One of the most useful cardigans I ever knitted was this one here. Knit from yarn I found at an op (charity) shop it served me well for six years, so well, I wore it down. I darned and redarned the elbows but eventually there was little left to work with and so I decided […]
Tag: localism
Bullengarook is a little place an hour north of Melbourne, just near Bacchus Marsh. It is rolling, lush country, perfect for sheep. It is where Maureen Shepherd raises her prize winning Finnsheep at Fairfield Finns. I love the fleeces produced here and have spun many projects from them including Lowtide Lowfi, Yoke of Endurance, Bendigo Enchanted and […]
Shearing in Victoria seems to start in mid October and run through December. Some farms run open days where you can pick out the fleeces you want, others send out fleeces by the kilo in the post and others take orders prior to shearing. I’ve had a special fleece on order for months and months. During […]
My recent sock remaking project coalesced a number of thoughts for me around durability and sustainability, particularly of socks. Remade socks, legs are spindle spun from Jillybean, BLF braid, bottoms and cuffs are wheel spun from Corriedale x Ryeland x Finn fleece from Lucinvale Fleeces. Socks are such a humble item, trod on daily and […]
I needed a bit of a lift along the Waysides natural dyeing journey I have been traveling with Annie Cholewa. As many of you know, I have been dancing rather wearily with the beginner’s beige so I decided to revisit the old friend who started me on this adventure, Eucalyptus nicholii. Commonly known as Narrow Leafed Black Peppermint […]
The Riverwife whorls came with us when we went camping in Western Victoria recently. The spot we go is a special place encircled with towering Blue Gums Eucalyptus globulus and Messmates Eucalyptus obliqua. The trees bear the blackened trunks of past fires and bracken has taken over much of the understory. There are fallen trees […]
Ever since I read Elizabeth Wayland Barber’s extraordinary book Women’s Work: the first 20,000 years, I have been fascinated by spindle spinning. I have a couple of beautiful, wood turned ones, a cherry Maggie and a Bog Oak IST, both top whorl spindles. They are expensive and precious to me. I am careful with them. […]
It the Winter Solstice on this side of the world and it is just starting to get properly cold. It has been a very long Autumn, some trees still have leaves to drop and others have shown Spring blossoms…it is all very confusing. We spent a lovely Winter’s morning at Heide Museum of Modern Art. […]
I love living in the northern suburbs of Melbourne but sometimes it becomes so familiar, I stop really seeing it. Last weekend, the kids and I went for a walk, a meandering and rambling kind of walk. We took the camera and we looked. We saw some chickens grazing on a nature strip next to the road. […]
My Man and I went on a date last weekend. This is quite an extraordinary feat for us. We went and saw The Orbweavers at a pub we could ride to on our bikes on a beautiful sunny afternoon. The Orbweavers are a Melbourne band who make songs about local landmarks, waterways and our industrial […]
