Fibres fantastic! at the inaugural KSW Fibre Craft retreat

By lizhaywood | June 1, 2021 |

Gee, I’m so fortunate to go on not one but two road trips this month (and even more fortunate to get back from Mary Quant before Victoria’s lockdown).

On the weekend, my daughter and I went to Knit-Spin-Weave‘s inaugural Fibre Craft Retreat. Neither of us had been on a craft retreat before.

The venue was Hummocks Station, near Snowtown in South Australia’s mid north. Hummocks is a sheep station, operating breeding flocks, and they also have accommodation. It’s about a 50 minute drive from our house.

Hummocks has recently started producing knitting wool from their own sheep.

Here’s a few scenes from the weekend….

On the road, to KSW's Fibre Craft retreat
I drove, she navigated….and took photos.
Tenting it at Hummock's station
The most economical accommodation choice was rolling out a swag under the stars, but we went one step up and brought the tent.
We had a chilly night though! The temperature dropped to freezing and there was ice on everything in the morning.
Next time we’re renting a cabin.
1,000 hearts workshop
We did a whole-retreat workshop together, making tiny felt hearts and learning about the 1,000 hearts project.
Really fun to make, kind of addictive and certainly instant-gratification. It was a great community-building activity.
Resist dyeing workshop
My daughter did a resist dyeing workshop, which was set up as an activity station outside.
I did some too!
Fabric ready to go into the dye vat
There was a selection of things to put on the fabric before dyeing it – pegs, clamps, string and pieces of wood.
Indigo dye vat
There was an indigo dye vat set up. It smelt horrible!
The fabric turned lime green in the vat, then when you took it out the colour changed to turquoise-y green, before changing to deep blue.
Finished textiles
The finished textiles got hung on the line to dry in the sunshine.

It was an absolutely lovely weekend. About 30 people came, all like-minded and craft-loving. There was weaving, nalbinding, glass painting, eco botanical dyeing, a sit ‘n’ sew hosted by moi, show-and-tell, a campfire and plenty of nice things to eat. There was a great friendly vibe.

Hummocks was an excellent spot. The welcome was warm and the facilities were drop-your-toothbrush-on-the-floor clean.

  • Hummocks Station
A walk around Hummocks Station. They’ve had a bit of rain and everything has started to turn green.

Cheers!

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4 Comments

  1. Glenda on June 1, 2021 at 7:03 pm

    “Drop your toothbrush on the floor clean” – I love that!

    Reply
    • lizhaywood on June 1, 2021 at 7:58 pm

      Cheers, Glenda – it’s a good standard!

      Reply
  2. Tracy on June 4, 2021 at 12:27 am

    Thank you Liz for all the support and encouragement. It was so nice to spend the weekend with you both. Lillian thankyou for all the help in the kitchen ❤️

    Reply
    • lizhaywood on June 4, 2021 at 7:51 am

      It was a lovely weekend Tracy, with such a wonderful group of people.

      Reply

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