Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair

DD and I attended the first day of the Fair yesterday. Was it supposed to be the quietest day? I think not - the queue to get in was huge but moved fairly quickly.

We usually go more for the workshops than the stalls - yesterday we attended only three: knitting with beads, dyeing with procion or acid dyes, and making art dolls. We enjoyed the workshops and got something out of each one.

I've done knitting with beads before but that was for making dolls' dresses with seed beads. This workshop was more about adding beads (and other related items) during the knitting process (rather than sewing them on afterward). Food for thought indeed.

The workshop on dyeing was interesting, not least because it explained how mordants work depending on when you add them to the process. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'd know that I experimented with dyeing acrylic a few months back - with reasonable success. I'm keen to try dyeing woollen yarn and cotton fabric now! I just love playing with colour to create something unique!

I'm not really into sewing so I can't see me making too many art dolls but there's room to take my knitting in another direction and be a little more artistic/creative in the process.

One of the highlights of the day for me was spending quite some time talking to two wonderful ladies at the ATASDA stall - I'm keen to try some ideas I have for altering fabric that I've knitted but not by the 'normal' embellishment processes! Watch this space!!

And, of course, we couldn't go the show without spending some money - that's why the stall holders go --> to encourage us to part with our cash. My purchases were moderate.

Ecoyarns - two back issues of Yarn magazine, a ball of Tofutsies

Unique Stitching & Designs - a dyeing kit - "Clear Rainbow" - for cellulose fibres, consisting of three powder dyes (a red, a blue and a yellow), soda ash and instructions for dyeing

The Thread Studio - a book entitled "Surface Tension" by Dale Rollerson and 50g of roving (for $10, Spotlight charges approximately $5 for 15 grams!); not sure if I'm going to felt it or try spinning it yet!

I can't finish without telling you how exciting the "Art to Wear" exhibition was. I wouldn't wear most of it but it was certainly artistic - and gave me more food for thought!

On a sour note:
The air in the Exhibition halls was very 'sour' - by mid-afternoon we were feeling very drowsy (it wasn't a "mid-afternoon slump") and had to go outside into the cold air to wake up. However, it was not overly warm inside, we had to wear our jumpers (sweaters) all day. Fresh air needs to be injected into the building at frequent intervals!