From the simple to the fantastical, these are some of the creative ways that people are making their marks on the world with their craft.
Waverley Council offers six places in its 2011 Waverley Artist-in-Residence Program. This program provides rent-free studio space for six months in the Bondi-Waverley School of Arts in Bondi. Applications are now open to Australian artists working in visual arts and craft, design and new media.
Applications close: September 17, 2010
EWES (Epping Weavers Embroiderers & Spinners) is holding a Tea Cosy and Tea Pot exhibition morning and/or afternoon Tea on Friday, October 15, 2010, 10-4pm in aid of Pink Ribbon Day, the Cancer Council's official fund raising day for breast cancer research. Tea Cosies are handmade by members. Wear pink if you wish.
Come to Epping Creative Centre, Dence Park, 26 Stanley St, Epping, NSW for morning or afternoon tea or stay all day (bring own lunch). Bring your spinning wheel and join in spinning or whatever you like.
Raffle and Lucky Door Prizes Entry $5
Entry fees and raffle proceeds go to Pink Ribbon Day.
RSVP and Enquiries: Yvonne Eade
The showcase will be a parade of garments interspersed with song, dance and circus acts.
To enter the competition you must design and make a garment that fits the criteria of art that can be worn on the body. The festival's theme for 2010 is Stories of land and sea, while the theme of the show is past, present and future.
In Stitches (Michaela Davies, Claire Conroy & Charlotte Haywood) are looking for a permanent home for the Sydney Reef, a satellite of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef created by Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring, Los Angeles.
In the meantime In Stitches have decided to keep the crochet moving in an evolutionary state transforming it into a Collective Mind which will be a sculpture of the human brain made from the contributed crochet pieces. This sculpture aims to celebrate everyone's efforts of working together. As the Collective Mind suggests, all contributors will be acknowledged. The Collective Mind will be exhibited as a part of the Sydney Fringe Festival 2010, at the Carriageworks, Eveleigh, September 10-26.
Applications are now being invited for Sturt residencies in 2011. Applications will be considered from established professionals and recent graduates in the areas of woodwork, ceramics, weaving/textiles and jewellery/metalwork. Sturt maintains one of the largest craft based residency programs in Australia with places for up to eight residents each year to live, work and teach in Sturt's unique environment.
Applications close: October 31, 2010
The Sewing Room will run workshops at Sydney Design 2010. The design festival runs for 16 days from Saturday, July 31 to Sunday, August 15. The program, with more than 70 events, is produced by the Powerhouse Museum (PHM) in partnership with more than 50 cultural institutions, organisations and individuals across Sydney.
The theme will reveal the many captivating stories behind design ideas, objects and processes. It will invite participants to have meaningful conversations with others about design, and let you to connect with design on a more personal level.
The PHM will hold a major exhibition called Creating the look which draws on the highly successful partnership between photographer Bruno Benini and stylist Hazel Benini from 1950 to 2000. It explores the creative processes involved in styling, crafting and designing powerful, eye-catching, fashion photographs.
The 2010 International Freeform Fiberarts Guild show, Somewhere in My World, includes 61 freeform fibre artists from all around the globe including Guild librarian Brigitte Sieber.
The artists were given the choice of creating one freeform piece interpreting the theme any way they chose using any materials and any techniques. They were not restricted to scrumbles and many of the pieces are wearable art and sculptural as well. None of the artists saw each other's pieces until the online show was published.
The Fibre Alchemists group recently became a Network Group of our Guild. They got together in 2007 and currently have 10 members. Most of them met through ATASDA but belonged to various guilds with different textile backgrounds (hand & machine stitching, beading, printing, felting, knitting, knotting, spinning, calligraphy, collage.) As individuals they were looking for a group that would stretch them a bit. And although they came from diverse backgrounds and seemed an unlikely combination, the combination has worked.
This year the Alice Springs Beanie Festival will celebrate the beanie's ability to ascribe to a head full of love, warmth and joy.
The textile techniques - knitting, crochet, felting, weaving are easy to learn and difficult to master. Amazing levels of technical skill can be developed to make ideas come alive. This is when the ordinary beanie becomes extraordinary.
The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is a project that resides at the intersection of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft and community art practice. The project responds to the environmental crisis of global warming and the escalating problem of oceanic plastic trash.
The exhibition closed at the Science Museum, Dublin on 11 June. The Bleached Reef will be included in the National Design Triennial: Why Design Now? in New York.
Where: Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York
When: 14 May to 9 January 2011
Info: crochetcoralreef.org
Grafton Fibrecraft Group would like to invite you to come along to a spinning, weaving and fibre craft camp in Grafton. Our first camp last year was a success so we thought we would do it again.
Workshops will include:
When: 20-22 August
Enquiries: Lesley or Barbara Roberts
The Royal Show invites us to hold the contest that generates such interest in the Craft Pavilion. In turn, it is my pleasure to invite your participation both as teams and as individuals in order to showcase our fine skills in wool craft and in speaking to any and all interested people!
Convergence is a gathering of felt makers which is held every two years in either New Zealand or Australia. It is hosted by a different group and in a different location each time. Sharing knowledge is the underlying theme of the Convergence. Tutors give workshops on a voluntary basis and it is a wonderful opportunity to showcase their work.
Your group may have members interested in this event whether as tutors or participants. We are just beginning the process of organizing the Convergence and have created a blog to communicate news on the program as it develops. It will also post lots of beautiful felting to whet your appetites.
When: 2-7 October 2011
Where: Bunbury, Western Australia
Email: feltconvergence2011@westnet.com.au
Web: feltconvergencebunburywa.blogspot.com
Yarnspinners Fibre Group of Mittagong were delighted by the response to their first creative bag competition held at the Robertson Wool Festival on 1 May 2010 (in conjunction with the Black & Coloured Sheep Breeders Association of NSW)
Artists working in textiles or fibre are invited to submit proposals for artwork to be included in this exhibition to be shown in the Gallery workshop space @ Wangaratta exhibitions gallery from 12 June to 11 July 2010
Proposal Requirements
Info: Rita Lazauskas, Exhibitions Officer, Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, 03 5722 0761
The Guild's demonstration Kinokuniya Craft Fair was a great success. This bookshop has an excellent craft section and attracts a young clientele. It has an excellent craft section and, for the Craft Fair, was offering a 20% discount on all craft books. As a result, we found ourselves demonstrating to a young, enthusiastic audience of both craft and book lovers.
Other groups demonstrating included the Knitters Guild and the Embroiderers Guild, as well as a number of crafts people selling their wares.
TAFTA and Dragon Design are seeking images from artists and designers across Australia and New Zealand for publication in late 2010 in a juried collection showcasing fibre /textile objects created since 2000. All entries will be screened by Dragon Design in the first instance, for technical quality of images, adherence to the competition rules and payment of entry fees if applicable. Images will then be sent to a panel of judges for final selection.
Fibre and textiles must be the main focus of all work, but choose work that reflects the book's concept of Fibre Design.
Categories: 3-dimensional work, basketry, needlework, paper and felt, surface design, quilting, 2-dimensional work, tapestry and wearables.
Entry form and guidelines available on www.tafta.org.auor from PO Box 38, The Gap, Qld 4061 (send SASE)
Submission deadline: 1 September 2010
Expressions of interest are being sought from artists living and working in Australia for the first Tamworth Textile Triennial, to be held in September 2011. The Tamworth Textile Triennial will build on the tradition of the Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennials, showcasing the work of contemporary textile artists. There are few events in Australia that can demonstrate such a strong tradition of promoting and sustaining the unique cultural heritage associated with both the history and technology of textile practice.
The 1st Tamworth Textile Triennial will provide a forum to explore current issues and trends in textile practice in Australia. Tamworth Regional Gallery will work to develop stronger links with Asia and is committed to build the profile of the exhibition and engage with a wider audience.
Expressions of interest are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, age groups, emerging artists and established practitioners.
