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Author Archives: Margaret Ford
Crazy Diamond Wrap
I love to make the patterns of gifted knit artists/designers. The Crazy Diamond Wrap pattern of Australian designer Ambah O’Brien (https://www.ravelry.com/designers/ambah-obrien) intrigued me as it promised a complex-looking result from an “easy to work” pattern. This time I ordered her … Continue reading
Posted in Clothing, Knitting
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Grevillea Wrap: a knitted treasure
I like the knit designs of Ambah O’Brien. Her designs are on Ravelry. (https://www.ravelry.com/designers/ambah-obrien) So I bought her Grevillea Wrap pattern and also a kit of yarns for it produced by Koigu. It was not my preferred colourway but it … Continue reading
Posted in Clothing, Kits, Knitting
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Kicking the fast fashion habit
A friend alerted me to this absorbing and powerful book which I read before Christmas. First published in 2019 in the UK, it is packed with startling facts. For example: *100 billion garments are produced every year. *The average garment … Continue reading
Tassels
I love making these. I made this one as a Secret Santa gift for a member of one of my sewing groups. It’s constructed using a variegated Perle 8 thread crocheted with beads into a tube then inserted into a … Continue reading
Posted in bead crochet, Design, freeform crocheting, tassels
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Venation Shawl
Today I sat down to start blogging another experiment. I found lots of Covid-time blogs in my drafts!!! Here’s one below. Sometimes one eschews the pressure to create. One simply wants to “make”. Preferably while sitting on one’s front porch … Continue reading
Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Scarf
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Marled Magic Shawl by Stephen West
I like Stephen West’s designs (https://www.westknits.com). I have made them before. He backs the sale of his written patterns with videos which elaborate and demonstrate some details of his designs. Buying the pattern for Marled Magic Shawl, I was attracted … Continue reading
Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Stash-busting yarn
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Brown Onion Dip
A new blog is well overdue but I’m not very productive or innovative at the moment so I am sharing something I did two nights ago after seeing a new you tube video from “Rebecca from Chemknits“: The first … Continue reading
Posted in brown onion as dye, Natural dyeing, Scarf
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Three-dimensional armatures
Recently I demonstrated simple techniques for wrapping a wire armature at my contemporary quilt group. This is a summary: Requirements Figure 1 Machine weight thread and decorative threads Figure 2 Wires, wire cutters and pliers for bending Method Select … Continue reading
Dyeing wool yarn in a slow cooker with food colouring
In her book The Modern Natural Dyer (1), Kristine Vejar emphasises the importance of keeping baths for scouring, mordanting and dyeing at steady temperatures suited to the dye material and the fibres being dyed. I have often ignored this … Continue reading
Posted in food colours as dye, slow cooker dyeing, WAFTA
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Oh, What a Feeling!!
No, not Toyota***, but related. I’m watching the first day of the Brisbane Test match Australia vs Sri Lanka. As I start this blog the score is Sri Lanka 7/105, which partly accounts for my happiness. In parallel, as one … Continue reading
Posted in Bag, Crochet basket, Stash-busting yarn
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Horace 