Fibre Fun in the Sun!
The Intro to Wool Workshop we ran on Sunday was a really fun, interactive and genuinely informative afternoon learning everything there is to know about wool dyeing and spinning! Sarah from Strength Honour Wares was a wonderful tutor who had set up a huge range of products, samples, tools and demonstrations around the room, and everyone left with a head full of knowledge, a bag full of wool and a tummy full of tea and treats!
The workshop was in two parts;
Firstly Sarah introduced us to different types of dyes and their wide range of potential uses, giving us demonstrations of dyeing techniques on both raw wool and yarn to give different effects, including ombre, speckled and even rainbow. Everyone enjoyed donning aprons and gloves and getting messy in the glorious HIRL gardens - we had every colour scheme from oceanic blues to Collingwood stripes!
After a tea and cake break (where we also had pavlova, Oreo truffles and hand-baked biscuits... and fruit, because life is about balance isn't it?) we talked all things wool.
We learnt how wool goes from the animal through processing and into a workable form of fibre, and felt samples ethically sought from alpacas, llamas, goats, possums and rabbits to name but a few- it seems that anything can be made into yarn if you know what to do with it!
We then had the chance to spin wool into yarn using a traditional spinning wheel and also a portable drop-spindle... both of which are harder than they look! Our guests also did quite a lot of shopping- Sarah's pastel roving proved to be popular and coloured dyes almost sold-out, so I'm sure we'll be seeing some of the hand-dyed goods whipped up by participants once they get knitting and crocheting up a storm!
I'll be using my beautiful blue wool in a weaving- watch this space! :)
Next month's workshop is another brand new exciting collaboration with local lady Hayley from Hayley Dawson Naturopathy. On Sunday 25th Feb we'll be learning everything there is to know about gut health and making our very own batches of kombucha- yay!
Check out the blog for more details or hit up the Facebook page @mycrafternoons!