Aimed at high school students and at students at tertiary, TAFE and Design Schools, this fashion design competition hopes to support biodiversity and to encourage a more sustainable fashion industry.
Students are encouraged to design and make an outfit that is entirely, or mostly, made from materials that were originally bought and used for a non-clothing purpose, eg discarded DVDs, video or audio tape, chicken wire, fly screen, wall paper, kitchenware, cutlery, plastic bags, office supplies, polystyrene packing, car seat belts, etc.
Be inspired by Australian animals, living or extinct. Let the shapes and/or colours and/or textures of them influence your design in visible ways. Outfits should strongly and obviously make a point that biodiversity and sustainable fashion are wonderful and wanted.
Continue reading "Fashion Less Waste Design Competition 2010" »
My name is Esther and I have a passion for craft, knitting and sewing. I need your help with a community project. I want to start a knitting and sewing community that makes items to donate to charity.
How it works
At least 100 people involved in the community, with each person to make at least one item to donate to the Save the Children foundation. After, each person will be sent a thank you card.
The spinning, weaving and felting sections at the Kiama Show held in late January attracted a record 135 entries!
It was a difficult job for our judge Denise Stevens, as several sections had over 20 entries and all the work exhibited was of a very high standard.
Our lovely display attracted many favourable comments and the area was abuzz with visitors enjoying the spinning, weaving, bobbin lace and felting demonstrations.
The Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award seeks to encourage contemporary design and challenge conventional notions of lace and its application in the areas of fashion, the built environment and digital multimedia. Professional and amateur artists, designers and practitioners around the world are invited to enter for the chance to be exhibited at the Powerhouse Museum and win a share of $40,000 prize money.
The Award defines lace as an openwork structure whose pattern of spaces is as important as the solid areas. Approximately 30 works will be selected for consideration for exhibition in July 2011. The selected entrants will have time to develop their proposed work from May until November 2010.
Expressions of interest close: 29 March 2010 by 5.00pm
Info: Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award
Read and Check your Show Schedule
Spinning, weaving, felting, braids etc are often included in a special section titled Crafts. Some schedules include General Regulations for Crafts which also apply to spinning, weaving etc and consist of requirements such as work must have been finished in the 12 months prior to the show
. Check the Craft section of your schedule carefully. If there are no General Regulations then read the information and requirements set out for every individual class you are interested in. If you are required in any class to include information such as state purpose
make a neat, clearly printed or written label which indicates a professional standard of work
.
There's an interesting concept that comes out of modern software development methodologies - collectively known as iterative development. Instead of starting with a fully thought-out plan (which almost always changes anyway between the start and finish of a project) and executing to completion, you develop your product in quick iterations, each of which produces a usable product
. This allows you to change plans rapidly as you learn new things about what works and what doesn't, while still having something finished and usable at any given moment (ie it prevents you from wallowing in dithering forever.)
The application of this concept to making New Year's resolutions work seems pretty straightforward. You can't plan everything out in advance because you honestly don't know where you're going - you don't have enough information to make a decision.
So - make a list of the four or five goals that are important to you. Pick one to get started. Write down a description ("story") of what that means to you and pick out one or two items out of that description that you think would be most valuable to tackle first. (It might be something that is so basic that you can't achieve the goal without it, eg "learn to weave" in the goal of "becoming a master weaver" - or it might be the most important thing on the list, or it might be the easiest to knock off the list. It's entirely up to you.)
Once you have those one or two items, break it down further into something you can complete - usefully - in a relatively short time period. (For Agile software development, the suggested timeline is 2-4 weeks, and that's a good place to start.) "Get the COE in Hand Weaving" is a big task, but the first phase, something achievable within a few weeks, might be "Weave the first two samples in the COE requirements". (It should ideally produce some sort of useful end product, so "study tapestry for two weeks" doesn't really work - you need something more concrete.)
At the end of the first time period, you go back and re-evaluate the goals and priorities. Maybe you discovered that you weren't interested in the COE in weaving after all. In that case, you can decide to do something different. The effort isn't wasted - you still have the samples, and you still have everything you learned doing the first two samples. But you consciously re-evaluate every two to four weeks and ask yourself, "What did I get out of the last iteration? Is it getting me closer to what I want? If not, what do I need to change
to get closer to what I want? Should I change my goals?"
In this way you can get useful things done while identifying and refining your goals. It will probably also be much less frustrating than trying to decide everything up front and then be faced with perpetual temptation.
Enchanted Pathways
is a small format open entry exhibition sponsored by the American Tapestry Alliance in conjunction with Handweavers Guild of America's Convergence in New Mexico in 2010.
Eligibility:
For more information and entry form, go to the ATA website.
Entry Form due January 15, 2010
Entries are open for the 2010 Sydney Royal Arts Show. Their catalogue is available on line.
There are two classes each in felting and weaving and five in spinning. The number of classes has been steadily diminishing because the numbers of entries has been going down, year by year. If we want to continue to have our craft represented at the RAS we need to support it by sending entries. Flood them this year and they may reinstate more classes next year.
The Guild is often asked by RAS and others shows to suggest suitable judges. We have developed a list of members experienced in fibre techniques who are available to judge. On November 1, Guild registered judges and others interested in the process met to discuss standards and share tips. Experts in different fibre fields presented their perspectives and the attendees practiced by "judging" their samples. Those present urged the Guild to develop a model show schedule and advertise its availability. They plan to meet again next year.
I was thrilled to see that our first Fibre Focus was to be silk.
My place was booked for two workshops and the motel arrangements made. I knew it would be good.
The dust storms had abated but the leftover was all along the Pacific Highway on my way from Coramba to Sydney. The tonnes of red dirt were amazing and as I came closer to the city it seemed the fallout was thicker and the cars definitely more shrouded in the red reminder.
Yes, that's right they are now officially incorporated! Their next meeting at the Shellcove Centre is on Saturday, September 19. They would love to see more feltmakers at the gatherings on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. Even if you can only make it for an hour or two - the more the merrier.
Thanks to all who were present at the meeting for incorporating the group. This was a very productive meeting and they have now drafted a constitution, with the generous assistance of the Victorian Feltmakers Inc and sent the forms in to the Fair Trading Department. Also thanks to Melinda Binkins who has drawn some ideas for their logo. They will be using these ideas to make their banner on October 3. They will form their first committee on that day, International Felt Day. If you are interested in standing for a position on the committee but will be unable to attend the International Felt Day, let Anita know so that she can put forward your nomination. There is much to be done, but if we all take on a small part it won't be so big a job. And much more fun.
Continue reading "Illawarra Feltmakers Incorporated (IFI) Update" »
Wrap stands for Wagga Research, Adapt, Produce: the aims of the group. It all started when Robin and Annette were talking about their respective stashes of wool fabrics and decided to make a wagga. They recruited others and WRAP was created with the purpose of studying the iconic Australian wagga. The group is composed of nine women.
All felt makers are invited to Shellharbour (30 minutes drive south of Wollongong), on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. They hope this will be the beginning of some great friendships and lead to the making of some wonderful felt.
Where: Shellcove Community Centre, corner of Southern Cross Boulevard and Hinchenbrook Drive, Shellcove, Shellharbour.
Contact: Anita Larkin 02 4297 5902, anita@anitalarkin.com
To celebrate the final week of Soft Sculpture, the National Gallery of Australia will hold the Knitta Please festival.
Founded in 2005 in Austin, Texas, Knitta Please is a tag crew of knitters who turned their frustration with their half-finished knitting projects into a phenomenon sweeping the world.
From 7 to 12 July the Gallery be transformed with knitting. Magda Sayeg, founder of Knitta Please and Sydney artist Denise Litchfield will transform the front entrance and foyer of the Gallery. Knitters are invited to help create squares of knitting for the coverings.
For information on how to become involved, go to nga.gov.au/whatson/highlights.
