Fibreworks - spinning a yarn

Grampians Texture – early bird registration closes soon!

fibreworks — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:17:57 +0000

Want to spend a week in the heart of the beautiful Grampians National Park getting in touch with you creative side with the help of top textile artists from Australia and beyond? Grampians Texture runs from 25 February to 1 March 2012 in Halls Gap.

Workshops are available in knitting, quilting, dyeing, felting, jewelry-making, fabric embellishment, basketry, design and much more. If you get your registration in before 1 December, you’ll even get a discount on the course fees. For more details, see the Grampians Texture website.

Last week in September

fibreworks — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 05:49:23 +0000

It’s the last week in September and that can only mean one thing. Fibreworks is off to Geelong for the annual Geelong Fibre Forum. Held each year at Geelong Grammar School, the Forum is a melting pot of fibre arts and crafts, with workshops in machine embroidery, contemporary applique, wild knitting, felting, design, ikat weaving, paper- and book-making, jewelry and more on offer.

Fibreworks will be selling our wares, including yarns, silk, tops for felting and threads for embroidery every day from 25 September to 1 October for Forum participants. We’ll also have silk worms for sale.

Even if you’re not attending, you can come and visit us and see what the Forum participants have been up to at the “Heathen Bazaar” at the Saturday morning Open House. Details on how to get to Geelong Grammar are on the school’s website (the Forum will be at the Corio Campus).

Australian Sheep and Wool Show

fibreworks — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 07:00:40 +0000

Come and see us at the Australia Sheep and Wool Show in Bengido. It’s on from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July at the Bendigo Showgrounds. As well as Fibreworks, there’ll be lots of wool crafts, wearable art and wool fashion on display. You can also see wool in its natural form (i.e. on the back of a sheep), shearing and sheepdog trials, watch cooking demonstrations and sample Australia’s best lamb.

Long weekend in Brisbane

fibreworks — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:13:52 +0000

We’re heading north again, this time to the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend (11-13 June). The Festival will be held at the Brisbane Exhibition Centre, Southbank, from 9am to 5pm each day. You can find us at Stand 20.

As well as buying direct from textile artists and suppliers of fabrics, fibres, yarns and dyes, you can do classes and workshops on felting, collage, sashiko, fabric painting and dyeing, fabric embellishment, sewing and much more.

There will also be displays of wearable art, quilting, creative knitting, and working textile artists showcasing the latest techniques in the textile arts.

For more information, see the Festival’s website: http://www.textileart.com.au/. You can even find a photo of Fibreworks’ wool on their home page.

Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra

fibreworks — Fri, 06 May 2011 17:33:53 +0000

As usual this time of year, Fibreworks is heading north for the special Wool Celebration day at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra on Sunday 15 May. As well as finding a full range of Fibreworks products, there’ll be lots of knitwear, felting and other wool-based crafts. The markets also have a great food – fresh local produce, cheeses, pastries, preserves, chocolate, coffee and heaps of multicultural meal options.

The Markets are held from 10am to 4pm on the Kingston Foreshore on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. There’s free parking off Mundaring Avenue. Look for the signs from Wentworth Avenue, Kingston.

Some photos below of some happy customers from our trip to Orange in March.

Off to Orange

fibreworks — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:52:19 +0000

We’ve had a busy week preparing for our next show. For the next week (Sunday 10 – Saturday 16 April), you can find Fibreworks at the Orange Textile Forum. The Forum takes place at the Wolaroi School, 59 Bathurst Road, Orange.

We’ll be trading daily from 9am to 5pm Sunday to Friday, then from 9am to 12noon on Saturday 16 April there will be an Open House with exhibits from all the classes done at the Forum.

Starry, Starry Night

fibreworks — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:51:23 +0000

Join us at Wartook Studio Gallery for an exhibition inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. Painted in 1889, Van Gogh was inspired by the view at night from his window in an asylum in southern France.

The exhibition is part of the Art is… under our sky festival, running in Horsham from 1-9 April 2011. Local artists give their interpretation of Van Gogh’s haunting work and of the festival theme “Under our sky”. We’re particularly excited to have Indigenous artists from the Wimmera region and Mount Gambier participating in the exhibition.

The exhibition will be opened by Carolynne Hamdorf, a former co-ordinator at the Warmun Art Centre in Western Australia on Sunday 3 April at 11am. Wartook Studio Gallery will be open daily during April from 10am to 5pm. Call 03 5383 6243 for more details.

Chunky lace wrap pattern

fibreworks — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:50:17 +0000

This warm and stylish wrap knits up quickly on 10mm (US no. 15, UK 000) needles in luxurious yarn. We used two strands of Fibreworks 8ply kid lustre yarn (30% alpaca, 40% kid mohair and 30% merino wool) in colour number 18 “Happy Wanderer”, but you could also use Fibreworks 8ply silk merino (70% merino wool, 30% silk). A great project for autumn, the finished wrap measures 30cm by 165cm.

YARN:

Fibreworks 8ply Kid Lustre

30% alpaca 40% kid mohair 30% merino

2 X 100g skeins.

(190 metres/100g)

Fibreworks 8ply silk/merino yarn

70% merino 30% silk

2 X 125g skeins.

(165 metres/100g)

NEEDLES:1 pair 10mm needles.

MEASUREMENTS:

Width: 30cms Length: 165cms

Lace Pattern:

(Multiple of 10sts plus 1)

Row 1 (Wrong side) Purl

Row 2 K1,*yo (yarn over), K3, SK2P (slip1, knit 2 together, pass slip stitch over, knit 2 tog), K3, yo, K1; repeat from * to end of row.

Rows 3-8 Repeat rows 1 and 2 three more times.

Row 9 Purl

Row 10 Knit 2 together, *k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, SK2P; repeat from * to last 9sts, k3, yo,k1,yo, k3 SKP (slip 1, k1, pass slip stitch over, k1)

Rows 11-16 Repeat rows 9 & 10 three more times.

Repeat rows 1-16 for lace pattern.

To make the wrap

Using 2 strands of yarn, cast on 31 stitches

Repeat the 16 rows of lace pattern 14 times, or to desired length.

Bind off. Press with a steam iron.

Wartook is open for business

fibreworks — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:15:28 +0000

Our studio in Wartook was flooded in January when flash flooding hit the Grampians region. After a big clean out, we’re now back in business. Visit us on the sunny side of the beautiful Grampians to see our full range of fibres and yarns, hand-dyed in unique colours inspired by the Australian bush.

Fibreworks is open at the Wartook Artists Studio from 10am to 5pm, Thursday to Sunday and on Victorian public holidays. Our address is 2637 Northern Grampians Road, Wartook. To get to the studio from Horsham, take the Western Highway towards Stawell, then Northern Grampians Road towards Halls Gap. The studio is about 26 kms from the Western Highway turnoff. If you’re coming from Stawell, take the Western Highway towards Horsham. After Dadswells Bridge, turn off on Wonwondah-Dadswells Bridge Raod (follow the signs for Laharum/Wonwondah/Zumsteins/Wartook), then after about 11 kms, turn left into Northern Grampians Road. The studio is about 18 kms along this road.

Northern Grampians Road is currently closed between Wartook and Halls Gap, but you can get to Wartook from Halls Gap by taking the Halls Gap-Mt Zero Road (otherwise known as the Bolte Highway) and then Northern Grampians Road from Laharum.

While you’re here, take in some of the sights of the Northern Grampians region. Parks Victoria has information on walks in the Northern Grampians (pdf document) or on the Grampians National Park in general. The Wartook Valley has a range of accommodation options and attractions for visitors.