We had
a wonderful time at Focus on Fibres. Getting together with other
fibrecrafters and suppliers is a real treat when you live in remote
regions. This weekend event is held every two years at Lake Tinaroo
on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland.
As a fibrecrafter I
am fortunate to have a husband who likes to weave, a daughter
who uses a drop spindle when she's not beading or sewing and a
neighbour who spins and weaves. Our rough road and the long drive
puts a damper on traveling to regular fibrecraft meetings. But
we four decided we had to go to Focus on Fibres! And the weather
was gorgeous.
We joined over 100
other participants at the event on Saturday. I have never seen
so many spinners! What a wonderful atmosphere in that hall!
Gillian likes to spin
silk, mohair, linen and wool.
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We found inspiration
and friendly advice available for the asking.
Dij picks
up her knitting.
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Each participant received
a clever and handsomely made present: chair saddlebags. They drape
across the seat of your chair and provide handy pockets down each
side.
Redbird draped hers
over her shoulder and slipped her drop spindle and fleece inside
whenever she needed her hands free.
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Workshops
and demonstrations over the weekend included:
Inkle
loom weaving
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Bobbin lace making
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Felting
slippers
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Weaving on a table
loom
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Bobbin lace and expert
hands
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Many other demonstrations
included dyeing, glass bead making, paper making with kenaf, spinning
alpaca, card making using recycled materials...plus more than
I can remember and more than Jerry managed to photograph. Perhaps
because he stopped to chat with craftspeople whenever he took
a photo. :-)
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Mieke
works on her rug and sells raffle tickets for the minature knitted
barnyard with its collection of animals, trees, buildings and
human figures.
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A tapestry weaver sits
at her loom which is made out of copper pipe.
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Jackie
focuses on her technique, aiming for perfect selvedges... that's
because inkles bands are almost totally selvedges.
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Cheerful Cherry puts
her feet up while she spins on her electric spinner.
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I fell in love with the lace knitted scarves on display. I couldn't
resist buying carded Romney wool in varigated blues and charcoal
for spinning and a bit of rayon chenille for weaving. A spinner
gave me tips on adding feathers to my plied yarn. Sounds like fun.
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I sat with a woman
making baskets from pine needles. When I asked where to purchase
pine needles, she laughed, pointed out the door toward a stand
of tall pine trees and said, go out there and collect them off
the ground!
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Redbird
found answers to her questions about counted cross-stitch.
Later
I discovered her making a sample of bobbin lace under Peg's guidance.
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Helping hands made
sock knitting easier.
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I hope everyone had
as much fun as we did. Many thanks go to all the people who organised
and ran Focus on Fibres. And many thanks for all the friendly
fibre help. Well done!
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