Where: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
When: Sunday, 5-12 July
To enter: Send or drop tea cosies into Morpeth Gallery any time from now until 10 August. Include your name, address and phone. A story about you and your tea cosy would be helpful.
Entries will be judged during August. $500 cash prize for the "Tea Cosy of the Year".
The cosies will be exhibited with the Novelty Teapot Exhibition with almost 4,000 teapots from all over Australia and the tea drinking world.
Where: Morpeth Gallery, 5 Green Street, Morpeth
When: August 20-30, 10am-5pm
Information: 02 4933 1407, www.morpethgallery.com/TeapotHome.htm Or join Liz and Joanne's tour ("We only do delicious tours") on 22 August from Macarthur House, Parramatta for $69 including lunch: 02 9683 4711, delicious2@bigpond.com
The contest run by Knitters Magazine, received 292 entries from seven countries (USA, Japan, Finland, Canada, Australia, Ireland and Russia.)
The Grand Prize of $6000 was won by a pair of leopard spot socks with "NICE KITTY" knitted into the top edge.
Geraldine McCullough won the "from Sheep to Sox" category with her hand spun raspberry and cream inspired lace socks.
See them, and all the other winning entries at: Knitalk
Tapestry weavers from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland as well as New Zealand have woven tapestries for the 'blue' challenge.
There are more than forty tapestries in the exhibition varying in subject matter and size.
In New Zealand the exhibition will be held at the Creative Fibre Festival at Timaru on 17, 18 and 19 April.
In Australia the exhibition will be held at Epping Creative Centre (Dence Park) 26 Stanley Road Epping (Sydney) NSW on Friday to Sunday 24 to 26 April, 10.00am to 4.00pm.
The Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery in Wangaratta, Victoria has established the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award, a biennial award exhibition and is calling for submissions from professional artists/designers working in contemporary textiles. The award is acquisitive ($4,000) with the winning work becoming part of the gallery's growing contemporary textile collection, owned by the Rural City of Wangaratta.
It is pleasing to see this award being established, raising the profile of contemporary textiles. Please think about submitting an application and forward this information to others.
Submissions Due: Friday, 17 April
Exhibition: 20 June to 19 July
Enquires: d.mangan@wangaratta.vic.gov.au
Kurrajong Handspun Crafts Inc (KHC) is hosting the 2009 scarf exchange. The theme is Sunset over the Blue Mountains. This was chosen as most members of our group live either in the Hawkesbury area at the foot of the mountains or in the mountains. It does not have to be a scarf - a bag, hat, socks. Make any accessory that takes your fancy.
Send 150 gms of clean, prepared fibre to KHC by 1 May 2009, and receive a different package of fibre by the end of June. Your material can be any natural fibre such as wool, mohair, alpaca, silk, cotton, angora or any mixture of these. Return the processed fibre to KHC by 1 October 2009. After an exhibition in November, your own material in its new guise, will be returned to you.
Info sheets available from the Guild
Enquires: lotus@bigfoot.com.au and gwyn.g@iinet.net.au
Calling on weavers of any type of loom to weave twenty bookmarks for the Bookmark Exchange 2009. Sign up for the exchange before 1 May. Bookmarks are due by 7 September.
Synopsis of rules: weave 20 bookmarks, sized between 0.5" to 3" wide and between 5" to11" long. Fill out the draft, attach bookmarks to the draft, and mail them to the coordinator. The cost is $6 or return postage for international participants. The theme this year is sparkle, add a little something twinkling in your warp or weft.
The only identifying information posted on the web site is a person's Yahoo screen name/email address. Official rules and draft blanks are posted on Yahoo Group: Bookmark Exchange 2009.
Any questions, email coordinator: eva_gullkyntir@yahoo.com
Each year, teams from around the world take up the challenge which involves a team of eight (a shearer and seven spinners and knitters) who hand shear a sheep, spin the wool and knit an adult size sweater in under 8 hours. The world record is held by the Pembroke Merriwa Jumbucks in a time of 4 hours 51 mins (in 2004). After such an achievement, they retired! Since then, a team from Japan won for 2 years, then a team from Toronto, Canada won the past 2 years (none coming near the world record time.)
The wool is spun within 30 seconds of it coming off the sheep, and within 6 minutes the knitting has started. Sewing up is done in about 3-4 minutes. The pattern is basically a dropped shoulder and boat neck sweater. The emphasis is on speed, not style!
Kurrajong Handspun Crafts Inc will host two teams this year at the Turpentine Tree, Kurrajong Heights, along with an apple pie bake-off. If you would like more information, contact Dawne at grenrose@bigpond.net.au
In an effort to remember those who died, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies.The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for spring 2012, for all to remember. They have already collected about 400,000 butterflies.
After thorough research and planning Wagga Wagga's Murrumbidgee School of Creative Arts is ready to be launched for 2009. For your information, the changes to the program and structure of the school follows:
For twenty years, the group A Dozen Weavers has been exhibiting annually to showcase weaving, both artistic and practical. They intend this exhibition to be a farewell exhibition. Although most Dozen Weavers exhibitions have been held in Brisbane, it is appropriate that this twentieth and last exhibition be held in Toowoomba, as the tenth anniversary exhibition was showcased at the University of Southern Queensland gallery.
This year members were invited to participate in a Christmas card exchange. The Yarn Store has had a supply of window cards for years that nobody was buying so the committee agreed to seven of them being given to each member who joined the swap. Members then filled the window with some kind of fibre work, saved one card and delivered the rest to the Guild.
The cards were displayed at our Open Day in October and the best chosen by popular vote. Winners received a voucher from one of the traders present.
A few more members submitted cards after October to make up three groups of six.
One card of each set went into the Guild Collection.
The cards were stunning and showed a variety of techniques: weaving, felting, knitting, embroidery, silk painting, braiding. Cards were distributed to participants at the November general meeting or posted immediately after, in time for Christmas.
This was such a satisfying exchange that we hope to repeat it again next year.
This is a wonderful animated short that was shown at the Encounters Short Film Festival. It's called Don't Let It All Unravel
, it was directed by Sarah Cox, and all the action is knitted — or frogged (un-knitted) — (via Make Magazine)
The Nelson Bay Spinners and Weavers' first Wolstoncroft Camp for fibre and yarn addicts was held from 24 to 26 October at the very picturesque Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Camp on Lake Macquarie. Eighteen campers attended and enjoyed a sunny, relaxed weekend in delightful surroundings.
Five thirty am Sunday morning I'm up and dressed, next, some breakfast. I glance out the window, it's dark of course and cold, ooh! bed seems like a better idea ... but I must go, I've committed to the day with the team.
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.
As we know many Australian women are affected by breast cancer. So raising funds for research to find a cure for this disease is very important. A group has decided to have an exhibition and sale for scarves, wraps and contemporary neck pieces to raise funds. The exhibition with be held at Craft ACT in Canberra in August 2008.
Continue reading "National Breast Cancer Foundation Exhibition" »
Helen Frostell, in association with the Journeymen, has been experimenting recently with weaving using remaindered threads. By knotting together thrums left over from other weaving projects and then dyeing them, she has used them as weft with warps of thin cotton. The knots are left showing and become an important textural feature.
Continue reading "Zanshi: Weaving using remaindered threads" »
Now is the time to start designing and making your more time consuming articles for shows and exhibitions in 2009.
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!
See the following with wonderful photos of past winners at Beanie Fest:
"In the vast Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of Australia's Central Desert the traditional people (Anangu) have been making and wearing beanies for all of time. Traditionally in Pitjantjatjara and Luritja languages, beanies are called 'mukata'. If you venture further south-west, then the language is Yankunytjatjara, where they call them 'muna'. The Walpari people of the Tanami Desert, north-west of Alice Springs call beanies 'mukati'. All languages are dynamic and these days lots of people in the centre just call beanies mukata."This year we celebrate mukata made from emu feathers, seeds and yarns spun in the old way that embody the Central Desert. They remind us you can tell people's address by their head-dress - whether it's a chullo from Peru, a fez from Morocco, a beret from France or a ushanka from Russia.
