Ocean Offering

Rachel's Weaving
This woven piece of Rachel’s is not quite finished. This is section 2 of a 3 part series. The first part can be seen here.  Named “The Offering”, this reminds me very much of a beautiful young lady making peace with her offering into the ocean, for whatever she has in her thoughts and memories. I do hope she finds peace, as I am sure she will, from this beautiful and meaningful weaving. May we all find peace in Rachel’s weaving, as we think of all those in our hearts and memories. By Lyn A.

Hairpin Lace

Hairpin Lace
We had been given as a donation to the Guild, this lovely piece of unfinished hairpin lace. The little frame was with it so Lyn set about to finish it. This is four sections, joined together.  It has made one long piece so it will be put together to make a beautiful scarf for our prizes at The Gathering in 2016.  Such a fabulous look and now I want to get into learning it. There are so many variations of this hairpin lace, so I will get onto it while away on my trip. The effect is fantastic. By Lyn A.

Kiowa Dancing

Rachel's Kiowa Dancing
Rachel has just been over to America to do some study with her weaving in Oklahoma.  This piece (not quite finished yet) is called “Kiowa Dancing”.  She did this while she was away visiting the Native American Indians.  Rachel enjoyed every moment and soaked up all she could.  Now back with us again, she will be able to put all she has learnt into her weaving for her beautiful masterpieces.  Fabulous work Rachel.  We can’t wait to see what lies ahead for you.  By Lyn A.

Lynda’s Lovely Felting

Lynda's Nuno Felting
Lynda has been doing some beautiful nuno felting with her tissue silk.  The tissue silk was white and Lynda has dyed many pieces in different colours.  The green has beautiful flannel flowers, while the blue is with gorgeous silk layers throughout to give this fabulous texture and appearance.  Lynda is going at full steam and producing some beautiful work.  By Lyn A.
Lynda's Nuno Felting

Octopus Garden

Octopus Garden
Here is the latest Table Decoration for the Gathering 2016. Our very own Octopus Garden.  Beth made the Octopus with the decorations by Lyn and Julie.  A bit crazy and unusual. All in good fun and creative thoughts. By Lyn.

Chris The Sheep

First it was Shaun, then it was Shrek, and now Chris. I found an article in the Guardian newspaper about this amazing sheep. Chris’s fleece weighed over 40kg, which is much more than Shrek from New Zealand whose fleece weighed in at a mere 27kg. Poor Chris could hardly walk with all that extra weight. The shearer who relieved Chris of his wool reckons that it was about seven years worth of growth. That’s a long walkabout.

Pom Pom Workshop

Pom Poms Pom Pom Making Pom Pom Making
Louise F popped in on Wednesday night, 15th July, and off we went with great excitement!!!!  At a spur of the moment workshop, the Wednesday night “Table of Knowledge” ladies learned to make pom poms on table forks and fingers!!  Quick and easy, with Louise having made 2000 to throw at her son’s wedding in lieu of confetti.  Note:  No Certificates of Competancy were issued on the evening.  Thanks to Louise for her expert tuition.  By Lyndall B.

Backstrap Weaving with Kids

Not long after I joined the Guild, I remember Jenny C showing me boxes of goodies in the storage cupboard which could be taken to events and used in demonstrations.  In one of the boxes there were a stack of handmade backstrap weaving looms to use with children.  They were made with paddlepop sticks which I thought was such an amazing idea that I wanted to try it at home.  Which I did. So here’s what we did.

drillingFirst, we took twelve paddlepop sticks.  Seven of the sticks we measured to find the centre and my son, Finn, drilled a hole in the centre of each one big enough to pull a strand of wool through.

The loomThen we used liquid nails (you could use any suitable glue) to glue the paddlepop sticks together as in the photo, using a ruler to get the gaps as equal in size as possible.  (There are two paddlepop sticks at either end, one on the front and one on the back to add strength).  We left this to dry while we set about making the other parts of the loom.

SawingFinn sawed a couple of pieces of wood from a stick he found and sanded the ends until they were nice and smooth, to tie the warp onto at either end,Straps

whilst I sewed four straps from fabric scraps I had laying around, long enough to tie around someone’s waist, or a tree, or whatever you want to tie the end onto when you’re weaving.

Straps readyThen we tied the straps onto the pieces of wood, so now we were ready to warp up our loom. Woohoo!

Cutting the warpFinn cut fourteen pieces of yarn for the warp.  (Here we actually could have cut seven lengths that were twice as long and merely folded them in half over the first stick, but never mind).Ready to warp

We then tied the warp around the first stick,

then thread each piece of wool through our paddlepop stick loom holes and gaps alternatively, just like any other loom, and tied the ends around the other stick.

Ready to start weaving Now we’re ready to start weaving.

Finn backstrap weavingHere you can see Finn weaving with our newly-made loom with one end tied around his waist and the other tied around a tree.Finn Weaving

And here’s a closeup.  Finn is concentrating very hard and he really enjoyed the whole project, as did I!  By Naomi.