will the lisbon vote change anything?

by fuzzyball
if Lisbon isn't ratified what will the E.U bureaucracy do to implement the changes they seem to require? Who will control that process?
Administration will continue to do as they please without any chance for anyone to vote about it, irrespective, agendas have been drawn up and agreed on for a long time and Ireland's vote will have little effect on that either way.
Enough of politics.

Over in fuzzyball world there are new hats and a prototype scarf type, building on the loopy theme I am so fond of.
I'm thinking about other artists far more well known than me who have exploited the loop as an edge enhancement and reinforcement to the line that describes the form.
Besides, loops are fun to make.
at least these scarves can go in the washer to felt, so a progression of sorts.

accreditation

by fuzzyball
Interesting thread over on the rav U.K spinners group, concerning the suitability of courses or accreditation schemes for spinners. City and Guilds are well known and it is worrying that the guild no longer has their support. We need to have a properly run and trustworthy scheme that spinners (and those who ask them for tuition) can rely on. The American guild do this very well, it is time the guild in the U.K asked for advice and help from all necessary to remedy the situation as soon as possible.
Aquiring competency skills and having them ratified would give us all greater confidence and improve our professional status.

world spin in public day in Kilkenny

Lone spinner prowls the byways of Kilkenny City in shock promo attempt to raise the public profile of handspinning.
Actually using a spindle to spin while wandering around town wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be, luckily no rain or wind to give me problems, so was able to puzzle the tourists at the Castle, and make window shopping a more productive activity than it usually is.
I didn't get thrown out of shops or galleries, or the shopping centres so, next time YOU are out in town for a pleasant afternoon, take some fibre and a spindle and bemuse the general public too.

fuzzy gets frustrated

Struggling today to get anything done as web connection is so slow. The third world starts outside the metropolitan areas even in so-called first world countries wanting to be part of the so-called smart economy. Unfortunately that seems to mean we will need some smart politicians who have some idea of what it is like to live in the real world.
Web designers are NOT helping at all, so intent on using the latest bells and whistles, forgetting that most of the world does not have a super fast broadband connection.
So, no pictures tonight, and this text is only going to take me half the night to upload. Great.
eircom had the cheek to come around here touting for business in an area that has no exchange enabled. Smart, I think not.
Meanwhile on the fibre front I am busy working on some new stuff around the idea that it is time to subvert the military machine a little more. Fibre people are generally very nice, perhaps too nice.
I'm considering a line of accessories for the military man's home from home - along the lines of camouflage gear in the kitchen to go with the trendy uniforms. Mine will be for a blue planet, none of those dusty greens and grays, mind that would do very nicely in Oz, blend in with the bush. More on that another day

my etsy

I think this is a bit over the top in terms of advertising etsy but for now I'm leaving it in.
It uses less of my resources than uploading pics to the blog and they are all my own work in any case

Here is a side view of my latest cap, in beautiful merino wool, wet felted with inlay pattern, lined in royal blue. Trim is embroidered cord in viscose and cotton. It took a while to finesse the template, but all has turned out well.
I'm in the process of getting a website up and running, this will act as a mini showcase for my current work. I will link it through to my flikr account so that everyone can access lots of detail photos easily. A mini shop, details of my etsy shop for those inclined and a gallery of work which I plan to change regularly.
I had hoped to have had a broadband link in by now but there is still no wired connection available, only satellite! And it ain't cheap.
Meanwhile I'm stuck on dial-up for now.

noro socks

A tryout of the various colour ways possible with kureyon sock yarn and some of my handspun english leicester.

batik today

Today was my second meeting with a group based in the south east of Ireland. We meet once a month at a nearby centre known as Castlecomer Discovery Park which contains a group of craft outlet/studios and a museum featuring the local coal industry history. The surroundings include a couple of fishing lakes and a nice walking trail with a few sculptures sited along the way.
Today the featured skill was Batik, something I have not had the opportunity to try before. I found the process slower than I had expected, getting wax onto the fabric was much slower than painting for instance. However, in the right skilled hands there is undoubtedly much scope for subtle and complex results. If nothing else having a dabble in a new method lets you appreciate the experts work a little better.
Getting the wax out is more tedious than removing gutta (at least on a small scale) I would like to have another day, but using soy wax instead of the paraffin wax we used today, and leave the tjanting to add detail much later in the process.
I am always looking for new ways to get colour and textures into fabric, and may have found another technique to try today courtesy of a local printer who uses mount board to make her relief plates.
The results are most impressive, and the plates end up being things of beauty in their own right.
Maeve Coulter also makes felt and textile pieces, so a real all rounder.
I have used MDF to try some relief carving, but mount board would be easier on the wrists!
So you know, a couple of my hats below

I had a request from a friend recently, a pair of special socks to keep her pinkies warm when the temperature dips. She is travelling , and her footwear of choice will be thongs (flip-flops). So a toed sock is required; not having knitted such a beast before, I naturally needed to do a little research, so looked in the usual likely spots - more of which later - am I looking for a mitten with a toe added or a sock with a thumb? I've got to the right spot now and have to make up my mind soon. However, as knitting leaves a certain amount of brain power unattended, I was musing on the complete lack of justification for the art of hand knitting socks at all in this day and age. I know there are legions of avid sock knitters out there, and indeed I do knit a few of the beasts myself, BUT, how can I justify to the bean counters who rule the world that there is a need for warm woolly socks that commerce just can't provide? Never mind doing this strange activity at all, but with hand-spun yarns too. I may just have found grounds for my certification, but nonetheless I am pleased to give my friend a gift of warm fitted socks to take on her roamings, and hopefully they will bring more than warm toes to mind when she wears them this winter.

Latest work in progress includes a prototype baseball cappish type hat in felt parked on top of a commercial cap. Haven't found anywhere to get hat brims yet, will persevere. Broadband available soon , which will let me do cool stuff here. Meanwhile a pic of hometown for you all.

hello world

I have finally got around to posting my first blog. Hopefully this will enable me to connect with my fibre friends worldwide and help me to keep track of my projects. Today I have completed a fingerless mitten made with homespun . Felted some fuzzy balls and got some spinning time in. Black faced Leicester top. White. Noodling about an idea with embroidery and boxes/caskets.