What's your head-dress? We invite beanieologists everywhere to join us by making beanies with your own traditional twist."
Syne Mitchell operates WeaveCast, a podcasting service for weavers, out of Seattle, Washington USA. Pod casting is like a radio program that is "broadcast" over the Internet. This means that you can listen to the program on your computer or record it to listen to somewhere else: eg while weaving.
There is a new book available Handmade Style - Weave printed by Murdoch press and written by four current Guild members. The Guild bought copies which were available for members to buy at the August meeting. President Jenny Dunn asked the authors to talk about the experience at the August meeting.
Kumihimo devotees can become members of the Complex Weavers Japanese Textiles Study Group. This group has an extremely diverse range of interests from social, historic, symbolic, to weaving, dyeing, and braiding techniques, to sewing and embroidery, and translation of designs to contemporary western weaving. It was founded in 2004. To become a member go to their web site: www.complex-weavers.org.
Nazli makes the cutest crochet hats to the likes of owls and frogs. The owl hat even looks like a pilot's hat when it's on.
Hats — Nazli Çetiner (via CRAFT: blog)
Helle Jorgensen creates amazing sea creatures that are crocheted, knitted and embroidered with reused plastic bags.
Sea Creatures — Helle Jorgensen (via CRAFT: blog)
Prototype Your Own Soft Toys
KnitOwl has an excellent and extensive write up on the process of prototyping your own soft toys or plushies. I like how she says to keep all your prototypes even the not perfect ones because they need homes too.
Designing soft toys to sew — KnitOwl (via CRAFT: blog)
This is a really nice brooch made from tape measure tape by Liana Kabel.
(via CRAFT: blog)
Artist Natasha Fadeeva makes almost unbearably cute stuffed animals from mohair and needle-felt.
Stuffed Animals — Natasha Fadeeva (via Neat-o-rama)
Wheat weaving is a lost art that has slipped through the cracks of time. When the braiding or twisting of hair came into fashion, someone also thought up the idea of softening wheat by soaking it in water so it too could be woven and twisted to create a beautiful piece to save and cherish.
Debbie Wagner, Culbertson, enjoys doing just that — wheat weaving. She creates wheat pieces instead of sending flowers in remembrance of loved ones. She also uses wheat art for wedding decorations or to send a small thank you to a friend.
Wheat weaving a lost art — Sidney Herald
A woman in Surrey has made an entire English garden out of knitted items, from carrots to snails to squirrels to a picnic lunch — she solicited contributions from all over England:
The project has been painstakingly completed by more than 300 contributors, including a group of gay men knitting in Brighton, and a 12-year-old boy in Sussex, who spent six months making the pond and waterfall.Ms Bolsover, 46, of Dorking, Surrey, estimates her team made 4 million individual stitches, knitting together 80km of wool.
The crochet lawn — Metro (via Boingboing)
The Last Knit is an hilarious animation on how obsessive knitting can be, although here taken to the extreme. There's something therapeutic in hearing the clacking of the needles. Written, directed and animated by Laura Neuvonen — (via CRAFT: blog)
Designer Liana Kabel makes hand-shaped bracelets out of vintage knitting needles.
At least she's using her powers for good... — Modish (via CRAFT: blog)
LA's Institute For Figuring created this beautiful crocheted cactus garden, as well as a matching crocheted kelp-bed.
Hyperbolic crochet cactii and kelp — Margaret Wertheim (via Boingboing)
We all hate to waste an inch of our thread even though most of us have enough to last for 3 lifetimes. Here are some tips garnered from the internet on what to do with thrums.
The Museum of Kitschy Stitches by Stitchy McYarnpants features all the fun, ridiculous photos from vintage pattern books from the 40s through the 70s.
This month's sweltering temperatures haven't stopped Jeanette Renck from snuggling up in her Samoyed scarf.
And if her full-length matching coat, hand-knitted from 52 ounces of her beloved dog's hair, wasn't on display at the Orange County Fair, she would probably be wearing the ensemble regularly at home.
Dog-hair coat fetches top prize — The Orange County Register
2006 Designer Yarn of the Year Award
The results of the popular vote for this year's award are:
The winners and a selection of other entries will be available for groups to borrow and examine for one month. Phone the Guild to reserve a month. We mail it to you and you mail it to the next group on the list.
2006 International Back to Back Wool Challenge Results
Continue reading "2006 International Back to Back Wool Challenge Results" »
Visitors to the Quilt and Craft Fair delighted in the Knitters Guild's stand.
Participants of a seminar at the Narrabeen Tram Shed decided to form the guild twenty years ago. They were well organised by Margot Chick, an active member of the Embroiderers Guild.
The Knitters have gone on from strength to strength as demonstrated by the imagination displayed at their 20th anniversary exhibition at Darling Harbour. It seems that anything can be knitted - from a paddock of sheep to a plate of cup cakes.
This is idiot cord, as in any idiot can do it. Geraldine McCulloch had a splendid example on her magic square vest that she wore to the May meeting.
Instructions, as in Interweave Knits, Spring 1998:
I-cord
With a double pointed needle, cast on the desired number of stitches.*Without turning the needle, slide the stitches to the other end of the needle, pull the yarn around the back and knit the stitches as usual; repeat from * for the desired length.
Applied I-cord
As I-cord is knitted, attach it to the garment as follows:
With garment right side facing and using a separate ball of yarn and a circular needle, pick up the desired number of stitches along the garment edge. Geraldine often has to use two circular needles for this. Slide these stitches down the needle so that the first picked-up stitch is near the opposite needle point. With double pointed needle, cast on the desired number of I-cord stitches. (Geraldine casts on three stitches.) Knit across the I-cord to the last stitch, then knit the last stitch together with the first picked-up stitich on the garment (knit two then knit two together.) Pull the yarn behind the cord (pull the yarn in front of the cord for reverse I-cord.) Knit to the last I-cord stitch, then knit the last I-cord stitch together with the next picked-up stitch. Continue in this manner until all picked-up stitches have been used. (Geraldine then grafts or neatly fudges the last three stitches to the three cast on stitches.)
A preview of the article to be published in the 2006 Hand Weaver and Spinner, the Journal of the Hand Weavers and Spinners Guild of NSW. Available for $12 later this year.
The Egyptian
Twenty years ago I made my first homespun vest. At a time when I believed every bit of anything spinnable was precious, I was given a very smelly, moth-infested bag of silver mohair by a friend who was moving house. Now if you think that spinners and weavers are bad hoarders, how about this for a compulsive stasher! My friend Margy had stored this bag of mohair (along with many others) for the day when she might take up spinning.
Many hours were spent shaking out the short spikey moth-chewed bits on the lawn in the sun. What was left was blended with corriedale. I must have done a very good job shaking out the moths and spikes because I still have the vest. Just as I'd done enough to make something, my husband and I flew out of Sydney on a trip to Egypt.
Flymissy created a great looking crochet flower necklace made from strips of recycled plastic grocery bags.
crochet necklace - flowers! — flymissy (via MAKE: Blog)
UK art student Lauren Porter spent a good ten months knitting a full size replica of a Ferrari which used about 12 miles of yarn.
I get men admiring the racing lines and old women look at the needlework.
This is my 4-wool drive — The Sun (via MAKE: Blog)
Teams of handspinners and knitters across the world will attempt to knit a jumper in under eight hours in the twelfth International 'Back to Back' Wool Challenge during the Queens Birthday weekend to promote wool and raise funds for Cancer Research.
Continue reading "2006 International Back to Back Wool Challenge" »
Mleak, a Flickr user, recently learned to crochet. Not having any yarn to hand didn't stop her from whipping up some funky sandals out of plastic shopping bags.
