YAY! i got my haircut, ala Alice Cullen..... here's a pic
Monday, 9 February 2009
Saturday, 7 February 2009
a fresh start
Ok dudes, I'm gonna try this again....
A recap for those that have been out of the loop:
I'm back at Uni full time, completing my BSocSci degree majoring in Psychology and IR&HRM, and I have almost finished a paper called Raranga Whakairo in which I learned the process of making Kete Whakairo... more on that later.
I attend a Stitch and Bitch group at Iguana in Hamilton (all welcome btw, we meet 5.30-7.30 every Tuesday. Message me and I'll make sure you're added to the drinks and nibbles list).
I have an etsy shop in which I sell handmade crochet earrings, handpainted rovings, sock yarn, handspun yarn and in the future I am considering selling Kete Whakairo.
I've taken up spinning and crocheting, among my other crap.
I'm currently OBSESSED with the Twilight saga books, and movie... seriously. Teh orhsome.
I think that's it. I'll post more as I think of it.
I'm currently meant to be writing an essay about Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, a well renowned weaver in the Maori fiber arts. She's a really interesting person, maybe I'll post the essay when it's been marked. I really should be writing that now actually, but I'm procrastinating.
Here's some of the weaving I've been doing with Harakeke. Harakeke is known as "flax" in NZ but it's actually quite different from the true flax plant used overseas. Maori have been weaving it for generations and I'm currently learning about what it's used for, the significance of it and such.
The first project our class made was called a Waikawa. It's pretty much a slap up basket, made when you need to carry something in a hurry. You don't need to really do all that much to prepare the fiber for it, not even soften the blade by hapine if you don't want to. Here's one I prepared earlier ..... Note that there are gaps in the weave. This is because the Harakeke has not been boiled or hapine so it creates a lot of shrinkage. If you don't boil or hapine the harakeke can be quite difficult to work with and will rot a lot quicker than if you prepare it properly but for this project you're not meant to be too fussy.
This is the first one I made and you're meant to give the first of each thing you make away. I have given this to my Mum in law, and I'm planning on making one for my mum when I'm down there with some harakeke she has growing on her property. I've also made one for myself and the one I handed in for assessment, my nephew has requested. They're quite sturdy and would be good for putting toys in. I've got my onions and kumara in my one.
Here's some Kete Whakairo that I've woven:
The one I'm weaving in this picture (taken by Keith) was my first ever Kete Whakairo. You weave these inside out then flip them when they're finished, because of how they're closed.
Here's the completed product! Note the handles which are made from muka, the fiber found in some varieties of harakeke. They actually have an extraction factory for this near Foxton, so I hear, and back in the day they used to export it overseas. I'm gifting this to Tina, so she has some Taonga for herself. The blue is dyed with Teri dyes (also my supplier for my wool dyeing so that makes it easy). You can see that it's a bit wonky in the edge but that's kinda what your first project tends to be about.
This is the second Kete I wove. It's dyed with Rit Dyes in Wine. It's a Patikitiki design, and it's woven in takitahi (one by one).
Here's a design which is also Patikitiki but it's got 5 takitahi rows followed by a takirua row (two by two). If you squint your eyes you can kinda see the pattern (looks a bit like pink fish all over it). I dyed this with Dylons, and the colours don't contrast as much as I'd like. I'm told that this is a product of working with Dylons but I don't mind experimenting a bit, considering budget restraints (dylon costs $4 vs Rit that costs $20).
Here's the one I'm weaving at the moment. I've left it to dry out until I get back to it, because if you leave it damp for too long it can weaken the fiber and also get mouldy... yum. A chick in the first year class had hers go mouldy and it was pretty unpleasant smelling to weave with. I'm sure it probably wouldn't have been so bad once it dried out, but still, if you can avoid it, you may as well. It's got a couple of "design features" (or as my lecturer calls them Moko, but they are not mistakes, no no no.....) but it's coming along nicely. This was some leftover random red dyes from somewhere that was at school. The pattern is one of the Niho Taniwha (taniwha teeth) patterns.
All of the patterns come from Mick Pendergrast's book called Raranga Whakairo. There's also a great website and blog written by Ali Brown (alibrown.co.nz) which goes further into weaving etc. It's a really great resource. If you're interested in weaving there are an incredible amount of books available at the public libraries. There are also a whole crapload of workshops going on which are usually advertised in the community education part of the newspaper. The University of Waikato runs a few papers, and I'd recommend taking them if you don't have someone to show you first hand, because they go into further depth than a two day course could.
Anywho, for those of you who are interested, I'm having a sale at my etsy store mentioned above. Here's the announcement:
Kay, well I'm not sure I'm going to make this a truly regular thing but I'm gonna try... We'll see how uni goes when I'm back to full time and working three jobs hahaha - see ya
A recap for those that have been out of the loop:
I'm back at Uni full time, completing my BSocSci degree majoring in Psychology and IR&HRM, and I have almost finished a paper called Raranga Whakairo in which I learned the process of making Kete Whakairo... more on that later.
