With the World Shearing Championships set to be held in the North Island town of Masterton in March, federation spokeswoman Jeanette Maxwell said shearing was now a bona fide sport that deserved international recognition.

Ms Maxwell said competitive shearers clip up to 700 sheep over an eight-hour period, in a feat that has been likened to running two marathons back-to-back.

NZ call for Olympic sheep shearing — ABC News

Yet almost two years later, Zwerling and her associates have taught more than 100 prisoners to knit, while dozens more are on a waiting list to take her weekly class. "I have guys that have never missed one time in two years," Zwerling says. "Some reported to us that they miss dinner to come to class."

Her first thought was to bring knitting to a men's prison, but she was turned down repeatedly. Wardens assumed the men wouldn't be interested in a traditionally feminine hobby and worried about freely handing out knitting needles to prisoners who had been convicted of violent crimes. Five years passed before the Pre-Release Unit in Jessup accepted her, and Knitting Behind Bars was born. "I [wanted to teach] them something that I love that I really believe will make them focus and happy," Zwerling says. "I really believe that it's more than a craft. This has the ability to transform you."

The men were reluctant at first, complaining that knitting was too girly or too difficult. But Zwerling assured them men had invented the craft, then gave them a five-minute knitting lesson she swears can teach anyone. Suddenly, Zwerling says, the men "found the zen," and got hooked. Now, every Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m., they come to class, leaving their crimes and the hierarchies of prison life behind.

They started by knitting comfort dolls, which they gave to children removed from their homes because of domestic issues. Then they moved on to hats for kids at the inner-city elementary school many of the prisoners attended, Zwerling says. "If you look at them, they're covered with tattoos, they're rough looking, and many of the young guys don't have all their teeth," she says. "But it doesn't feel rough. They're very respectful and grateful and very happy to knit."

How Knitting Behind Bars Transformed Maryland Convicts — Good News

Charlotte told us that she had little formal artistic or craft tuition as a child or teenager - a topic she would touch on later. However she developed an interest in fashion. This led to work in costume in film and television and developed her artistic skills as a designer. Her interest in textiles was a natural evolution from this background and she went on to study tapestry weaving at Warrnambool TAFE.

A visit to Varanassi in India allowed her to explore the possibilities of jacquard weaving techniques. On a holiday in Peru she was seduced by the local weaving and the vibrant colours the weavers used. Charlotte also talked about her role as a facilitator of the hyperbolic crochet reef exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum and showed us examples of the work produced. She also gave us a sneak preview of her exhibition of shaped tapestries and installations which look at polarities of colour and the ideas of opposites as exemplified in her video installation of a Samurai council worker, or the contrasts between digital art and hand knits.

Charlotte talked about the current wave of interest in crafts amongst younger women and postulated that craft epochs or revivals often seem to occur after a significant technological change in society. In the 19th century, for instance, the Arts and Crafts movement came about as a reaction to the impact of industrialisation and machine-made textiles. In the 1950's and 60's a second craft revival, and ideas of self sufficiency, could be interpreted as a post nuclear epoch in reaction to the recent wars in Europe, the Pacific and Korea and the threat of atomic warfare.

At present we could be defined as living in a post digital age where technology and computers are a part of everyday life. As a result people seek enjoyment or activity by taking up old crafts again. Charlotte also mentioned that for young women now who are part of the 3rd wave of feminism, craft and domestic skills are no longer seen chores or barriers to women's equality. In fact, traditional crafts have been embraced both for the satisfaction and sense of achievement they bring as well as enabling women to turn traditional views of domestic crafts on their head with the movement known as Craftivism. Craftivism can be defined as craft plus activism where individuals can apply their creativity to address particular causes or address social concerns eg knitting scarves for women's shelters.

Charlotte referred back to her own childhood and teenage years when many of the craft skills we practice simply were not taught and she encouraged us, as a Guild, to seek opportunities where we can pass on our knowledge to younger generations - particularly to school children. She suggested making use of public spaces, eg libraries where we could hold workshops, or perhaps even as individuals approach schools and offer to teach groups of children our skills. And, of course, there is always the opportunity to teach our own children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews or neighbour's kids.