Crocheted grocery bag shoes — craftster.org (via Boingboing)
Just wanted to let you know that the Country Women's Association in Hornsby is holding its Australiana Beanie Competition again this year and hope that your group will put in some entries.
There are 8 categories this year.
The Tea Cosies will be on display at our Australia Day Tea Cosy Exhibition which will be held in our rooms in Hornsby next to Hornsby Park.
All beanies will be donated to cancer patients or auctioned and the money donated to Cancer Research. Hopefully we will be brightening up some lives and keeping heads cosy - so to speak.
The closing date is 30 June and any enquires just give me a call on 04 1260 6686 or email me [margyure@gmail.com] and I will get back to you within 24 hours - I am an efficient emailer.
Looking forward to you entries.
We are still in the process of looking for sponsors so if you can help us out there in any way it would be greatly appreciated.
Margaret Ure — CWA Publicity Officer
Our new monthly craft afternoon at May Gibb's Nutcote started on Sunday, 26 March. Please join us from 1.00pm-3.00pm at 5 Wallaringa Avenue, Neutral Bay. If you are not a knitter, feel free to use whatever craft skill that interests you.
Entry $12 or $10 concession includes admission to craft, a tour of the house and light lunch in the Bib & Bub Tearoom.
Phone Nutcote on 9953 4453 to make a booking.
Future dates:
23 April - Trauma Teddies
28 May - Baby clothes
25 June - Gumnut costumes
23 July - Knit squares
Proof that knitters view the world in a different way comes from Erika:
Outside our building is a sorry little sidewalk tree. At the height of summer, it had about five leaves. A dead glowstick has been dangling from its branches for three months. Tonight while I was out on a smoke break, I looked at the tree and thought, Man, that is one sad tree. It looks cold and wet and pathetic. It needs a sweater!! I went home and whipped one up, it only took an hour and a half to knit. Then another fifteen minutes or so, standing outside in the cold at half past midnight, stitching it up.
Erika even wrote up the pattern for anyone who'd like to follow her example.
Tree Sweater — Erika's Geek Knitting Blog (via MAKE: Blog)
Iranian artist Seyed Alavi has installed a mural of an aerial view of the Sacramento River woven into the carpet of a skybridge in Sacramento International Airport.
Flying Carpet — (via Boingboing)
What do you do when you discover that your mate has hideous taste in jumpers? Why not create a web site and show the world. Bad Sweater Guy is a reminder that today's cutting edge of fashion is tomorrow's laughing stock.
Bad Sweater Guy — (via Darren Barefoot)
Laine has made a Katamari (the ball that picks up random oddments in the wonderfully weird games Katamari Damacy and We Love Katamari) out of wool and stuffing, with a powerful magnet inside that allows it to actually pick up (ferrous) oddments in the real world.
Katamari Damacy — craftster.org (via Boingboing)
An immense 40" X 80" cross stitch recreation of the Sistine Chapel took 10 years for Joanna Lopianowski-Roberts to create. Joanna used 1,809 different colour combinations with a total of about 628,296 stitches. She documents the entire process in her self-published book with 45 full colour individual patterns for each scene.
Cross Stitch of Sistine Chapel — Austin Stitchery Guild (via Boingboing)
Currently on display at the Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, Poland, is the crochet artwork of Louise Weaver. Weaver crochets skins
on tops of various 3d objects including taxidermists' forms of native Australian animals.
Louise Weaver — Darren Knight Gallery (via MAKE: Blog)
Ruth Borgenicht is an artist who creates ceramic pieces of chain mail into various works of art.
Worn under Medieval armour, chain mail is made of tiny interlocking metal rings designed to protect a body in motion. I use the chain mail pattern and other woven patterns to create ceramic works that conjure up a sense of permanence and defensive concealment. Like the ancient armour, my pieces are made of a fabric of moveable interlocking rings. Using clay to make a protective mesh is contradictory; for how can it defend anything, much less itself? Visually stone-like, the pieces appear strong and impenetrable, belying their inherent fragility.
wall works — Ruth Borgenicht (via MAKE: Blog)
Filipina artist Alma Urduja Quinto's Ayayam
essentially stood as the Philippines' voice at the recent 2005 Yokohama International Triennale of Contemporary Art.
Ayayam's
deliberately bedraggled flamboyance is another undisguised affront to quarters that insist that art and life exist on different planets.
As with many of her recent projects, Ayayam
was the handiwork of Quinto and a motley sewing crew: Filipino children survivors of domestic abuse, artist-members of the Filipino women's organisation Kasibulan, Japanese artist Yoshiko Shimada, and a squad of other Japanese volunteers and visitors engaged in literally weaving together a room-size environment drawing imagery from a meshing of Filipino mythology, individual biographies, and contemporary sociology.
Weaving a message for women with the threads of her art — Inquirer
Whip Up is a newly launched craft portal that brings in 16 contributors, the who's who of the crafting world. Highlights of today's round of posts include a UK knit art exhibit, finding inspiration, and the humour and fear in the idea of making your own lava lamp.
Whip up is a multi author site with contributors from around the world united by a passion for making things, for beautiful design and for a desire to share ideas with others.
Whip Up — (via MAKE: Blog)
Tom Johnson has created a Lego French knitting machine powered by the Lego Technic set. I don't know what Tom was planning to make with his Lego knit creations but the Quicktime movie makes for strange, yet mesmerising viewing.
Lego Knitting Machine — Tom Johnson (via MAKE: Blog)
Want a fun way to watch the Winter Olympics? Yarn Harlot has started the 2006 Knitting Olympics where anyone who wants to participate must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympic games on 10 February and have the project finished by the time the Olympic flame goes out on 26 February. Everyone who completes their project in time, gets the gold medal (for their blog).
The 2006 Knitting Olympics — Yarn Harlot (via MAKE: Blog)
The historic walls of Ashfield's Thirning Villa are a far cry from the remote communities of the Kimberley Region in WA, but Ashfield Council's new Artist in Residence, Veronica Calarco, is looking forward to her 4 month stay in Sydney's Inner West.
Ms Calarco is the eighth artist to complete a residency at Thirning Villa and will run free workshops and demonstrations for the community from December 2005 to March 2006.
Ms Calarco is an accomplished artist who has overseen an extensive range of community projects throughout Australia, including working with Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley region and facilitating an art project for people with a disability in Alice Springs.
Armed with a Visual Arts degree specialising in print making and post-graduate qualifications in textiles, Ms Calarco is experienced in a range of techniques including weaving, embroidery and printmaking. Ms Calarco said she was looking forward to creating a friendly and accessible environment, where community members could enjoy themselves and learn new skills.
Projects such as this are an excellent way to reach the more isolated members of the community,
she said.
It is wonderful to watch people grow in confidence as they learn new artistic techniques and discover their creative side.
I am also looking forward to interacting with the different cultural groups in the municipality.
Workshops & Open Studio
Ms Calarco will run workshops on collagraph printing, polychromatic printing and stencil screen printing commencing in January.
Keep an eye out for the upcoming timetable.
For further information, please contact Council's Community Services Department on 9716 1866 or see their web site: www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au
Brenda Janish knitted this amazing Space Invaders tote bag.
Space Invaders tote bag — craftster (via boingboing)
Helen Li, a very talented knitter, has made a scarf featuring both the alive and smooshed versions of Super Mario 3 characters.
super mario 3 scarf — craftgrrl (via boingboing)
German Artist Patricia Waller uses wool and the technique of crochet to create works of art that are out of the norm in the crafts world.
She uses the intricate detail of the artwork to convey such irony and humour in her pieces, such as Accidents
, How to Kill Your First Love
and Don't Kill Your Idols
.
Crochet Art by Patricia Waller — Patricia Waller (via MAKE: Blog)
Matt Gilbert crochets and sells US$50 scarves that resemble long, floppy scrollbars with a repositionable scroller. Perfect for the cold, nerdy necks in your life.
