Crafty Mondays in January

There will be craft nights again starting January 7th, (actually I'll be there December 24th too if anyone wants to come along).

So far nothing is booked in as a topic for January 7th, but January 14th we will be warping an Ashford knitter's loom and looking at simple small looms you can make at home.

January 21st will be making crochet lace edges. Bring along some fine crochet cotton and anything you want to make a lace edge for (like a pillow case). I have some fine crochet hooks for this - Dressew sells them at $1 for 6!

Crafty Monday's start at 6pm and run until 8.

If there's something else you want to learn or teach us, please come along and let me know. 

Meanwhile, here's Martin's blog about the process of learning to spindle and knit since October this year, and the sweater he has almost completed http://martinborden.wordpress.com/ just to tempt you into the idea of making a sweater from scratch yourself.

 

How to grow a shirt and other revolutionary ideas

http://fiberarts.ca/blog/how-to-grow-a-shirt/

I thought people might find the linked article interesting. You can see all the steps that will be involved in the flax growing and processing (apart from building the processing equipment) from soil prep to shirt.


I also thought it might be time to talk about the reason for this project. Then Sharon Kallis, the motivational force behind the Urban Weaver Project wrote this blogpost from Mexico.

http://sharonkallis.com/2012/11/25/mexico-gifts-of-time-and-patience-week-4-5-of-7/

It pretty much sums up why the flax project is important.

We are all inextricably linked in space and time by what we choose to buy, what we choose to eat, how we choose to move about. When we choose a car journey over transit, we are choosing to support the destruction of habitat and water quality, the loss of a place to live and food to eat for other people in countries that have ‘the curse of oil’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse. When we fly/drive/eat meat we choose our own convenience over the global climate change that it causes and the resultant damage and destruction now and to our children’s future.
When we shop, we buy the future planetary conditions for our and other people’s children.

It is already possible for us to live in another way that takes into account the consequences of our choices. For me, the flax growing project is just an extension of those choices.

Not many generations ago it wasn’t possible to buy clothes made from fibers grown half a world away, then in processing shipped round the globe several times to exploit people who would work much cheaper than we would ourselves. There wasn’t the oil available to do that.

People grew their own fibers and made their own clothing. They treasured the clothes they made, aware of the labour that went into them. It’s perfectly possible to grow our own flax here - we have the ideal climate.  By next summer there will be the equipment available free to all for processing flax, made by Martin Borden (more about him below). Already you can come to McLean field house and learn the skills of spinning and weaving, knitting and dyeing - for free.

All you need is to find space for your flax. Ask your neighbours if they will let you grow some in their garden (the flowers are so pretty!). Get a plot on a community garden and grow some. If you can’t find enough space for a large enough crop in one year, take 2 years to grow enough for your shirt.

Meanwhile, why not do something revolutionary in 2012?

Buy some local fleece. Make a spindle. Dye your yarn with local dye material, and knit yourself a sweater.

Martin Borden, Urban Weaver’s woodworker and film maker learned to spindle in October, to knit in November, dyed his spun yarn with walnut hulls gathered from the sidewalk in the West End and is doing just that!

Penny

Sideways sox pattern missing line

There's a missing line in the Sideways sox pattern below - it gets partly cut off by the scanner. It should read:

'Knit straight until your sock is as wide'.... (rest of the instructions do appear), 'as the top of your foot at your toes'.

Sideways sox and Dec 3rd

Just posted my adapted sideways sox pattern that was pinned to the wall in the field house for so long......

If you're coming on December 3rd to learn sideways sox, please print yourself a copy or have it on your phone (depending on how old you are!).

Don't forget to bring needles that are the same width as two strands of your yarn laid side by side, and a large safety pin or paper clip as a stitch marker.

I'll have a variety of people there starting sox of different types (like top down, two on one needle or toe up) and also some people with UFOs (unfinished objects) that have stalled. I'll try and give everyone some individual attention but please remember my advanced age and very young knee!