Charlotte inspired us all with her passion and enthusiasm and professionalism and I'm sure we can expect to see a lot more of her work in the future.

Registration period: 1 October to 31 December 2011.

The aims of the scarf exchange are to preserve the skills of spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet and felting, to expand our wool craft network and to challenge each crafter to produce their best original work.

Participation in the scarf exchange involves you selecting 150gm of washed and combed natural fibre to be crafted into a scarf by another participant. In return you will be required to craft a scarf using the fibre sent to you.

1. Send your fibre, fibre sample, entry form and entry fee by 31 December 2011 to:

Wangaratta Hand Weavers and Spinners
PO Box 473
Wangaratta VIC 3676
Australia

2. You will receive an exchange package of fibre by the end of February 2012. Over the next 4 months you will be able to spin, dye, knit, crochet, weave or felt the exchange fibre into a surprising creation to showcase the best of your fibre talents.

3. Delivery Date for the return of your finished scarf is 20 July 2012.

4. Scarf Exhibition: All entries for the Scarf Exchange will be on display at Workshop Space, Wangaratta Art Gallery, Ovens Street, Wangaratta for 10 days from Saturday, 8 September to Sunday, 16 September 2012. The exhibition will incorporate the regional Sharing Day hosted by Wangaratta Hand Weavers and Spinners on Tuesday, 11 September. We invite all crafters to visit Wangaratta over this period.

5. Finished scarves will be returned by the end of Nov 2012.

All fibre must be in the form of washed and combed tops. You can use any natural fibre or combination of natural fibres. You can select the colours you prefer for your finished scarf or let the crafter choose whether or not to dye the fibre.

Entry Fee: Australian and NZ participants $16
Info & forms: Marion Stewart

A not-for-profit event run by the Rotary Club of Deloraine, the Fair hosts more than 240 arts and craftspeople, involves more than 1000 community volunteers and attracts more than 25,000 people from Tasmania, interstate and overseas in at least 15 venues, with even shopkeepers in the main street of Deloraine getting involved.

Throughout the Fair, there will be a range of classes for people of all ages, and working demonstrations.

The event also features a Gourmet Festival, with a range of Tasmanian food, wine and micro-brewed beers available while you sit back and relax. There is also a Gourmet Pantry, featuring predominantly Tasmanian-made produce such as jams, preserves, spices, puddings, wines, cheeses and more.

There will be also a variety of local and interstate entertainers throughout the Fair.

This is where you come in!

Help us create a giant container cosy.

Simply kit or crochet a 30 by 30cm square. The more squares you make the closer we'll be to our beautiful container cosy.

To find out more, contact Christine or Facebook

Apparently most of the people who have expressed an interest in viewing simulcasts of the Guild meetings have not been members so this is a great way to introduce them to the Guild and encourage them to join. Ann also pointed out that once they smoothed out the technical problems with setting up the simulcasts they would be a lot less obtrusive and members would hopefully come to think of the idea as an ordinary happening. For each of the first few simulcasts a different provider is being used so that Ann can compare the results and decide who we will use for the long term.

Still talking about tools but this time rather more traditional ones, Ann had a word about one of her favourite subjects - spindles. Recently she has discovered two new (to her) spindle makers, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. Both of them have products available on Etsy and of course Ann has been acquiring examples of their work. It is fairly likely that anyone taking Ann's support spindling workshop during Summer School 2012 will get to see and possibly use some of these new spindles that have been added to her collection.

At this year's Darling Harbour craft show Ann came across some interesting new art materials called Inktense pencils. They are are fairly mess free method of marking fabric and ending up with what looks like a painted finish. The pencils are very easy to blend and Ann had some very interesting examples of how they had been used to embellish textile projects.

As the final part of her talk Ann mentioned that IBM had started a new mentoring project but unlike conventional programs where older, experienced people mentor those new to their profession this new system assigns young graduates as mentors to older staff members. The idea is that the youngsters can help their elders with new technology and systems and one would imagine the exchange of information is probably a lot more mutual than in the past.
Part two. Katherine and Isabella Henry use several websites to assist them with their knitting and spinning. Sites such as Ravelry have literally thousands of free patterns but also have many more useful tools that are mostly free for members to access.