Hand-crocheted scrollbar scarf — Fit For Use (via Boingboing)
The same knitters responsible for the Dawn of the Dead knitted zombies, have created a knitted re-enactment of the hilarious British zombie spoof Shaun of the Dead
cakeyvoice's photos — flickr (via Boingboing)
Judy was a Committee member some years ago. Some will remember her from this, and others from her schooldays as a student at Roseville Ladies' College, or as a business partner with Eve Rashleigh in Spindle and Loom, a craft centre they opened during the early 70's. Some will recall her hilarious, but highly efficient, beginning-spinning teaching at Mitchell CAE. live-in winter school each July. Or as a relief tutor at Strathfield School of Textiles and Randwick TAFE. Then, in the late 70's and early 80's, after moving to Grenfell she taught at two western TAFE colleges ~ these could have been Forbes and West Wyalong, I can't remember now which they were, but I certainly DO remember what a hoot she always was - just ask me to relate to you a few of her Judy-isms some time, or ask anyone who ever came in contact with her - I know they will agree!
Sadly, Judy passed away in 1999, and in the following year, a memorial section was added in her honour to the Craft Schedule of the 74th Blackheath Horticulture and Craft Show, and has continued till the present time. For the 80th Show on Sat. 25th and Sun. 26th February next year, the Section is being expanded to include more weaving and felting. There is NO entry fee, and prizes are worthwhile: The Most Successful Exhibitor will be awarded a Certificate, a Ribbon, a Trophy and a cash prize of $100. For the Champion Exhibit there will be a Certificate, a Ribbon and a prize of $30. The Most Successful Novice (one with less than two years' experience), will receive a Certificate, a Ribbon and $10 cash. Further, there will be 1st and 2nd Prize Certificates for each Class, and all 1st prize winners will also receive a $5 cash award. Highly Commended Certificates will be awarded if warranted.
There are Classes for Plain and Fancy Effect Spinning, Dyeing, Weaving (commercial and/or handspun yarn), Knitting/Crochet, Felting and Braids.
So, let's do Judy proud!
Eve Rashleigh
Cast Off, a knitting club based in the UK, staged the very first Knitted Wedding
where knitters were invited to submit handmade items for the knit art ceremony. Everything is knitted — the bride's dress, wedding cake, champagne bottles, flowers, and last but not least, tiny wool confetti. All knitters and friends were invited to attend the festivities. The knitted desserts look yummy enough to eat.
The Knitted Wedding — Cast Off (via MAKE: Blog)
Pink haired and heavy-metal lovin' Zach, was an 11 year-old 6th grader last year in Bre Pettis' art class. At the end of every year, Bre gives his students a chance to work on an independent project.
Zach already knew how to knit and brought in some string to knit with and he needed some knitting needles to being his project,
Bre recalls. I remember him saying something like 'I could have used pencils, but this is cooler'.
Zach ended up with a cool looking wristband, originally intended to be a scarf.
I Make Things: Knitting with Paperclips! — Bre Pettis: I Make Things (via MAKE: Blog)
Don't throw away your old CDs. Here's a knitting pattern where you can knit coasters for your old CD disks. It only requires a small amount of worsted weight yarn and is a great solution to finish up yarn scraps from past knitting projects. Try using different colours of yarn for every other row and create a stripy spiral.
CD Coaster — Frugal Knitting Haus (via MAKE: Blog)
Fledermaus felt her iPod was lacking in the knitwear department, so she created it its very own fetching Cthulhu case.
fledermaus's photos — flickr
Burny Cucumber's brocade weaving project saw him weaving Mario and his gaming pals, woven directly into fabric.
mario and friends — burnt cucumber (via Boingboing)
On Craftster, a knit replica of the human digestive system.
Knitted Digestive System - what every girl needs! — craftster.org (via Boingboing)
A knitted chair is a second object in a series of sculptures entitled Idle Work
. The yarn is hand-dyed 100% wool and is sewn around the chair like a skin. You can view the whole process online, from the yarn skein hand-dying to the final end result.
sharkseason's photos — flickr (via MAKE: Blog)
The Society of Arts and Crafts of NSW is a not-for- profit organisation. Its members design and make unique and beautiful craft objects. They work with media such as silver jewellery, glass art, ceramics, art to wear, basketry and timber or the fibre arts of weavers, spinners, knitters, nuno felters and textile designers.
Their Meet the Makers programme offers groups and associations the opportunity to explore the world of the craft artist, giving intimate access to the process of human imaginative skill in the making of handcraft.
Each month they will be exploring a new medium through conversation and practical example. The 45 minutes sessions consist of demonstrations and discussions with one or more of their artists. The galleries are just a short walk from Circular Quay and Wynyard stations at Metcalfe Arcade, 86 George Street, the Rocks.
Sessions are from 11.00 - 11.45am, or by appointment and are free. They are small for comfortable viewing, so bookings are essential.
To book (or for more details) contact Helen Frostell, 02 9451 9278 or email Helen at gallery@artsandcraftnsw.com.au.
If you're sick of treading on the kids Lego and have been hankering after a ball winder, why not solve two problems as one clever craftster did by building a ball winder out of Lego.
Home-made winder (Now with more pictures) — craftster.org (via Boingboing)
If you're looking for a way to turn a baby into a adorable mini version of Yoda from the Star Wars movies, then you could do worse than to whip up a set of crocheted Yoda ears, as one crafty parent did.
Halloween Hat/Costume : Star Wars — craftster.org (via Boingboing)
Do Ho Suh is a Korean artist who recreated his entire childhood home, including fixtures and furniture, out of fabric. The whole thing can be packed away in large suitcase.
Do Ho Suh — David Winton Bell Gallery (via Boingboing)
Jess Hutch creates deeply appealing soft dolls and pillows. She knows every trick in the book for exploiting your parental instincts when you look at one of her creations. According to her bio, she is inspired by Mary Blair, Japanese toys, world's fairs, and her sister Kate
.
If you're taken with her work, she also has a free bunny pattern on her web site.
junebug's photos — flickr (via BoingBoing)
Claudia Tanner owns five looms, including one that is 110 years old. She uses them to weave old, traditional rag rugs.
Traditionally, every type of fabric was saved,
Tanner said. Old fabric pieces and clothing were taken to a weaver to be woven into rugs.
Tanner often uses mill ends — cloth that is left over from fabric mills.
Tanner, 35, started weaving about two years ago. Her husband's uncle felt like he was going crazy with nothing to do after retiring from a mill in Pennsylvania. His wife solved the problem by buying him a loom. Tanner took over the loom, including a weaving business, when the uncle's health failed. She brought the loom to Florida 10 years ago and now weaves from her home.
Weaving deng is a closely kept secret among ethnic minority people in the mountainous commune of A Luoi in Thua Thien Hue Province. Deng is a traditional cloth with special designs and decorations. Parents present it to their daughters as dowry when they marry. For a bride, a great amount of deng indicates love and respect.
Many A Luoi girls dream of one day mastering the art of deng weaving, a difficult form that some ethnic women spend 20 to 30 years practising. The process requires not only know-how and talent but also aesthetic taste. Rendering the colours and patterns of A Luoi is the most difficult step.
When Bui Thi Hoa, a girl from the northern province of Ninh Binh, married Nguyen Trung Y, a young man from A Luoi, she knew nothing of deng. However, after three years observing friends and neighbours weaving the cloth, Hoa managed to learn the technique on her own.
When her husband saw Hoa's deng, he stood in disbelief. It was beautifully done, superior to the work of many other women in the village. The news of a Kinh ethnic woman capable of weaving deng swept through the small village.
Secrets of the deng weaver — Viet Nam News
cakeyvoice is a crafy Flickr user who has knitted a series of characters from George Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead, then staged photos of yarn zombies chasing yarn defenders. Brilliant and twisted and brains, more brains.
cakeyvoice's photos — flickr (via BoingBoing)
Make Magazine has started a new crafting sub-blog, kicking off the venture with an adorable knitted robot.
