South Hokianga Arts and Craft Fair

I went to visit Susanne at the Craft Fair at Waimamaku yesterday. It was such a beautiful perfect summer day and I enjoyed the 100 minutes drive very much. The road was almost empty in the morning and the Hokianga Harbour looked stunning. I haven't been on my own further than Omapere and it seemed endless until I finally reached Waimamaku, a tiny village near the Waipoua Forest. The landscape was breathtaking and I would have loved to stop to take photos, but I guess I still wouldn't have arrived ;) The fair was smaller than I expected, but with nice things.
Of course the lady with the Hokianga Hats was there:

 and a potter with seconds:

a couple with wooden toys:

a guy with wonderful wooden spoons:

bonecarvings:

flaxweaving ridiculous cheap:

a wonderful wooden horse which I  finally managed to catch on camera before it drove off:

and beside of some beaded  jewellery then of course the fibre girls:

all kind of felting, knitting, sewing made by Susanne, Anita, Dagmar
and another friend of Susanne which name I have forgotten

Susannes famous felted mats

wool dyed with silver dollar gum (eucalyptus)

Dagmars creations knitted on the knitting machine and hand dyed

more of Dagmars work and on the right a felted wall hanging Susanne made

more wool from Susannes sheep, some blended with possum

After packing up we all drove home to Susanne and Peters Farm, several 100 ha in the Hokianga with hills and rivers, paddocks, orchard and very remote, a dream :) We spend the rest of the afternoon with trying out 2 old brother knitting machines which somebody dropped off at Susannes place. Dagmar is the expert and she thought they were in a good condition beside of one carriage, which was too damaged.
Finally I went on my way home at 4.30. I stopped on top of the Hokiange at Omapere, because I was back to cellphone reception and received 2 txt. So I used the moment to catch some of the breathtaking views

felt a flower

laying out the wool

adding some different colour and I also like to use a coarser wool, which gives a different texture

wetting and felting

some rolling

felted

fulling

shaping

drying

Once the flower is dry I might add some pearls and a brooch back

red

Well after the nice eco dyeing I managed to do some conventional reds

so much red is needed for the christmas stuff and I use also a lot for flowers

eco dyeing

A while ago I collected some lichen, which was just dropped from trees after a storm.

Today I boiled a small amount and dyed a habotai and a chiffon scarf. The habotai was just added to the simmering lichen

This white thing in the pot is a scarf with wet lichen on wrapped in plastic. I just added it to the pot to heat it a bit and it is now outside in the garden and I will just let it rest for some days. I wonder if I should remove the plastic.....

drying

The colour is not very visible on the white chair, it looks brighter in reality, but maybe I should have used more lichen or left it longer in the pot. Well that is something to try out.

For the chiffon scarf I used a cd as resist

I am happy about the result and I am thinking about to alter it a bit, maybe do some sort of print inside the white circles. I might go for a walk to collect some gum leaves.

Patchwork felt

I made today my first sample of patchwork felt. After I made a prefelt Alex liked it so much, that I didn't cut it but but finished it. I might put it on a canvas for hanging

But the second one was then cut up and put on another layer

just after laying out

the finished sample

The colours are in reality a bit warmer, the flash does make it so sterile, sorry.

I will carry on tomorrow with stiching

It started with the need of more green....

and ended up as quite a large dyeing session....

online galerie felt united

I am proud to be listed in the Felt United Online Gallery  http://gallery.me.com/cynthiareynolds#100149&bgcolor=black&view=mosaic&sel=0