THE JOY OF JOURNALS

A long time ago...when I had a "proper" job as a library person, magazines got to be called "journals" and I still call 'em that. Well, this week was JOURNAL week!  Through my letter box dropped first, Handwoven from the States, then came the TAFTA journal (yummy stuff) then all at once dropped Yarn, Embellish and Felt.  Oh heaven!  But the trouble is, I sit with my cup of tea and spend the whole day reading them all cover to cover and back again and then I have to wait ages for the next lot!  I do though, dip and flick over the ensuing interval, and resort to browsing the back issues when it all gets too much.

So imagine my excitement when opening up Embellish, to discover two of my lovely makers / friends have articles in this issue: it makes you so happy to see two Tasmanian girls getting the exposure they deserve!
                   Rita Power has shared the joys of her path through textiles and
                   Robin Darke has shared with us another of her beautiful little make-it-yourself projects : twisted buttons and rings.

Then in the current Issue 28 Yarn Magazine,  knitwear designer Jude Skeers has given us a lovely pattern to use the marvellous new Zauberball wool/nylon 4 ply from Schoppel Wolle.  The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlandshandmade has Zauberball and Crazy Zauberball both in-stock now.  Come in a try this stunning new yarn which has the look and feel of hand dyed about it : I decided to stock this yarn because it matches so well with many of our own Tilly's Yarns.  Sock yarn doesn't just have to knit socks!! 

We have also some great free scarf patterns to use this yarn as well!

 

NOW IN STORE - ZAUBERBALL

Tilly decided she wanted to stock a millspun yarn to complement our colourful range of fingering weight (3-4 ply) yarns.  She chose this one because the COLOURS ARE JUST MAGIC!  Zauberball by Schoppel Woolle, Germany.  Two ranges : plain (if you can call these rainbow balls plain) and Crazy (which has a marle effect), both in 15 colours.  We have the complete range and if you want more I can quickly obtain from the distributor.  Made in Germany, the mix is wool/nylon so it's a "sock wool" but that just means machine washable 4 ply!  The main attraction is that it will mix and match with our hand-dyed 3-4 ply range.  1 x 100g ball for a pair of socks, 450 - 600g for a garment. $24 per ball.

 

STORE IS STOCKED

Lots of great new fleece fibre and yarn listings in our Online Shop  and also now on Etsy - just look for TheLuckyEwe.  I also have our Superfine Merino tops listed in our EBAY Store.

Our Superfine Merino Pure Colour Wheels are listed - there are lots of 100g ones as well as 3 lots of 1 kilo - enough for a garment!

 In stock also in the Shop, Felters' Christmas Packs, hand-dyed Silk Cocoons, dyed wool slubs for texture, gorgeous gold Cricula Cocoons, heaps of yummy yarns - Tassie Fine Merino 3-4ply , Ultrafine Merino 8ply, sock wool from Wendy, lots too of undyed lace weight, (Tilly's Lace), light fingering and fingering and more colours coming our of the pot each week (!) together with super yummy English Lecicester hand-dyed fleece and curls and naked ones too if you want to dye your own.

As promised too, you can check on our Shop Patterns and Ideas page to download patterns for some of your yarns.  More coming too!

Been busy........
 

Tasmanian Craft Fair at Deloraine 2012

Countdown! One week and 4 days to go........  I received our exhibitors passes and programme in the mail yesterday, so it must be real.  Yikes, so much to do!!!!    

This is where we will be : Stand #560 in the Rotary Pavillion in Alveston Drive.