Make:Blog Craft Archives — Make Magazine (via Boingboing)
Knitters have woven their way into the Internet tapestry, spinning yarns among legions of like-minded, but distant, friends.
When a woman known as the Yarn Harlot
arrived on a Friday evening, the excitement in the crowded knitting store was palpable. Needles furiously busy with colorful projects stopped, mid row. Is that her?
The question swirled like steam over a mug of tea.
Of course, most knew the answer — yes — because they recognised Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who writes humorous essays about knitting from her home in Canada. The dead giveaway was the sock she carried. They had seen and read about the sock's adventures online. They had shared with her their own stories of misshapen buttonholes and sweaters with too-long sleeves. But until now, they had never shared real space
, and in some cases, their real names.
Meet knitters who blog.
During the Tuesday night knitting and spinning group, sometimes the only sound is the clicking of needles.
But, most of the time, giggles and chatter ring through the air.
At first, the women, mostly members of the Southeast Idaho Fibre Arts Guild, say there are quiet times and chatting times. Then, with a smile, they admit that a lot of tales are told over the fleece and yarn.
I'd say there's chatting all the time,
Eldri Gray says.
At the weekly gatherings, the women learn about new projects, new wool and the latest in each other's lives.
The Fibre Arts Guild meets monthly, but smaller groups gather every week at friends' homes for an informal gathering. Sometimes there's only two people; other times eight or more come.
Pegg Thomas, BellaOnline's spinning editor, has written an article on her love affair with Border Leicester sheep.
I owe my love for Border Leicester sheep to a lady from the thumb area of Michigan. Janet McPeck sold me my first Border Leicester fleece. It was a black lamb fleece that was so dark and so clean, I actually asked her if it had already been washed! I had been spinning for about eleven years by that time and had never held anything so wonderful in my hands. I was captivated.
Border Leicester Wool — BellaOnline
John May decided that his videogame quilting homage would be based on the mushrooms from Mario Brothers.
3j0hn's photos — flickr (via BoingBoing)
A crafty Kiwi makes awesome videogame-inspired quilts. This is the Space Invader, but don't miss the Tetris one.
elyofborg's photos — flickr (via BoingBoing)
Golf can be an expensive pursuit, with costs of travel, equipment and greens fees, but Joni-Dee Ross has found a creative way to make a living at it.
Ross, known to many as the daughter of Woodlawn Avenue residents Harold and Betty Thompson, uses her basket-weaving skills to create one of the trademark features of Merion Golf Club. The course, in Ardmore, Pa, is considered among the nation's best, and most recently played host to the US Amateur Golf Tournament.
The name of the game is wickers
— gourd-shaped baskets that mark hole locations on the Ardmore course, in the same way that small flags are used at most other courses. Ross makes them, helping guide today's top golfers along the same course that has been played by Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones, among other giants of the sport.
Continue reading "Weaving her Way into History at Merion Golf Club" »
An enormous pink bunny has been erected on an Italian mountainside where it will stay for the next 20 years.
The 60m long toy rabbit lies on the side of the 1,500m high Colletto Fava mountain in northern Italy's Piedmont region.
Viennese art group Gelatin designed the giant soft toy and say it was knitted by dozens of grannies out of pink wool
.
Continue reading "Artists Erect Giant Pink Bunny on Mountain" »
MASS MoCA presents a truly monumental and uniquely American sculptural installation by Dave Cole. Cole is in residence at MASS MoCA with his project The Knitting Machine which comprises two excavators specially fitted with massive 20' knitting needles. The product of The Knitting Machine is an oversized American flag — a flag which can be seen as both a celebratory gesture of pride and a commentary on America's role in world affairs. The Knitting Machine is one part of a three-part exhibition of Cole's work at the museum. In addition to the installation, MASS MoCA will show Cole's Memorial Flag (Toy Soldiers) (2005), a 5' x 9-1/2' foot flag crafted of 18,000 plastic toy soldiers wrestling beneath an impermeable glaze of red, white and blue; and The Evolution of the Knitting Needle Through Modern Warfare (2001), a convincing display of hypothetical army-issue knitting needles — what Cole imagines Army needles would have been had the Army mandated them as combat equipment for seven wars, from the Civil War through the first Persian Gulf War.
In an era of mass markets and uninspired design, South Africa designer Haldane Martin's new range of chairs are an example of how cutting edge design and social responsibility can go hand in hand to create a truly South African product.
Martin, a furniture designer from Cape Town, weaves elements of South African vernacular crafts and traditions into contemporary designs with his new range of chairs — Zulu Mama
and the Reempee
collection.
Martin is a man on a mission. I create contemporary furniture that gives us a sense of belonging to our world and the times we live in. I strive to do this with as much integrity and humanity as possible.
A full-size replica of a four-wheel-drive truck made out of grass has won this year's National Aboriginal and Islander Art Award, the most prestigious Indigenous art award in Australia.
The work, entitled Tjanpi Grass Toyota, was awarded the $40,000 first prize in Darwin today.
The work was a collaboration by a group of women from Western Australia, who call themselves the Blackstone Tjanpi Weavers.
Awards judge Destiny Deacon says the piece stood out because it was art you could smell.
Patricia Waller crochets amazing, bizarre sculptures, including teeth in a jar, bloody rabbits crushed by carrots, schwa aliens with huge genitals and inexplicable monsters with dozens of IV drips
Bizarre crochet sculptures — BoingBoing
Ajay Anand does not make furniture; he creates furniture suitable for different purposes. He also creates various decoration pieces and ornamental items. He is in the city to display his creations in the exhibition at Welkom Palace.
He is depicting the culture of Rajasthan and Punjab to create modern art forms to suit your taste and requirement, in plastic fibre. Also seen on display are chairs in interesting designs for kindergarten kids, tables, garden fountains that catch the eye. Talking to Newsline he said, I was creative since childhood and now this has become my platform for putting my creativity to use.
Join thousands of people from around the world by sending a piece of thread, ribbon, hemp, string or other fibre to The Thread Project: One World, One Cloth. The individual threads are being tied together and woven into seven world cloths — the first of which is called Hope Materialising. These cloths celebrate the boldness of our cultural diversity and the unity of our human hearts. Resembling large wall tapestries, these cloths will hang in nations throughout the world, reminding people that we are, ultimately, a global family of one. Become part of this amazing cloth.
Southern Highlands Textile and Fibre Network Exhibition was held at the Kiama Fire Station on 2-3 July 2005 and the Southern Highland members used an overwhelming variety of textiles and mediums to create a most interesting exhibition.
Their techniques ranged from Handspun knitted and woven, felting, to quilting and machine embroidery and silk painting. Their take charge
use of a wide variety of novelty yarns showed off the wonderful possibilities of textures and fibre in their creations.
There were practical garments and articles, wearable art, beautiful silk painted and machine embroidered pictures and felted sculptures, toys, furnishings, handbags and garments with a beautiful Shibori pleated and dyed coat and handbags.
Well worth a look. Intriguing!
Kris Supierz
Berry Spinners and Weavers Exhibition was held at the Berry Court House on 2-3 July 2005 and the Berry Spinners and Weavers really excelled themselves in their craft this year.
There was a very strong flavour of Alpaca woven throughout the exhibition, showing that there are a number of Alpaca owners among the members. The garments and articles were professionally and beautifully made, showing wide variety of skills and techniques.
Berry members have also created a Kids Corner
by encouraging children to have a go at our ancient craft beginning with techniques in French Knitting, cardboard weaving, weave-its, felting knitting and two shaft weaving. All of the wonderful crafts that have led us to our present day love of working and creating with natural and synthetic fibres.
