Hand Felted Glow Lamps

I realised I haven't shown you these yet.

 I have been making them for a while and they evolve with each batch I make.

Different shapes

And sizes

I love the way  they look light a kind of pottery piece by day.

By night I use LED tealights to add the glow.

Ruana Shawl - hand-dyed, hand-spun, hand-woven

Here is a little follow on from my last post.

I made a second shawl length using the same gradient dyed wool as the first. I had a project in mind... a ruana shawl. And here it is

It has a beautiful soft drape

And on the centre panel at the back I experimented with an overshot design using pick-up sticks. That took a very long time to do but I like the result

I entered it in the Sydney Royal Arts and Crafts Show and was awarded a Highly Commended for it. Not bad for someone who has only been weaving for 6 months.

Dyed, Spun and Woven

I've been getting back into spinning over the last year. Trouble is I am not very fast at knitting or crochet. Then someone lent me a small rigid heddle loom. I was hooked from the first piece.
So this is a little visual storyline on how it all happens...

I start by dyeing the fibre. In this instance I have chosen a merino roving and some mulberry silk tops. They start out white but after I have chosen and applied the colourway it looks like this.

Next I card and blend the merino and silk together into gradients of colour.

I then spin the singles

Which look like this when wound on a ball winder ready to ply

I take one ball and using the thread from the centre and the thread from the outside, ply them together. This is the pink to purple gradient plied

And this is both balls plied, skeined and washed

They are then woven into a grey warp. I have used a dark grey 2ply merino for the warp. And viola! I have a lovely pure wool, hand dyed, hand spun, hand woven shawl.

I still have a bit of finishing to do but I am excited by this process.