I attend a Stitch and Bitch group at Iguana in Hamilton (all welcome btw, we meet 5.30-7.30 every Tuesday. Message me and I'll make sure you're added to the drinks and nibbles list).
I have an etsy shop in which I sell handmade crochet earrings, handpainted rovings, sock yarn, handspun yarn and in the future I am considering selling Kete Whakairo.
I've taken up spinning and crocheting, among my other crap.
I'm currently OBSESSED with the Twilight saga books, and movie... seriously. Teh orhsome.
I think that's it. I'll post more as I think of it.
I'm currently meant to be writing an essay about Erenora Puketapu-Hetet, a well renowned weaver in the Maori fiber arts. She's a really interesting person, maybe I'll post the essay when it's been marked. I really should be writing that now actually, but I'm procrastinating.
Here's some of the weaving I've been doing with Harakeke. Harakeke is known as "flax" in NZ but it's actually quite different from the true flax plant used overseas. Maori have been weaving it for generations and I'm currently learning about what it's used for, the significance of it and such.
The first project our class made was called a Waikawa. It's pretty much a slap up basket, made when you need to carry something in a hurry. You don't need to really do all that much to prepare the fiber for it, not even soften the blade by hapine if you don't want to. Here's one I prepared earlier ..... Note that there are gaps in the weave. This is because the Harakeke has not been boiled or hapine so it creates a lot of shrinkage. If you don't boil or hapine the harakeke can be quite difficult to work with and will rot a lot quicker than if you prepare it properly but for this project you're not meant to be too fussy.
This is the first one I made and you're meant to give the first of each thing you make away. I have given this to my Mum in law, and I'm planning on making one for my mum when I'm down there with some harakeke she has growing on her property. I've also made one for myself and the one I handed in for assessment, my nephew has requested. They're quite sturdy and would be good for putting toys in. I've got my onions and kumara in my one.
Here's some Kete Whakairo that I've woven:
The one I'm weaving in this picture (taken by Keith) was my first ever Kete Whakairo. You weave these inside out then flip them when they're finished, because of how they're closed.
Here's the completed product! Note the handles which are made from muka, the fiber found in some varieties of harakeke. They actually have an extraction factory for this near Foxton, so I hear, and back in the day they used to export it overseas. I'm gifting this to Tina, so she has some Taonga for herself. The blue is dyed with Teri dyes (also my supplier for my wool dyeing so that makes it easy). You can see that it's a bit wonky in the edge but that's kinda what your first project tends to be about.
This is the second Kete I wove. It's dyed with Rit Dyes in Wine. It's a Patikitiki design, and it's woven in takitahi (one by one).
Here's a design which is also Patikitiki but it's got 5 takitahi rows followed by a takirua row (two by two). If you squint your eyes you can kinda see the pattern (looks a bit like pink fish all over it). I dyed this with Dylons, and the colours don't contrast as much as I'd like. I'm told that this is a product of working with Dylons but I don't mind experimenting a bit, considering budget restraints (dylon costs $4 vs Rit that costs $20).
Here's the one I'm weaving at the moment. I've left it to dry out until I get back to it, because if you leave it damp for too long it can weaken the fiber and also get mouldy... yum. A chick in the first year class had hers go mouldy and it was pretty unpleasant smelling to weave with. I'm sure it probably wouldn't have been so bad once it dried out, but still, if you can avoid it, you may as well. It's got a couple of "design features" (or as my lecturer calls them Moko, but they are not mistakes, no no no.....) but it's coming along nicely. This was some leftover random red dyes from somewhere that was at school. The pattern is one of the Niho Taniwha (taniwha teeth) patterns.
All of the patterns come from Mick Pendergrast's book called Raranga Whakairo. There's also a great website and blog written by Ali Brown (alibrown.co.nz) which goes further into weaving etc. It's a really great resource. If you're interested in weaving there are an incredible amount of books available at the public libraries. There are also a whole crapload of workshops going on which are usually advertised in the community education part of the newspaper. The University of Waikato runs a few papers, and I'd recommend taking them if you don't have someone to show you first hand, because they go into further depth than a two day course could.
Anywho, for those of you who are interested, I'm having a sale at my etsy store mentioned above. Here's the announcement:
SALE SALE SALE!!!!!
I need to clear some space for new stock so…. a sale is in order!
Use code Ravelry/half in the checkout for buy one, second item half price.
Use code Ravelry/free in the checkout for buy two, get one free.
I popped this up on Ravelry and Plurk in various places but there ya go again.... I really need to sell some stuff.... please?
Kay, well I'm not sure I'm going to make this a truly regular thing but I'm gonna try... We'll see how uni goes when I'm back to full time and working three jobs hahaha - see ya
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