About this blog

A blog about the meanderings of a craft designer and hand maker living in a beautiful island at the end of the earth....I'm a weaver addicted to her little Ashford Knitters Loom, a crocheter, knitter, painter, gardener and grandma. Rowena lives in Tasmania - a world apart, not a world away!

Craft is a social activity, shaped by communal resources and motivations. Leonardo Bonanni and Amanda Parkes Virtual guilds : collective intelligence and the future of craft JMC vol 3, no 2 July 2010 pp. 179-190

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Dyeing Workshop with Wendy Koolhof

Last Saturday - 16th April - I joined with five other lovely ladies to work with Wendy in her southern Tasmanian studio for a workshop on textile dyeing.  [Wendy Koolhof and Mahdi Chandler are those super creative Text-isle Tarts and very involved with Stitching and Beyond in Tasmania]. Woking with Landscape dyes we created rainbows of colour using the yarns and fibres of our choice together with a foray into shibori (I thought is was tie-dyeing but we are not allowed to call it that any more apparently !!). The day was fantastic - gorgeous blue Huon Valley skies and surrounded by bird song and Wendy and her husband's hospitality - together with that undercurrent of creativity that occurs when you get a few fibre fanatics together.  Here are some pics of our results :







I played with some of my hand spun superfine tasmanian merino and was thrilled with the results......something woven coming up! And, I created a lovely silk scarf for my mum for Mother's Day using shibori techniques...never done that before!
Thanks Wendy !

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Creating Again!

Whew and am I glad...finally got enough organised to be able to sit down and DO something. 
The spinning wheel is in the shop and has currently 3/4 bobbin of Tasmanian Superfine spun....wool on knitting needles making a square for fulling for a needle fleted bag...the little loom set up ready to warp tonight for a new wrap....and the big loom under threat for a sample using Wendy Koolhof's hand dyed laceweight silk and Mahdi's embellishing threads!
Whew!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

JANUARY IS FLYING PAST

I just don't know where the time has gone...still not properly unpacked, but enough to feel at home.  I just miss being able to choose a book from the shelf - the books are still in boxes as the bookcases are up in the shop!  It all takes time....and a bathroom cabinet would not go astray.

Oatlands social life is bustling : I am joining the RSL (they say if my nomination is rejected, I'll make history - we will see LOL) and last night I was invited to the weekly Rotary do.  A lovely meal, lots of laughs, mucho fund raising (Floods Appeals this month) and a talk by a young farmer recently returned from 5 month exchange trip to UK and Ireland.  A MOST enjoyable evening.  The Coffee Club also beckons but they meet after my opening time - but I have hopes of doing a few shortly.

So many "locals" have been in to say hello and it is great to know that the little shop is well received.  I need to try and remember names and faces......


View from my front window
 This is the view that greets me each day whenI raise the blind and put out the "Open" signs.  Stunning!  and if you want to check out the rest of Oatlands as it looks at the moment, have a look at Yin Mei's lovely photos.  Yin Mei's blog 

I am gradually getting my work space under control and have placed the worktable so I can see out the window :
View from upstairs workroom

Can't wait to get weaving!  I had a visit today from the NEW girls from the Tasmania Woollen Company .  Judy and Cheryl have recently taken up the retail challenge and I was thrilled when they expressed an interest in having some of Handmadebyrowena's superfine merino woven scarves and wraps.   Thanks for visiting ladies!