Hand Woven- Wall Hanging

 

September seems to have run away with me, it's always a busy month here. We try and fit in late summer sailing and as the Seasons slowly change I plan and work towards my Autumn/ Winter knitting, weaving and spinning projects. I have been wanting to make some "woolly art" for the wall for ages and now I'm pleased to show you my first effort!

  

 I have been working on my mini loom which is just the right size for a small project like this. (see blog post for June). I really enjoyed weaving this small wall hanging,

 

It is hand woven; the warp is string and the weft is worked with threads of wool, silk, cotton and mixed fibres, combining to make a firm cloth of "hues of seascape views". Using a piece of hazel wood, barked and smoothed then wax polished to hang the finished piece.  

 

I'm planning to weave some more "woolly art" in some of  my favourite colour ways. I also want to use some of my own  hand spun yarn I have been reserving for this task. I shall really enjoy the challenge to upscale to my table loom and make a large wall hanging. 

 

Cushions and Dinghy Racing

 

 

Do you remember back in March I had some "warp waiting" on my loom?  With inspiration taken from the sea and shoreline I chose a variety of different coloured yarns and in a free style of simple stripes, I created a warp ready to weave some fabric.    

  

 

 

I decided to keep the weft of the design very simple choosing two yarns;  4ply cream and Aran oatmeal fleck. This made the stripes of the warp sing out, giving a wonderfully soft tone to the finished hand woven piece. 

 

I liked the effect very much and so have made two scatter cushions with the material produced. They look quite

 at home in my knit room with it's relaxed nautical theme in shades of blues and whites.   

 

For those of you who like to read of my sailing adventures will know that Skipper and I have fun racing our old mirror dinghy on the river Medina in the summer months. The race series is light hearted, but that's not to say that it is not competitive! We are currently in second place, the chances are pretty slim for us to gain first position, but we will  certainly try very hard- today the weather conditions are predicted to be very light breezes so I shall be sending Skipper out single handed for a change to make the most of  the conditions with a light boat. It's all about tactics... you know...

 

Below is a link to the MMA  

 

 

http://www.medinamariners.org/#/dinghy-racing/4570018027

 

 

Whilst searching for Dolphins...

 

 When we sail around the Ionian Islands we are always thrilled and excited to see wild dolphins, they give you such a "feel good factor" and the experience makes you come into the harbour at the end of a good day's sail with an even a bigger grin on your face!
Well this year sailing on Mintaka we didn't actually see any dolphins-Although, I like to think that in the strong windy days when Skipper and I were busy with "all hands on deck" that there were dolphins riding our bow wave in the froth and thrill of the wind and waves! ...

Here are some photos of what we did see, the first is of shoals of fish, We feed  them with bread and ship's biscuits from the bathing platform on the boat, when you swim with them they never touch you, but you can get up really close, Skipper loves to snorkel and take an underwater camera with him.

 

Here is a blue octopus, amazing colour and a beautiful creature, but I'm glad I was on the pontoon taking this shot and not actually swimming with it.

 

 A red starfish about the size of your hand.

 

And this cricket, with a body about the size of your thumb and legs extending to make him as big as your hand, Skipper had quite a shock when it decided to climb up his shorts!!

 

Safely removed pretty promptly he took a photo! In vivid green, black and yellow what an interesting fellow.

Sailing The Ionian Islands, Part One- About The Boat

 

Just back from Casting Off on another sailing adventure.

We have been sailing around the beautiful Greek Isles again. Our boat this year was called Mintaka. She is a Beneteau 361 and as you can see in the photos she is a lovely yacht; 36ft length with a wide beam (twice the size of our little yacht at home!).With a saloon area, 3 cabins, galley, navigation table and seating, showers and heads there was plenty of room for just the two of us.

 Her name Mintaka  means belt in Arabic hence she is one of the 3 stars in Orion Belt Constellation.

 

Saloon seating and table

 

Galley with double sink and large fridge

 

Mintaka is wheel steering, it was a real treat to have this instead of a tiller

 

And there were plenty of ropes to pull!

 

We raised our own little MMA burgee to proudly fly as we started our voyage 

 

and here we are sails filled creaming along making 8knots on a hot sunny day on the deep blue Mediterranean sea.

 

We love sailing flotilla holidays. We were a small group of  yachts accompanied by a "Lead crew boat" on board the Lead boat is a Skipper who plans the route, collects information on weather and books us into the harbours each day, an Engineer to maintain all the yachts and a Hostie who keeps us informed on good places to visit, facilities available, where to buy bread etc. 

We have a morning briefing every day together and then we are free to do what we want on our own yachts, sail, anchor up somewhere for lunch and a swim. We navigate our own way to the next harbour and when we arrive the Lead crew is always there ready to take our mooring lines and welcome us to each new exciting place.

Next blog will be about the voyage...

Space to Create

 I have reorganised my work room and have had a really good tidy up. There is now more space to create!
 A great thing about doing a good sort through is that you find yarns you have put to the back of the shelf and forgotten about.
I am enjoying hand knitting this handspun blues and cream mix (I'm not quite sure what the wool is) the finished piece will be for me, I'm knitting a neck warmer/cowl and plan to finish it with these lovely ceramic buttons made by Jude Allman   http://www.etsy.com/shop/judeallman 














I now have space to store my spinning wheel as well as my loom and I will be able to work with them in situ rather than having to use the kitchen table.















I  store my wool stash on high shelves that go all the way around the room like a colour wheel This always inspires me and helps me to select colour themes and allows me to choose different yarn types easily. My handspun yarns are stored in baskets.














As you can see my work room has a nautical flavour, the mediterranean blues, whites, the wood and ropes, the photos of our boats and simple woven baskets, these all uplift me and make me think of sunny sailing days.
















It will soon be time to get the boats ready for the sailing season, but while the weather is grey and cold I settle in and reach for my lovely yarns and get creating, feeling refreshed and energised in my creative space.

Waiting for the next opportunity to hang my "Gone Sailing" sign on the door.