Dictionary of Dyeing

I received this awesome present from my husband. A first edition print (1862) of 'A Dictionary of Calico Printing and Dyeing' by Charles O'Neill. This out-of-print book he found at the Antiquarian Bookshop, which for me is one of the most amazing places to spend time in in Melbourne.

I love the references to the guilds O'Neill was member to; Fellow of the Chemical Society of London, Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. I think it was the fashionable thing for the 'free thinkers' of this time to be part of a guild; the early 1900's Arts & Crafts community was abuzz with new research & discovery, disbanding superstition for science.

My favorite part of this book so far is the 4 page description of BLACK,
"In a philosophical point of view black is not a colour. It is the abscence of colour, or the extinction or absorption of all the coloured rays of light, ........ There is no purely black body; such a body would be perfectly invisible, since it would neither emit nor reflect any rays of light by which it could be seen.".... it goes onto describe how to achieve black..... "The famous family of the Gobelines, whose success in dyeing was imputed to supernatural assistance, produced their best blacks by a mixture of the elementary colours - red, blue and yellow."
So the cloth was dipped first with red (pure madder), then blue (pure indigo), then yellow (weld), apparently producing a very perfect, but expensive black.

I'ts got me intruged - invisible cloth! - Although I might not be able to find the ingredients for some of these recipes, eg:
'DEEP HAT BLACK' for Silk without Galls.
2lbs. fustic chips,
1 lb, quecitron back
6 oz verdigriz,
6 oz copperas

Doesn't matter, I'm still finding it fascinating reading; and what a treasure to have, all wrapped in plastic in a protective acid free box.

Darker Work

Hair and Make-up by the lovely Cushla Bower, and photography by Chiappin.

Work

sneak preview of winter11.

Play and Rest....

Urewera National Park in New Zealand: The turangawaewae of the Tuhoe People, overlooked by the celestial Mist Maiden Hine Pukoku Rangi.


4 days of walking and camping through this amazing part of New Zealand. It was soooo still here that it felt otherworldly at times. I learnt after the walk that " 'The Patupaiarehe' - the fair-skinned fairy people, are believed to be everywhere in the Urewera forests - mystical spirits that shadow intruders who invade their sacred haunts..... and one can hear their feint singing above the sighs and murmurs of the breeze." Paul Rush, Herald on Sunday 26 Dec.
I couldn't help but stop and touch as often as I could; delicate wispy mosses that cascaded off little branches. Oh the inspiration for knitting textiles from this mesmerizing vast place. If I had a needle and thread on me I could have made some little dresses from all the petite foilage found on the forest floor and left them as gifts. I didn't hear any singing but sometimes wondered if we were being watched.

Craft Christmas

I like Craft Victoria's E-Catalogue!! - Bespoke Wool for Mum's, and as Lucy from Design Files, suggests - pick up some Ebony Needles from Penny at The Cottage.

Tools & Materials

Bespoke Wool and Ebony Knitting Needles for Construction No 1.

Inside Out Christmas Gift Guide

My CONSTRUCTION TOOLS are mentioned in Inside Out Magazine's 100 Inspiring Christmas Gift Ideas. You can buy these handmade ebony knitting needles from: Melbourne - Cottage Industry, Sydney - Shelf Life, & New Zealand at Aroha.

Work

Summer's coming....

Waiting for that sunshine to come!!
Summer collection going into store now - RPM, cardiganstore.com, House of Aroha.

Film for 3 Jumpers Project

Film For 3 Jumpers Project from Antuong Nguyen on Vimeo.

Featuring works by myself for the The Endless Garment Exhibition.

SYDNEY DESIGN

Sydney Design at the Powerhouse was huge. So big, (and so busy) in fact that I didn't get a chance to get around to any of the exhibits. Regretfully missed the Castiglioni retrospective, and Benini both at the Powerhouse, only a level or two up from the Knitting Workshop Tent where I was.

It was a joy getting some beginner knitters on the needles and churn out a scarf or two in the workshops; they were so surprised and chuffed at how easy it is; but also at how design can improve an outcome by making the process more accessible. The theme of Sydney Design this year was about how design has a story, and how the designer connects their ideas with an audience through that story. It was great to participate in this process, and be part of these symbiotic conversations.

WORKSHOP AT SYDNEY DESIGN

I'm getting a lot of emails about the Workshop and what standard of knitter one needs to be to attend. So, I just want to confirm that the Construction Knitting Patterns are for really basic knitting skills, and they are so easy. In one workshop you should be able to whip up a whole garment. It's big chunky knitting so it grows quickly; and the shapes are easy and uncomplicated knitted rectangles and squares. And I'm there to show you how to join the pieces following the pattern, to make all the different garments.

So, I'll be running Construction No 1 in the morning workshops, and Construction No 2 in the afternoon workshops.




Now these strange little shapes that you keep seeing, are the shapes of the pieces you knit to create these different constructions.

CONSTRUCTION NO 1:

& CONSTRUCTION NO 2:


For example; this shape below corresponds to to this piece (A: SCARF) to start you on your Construction No 2 pattern.

WORKSHOP TENT

Intense workload this week/ screenprinting 60 metres of fabric for the Workshop Tent. The Tent will be shipped all the way from New Zealand to Sydney / Look out for it at at the PowerHouse Museum for the Construction Knitting Workshop.
Don't miss this space!!!