from Coogee. Our team of eight are all spinning and knitting or shearing, with Kris acting as our observer and taking notes against last year's effort.

Linda comments that our yarn is overspun and too thick, she suggests the spinners each take a deep breath and let our yarn feed in faster to catch up with our feet. We are still treadling flat out... Deep breaths all round, as we laugh and begin to relax into smoother spinning.

I'm knitting a sleeve... The first twenty rows have a thick, textured twelve ply appearance, my next bobbin of yarn is knitting up as a lightly textured ten ply. Pam and Sue are well into the front and back. Rhonda is knitting the other sleeve. My third bobbin of yarn is knitting up as a smooth eight ply. Tony mentions that Marian (from Kurrajong) has dropped in pumpkin soup for the teams... yum... the best pumpkin soup ever. Standing, I groan, stamp and walk on the spot. Pam's groans join mine as she stands up to stretch, we decide that now that we are up it's a good time for loo visits.

Rosemary Esposito arrives with home baked spinach tart and snacks. She gives neck and shoulder massages all round and then shops for our raffle tickets which we all need as there are two spinning wheels as prizes. (As we all know you can never have enough wheels.) We buy five great baskets from a stall, actually Rosemary does, as some of our team never have enough of these either. We all become a little distracted admiring the wonderful baskets, Kris says, "Keep spinning, don't stop". Kris tells us we are in fact making great progress and are minutes in front of our 07 time. Yays... all round.

I notice a distraction in the crowd and Akira Isogawa (A-list fashion designer) walks up to watch the teams at work. He picks up our '07 jumper to admire. I mention that it was in fact finished just two weeks ago. We chat to Akira about each stage and the progress of our inaugural garment. He admires it even more now and expresses an interest in acquiring it. I, as usual, do a lot of the chatting. Kris says "Jess you have just lost that few minutes you had made up on your '07 time"... Oops!

Sue's hand is sore and swelling up, in fact it's looking quite inflamed. Vicki takes over the knitting.

The Kurrajong Team have finished their garment in six hours and fifty mins. The crowd cheers, Caroline Collerson (Kurrajong's blade shearer and owner of the two sheep) has the jumper on. This is a fantastic effort again for Kurrajong. The champagne is opened and passed around. We keep on going flat out. Sue is unable to continue as her hand is extremely swollen now. I've finished a sleeve and Rhonda will finish the other one really soon. We all have blisters on our fingers and aching hands. Rosemary decides to serve us champagne. If we wait till we finish, the champagne will be well and truly finished. We treadle, spin and knit on.

Eight hours are up and we take a look at our progress. Kris compares our time with last year, to find we have completed the same amount of spinning and knitting in eight hours that in '07 had taken us nine and one half hours. A unanimous vote was made to down needles and wheels and have another champagne. As the sun set slowly in the west, we decided that in '09 we may well be able to complete the challenge. The Kurrajong team has passed on another tip or two and we will definitely have a better chance next year if we... Oh no...! we have committed ourselves to another Back to Back challenge.

Jessica Armstrong

There will be ongoing demostrations of felting, hats, drop spindles, braiding weaving; a display from weaving classes and of card swap as well as Designer Yarn Competition of 2008 - juried and popular choice. Plus there will be traders with books, fibres, yarns, equipment, inspiration and Guild members selling their unique hand made articles.

To support you there will be a sausage sizzle and refreshments in the small hall.

Everybody welcome.

Here's what they want you to do.

1. say yes to a donation
2. donate a piece of work
3. if possible forward an image and details for the blog
4. when mailing your work please tell them the retail price, any special instructions and what material the item is made of
5. pass this request on to anyone you think will make some work for sale

The women transported to Australia between 1804 and 1850 brought with them over 200 trades. Sometimes we are taken on journeys we don't plan. One in five Australians are related to these women who supported each other. They came through difficult times.

