We could form some kind of alliance, we could do what we wanted to do

On Monday I attended a felted beads workshop with Carol Cypher, courtesy of the ACT Textile Arts Association, which generously allowed me (a non-member) to attend.



Carol's long, dreadlocked (essentially felted), beaded hair seemed very appropriate.

We started with a basic bead. You start by making a sphere, and then when it is about half-felted, you can begin to mould it into a more interesting shape such as a bicone. I went with a sort of rectangular thingy... which I ultimately found very uninteresting.


Then we got onto more interesting methods, making and felting 'cigars' and then cutting them up in different ways. I had to play catch-up a bit here to learn the technique, as most of the others had attended the workshop on Sunday as well - they made lariat necklaces. The picture below shows a the fibre before any felting. These are quite small (abandoned part-way) and could probably do with more layers of fibre.

And here is a felted cigar which I didn't quite finish during the day - it needs a little more felting and fulling* (bashing against hard surfaces - very primal and satisfying) before I cut it to see what's inside. I really can't remember, so that should be fun.



To make cube beads, you cut the roll of felt on four sides, exposing the inner layers of colours.

Mine are a little bit funky, not strictly cubes. It takes a very sharp knife and a sure, decisive hand (err - and brain) to do them well.

Now, I've never been in love with felted beads. As jewellery, I think they're often in the category of 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should'. Not always - of course there are exceptions. Anyway I really enjoyed having a go at these techniques (and felting in general, I mean the kind you don't knit first). I also thought there might be a way to make felt buttons.

Generally you can't slice the felt thinner than a couple of centimetres, because if the fibres are too short they will fall apart, regardless of how well they have been felted. There are ways to artifically stabilise them with an acrylic medium or other clear glues. However, the side slices (leftover from making the cubes) are stable AND thin. And they could make very cool buttons, which I why I cut them to roughly equal sizes. As they are, they would be ok for decorative buttons; if they need to actually function they might yet need stabilising, to make them hard enough.

Here's another roll I made, only getting around to cutting off the ends. I will mostly likely slice the rest of it into about four beads. You are probably starting to notice I didn't have a big range of colours! Just enough to experiment with.

The grand finale was the 'complex cane' beads. This is comparable to cane techniques for glassmaking, and people do much the same thing with modelling clay too. Basically we made tight rolls of two or three colours, then bundled them into a bigger roll. Well, that's what I did, I wish I had managed an extra level of complexity with smaller rolls and different sizes bundled together. As it is they're somehow meaty looking, and with practice I hope I could get a finer and prettier result.


*Ah. What to do with the term "fulling". Yes, I am aware that the kind of felting I do (knit-then-felt) is 'properly' termed fulling. Traditional feltmakers seem to be VERY quick to correct me on this point. But then I find that 'fulling' is also used to describe the processes used to harden felt in the later stages of feltmaking. (The bit where we bashed our 'cigars' against tables, the floor, the concrete outside, etc.) As far as I'm concerned, knit-then-felt techniques are a way of creating felt, therefore it can be called 'felting'. I'm leaning towards just saying 'knit-then-felt' when I need to make the distintion.

My beats per minute never been the same

Almost two years ago I embarked on a project to make buttons. I had a collection of these nicely rounded, flattish shells, and all they needed was holes drilled into them to make a quirky present for my mum. Mum loves buttons. That might even be a small understatement.


The drilling of the holes turned out to involve perhaps a few more frustrations than I expected. After some trial and error I worked out a method that worked acceptably. Each hole was started using a 'grinder' drill bit (one meant for a Dremel tool but it goes in the normal drill just fine) to sand away the shiny surface and make a small depression. Then I was able to drill the hole with a standard drill bit. It took a LONG time to drill through each shell, especially as I discovered that the last stretch should be done at low speed so that I could stop just before the bit broke through the shell, and then use the grinder from the other side, to make a neater hole.

When I finally gave the set to mum last year, at least a year after I had started the project, I didn't think she would necessarily use them but I thought they would at least be an interesting and novel addition to her collection. So it was a thrill for me when she made herself a new jacket recently, and used the shell buttons. Smoother side out for the main buttons, and ridged side for the cuffs.

Boys and things that come by the dozen

Last week we were lucky enough to have free tickets to see the Black Crowes at the Royal Theatre. Good show, not the music that gives me the greatest thrill but they are pretty good at what they do. The drum solo certainly could have been a good 10 minutes shorter.

Though I've never been there I know it's always greener

I've put up a set of photos from V festival 2008 in Flickr. I haven't managed to find a new angle for festival/gig photography yet. Shots of the big screens are still keeping me amused.


We spent a shorter day at the festival this year. We arrived about 3ish and the whole thing was over earlier this year, all done by about 10pm.

When we arrived, Cut Copy had a huge crowd (huge considering the early hour) bouncing wildly. They sounded pretty good but we went wandering. We ended up mostly seeing halves of various sets.