Same building as the Hoffman Quilts Challenge.  Do drop by and say hello.  Sue Evans and I will be there all four days, with Wendy Koolhof joining us on the Saturday.  Demos of fibre blending using a drum carder, spinning, felting and weaving.  Tilly and Shawn will be there too.  Lots of hand dyed Tassie "Pure Colour" Superfine Merino top, our new "Pure Ewe" 4 ply fine merino yarn in Wendy colours, "Tas Wild" batts in possum and wallaby and heritage Tassie English Leicester curls, fleece and yarn.  I've just picked up some fresh COLOURED superfine fleece...a grey, a charcoal and a lovely marle.  Fresh off the board and ready for you to spin.  If I have time, I'll get some washed so we can play with it.   Sue will have a fresh range of her gorgeous knitted and hand dyed garments and Wendy will be bringing loads of hand dyed yarn, silks, scarf packs and wool hats, gloves and vests. There will be a big box of threads, felting packs, small tops packs, embellishing packs and other bits and bobs as well.

YESTERDAY



In an effort to retain my sanity I've made the decision to give myself Fridays in the Studio for the next two weeks until we make the trek to Deloraine for the Tasmanian Craft Fair.

I'm really happy to open for serious shoppers looking for our yarns and fibre - as I did yesterday. Two lovely shoppers - a Guild Member from Maitland, NSW and the delightful Jenny from Little Jenny Wren Dolls down from Launceston. So, if you come to visit and find the notice in the window, please do ring me - I'm likely just downstairs - and I'd be happpy to open for you, as long as you are OK with me in a mess!!

SO lots of works yesterday.....dye the reds that didn't make it the other night, plait up the now full and soft blues from last week ready to roll and label (I think that makes around 53 wheel of colour)

and start the washing process for the English Leicester fleeces. I'm using Unicorn Power Scour for this.  Now stocked by Oatlands Handmade this professional grade product is super economical to use and gives excellent results. Combined with the Fibre Wash and Rinse, Unicorn fibre care gives complete coverage for your fleece, fibre and yarn.

More from the Dye Pot

Spent another night immersed in colour (and water).  This time it was the blues' turn.

 

I'm always amazed that these (left) end up looking like this (right) ... after a little attention!  The superfine merino fibre takes the dye so well and the lustre shows through on the finished product. I could roll in it it's so yummy!    I am aiming to have as wide a colour range as possible for Deloraine and it's the reds' turn tonight.

 

The Lucky Ewe now has Ludwig's Yarn.  8 ply millspun english leicester from Tasmania's northern midlands.  Again, it just laps up the colour and the results are beautiful. Available in natural in hanks of around 450-500 grams....and a range of hand-dyed hues by us.

I've also been playing with bamboo.  We have a quantity of natural chain construction 8 ply bamboo yarn in-store and the natural is nice, but a bit boring so out with the dye!    Landscape fibre-reactive dyes don't take too well and tend to wash out so I tried the new iDye from Jacquard.  With the addition of a good measure of salt, I used the pot method on the stove and found that the colour took really well, HOWEVER, following the wash instructions for bamboo is ciritical - wash in cold water as hot water will leach out the dye.  I think I'll make a nice lacey top from the sample and see how it goes.

English Leicester hank drying together with sunny daffodil yellow 8 ply bamboo

 

 

TAS CRAFT FAIR @ DELORAINE

We've just got our stallholder allocation for Deloraine Craft Fair. SO EXCITING (but only 6 weeks left to get ready !).  The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade will be at Stand 560 in THE ROTARY PAVILLION...that's the one where the Hoffman Quilt Challenge is hung, just through all the food in the Community Complex paddock.  So grab your Stag Snag and Raspberry Icecream and wander over to say hello.  We're at the end exit, around the corner.  A little out of the way, but we'll have heaps of goodies.  There will be blending, spinning & rigid heddle weaving demonstrations. Sue Evans will be felting and I'll also have Wendy Koolhof's handdyed yarns with me as well as Tilly's own Lucky Ewe range of handdyed superfine and fine merino yarns, tops and English Leicester curls, fleece and NEW 8 ply yarn from Tasmanian heritage EL flocks.

 

WE'RE OPEN

Yep, finally managed to get the front door open to customers yesterday about noon and already we have seen some familiar faces!  Thanks for visiting us!!!