Many of the patterns featured have links to posts by people who have knitted a specific pattern and show photos of their finished work plus comments and tips they may have about making the item or any variations they may have made to the it. This is a valuable resource which can help a great deal in making decisions about yarn, etc. and even help you decide if you actually want to go ahead with the project.

Another feature of the website is a catalogue you can build for yourself where you enter in various issues of knitting magazines that you own. If you are browsing through the site and look at an item that someone has made or talked about the site will automatically tell you that you already own the pattern for it and let you know which particular magazine it is in. You still need to buy the magazines (which helps the publishers) but you now have a wealth of information about the patterns you have, above and beyond what could possibly fit into a regular edition of a knitting mag.

There is also a yarn inventory where members can list items they have in their stash or items they are needing for a project and the site can link people up to either swap/buy/donate yarn to whoever needs it.

The Guild has a presence on Ravelry and some of the groups are also members. Caroline Dick also mentioned that Ravelry is safe to use as you can adopt any user name you like and do not have to reveal your identity.

Another website that Katherine and Isabella have discovered is Knitty. It is actually an online magazine rather than a meeting place for members but it has a wide variety of interesting articles and projects and is completely free. There is also a spin-off (pun intended) from Knitty called knittyspin which covers the subject of spinning.

On Saturday and Sunday there will be shearing demos, on the hour every hour, together with fleece sorting and classing in preparation for processing. You will be able to watch the entire process as raw alpaca fleece is spun into yarn and then knitted into garments.

When: Thursday to Sunday, 13-16 October
Info: nationalshowandsale.alpaca.asn.au

Mary is keen to source stunning images of the work of creative individuals. Of equal interest are pieces that have been collected as outstanding inspirational examples, including ethnographic and historical materials, since one aspect of the text deals with the impact of the eye of the beholder. In particular, detailed images are sought in order to illustrate the complexity and extraordinary variety of surface treatments, manipulations, materials and structures that textiles present. In addition, Mary is seeking personal statements elucidating why or how each piece is of personal significance.

Submissions should be posted to Mary Schoeser, 25 East Street, Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1SH, England, UK. The deadline for submissions is 25 September 2011.

You'll be able to walk through this landscape starting with a stroll through a rainforest, meandering alongside a river and some bushland, before stepping up for an aerial view of a farm and then visiting a life-sized garden. All the plants, trees, animals, people, buildings, machinery, clouds, grass, water, insects, flowers will be knitted in 3D.

You can use any material as long as it is knitted or crocheted or you can use yarn in any creative way. And you can stitch your knitting over or around objects to give them form or make them stand up.

Info: Gloucester Gallery Farmyard patterns are available.

Go to www.object.com.au

Carbon dating is too destructive for most silk items, scientists said. The new method uses the natural deterioration of silk's amino acids to determine its age by calculating that change over time -- a process known as racemisation. Archaeologists and forensic anthropologists have used this process for years to date bones, shells and teeth.

The process could be useful for museums and commercial and law enforcement efforts to detect counterfeit artefacts.

"A lot of collectors out there with these kinds of collections are thinking, is this authentic what I bought? Counterfeiting is not uncommon," Moini said.

Smithsonian conservators develop new technique to determine age of silk artefacts — The Washington Post

Mary Schoeser, specialist author in textiles, is working on an exciting project commissioned by Thames & Hudson, London. Entitled The Art of Textiles, this is to be a major work comprising over 1,000 images and celebrating the breadth and depth of the field today.

Submissions for consideration may be in digital or slide/transparency format. Digital images must be supplied as TIFF files, RGB calibrated, on discs. Please supply a reference print for colour balance as well as the following details: name, image title, date, media and technique, photo credit, and permission to publish. If the item is ethnographic or historical please indicate its origins. Selected images will not attract a reproduction fee, but will be acknowledged. There will be a resource list in the end-matter; please indicate whether or not you would like a contact email address/website to be included under the contributors list and specify the details.

Submissions should be posted to Mary Schoeser, 25 East Street, Coggeshall, Essex, CO6 1SH, England, UK. The deadline for submissions is 25 September 2011.