Excitement is mounting among the Murramarang spinners as they prepare for a Fun Fibre Fest this long weekend to be held at the Anglican Church hall in Milton.
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Spinning, carding, wool dyeing, felting, knitting and crocheting will be demonstrated during the weekend. Visitors are encouraged to participate in the mini workshops and try their hand at any (or all) of the processes.
There will be beautiful fleeces for you to purchase and bags of wool and knitting needles to experiment with.
And we haven’t forgotten the kids. Remember French knitting using an old wooden cotton reel with four small nails in the top? Or pom-poms? We have all the materials for the children to have a go.
As this is a FUN fibre fest, our piece de resistance is the Dr. Who scarf which some of our knitters have started. It is knitted from both ends and all knitters are welcome to do their bit and enter the draw to win this scarf.
Items crafted by the Murramarang spinners will be on sale. Don’t miss this opportunity to buy a unique hand made article at a reasonable price.
To cap it all off, each day there will be a lucky door prize of a basket of goodies made by the Murramarang spinners.
The fibre fest is open on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10am to 4pm.
During the Fun Fibre Fest in Milton, Murramarang spinners will demonstrate the art of felting and visitors are welcome to try their hand.
Felting is the process of turning wool into matted wool and has been used for thousands of years to make wool into wind and water-resistant garments.
There are several ways to achieve this effect but probably the easiest is to use the washing machine and soap.
The hot water and agitation will cause the fibres to rub together and become irreversibly tangled in a tight mesh.
The fabric will have shrunk so the garment needs to be larger than required.
The resulting fabric looks and feels entirely different from the original piece.
Another way to felt wool is by stabbing a small piece of fibre many times with a special barbed felting needle.
This technique is only used for small articles such as toys or beads.
Wet felting is a more laborious process but very rewarding when you have your felted article.
Wool fibres are separated by hand and placed in layers into the desired pattern.
With the addition of hot soapy water from a spray bottle and hand agitation the result is a felted fabric.