The story told in the exhibition begins in England where miscreants were sent from Newgate prison to the hulks and then transported. Turner painted his outrage when 150 women on one ship were left to drown. The few drawings that remain show that the women were from the country and the city. Over 50% of them were probably illiterate. Elizabeth Fry was involved in improving conditions for women both in England and Australia.

The first female factory was established on the banks of the river at Parramatta where the Riverside Theatre now stands. It only provided accommodation for some of the 200 female convicts who arrived. Soon other ships arrived with more residents and a second factory, designed by Greenway was constructed to replace the first one which was burnt down. The factory had multiple roles: childbirth, mental health, illness, laundry, spinning and weaving as well as being shelter. It may be that our first export goods were the fabrics made there.

Gay has only been able to find three images of women convicts. The Cultural Heritage Centre at Parramatta is organising a get together of descendants of the women convicts in the hopes of getting more material and information about them.

The Women Transported exhibition got a grant of $49,100 most of which will be spent on transporting the exhibition to regional centers in four states. The exhibition in Parramatta opens on August 2 and runs there until November 9. Details of the program will soon be sent to the Guild.

This method is known as grafting or Kitchener stitch.

Leave one tail of yarn twice as long as the seam to be sewn.

Place the two pieces wrong sides together with tail end at back right.

Thread the tail on to a tapestry needle.

First you have to set up for grafting:

1. insert the needle purl-wise into the first stitch on the front needle. Pull through but don't pull the stitch off the needle
2. insert the needle knit-wise into the first stitch on the back needle. Pull through but don't pull the stitch off the needle

You only have to do this at the beginning of the grafting.

Repeat the following along the needles:

1. insert the tapestry needle into the first stitch on the front needle knit-wise and slip the stitch off the needle
2. insert the tapestry needle into the second stitch on the front needle purl-wise and leave it on the needle
3. insert the tapestry needle into the first stitch on the back needle purl-wise and slip the stitch off the needle
4. insert the tapestry needle into the second stitch on the front needle knit-wise and leave it on the needle

Continue until the last two stitches and do steps 1 and 3.

This is for stocking stitch.

For garter stitch:

1. purl
2. purl

1. knit
2. purl
3. knit
4. purl

1. clean, to minimise preparation, leaving more time for the spinning
2. open, to permit easy drafting
3. the correct length for the type of yarn, eg short for woollen, longer for worsted
4. the correct type for the project, eg Lincoln for rugs, merino for fine work

There is a place for all types of spinning - a slub yarn such as is produced by beginners (and sometimes called "creative') and readily spun from unprepared fleece is perfectly viable if a rough-spun look is called for, but for baby clothes, for example, it would decidedly be unsuitable. Likewise, a singles woollen yarn looks great in a granny shawl but would not give service if used for a floor rug (unless used for the knotted pile).

If spinning a woollen yarn, then do not spoil it with excessive plying. If spinning worsted, do not under ply it.

When fancy plies are called for, submit a selection of diverse plies. Remember a grandrelle is made when two different component yarns are plied, so that if one submits a hand spun plied with Lurex, a hand spun plied with any other type of commercial yarn and two or more different coloured hand spun yarns plied together, then one has simply submitted variations of a grandelle, and not different effect yarns.

Skeins
It is important to submit skeins rather than balls of yarn. After washing or scouring all skeins should be re-wound and fresh skein ties applied. All skeins should be:

1. of uniform length
2. tied securely with a reef knot joining the beginning to the end
3. tied in four places with skein ties of the same colour as the yarn

Washing or Scouring
If yarn for ski-wear is called for then only a woollen spin should be used - a thick, worsted yarn is too heavy - and the grease content should be preserved by washing the hanks in cold water. For all other yarns, the grease content should be completely removed. No yarn should ever be submitted without at least the suint content and dirt having been removed.

Submissions
Rules should be very carefully read and complied with, and entries submitted in their correct Class or Section. Concise instructions should be given in writing as to the means by which goods are to be returned. No name and/or address should be visibly attached to the articles.