Lots of goodies this season....here are some pics :

 

DAIRING

 I'm thrilled to be able to present Teresa Dair's range of kits and yarns to you! On the shelves are a dozen Dairing make-it-yourself garment and accessory kits, complete with stunning yarns and patterns. I have stocks of Teresa's book I knitted my way as well. Makes a great gift! Habu Textile Yarns are in stock including silk and stainless steel, metallics and pine paper yarn, together with some of the textural yarns which are Habu and Teresa's signatures.

UNICORN FIBRE WASH PRODUCTS - For the life of your fibre

The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade is proud to be stockists of UNICORN's three stunning wool wash products : Power Scour, Fibre Wash and Fibre Rinse.  I have small, medium and large bottles available.  We are usisng these products now on our own range of fleece and tops and have found them to be excellent.  

UNICORN FIBRE CARE

I also keep Australian Tantech products including WoolSkin which is the best for sheepskin garments and hides.

 

 

FLEECE, FIBRE, YARN...KITS, PACKS, ACCESSORIES........

 

 

. The Lucky Ewe has a great range of Tasmanian Superfine Merino tops in natural and handdyed, English leicester fleece, hand dyed curls and carded batts, our TasMagic Batts of blended Tas Superfine Merino top and exotic fibres, handdyed silk fibre, cocoons as well as alpaca fibre in natural colours and dyed.  Threads from Mahdi Chandler's Land, Sea & Sky Studios and lots of goodies for making things - crochet motifs, fabric packs, embellishments & notions.  Spindles and bobbins from The Lace Bobbin Shop and Maggie Crafts' Victorian Sewing Boxes this year are complemented by Lynda's lovely pincushions.

 

For Spinners and Felters - lots of lovely fibre

Extra Special and Unique - Tas Ultrafine Merino Yarns Handdyed by Wendy Koolhof

Mulberry Silk & Swan Silk Handdyed by Wendy Koolhof

Fine Merino and Superfine Yarns in Natural and Handdyed by us

Superfine Merino Top in Natural and Handdyed by us 

 

 

DYEING TO FIND THE TIME

I've been dyeing to find the time...waiting for a nice drying day.....

........they are gorgeous - at least I think so.  So much so that I had to spin some up straight away!  There is no doubt in mind that Tasmanian Superfine Merino fibre is just THE best. 

Also been batt-ing with my Strauch Madd Batt'r.  This one is blended SF merino with angelina fibre,  nylon glitz, recycled sari silk thread and a bit of hand dyed border leicester fleece. 

 

 

Spun it semi-worsted at about a 10 ply. 9 wpi.  About 200 grams there.  Had fun making it and I think it will make a great cowl or shrug.  Will be on the shelf at The Lucky Ewe on opening day next week.

 

Three weeks to go!

So much to do...in just three weeks time, the Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade will be open with gorgeous new things for lovers of textile-y stuff, fibres, fleece and yarns.  I must take some photos to post, but for the moment....new things coming :

The Lucky Ewe hand dyed, hand spun, art yarns

Dairing - yes!!! Teresa Dair's range of eclectic and very special yarns, knitting kits and her book "I knitted my way".  Stainless steel, metallic, picot...come feel the difference and try.

Unicorn Fibre Products come to our shelves : Power Scour, Fibre Wash and Fibre Rinse.  All very special and so easy to use.  The Lucky Ewe and Oatlands Handmade are very proud to be stockists of this great range of fibre treatments.

What's in a Name?

Hey there

Oatlands Handmade is now in two parts

The Lucky Ewe is the "wool stash" part of our business. I decided to create a new name for the area as this coming season, it will have a new identity and look so....The Lucky Ewe is born!

Oatlands Handmade is still the same - a room of beautiful Tasmanian handmade "stuff".

Come and visit The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade when we re-open for the Spring Season on Friday 7th September! 

Our online shop is also stocked with goodies www.oatlandshandmade.com.au