Kris Supierz
Jacob Berendes is an extreme crafter who makes a new stuffed animal every day. There is a large gallery on his site of the output so far.
one-a-day stuffed animals — fujichia (via BoingBoing)
If you've gotten into felting, created massive amounts of fabric and are wondering what to do with them, then perhaps a Yurt is the answer.
Paul King, the yurt builder, has put up a free Yurt-building guide based upon his first-hand Yurt research in Mongolia. There is nothing like the elemental sense of freedom and satisfaction that comes from building your own home.
The Mongolian Ger (describing a Mongolian's tent as a yurt may offend his/her national pride) is a versatile dwelling with a proven pedigree, being home to the nomads of central Asia for many centuries. The oldest complete yurt yet discovered was in a 13th century grave in the Khentei Mountains of Mongolia. Discoveries at Pazaryk, Southern Siberia indicate that the technology to make yurts was in use during the 4th century BC. The BBC Horizon seriesIce Mummiessuggests that yurts were in use at this time. Throughout this time the design has changed little, the ger being perfectly suited to a nomadic lifestyle in one of the worlds most inhospitable climates, with high winds rain and snow, where winter temperatures regularly fall to -50°C. To this day it is still the preferred home to the majority of Mongolian people, the suburbs of the capital Ulaan Baatar consist entirely of gers. The use of the other two yurt types has declined greatly this century.
Build Your Own Yurt — Woodland Yurts (via BoingBoing)
Some people looking at the crocheted objects on Daina Taimina's kitchen table would see funky modern art. Others would see advanced geometry.
The curvy creations, made of yarn, are in fact both. And they are helping two very different groups — artists and mathematicians — learn about each other. Increasingly, they are also making a quirky celebrity out of the woman who created them.
Continue reading "Math Professor Uses Crochet to Teach, Inspire" »
Elizabeth Demaray, a conceptual artist who lives in Brooklyn, has upholstered stones and knitted sweaters for plants, as part of a campaign she calls inappropriate care-giving activities
. Her largest effort: a cozy — akin to the teapot or cake-mixer covers found at church bazaars — for a 10-tonne Nike Hercules missile
Knitted Sweaters for Plants: Sculptor Elizabeth Demaray Domesticates the Great Outdoors — School of Fine & Performing Arts (via BoingBoing)
Elodie Brunet has designed scarves for the likes of Christian Dior. But today the French designer teaches the women of Palawan to weave abaca fibers into delicate fabrics, in ways that are both innovative and artful.
Brunet is eager to show the fruits of her labour in the Philippine island at her forthcoming exhibit at the Ayala Museum on June 8. Her collection of woven art is but one of the many attractions of French Spring in Manila 2005, all carrying the theme, Unity in Diversity
.
To do a dream of nature and to weave it,
declares Brunet in her thesis statement. From rough abaca, pina and silk fibers she and her team of women weavers in Palawan have wrought gossamer creations evocative of the flora and fauna of the island. No chemical treatment is used on the fabrics, only natural products such as ube and achuete. The pieces are delicate, sophisticated and very wearable. They can also be used as interior décor.
Continue reading "Weaving France and the Philippines together" »
Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder with game inspired hats, along comes Pac Man.
Namco has started preorders for a 40cm Pac Man hat which features the gaping maw of the famous banana-coloured coin-op hero. When worn, Pac Man appears to be chewing your face with extreme glee. If Pac Man cosplay exists in the world, the Pac Man hat would be conducive to such activities. Preorders are welcome to ship in mid-late July at US$39.
It seems there's a market out for gaming weirdness.
Pac Man Hat — National Console Support (via BoingBoing)
Mark Newport is a sculpter who has taken an interest in comics and recreated superhero costumes with a knitting needle in hand. He is exhibiting at the Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
The detail he's taken is reproducing the costumes well worth a look, but the pseudo-academic analysis of the work is nothing short of comical.
Mark Newport — Greg Kucera Gallery (via BoingBoing)
The International Back To Back Wool Challenge is a world-wide competition organised from Australia. Teams of spinners and knitters from all over the world get together (at separate venues) to shear a sheep, spin some yarn and knit a jumper... in eight hours or less.
I am a member of the Spinning Knitwits in Australia. There are eight members of the team: four knitters, two spinners, one plyer and one shearer, and I will be spinning all day.
Created by Dutch designers Niels Van Eljk and Miriam Van der Lubbe, the Soft Stove is a functioning wood-burning stove fabricated from nonflammable fabric.
Currently on display at the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, Soft Stove is part of the designers' Underdogma series, a selection of products in which the designers question 11 dogmas in design on 11 products
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Underdogma — Niels Van Eljk & Miriam Van der Lubbe (via BoingBoing)
It all started when Annelies De Kort knitted a miniature strawberry shaped tea cosy, then when she was at a dollshouse fair looking for a matching teapot, discovered a whole range of teapots in the shape of fruit and vegetables.
From this point on she was hooked on knitting tiny matching tea cosies for her tiny themed teapots.
Beware of fairs, lest you too discover the addictiveness of tiny, ceramic treasures and their wily seductive charms.
Tea Cosies and Teapots — Annelies De Kort (via knitting in public)
While I'm unfamiliar with the PlayStation 2 game called Katamari Damacy, it apparently has something of a cult following. Certainly enough of a following to inspire Xiola Azuthra to create some seriously weird-looking hand crocheted hats based on the game. Her hats have been so popular she's snowed under with orders.
You can either bid for them on eBay or commission them straight from the artist at between US$40-50. Or you could take a closer look at what games the kids at playing and let your creative side run wild.
Xiola's One-Of-A-Kind Handmade Hats! — Mad-Teaparty dot Net (via BoingBoing)
Imagine a room with 50s decor where everything's made from wool. Knitted cakes, teapots, cups and biscuits — even a knife and loaf of crusty white bread — while over in the corner sits a knitted valve mantel radio. The big question is — why?
Life in an old people's home sometimes needs a focus. Residents feel they've outgrown their usefulness, but don't want to just sit around passively. Imagine then if you could recreate the past, taking yourself back to a gentler time when life was simple, people were decent and fair. Now imagine if you could do it with just a few balls of wool... exactly as they've done at Hobart's Strathaven Home.
The creativity on show is amazing. There's an Elvis album cover with an actual vinyl record half out of its sleeve. All knitted... and knitted very, very well: it must have taken a lot of work and a lot of imagination. No patterns exist to create something like that.
It's self-perpetuating, too, says Robyn: The minute one person comes up with an idea, somebody else gets an idea feeding off from that, so it just expands and grows. Knitted Wellington boots, knitted potplants, a knitted sink, a knitted stove — knitted Vegemite jars and jam jars. I bet everyone in the room could add another ten things that remind them of where they were in the 1950s.
Strathaven folk knit themselves a room — ABC Tasmania (via Boing Boing)
Mathematicians have made a crochet model of chaos — and are challenging anyone else to repeat the effort.
Dr Hinke Osinga and Professor Bernd Krauskopf, of Bristol University's engineering mathematics department, used 25,511 crochet stitches to represent the Lorenz equations.
The equations describe the nature of chaotic systems - such as the weather or a turbulent river.
The academics are offering a bottle of champagne to anyone who cares to follow the pattern published in the journal Mathematics Intelligencer.
Mathematicians crochet chaos — BBC (via Boing Boing)
Yes, even knitters have a sense of humour. In fact, we usually have a rather good sense of humour. We are always willing to make fun of ourselves, since everyone else already does. To continue the cycle of abuse, we convert new knitters and then make fun of them for not knowing anything (more specifically, not knowing how to use Google to find answers). So, for a good laugh, try these out:
Knitting Humor — Knitting Goddess
Never underestimate the geek chic of selling shiny things to people with a love of technology.
Everquest Design makes laptop bags that feature bits of landing parachute fabric from the 1990 Soyuz TM-8 Space mission, or the latest International Space Station Soyuz mission in April 2004.
A clever use of recycled fabric that sells for a hefty US$195.00 — via BoingBoing