Kommaly learned the traditional techniques of Lao weaving and the use of natural dyes in her home town in the north of Laos which is known for its weft ikat, warp ikat, complex continuous supplementary weft, tapestry weaving, plain weaving and discontinuous supplementary weft. The Vietnam war forced her to move from her home in 1960 and she later trained in Thailand as a nurse. But in 1976 she started a weaving group in her home in Vientiane with 10 desperately poor women who had been displaced by the war. Thereafter she became director of a handicrafts cooperative and in 1993 established a model farm in silk production and cattle raising on 40 hectares of land in her mountainous northern province.

Kommaly set up a pot containing 60 silk cocoons on a small stove. After boiling them she separated one strand from each using a tool similar to a small straw broom. These were then taken over some reels and wound by hand onto a bobbin.

The silk cocoon has three layers, each layer has a different texture. The outer layer has a rough texture and is used for warp. Inner layers are used for weft.

Kommaly started her silk farm with the idea of using everything with no waste. Mulberry leaves can be used for making tea, mulberry fruit can be used as a dye, the cooked worms are eaten as a source of protein or fed to chickens and fish, the silk fibre is used to make goods for sale. Funds from these products go back into buying cattle for the farm and other supplies for the villages. 3000 people from 200 villages benefit.

The silk worm cycle takes 45 days and the Lao silk comes in two colours. To produce knitting yarn 10 groups of 60 threads are twisted together. They harvest silk a minimum of six times per year. Some villagers raise the worms, some dye and others weave. Each part of the process is performed by different people. Traditional Lao silk worms are more disease resistant than the imported hybrids. Hybrid crops need to be raised in a more controlled environment.

Governor Hunter wrote to the Duke of Portland in April 1800:

"Your Grace may be assured that I do not neglect such means as may be in my power for trying what may be done to establish the weaving of cloth. The specimens sent by this conveyance, although prepared under many disadvantages, may serve to show what may be expected as soon as we have abundance of raw materials in our power. The sheep thrive exceedingly and the specimens of woollen cloth will in some degree show the quality of fleece; the breed of sheep which produced the wool is between the Cape ram and the Bengal ewe.

"No further progress has been made in the manufacture of cloth and linen than the samples which I understand Governor Hunter took home with him. It appears that this necessary work has been hindered by want of flax seed and manufacturers. Some good workmen are among the Irish convicts lately brought here, which will in some measure make up for the loss of the Master Weaver who was drowned on the passage out - four men, two flax-dressers and two weavers, convicts for life, have been selected to conduct the manufacture and I have made their eventual emancipation the reward for bringing that manufacture to perfection. I hope that when the Orphan House is established a number of spinners and other useful hands will be procured. As the introduction of a breed of Spanish sheep into the flocks of individuals so much improved the fleeces that there is a promising appearance of a great quantity of wool being produced in a few years. Do, pray, send out some wool cards as it is impossible to get them made here."

There are some worthwhile prizes to win available within NSW and interstate. The Guild sponsored the Sydney Easter Show for $450 worth of prizes this year - you could take out some of this prize money next year if you start NOW!

So...

1. Decide which shows you wish to enter and in what general type of classes
2. Think about the design of the finished article
3. Fleece - find some fleece which says to you "spin me NOW" which you will really enjoy spinning
4. Plan the article/garment design, plan colours and sequencing so that you have sufficient time - be realistic
5. Spin all the yarn necessary (do some most days - forget the housework!)
6. and so on... and so on...

Make it fun and achievable

This digital collection includes millinery, dressmaking, clothing and costume books from the UW-Madison collections. These books from the first half of the 20th century (1907 - 1940's) include the history of clothing, styles of dress, fashion drawing, and design and construction of hats, clothing and costumes. Items in this collection will appeal to vintage clothing collectors, those studying costume design, fashion, and women's history, and those who just enjoy reminiscing about days gone by.

All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume — University of Wisconsin Digital Collection