First I sought out Modest Mouse because of the allure of Johnny Marr - but they were disappointing. So we quit early and moved on to Roisin Murphy, who sang that huge hit for Moloko 'Bring it back'. None of her solo work is quite as catchy but she has a great voice and I enjoyed it, including her crazy hat - a cross between a formal hat and a Devo flowerpot.

Then there was The Jesus and Mary Chain - great music, although not particularly animated musicians. Yes they used to be famous for some kind of mayhem though, it appears, from the fans as much as the band. I know it's kind of the wrong way around but I was just staring at the screen thinking it's Christian Slater! The sunnies, the hairline?

I was keen to see Air, and we tried them for a while. But the crowd was just wrong. I couldn't get into the music for all the loud talking of the people around us. It didn't help that it started raining lightly. Apparently they were doing a show at the Opera House, and I think that would have been a much better way to enjoy this kind of atmospheric and sometimes quiet music.

Queens of the Stone Age was the main act of the day for K, and this was the only full set we saw. Once again the festival crowd made things less than ideal, and strangely the sound was not turned up nearly as loud as it had been for JMC and others on the same stage. With this kind of band you DON'T expect people talking near you to be a problem! Regardless, I really enjoyed the set, and now I think I would go and see them if they tour again.

We arrived at Duran Duran's show halfway through and struggled through the unfamiliar mid-section of the set until they returned to the greatest hits catalogue. I don't know if it is just his stage persona but Simon Le Bon is pure ego. Kind of fantastic, and repulsive at the same time. As a lead-in to playing Girls on film he did this whole bit about having met with the 'Chief of Police' before they came out that night and ascertained that it 'if any girls wanted to take their tops off, that would be ok'. Sigh. And with one camera trained on the crowd, a few pairs did bounce onto the screen throughout the rest of the show. Also during Girls on film, Simon introduced band members one-by-one in suitably over-the-top fashion. Finally, with finger to his lips he shushed the crowd, paused, and yelled at the top of his voice, 'What's my name?!!!'. Like I said, pure ego.

Finally we wandered off to catch a bit of the Smashing Pumpkins. I did love the long skirt that Billy Corgan was wearing. They played the Star-Spangled Banner which seemed a bit misguided while touring Australia. It might have made sense if it then morphed into Waltzing Matilda, but no dice. After that we heard only the end of the Presets last song, and it was time to go. Overall we felt a bit flat about it after the huge highlight of last year. I'm happy though, to have seen bands like Duran Duran and the Jesus and Mary Chain. And of course QOTSA.

Edited to add: I found a couple of pics showing Billy Corgan's long, tiered, metallic skirt. Though it didn't look as shiny as that from where I was sitting.

And people say we monkey around

Earlier I mentioned having swatched a different edging option for that blue T-shirt. I made that sound straightforward didn't I? Ha ha, well, in revealing the torturous paths my knitting sometimes takes I feel I'm in very good company.

The edging I tried was called 'faggot and scallop', and my first results were hilarious because I ignored the first line of the pattern: "This edging is worked sideways". Even though there was a photo right there in the book, I managed not to notice that the stitches went sideways. I did wonder why the picture looked like it was a few repeats and yet the pattern appeared to only give one. I also wondered why it wasn't presented in a more user-friendly way - as, you know, 'a 9-stitch repeat with 4 edge stitches' instead of just 'cast on 13 stitches'.

So yes, I tried to work the edging the other way around - imagining I would ultimately knit the whole thing in the round. I calculated how many stitches appeared to be part of the repeat. I ploughed ahead, making things unnecessarily complicated. As I cast off a puckery mess, I began to wonder if it would really block out to look anything like the picture. Then it finally clicked - the edging is knit sideways. And that would certainly make it easier to get it the right length to go around whatever you are trying to edge - you just keep going until there is enough.


I picked this one to try first because seemed to meet my requirements of not being overly 'lacy' for the t-shirt edging. I think it is because it is kind of angular. Yet when I held it up to the t-shirt, all that mesh just looked wrong. I could see that it could be kind of interesting sewn a little above the edge, on the right side, so that some of the fabric showed through. But it was too 'lacy' looking overall - both because of the see-through mesh and also the larger scallops. The one I settled on the next day was more subtly scalloped and less holey.

I think it's interesting that I have certain criteria in my head for something like this, but when I actually try it out, they end up shifting significantly. It's not the first time this has happened. I have to be willing to question some of the things I think I'm sure about.

One and one and one is three

Some time ago I made a felted pendant for my mum. And now I have finally made one for myself.


It's a crocheted circle, felted then cut into a rough oval shape. I stitched all around the edge with embroidery cotton. Then I just poked a hole for the jump ring, and attached the bead-and-shell pendant. This part was made using recycled bits given to me by a good mate. A while ago, there was a fad for selling jeans with a jangly bundle of charms hooked onto a belt loop. I don't think the look ever took off, but it supplied me with some bits to play around with!

