Author Archives: Margaret Ford

Stash scrap helmet [or a beanie cover]

Posted on August 20, 2018

The brief: “Mum, I’d like a sort of hat that goes over the other hats. Neutral colours please.” For fishing and camping in the Snowy Mountains. The design points: *keep it simple *use stuff from the stash and choose thick yarns … Continue reading →

Posted in Beanie, Clothing, Design, freeform crocheting | 2 Comments

My first KAL

Posted on August 20, 2018

A KAL is knit-world speak for “knit-along”. I discovered that only recently when one of my usual Australian on-line yarn suppliers (Yarn Glorious Yarn at https://www.yarngloriousyarn.com.au) posted one on Ravelry  (https://www.ravelry.com/groups/yarn-glorious-yarn). The KAL was for a particular design by Amsterdam based … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Scarf | 2 Comments

I love mistletoe

Posted on July 10, 2018

OK, I know that’s like saying I love roses.  Which roses?  Name specific species! Leaves or flowers? Well, I don’t know more.  I harvested “mistletoe” from a forest reserve in Western Australia and used it experimentally on fabric. Because it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Mistletoe as dye, Natural dyeing | Leave a comment

Dream Time Shawl

Posted on June 26, 2018

I’ve called this blog Dream Time Shawl because that’s what its designer Teresa Dair called it. This project has been on the go (or off the boil) for several years since I bought the pattern and the yarn at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Knitting, Scarf | 1 Comment

Natural Dyeing from the Greengrocer

Posted on June 12, 2018

Artistic inspiration, always an elusive commodity for me, has left the building over the past week.  It’s rainy and cold: it’s soup weather here in Western Australia. So my inner Earth Mother must have kicked in.  Why not add a … Continue reading →

Posted in brown onion as dye, Natural dyeing, purple cabbage as dye, purple carrot as dye, Turmeric as dye, turmeric tuber as dye | 3 Comments

Yarn Dyeing: Buyer Beware

Posted on June 10, 2018

Last weekend I went to a fibre fair in a rural town.  Although i love dyeing my own yarns, especially with plants, I couldn’t resist buying some skeins of 70:30 merino:silk yarn dyed by hand by the seller with  what … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Blue/citrus scarf

Posted on May 31, 2018

A month since my last blog and there’s not much to report.  Stash-busting has sat alongside stash acquisitions, unfortunately. The Stitch and Craft Fair here in Perth was a great and unresisted temptation as Prudence Mapstone came over with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, freeform knitting, Knitting, Scarf | 1 Comment

Red-Orange Scarf

Posted on April 28, 2018

Yarn stash-busting is required.  The red yarns in particular have outgrown their drawers and baskets.  I got them together.  Well possibly not all of them; there is always the likelihood of finding a colony that has established itself elsewhere in … Continue reading →

Posted in Clothing, Design, Knitting, Scarf | 4 Comments

Textile Study Trip to China’s Guizhou Province: Part 2

Posted on March 7, 2018

On Sunday 18 Feb 2018, the second day of our textile adventure in China’s Guizhou province, we checked out of the Trade Point Hotel in Guiyang and began making our way by road via Leishan to Xiao Danjiang to see … Continue reading →

Posted in Eating rural Chinese food, Guizhou in South -West China, Textile tour to China | Leave a comment

Textile Study Trip to China’s Guizhou Province: Part 1

Posted on March 2, 2018

  This is the first of several posts intended mainly for my own benefit as a record of a wonderful trip from Perth to Guizhou in China from 17 – 28 February 2018. The capital of Guizhou province is Guiyang. … Continue reading →

Posted in Eating rural Chinese food, Embroidery traditions of the Miao and Dong people of Guizhou province, Guizhou in South -West China, Hand embroidery, Textile tour to China | Tagged , , | Leave a comment