Woolfest

This time last week I was at Woolfest.  What was different about Woolfest to any other big textile event that I have been to, is that there is a very strong emphasis on thinking out where we get our yarns from.

 

There were adorable animals galore, a rare breed parade, sheep sheering demonstrations, plus so many fleeces, fibres and yarns to see.

 

 

You can find out more about the flock of sheep pom poms here.  I came away with some beautiful wool from Jillybean Yarns, a very pretty Bluefaced Leicester and Gotland sheep mix.  Woolfest is held in a very pretty part of the world, and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in using natural fibres.

Cute Beasts!

I received the most amazing alpaca bag from Loukr from the Craftster UK only swap.

 

It is fantastic! I can't wait to show it off at Woolfest this weekend!  I'd love an alpaca or two however, but as we live on the third floor that might not work.  Plus I'm not sure the guinea pigs would appreciate sharing their hay with anyone!  Yesterday we had a walk around Dean Castle Country Park, and got to see some other beautiful beasts.  Including some pretty deer and curious chickens.

 

A baby llama, sitting so uncomfortably!

 A pretty foal.

Why the long face?

A goat who so wanted to be petted.

Plus can you see who this is hiding in the bushes?

A bushy tailed grey squirrel!

The squirrel then sat and ate seeds along with a female mallard and her tiny chicks.

Adorable!  Now I must get back to my crafting!

Rust

I found this piece of rusty metal on the footpath outside our flat.

I'm not sure what it was used for or where it came from. But I picked it up and put it in my pocket.  I quite often find odd buttons on the pavement that have worked their way loose, I take them home and put them in my jars.  I think 'that will come in handy one day' and I hoard.  And that is just what I did with this piece of metal.  Inspired by my weaving without a conventional loom class, I decided that I would weave around it, using different yarns.

I wanted to see if I could make the yarn take on the rust, to fuse it together.  Here is my experiment in step by step pictures:

The metal was submerged in water for a week.  I had thought that some of the threads would take on the rust more than others, so the final outcome would be rings of colour.  However this didn't happen, in particular areas the rust penetrated the yarn more, with the warp taking the colour on more that the weft.

 

I wonder if this is because the warp is unlikely to be coated, as it is usually covered.  Although you can see from the back the warp hasn't taken it up uniformly.

The scientist in me, wants to repeat this experiment, using different variables; mordants, acid or alkaline solutions, using the warp as weft.  But, alas, I have no other random pieces of found metal.  I shall have to keep my eyes firmly fixed on the ground, and maybe I'll make another discovery.

Arctic Tern

After I finished knitting my Arctic Tern (which may have involved some knitting in public & alcohol). It needed a beak and some feet.  The request was to used to recycled materials where possible, so I put on my thinking cap and got to work. 

 My beak, all the better for poking you with.

For the beak, a cotton bud wrapped in some material (from a rather holey pair of tights). For legs I cut some handles from disposable razors to size, and using embroidery thread and 2.75mm knitting needles, I knitted some red leg warmers for the bird.

I am legless.

 Here comes the hotstepper.

The feet were cut from a margarine lid, and covered in felt.

Ah ha! Great web design.

 A very, very hungry Arctic tern.

And just before migrating off to Mull my birdie said goodbye to Jeremy!

Bye Bye Birdie!