Merlene has her wonderful shop in Barraba,
(1 hr NW of Tamworth on the Fossicker's Way). She grows the sheep, spins the wool and then dyes it with natural materials. THEN if she has time left over she knits-up wonderful things, along with 4 other ladies. Jumpers to die for......in delicious earthy tones. The bright pink-magenta hank showing in the photos below is from lichen collected on her farm. The blue from chlorophyll. And most of the other colours are from onion skins and eucalyptus varieties........
(Rhonda & I will be doing some more experiments this weekend using leaves and bark from my favourite tree, E. sideroxylon (mugga ironbark), and some lichen Merlene gave me!)
The hands of Merlene demonstrating a simple spinning technique using a bent coathanger. Nifty, and it almost has got me interested in doing it myself........but where to find the time?????
and a couple of shots inside the shop
lovely lovely lovely fibres
a treasure trove of inspiration
Find it in Barraba, on the main street and enjoy
and now a gratuitous shot of gorgeous icelandic sheep - a mother and her teenagers looking exactly the same
these sheep are so funny to see, they love to be outdoors and hate round-up time. they come in an amazing array of colours too.