Yep, it’s that time of the year again….CHOCOLATE Season Easter. From the vault is Betz cashmere bunny tutorial. Link.
classic elite yarns is offering this free pattern (through their web letter) for these adorable mini socks – perfect for decorating.
Link, worth checking out other posts at this blog, a lot of tutorials.
Sweater Renewal: Felting Knits into New Sweaters and Accessories
Don’t throw out your old sweaters: better yet, stock up on old sweaters from grandmas house, thrift shops and garage sales. You will need them in order to have a lot of fun with the projects in this book.
First up, about this book, I love the sweet little drawings throughout, showing the design concepts and including how-to steps. The photography is colourful, the pages are not glossy but this ads to the down-to-earth nature of the book style and concept of recycling.
The projects themselves offer more than just cutting up sweaters and sewing, there is embroidery, handstitching, applique and crochet as well. The projects run from the very simple (my 8 year old daughter would have no trouble) to quite difficult (requiring reasonable crochet and embroidery skills but not an expert). The style of the projects range quite a bit too from sort of clunky and chunky to pretty groovy and hip. So quite a bit in here for most people.
To give you an idea of the types of projects my faves are: cosy needle holder, these are simple tubes of sweater material sewed up and felted with some decorative beading or embroidery to make them really fun and colourful. :: patchwork scarf, very simply made but what I particularly like about it is the crochet edging and beaded tassles. :: A gorgeous flower power girls cardigan which is a felted adults sweater which has been cut down the front and trimmed with embroidery, crochet and blanket stitch. This cardigan looks so sturdy and practical but very pretty too (there are adult versions of this as well which i also liked the look of). :: The fair isle flowered skirt is just gorgeous – sort of hippy in style but depends on the sweater you use. It is basically the body of a sweater with the arms and neck cut off, trimmed with a crochet waist band and a decorative crochet edge.
In addition to all these fabulous patterns there are some really good instructions for all the techniques that are used as well as templates in the back for the applique and embroidery designs.
This is not your normal pattern book (though it does have 20 patterns) the real attraction is the inside view of the ten Fibre Farms and the different fibres they produce. (book website link)
Shear Spirit: Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns, and Miles of Yarn
Each chapter concentrates on a different fibre farm, I found each and every one of them totally enthralling. Anne from Meadowcroft Farm in Maine is working on a degree in Agriculture and Resource Economics while her husband restores the old house on their farm. She says running the farm is “part inspiration and part planning”. She loves to create systems and has essentially taken on the entire production process: growing her feed, selling livestock, selling wool and products like sweaters and blankets that create piecework jobs for home knitters and showcase her hand spun and hand dyed yarn. The images of her hand dyed wool left me wide eyed. She goes into some detail of the dying of the wool in that she carries salt water from the river up to the farm. She does quite a bit of experimenting with some natural dyes and some authentic aniline carbon based dyes, though she still favours indigo which she grows. But even with the detail she has gone into, it has certainly wet my appetite to read more. She offers two patterns which show off her use of dyes. I truly loved reading this chapter and wanted a whole book on each – in fact I wanted to jump on a plane and go visit!
This image is just one of the lovely patterns featured in the book – Montana Tunic –
Each of the ten chapters is about a different farm, different animals, different fibres and different skills and experiences in different areas in the USA. Each chapter, is a sample of the lives each of the people live on their so different properties. These are people living out their dream, something we are
not all able to do.
Each farm offers a couple of patterns from bags to adults and children’s cardigans, shawls and berets and socks all from different animal fibres. I personally liked the Mariposa Cardigan for a child from the Victory Ranch, and simply loved the photo of the child with the alpacas. The Welsh Travelling Socks from Autumn House Farm would be an inspiration for anyone to even learn to knit and possibly dye their own wool as well. For those who like weaving Kai Ranch show some hand dyeing and a photo of one of their lovely natural coloured rugs from mohair fleece.
Its a book I would recommend to anyone who themselves wanted their own little corner of the world and to those who enjoy various crafts and seeing what others have made and possibly make themselves its certainly inspiring.
About the reviewer: Janette lives in suburban Australia living out her own dream in her retirement. She spins, knits, and surrounds herself in all sorts of fibre related crafts.
Sunday 18 May “A Celebration of Wool” The Old Bus Depot Markets specialist Wool Day: There will be over 40 specialist wool stalls offering products such as hand felted items, designer knitwear, millinery, hand dyed yarns, beanies & socks, exquisite scarves made from silk and wool, weaving, and specialist yarns. Regional Guilds will demonstrate on the day.
Sunday July 13 “Creative Fibre” Textile artists from around the region gather to exhibit and sell their superbly crafted textile and fibre related art pieces. See in action artists and craftspeople who weave, embroider, design and execute knitted garments, block print fabric, create basketry, make lace, hand dye fabrics and yarns, felt homewares and accessories.
Beautiful hand braided scarf tutorial, stunning. Link.
