Scarves and unfinished projects

I have been inspired to complete some of my unfinished projects by a friend who posted an entry on her blog about the same thing 'Finish it up Friday' . She wrote a list of all her unfinished projects, and every friday has to post an update of the projects she has finished.

Well, recently I unearthed some beautiful handspun and dyed wool from Wool Dancer I bought about this time last year. Her wools are aptly described as art yarn - and they are truly beautiful and unique.

Inspired, I decided to finish them and this is what they look like.....

I made up the pattern as I went, one was knitted using 1cm knitting needles... 15 stitches wide and about 49cm long.

I just love the soft colours in this - the wool is also incredibly soft too - like being wrapped in cloud....

The other one was crochet using a 1cm hook - I ran out of yarn halfway so I joined in some grey that I had in my wool stash.

This one is also about 15cm wide and 50cm long and made using single chain stitch.

I love the grey spun baubles which are tightly twisted into the pumpkins and purples of this yarn...

My sister modelling her new scarf...

You may be wondering what my other projects are that are on my to finish list? Well, a number of them are knitting projects.

• Jumper knitted using blue/green variegated wool (knitted and unraveled twice so far)
• Jumper knitted using raspberry / chocolate variegated wool (knitted and unraveled twice as well!) - I fall in love with wool and buy it without a project in mind and then find it incredibly difficult to find a pattern which suits the wool.
• Lace scarf using 2 ply grey mohair
• lace scarf using special NZ wool

Some of them are cooking projects:

• Finish making Noccino (green walnut liquor)
• Make some Lemoncello (lemon liquor)

Some are sewing projects:

• Make a quilt - put together patchwork blocks from a Patchwork Bee I participated in (also organised by Jules from RelishAustralia)
• Sew curtains from my handprinted fabrics for my house.

I promise Ill post updates on how I get on finishing my projects - but it may not be as regular as every Friday! x

Home is where the heart is

I have been fossicking around some old houses lately and wanted to share some of the amazing things Ive seen...

An old slab hut - such a HUGE chimney - probably needed it to keep warm during the freezing winter months we are currently enduring

I just love the way this door has been painted

A wall covered with old cutouts from magazines...

Inside the old slab hut... amazing to think its been like this (abandoned) for 25 years.

This little place didn't even have running water or electricity connected.

A renovators delight :)

O to own such a piece of history. I hope it doesn't get bought by a developer.

* The spell checker didn't recognise fossicking.... turns out its a word generally used in Australia and originated in Cornwall.

Teaching Screen printing at Megalo

Every Thursday night for the past 6 weeks I have been teaching a Screenprinting class at Megalo.

Class participants are taught the basics of screenprinting: using paper cut stencils, photo emulsion stencils, registration for two or more colours, and how to create basic repeat patterns.

Sherree printing using a photo-emulsed screen (above)

Big smiles from Steph as she displays her Gaudi Towers - created using one screen and repeating the image. (above)

More smiles from Bonnie as she displays her bows - created using one screen and repeating the image.

(above)

Sam printing her paper stencil lion (above)

Sam's lion using a combination of paper cut stencil and photo-emulsion techniques (above)

Carly's amazing 7 colour print which was then sewn into a dress - her first ever screenprinting project! (above)

Sophia's Marilyn repeat experimenting with shade and colour (above)

By the end of the 6 weeks we were printing repeat lengths of fabric. Above is Suzy's repeat inspired by lichen. (above)

The group had such fun that on the last evening everyone chose to print onto a tea towel as a momento of the class. (above)

Yum! The delicious colours of Permaset

Last weekend at the 'Meet the Makers' at Gaffa Gallery in Sydney I met some interesting people and heard some fascinating stuff.

Along with meeting the other lovely designers in the show I met David from Permaset, who told me all about his inks.

Permaset's screenprinting inks are 100% solvent free (they contain no toxic chemicals, lead or other heavy metals). The inks are environmentally friendly, being water based which makes cleaning up easy too. Better yet, Permaset is an Australian company and the inks are made in Sydney.

I think this is fabulous! Locally made inks which do not pollute our environment...... and they come in a delicious range of vibrant colours which have been tested and proved to be 'light fast' (ie they will not fade in our harsh Australian sun).

Best yet, I was given a set of coloured inks to play with. I look forward to printing lots of different designs with these new delicious colours. A big thank you to David and Permaset for their generosity and support x

Creative Uses for Tea Towels

A friend of mine bought one of my Knit print tea towels at the June Handmade Markets with the intention of using it as upholstery fabric. She has just sent me some 'before' and 'after' images of her ottoman:

Before (above)

After (above)

She says "This little ottoman has got a new life now and all because of your beautiful screen printed fabric!! I think it looks wonderful with your nice stitches pattern on it. Thank you very much Kate!"

Other people have told me that they buy my screen printed tea towels and frame them, and others have bought the tea towels with the intention of turning them into cushion covers.

I think they are all such fabulous ideas - and it's lovely to see my designs inspiring creativity in others x

Environment Inspired Art - Article

Ive just managed to get a copy of this article which was published a couple of weeks ago in the Canberra Northside Chronicle - it discusses my inspiration for my work 'Modern Tree (Hope)' which was created for the Footprints Exhibition.

Click on the image to see a larger version of the article.

Enjoy!

Interwoven Exhibition at Gaffa Gallery, Sydney

My work has been selected to be part of Interwoven, an annual exhibition curated and coordinated by the Design Institute of Australia.

I drove up to Sydney on Wednesday to set up my works for the show. I was allocated a small room which had three walls - I decided to transform the space into a Lounge Room using my fabrics, as curtains, upholstery fabric, cushions, lampshade and as wall art.

Three of my designs are featured: Gingko; Knit; and Cloud stitch.

To make the fabric lengths look more like curtains I hung an old stained glass window between one pair (above).

And a small painting of the view from my kitchen window between the other.

I also commissioned an Creatif Upholstery to transform an old chair I found using some of my knit fabric - he did a fabulous job! The lovely Jane from Honi and Lemon, also transformed some of my Gingko fabric into a lampshade (you can see it in the top photo - more pictures of this to come, I promise!)

The exhibition is on at the Gaffa Gallery in Sydney from 16 - 27 June 2011.

Gaffa Gallery is in a beautiful heritage listed building in the CBD and is spread over three floors. There is a small cafe on the ground floor - delicious aromas of ground coffee spill out onto the street and waft through the space - along with a divine gift store also on the ground floor. It is definitely worth a visit!

Ill be going back for the 'Meet the Makers' on Saturday 25 June 2011. Maybe Ill see you there x