Once again, there’s been a long gap since I last
posted -I have been on holiday though,
and we were pretty busy before we went – so that’s my excuse.
During the last month, we’ve performed in two Charity
concerts with our G&S Operatic Society, in Ormskirk and Liverpool – both
went down very well and, after a final
lunchtime one this weekend, we will be having a Summer break before getting
down to learning the music for our
production in March 2015 - ‘The Mikado’.
June’s Friday Felters was a workshop on shibori which is a
Japanese art –a variety of sophisticated
tie-dyeing technique. It is very
effective – not that I’ve much to show for it yet, but I will have – watch this
space. While I was there, a friend and
I took delivery of 4 jacob’s fleeces which a local farmer generously gave to
us. The fleeces were in their raw state just as they came off
the sheep, and needed to be cleaned etc.
Luckily, the weather was good so I laid out my two on the lawn and
removed the bits that were not going to be useful. I also roughly separated the white from the
grey/black/brown fleece. It gave me a
perfect excuse to sit in the garden and pick them over – that means separating
all the locks and removing as much vegetable matter as possible. Then the fun really starts! They have to be washed very carefully in
very hot water (I used baby shampoo) and
rinsed, again in very hot water. My
friend washes hers in the bath but I stuck to the sink which meant washing them
in 6 batches. Each batch needed 3 washes and a couple of
rinses but the results were really satisfying – several pillow cases full of lovely soft wool waiting to dyed, carded and
spun.
We had a lovely family barbecue, towards the end of June,
to celebrate my husband’s, our grandson’s and our son in law’s birthdays. We were blessed with a beautiful Summer
evening and the food and company were wonderful.
Just before we went on holiday, Liz and I went up to
Cockermouth to Woolfest. It is always a
great day out – lots to see and lots of inspiration. There was lots of lovely fibres and felt,
spinning and weaving equipment and, what really struck us both was that, on
many stalls, people were using a variety of drop spindles – we’ve never seen so
many different kinds. Mostly, I
managed to restrain my spending, but I did buy some wool dyes (surprise,
surprise) and a couple of wooden stamps.
Finally, we went on holiday to Pembrokeshire – it is the
most beautiful, tranquil place and never fails to inspire me. The weather was so good, this year, that we
mostly stayed on the beach relaxing. We
did go on one walk where we saw lots of birds, butterflies, moths, wildflowers
etc. and stopped to watch some fishermen gutting their catch.
As soon as we came back Liz and I went to a craft fair at
a church in Woolton – a new venture for us which is likely to become a regular
monthly fixture. And now the real work
has started – we’ll be at the Summer Arts Market at St. George’s Hall in
Liverpool, this Saturday and Sunday so there has been a great flurry of
activity to get some ‘stock’ together.
I’ve made some bags, phone cases etc. and I’m beavering away to get some
brooches finished as well. We are
really looking forward to it – it is such a beautiful building and there is
always such a great atmosphere – tiring but most rewarding. As
usual, it was a very enjoyable weekend, lots of lovely crafts,
brilliantly organised, and some lovely customers. Can't wait for the
Winter one.