Penny

The Sideways sox pattern adapted for beginner knitters

A fun "Crawl" was had by all

It was great to see all the enthusiasm from the community about the work we have been doing through our studio this past year. 

Thank-you to everyone who walked through the door to share our cozy space and to talk about

 weaving, spinning and knitting with us!  

 A big "Thank you!" goes out to all the Urban Weaver Collective members who helped set-up and clean-up the space, gave weaving, spinning and knitting demonstrations, talked to everyone who came through the door and provided the creature comforts to keep us going (including rice crispy squares with bacon - who would have thought it could be so good)!  The weekend wouldn't have been the success it was without you there to help!

 

Taking advantage of a lull in the crowd to focus on some spinning and knitting





The latest addition to my Event Basket collection:  braided yellow flag iris - coiled and stitched





What's in store for the coming year? 

New workshops ideas were discussed this weekend; keep an eye out for information on bookbinding with Martin, knitting side-ways sox, weaving a bicycle basket of English Ivy and more harvesting opportunities with SPES (Himilayan Blackberry, English Ivy, Yellow Flag Iris). 

Happy Weaving!

What craft would you like to do on Mondays?

Penny’s Crafty Mondays at McLean Field House 6-8pm. Free (though I may make a small charge for materials in some cases).

PS I am not being paid, I am doing this for free as a volunteer.

I will be in the field house on Mondays in December. If you want to learn anything from the list below then come one Monday and we can discuss when and what. It will take a week’s notice (depending on what you want to learn) to get materials together. . I will try and post dates on this site for any requested teaching sessions in case you want to join in e.g.

Booked so far.................

Monday 3rd December
Anything knitting. Bring along your UFOs - Unfinished Objects and we will work on any problems. Socks (sideways, top down 2 on one needle, 4 needle) will be the special focus that night.

Monday Dec 10th

We will be warping an Ashford knitter's loom.


Please feel free to come along with whatever crafty thing you’re working on right now – we’d love to see what you’re doing! The field house has ample work space, tables, a hot plate and various tools.
　
I can teach you:

Anything knitting based

From basics of how to knit to multi-stranded fair isle, intarsia, entrelac, designing your own pattern, knitting with handspun, socks to sweaters, bonnets to blankets, fancy stitches, lace, domino, short rows, steeks – you name it, I can teach you how.

Spindles and spinning

How to make your own, how to spindle spin, ply, make sequined yarn, boucle or other fancy spinning. Navaho plying, 2 strand plying, spinning cotton wool balls, fleece, feathers – you name it, it can probably be spun.

Weaving

How to make a cardboard loom and the basics of tabby and twill tapestry weave. How to warp a simple loom, working out your sett and picks. How to make loom-shaped garments (minimal cutting of fabric and using narrow widths). How to use an inkle loom.

Urban yarn harvesting

How to collect the right kind of thrift store sweaters (home made and commercial) so you can break them down into thread, ply the thread and use it to knit new garments.

Anything socks

Sock darning, sideways socks for the new knitter, socks on round needles for the more experienced knitter. Toe up socks for experienced knitters, toe up socks 2 at a time on the same needle too. Toe down socks for the very conservative knitter.

Watercolour 101

How to make small watercolours like book marks, gift tags and greetings cards. Basics of watercolour technique, but mostly just fun painting stuff. You’ll need to bring along some watercolours, brushes and watercolour paper.

Tatting and crochet lace 101

How to make a tatted or crochet lace edging on things like pillowcases, lingerie, or anything you want to embellish. You’ll need to bring along some crochet cotton, a very fine crochet hook/tatting shuttle (all of these are available at Dressew on Hastings St).

Mend your clothes 101

From zips to rips, buttons to hems and beyond. Bring along any clothes that need mending and we can make them as good as new. You’ll need to provide your own thread, patches, zips, buttons etc as needed, but luckily we have Dressew close by where all those things are available.


Come along and book in your request for December 17th and any January Mondays......