Retreat 2011

This is part of the work done on our Retreat in the Lake District and we had a wonderful time spinning and weaving and enjoying one anothers company.   The weather was very mixed but the company was good.    Next year we will be in the Scottish Borders.

Weaving Workshop 14 May 2011

Jo's Challenge

My inspiration came from a painted earthenware bell.

This is what I did next

My husband turned me a bell form from wood, on which I laid fleece and proceeded to felt.   When felting had started I removed the material from the bell form and continued felting until the material was firm.

The material was washed and dried.

The material was then decorated with pieces of previously hand made and hand dyed felt using needle felting technique.

Spun wool was used to outline the buildings.

Lastly the hanging features and clappers were added.

My husband made a gallows from which the bell would hang.

Carol Taylor

Having just joined this blog I would like to congratulate all the talented people out there who have shared their photos and expertise through this site. It has given me loads of inspiration. I look forward to adding photos of some of my work soon.

Thanks

Hobby Lass

This year's challenge

The Guild challenge this year is base on the Sanquhar Pattern.

Typically you get gloves and socks knitted in the Sanquhar pattern

and often the colours are restricted to black and white but you can use other colours - here are some examples

Now we've been encouraged that it doesn't only have to be have to be a knitted piece, it can be represented in any form, for example embroidery, weaving.

I've been considering a few ideas this week.  Some knitting orientated but am now looking more towards another format.  


As with many challenges there is often the tendency to make something for the sake of the challenge, and you'r left with something that isn't usable or not particularly your taste.  I'm hoping to create, (if I get this idea to work and complete it), something that I'll like and use.


So have any of you been considering the challenge yet?  If you have make a post about what you've found to inspire you on your creative journey - without giving away too much on what you'll be making just yet.

How to add a post to the Blog

This Guild blog is like a journal of contributions from Guild members and to be a true representation of the Guild as many members as possible are being asked to contribute.


Some of you are unsure what you need to do so hopefully the information and links below many be helpful.


Now I might be winging it a bit here ad I have a blog and am unsure what set up process needs to be done, but I think you:- 

• need to have a Google account - create one if you don't already have one it's free
• Email the Guild asking for permissions to the Blog page (with your normal email address) - I'll then grant you permissions to what's called the Blog Dashboard page, and in the return email you will be given a link address - keep this for easy access back to that page 

Now here are some tutorials and videos which might help:-

Create a blog post video

Create a blog post tutorial

Add a photo to a blog post - basic

Add a photo to a blog post - advanced

and then there is this - add a photo and blog post directly from Flickr

Add a photo/post via Flickr

Now you can add photos directly from your file on your computer or via an online photo store like, Flickr, Photobucket or Picasa.  I have already created a Guild Flickr account.  

To add photos to the Flickr group you need to have a Yahoo account - I know 'another' account.  Here are some videos which should help:-

create Flickr account

uploading photos to Flickr

There's a lot here to take in, but hopefully some of the information above will help you.

I look forward to reading new posts soon.

                                                 Ethne