This other necklace came about in the the same session. I was playing about with the wooden beads as a necklace to hold the felted pendant, but there was too much going on all together so I paired it with a simpler pendant.

It's the end of a perfect day

Talk about a satisfying little project.

Take one t-shirt, never been worn because it is just a little bit annoyingly too short.

Take less than half a ball of soft Patonyle sock yarn in a matching colour.

Swatch one or two edging patterns from a book, pick one and work out how many repeats you need to go around the bottom edge of the t-shirt.

Knit the edging and hit it with a good blast of steam to make it sit nicely.

Hand-stitch it to the hem of the t-shirt. And you're done.

Aside from swatching a different edging option the day before, this was completed in one day (and I didn't spend the whole day knitting) and I wore it the next.

The pattern is Seashore edging from 'The Hamlyn Complete Knitting Course' by Eleanor Van Zandt.

I deliberately chose not to block it hard to its full lacy potential because I wanted to finish it quickly. Then I backwards-justified that decision, thinking that, this being a t-shirt, I'm going to be machine washing it (in a lingerie bag) and the most I will be willing to do is a quick blast of steam from the iron before running for the bus in the morning. I'm hoping the sock yarn will be a good choice to stand up to a fair bit of wear this way.

I hand-stitched it to the wrong side of the hem. Another option, especially with a more lacy edging, and if you wanted a more fancy look (maybe even with contrasting yarn) would be to sew it on the right side, partially overlapping the t-shirt so that the fabric shows through the lace.

Welcome to the beautiful south

As soon as I arrived in Adelaide last Thursday evening, I was informed we had plans to go out for the evening. We were going to see the Northern Lights and then a show by comedy trio The Hound of the Baskervilles at the Garden of Earthly Delights - 'Every Film Ever Made'. Jolly good, says I.

I had no idea what the Northern Lights was. As we approached I saw a hint of coloured light and thought maybe they had coloured some buildings unlikely hues with light - like they sometimes do here in Canberra - the High Court awash with pink and the National Library bright green, or whatever.

Like I said, I had no idea.





This is something else entirely. "Northern Lights" is the work of The Electric Canvas, and consists of elaborate projections on the row of sandstone buildings along North Terrace in Adelaide - the State Library, SA Museum, Art Gallery, Elder Hall, Mitchell Building and Bonython Hall. The images change every few minutes, and you could easily spend an hour or more watching them all change and trying to get non-blurry photos. You can see more of my photos in the Flickr set here.




The event has proved so popular they have extended it beyond the end of the Adelaide Festival to the end of March.

Edited to add:
If you watched the Sunday Arts program on ABC last weekend you would have seen the story on the Northern Lights, and you would also have seen my friend, artist Nöel Skrzypczak being interviewed (and looking gorgeous and sounding brilliant). She has a show on in Melbourne at the moment. We used to walk to school together and now she's on the teevee!

there is definitely something going on upstairs

I got back on Monday night from my annual Adelaide trip for Womadelaide. Unfortunately I came down with a stomach bug on Saturday and missed a lot of the festival. I had to bug out early on Saturday and couldn't go anywhere on Sunday. Oh yeah, I'm fine now, and back to eating with a vengeance. And looking forward to the V-festival. Duran Duran!

I did have a good time on Friday night. The highlight was supercalifragilisticly authentic Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haidouks, with four fiddles. And two piano accordions. Amongst other things.


I do try to sample the variety of music at these festivals, but inevitably I'm drawn to anything with fiddles, and the more the better.

I also loved diva Mavis Staples' show on Friday night, and the part of the Black Arm Band's set that I saw. Don't you love that name for a collective of indigenous Australian musicians?

Giant steps are what you take

This is the Ribbed Wrap Jacket from 'Contemporary Knitting by Jo Sharp'. My first finished garment for me. And it was briefly cold enough to wear it on the weekend!

I picked this pattern for several reasons:
- everything else in that book is completely shapeless
- I was intrigued by the unusual but simple construction. It looked pretty easy to knit and the ribbing should mean not too many fitting issues.
- It uses Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran for the body and Silk Road DK for the collar. I liked the idea of quicker knitting with the aran weight but not being completely wrapped in such warmth - I find lighter jumpers and cardigans much more wearable.
- The wool is absolutely delicious - it has both silk and cashmere in it - and I got it reduced when the Shearing Shed at Manuka was having a moving sale last year (or I wouldn't have got it at all, I am a cheapskate)

I started it last winter, and most of the knitting was done well before Christmas, but then other priorities took over. A couple of reality checks (trying on after tacking in one sleeve) made me think it was going to be too tight in the armholes and maybe across the shoulders. Right down until I had it all sewn together, after blocking the sleeves a bit wider, I still thought it wasn't going to work. It was such a relief to put it on and LOVE IT!

The pattern didn't include any closure. I thought about a shawl pin (and the ribbing means it can be stretched to wrap more), but for now I like it better this way with a button and crocheted loop. Maybe in the dead of winter I will change my mind.