new zealand stockist

Welcome to Nicola Bota and her team in New Zealand who are now stocking ak books...

Ashford Craft Shop & Knitcola Stitchery 427 West Street Ashburton Ph: +64 3 308 9085 Fax: +64 3 308 3159 Free-phone: 0800 274 3673 E-mail: craftshop@ashford.co.nz Website: www.ashfordcraftshop.co.nz

colour and texture...

Over the past week I've been knitting up scarves and cushions using Rare Yarns alpaca and its been a reminder of just how much I enjoy working with natural tones and textures.   ak is, of course, all about colour...albeit an unconventional palette of slightly dirty shades...it defines us.   

Subtle vegetable dyes and aged indigo renmants are so viserally beautiful they have the capacity to bring on a dull ache in the pit of my stomach..but equally I find handwoven domestic textiles in natural fibres utterly irresistible.  The appeal lies in part in the limitless array of subtle shades they work back so well together...but also in the variety of textures to found across natural fibres.  Traditionally created on narrow looms, this genre of textiles were once integral to a household...part of the nomadic familes wealth and a mark of a well run Victorian manor.  Valued for their utilariarian qualities as much as their good looks they were created with skill and care, rolled up and stored away to be turned into mattresses and bedding, floor coverings and curtains, tea towels, table wear and even clothing as the need arose.  

My stash of aged textiles has grown considerably since starting ak because I've been lucky enough to go hunting and gathering in some of the most interesting textile markets in the world.  Sadly I'm a true collector at heart and not a trader and so I never want to part with anything...and so the shelves and cupborads at ak are stacked with narrow bolts of gutsy handwoven Turkish cotton, slubbed silk once destined  for shirts, seed bags,  fine linen and cotton blends in subtle gradations of stone and donkey brown and cream ... 15m lengths of ultra fine woven mohair thats so heavy it feels wet to the touch...rough  open weave Anatolian wool that shrivels and scrunches up when washed...Turkish mattress ticking in red and blue stripes,  prone to run and therefore impractical but oh so lovely to look at ...hand woven self embroidered woollen bedcovers in natural creamy wool...vintage French cottons once used for laundry bags and tea towels...authentic and just lovely to own

But to return to my far more down to earth project at hand,...knitted cushions and throws.  I want to give a plug to Rare Yarns range of alpaca which is interesting to work with because it  offers a selection of yarn types, from classic DK and traditional boucle to brushed boucle and blended boucles, in the same colours which opens up all sorts of creative possibilities. Think Kelly Hoppen, the English interior designer whose signature look involves bringing together different textures in a palette of natural shades in ways that are both pleasing and far from neutral.

Loose ends...

Multi -tasking is the theme of my life.  Along with the everyday business of the shop - the windows, making up items like mobiles, re-ordering stock from the workshop, individual customer orders, wholesale enquiries and mail order emails - I’m constantly trying to cadge some  time to work on new projects or more frustratingly, complete projects that have been on the go for a while.

Writing lists does help of course help, as we’re always told...I do keep too many things in my head...and prioritising competing demands brings a certain sense of control in the early hours but sometimes I feel as if I’m doomed to be surrounded by loose ends. 

The Quilt and Craft fairs in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra are coming up fast and fresh ideas and products are essential.  On my secondary ‘to-do’ wish list are products related to the shows; creating a new sewn and embellished wardrobe for our felt doll kit... finishing the long overdue patchwork pattern for the back-pack bed...developing a new collection of felted animals...and knitting up samples of new Huggable Friends.  

At the same time, Melbourne’s early winter cold snap has turned customer’s minds to knitting ...so new children’s designs are also underway and I’m playing around with a concept for a book of patterns for children...natural alpaca wools for blankets has been ordered and we’ll soon be knitting up stylish ak blankets.  And I’m thinking about re-visiting the oversized knitted fleece cushions we made years ago...

Of more immediate concern are samples and patterns for our Cancer Council Morning Tea workshops...happily, I have ticked off most boxes and the projects are looking great.  The crazy daffodil doll is particularly appealing – I’ve added arms to our house model so that she can hold her tea cup but her chums look equally charming sans arms.  

Everyday pleasure..

Aside from the sheer artistry, I think the most appealing aspect of Kyrgyz textile tradition has to be the way in which women embellished everyday utilitarian objects with skill and care.   Highly decorative central Asian hats, for example, were principally a marker of identity...ethnicity, gender, status, age...yet many were surely a source of pride and pleasure for the creator.   Viewed now, they are miniature works of art.

Similarly, the various pouches, bags and sacks essential for nomadic life if precious domestic items were to be safely transported were also typically decorative.   Along with my treasured collection of hats, I have several richly embroidered pouches...one favourite that probably held coins or jewellery or perhaps sewing items is worked in a unique, gloriously intricate design.  Sadly its too delicate to use but the power and confidence of the design is strong and brings to mind the hands and spirit that created it and the pleasure it doubtless brought her...

Working on projects for our morning tea I’ve been thinking a lot about the enjoyment that flows from using beautiful everyday objects ... that small jolt of pleasure that comes from a detail only you can see, like the printed lining of a handbag.    Presented with so many practical but often throw away options for storing the essentials of contemporary life, its easy to understand why generations of women across textile cultures have continued to create and personalise the  little things  that can so enrich the everyday.

Everything’s coming up daffodils...

For me, endless cups of tea fuel the creative process and fortify everyday life...

I’m a bit like Samuel Johnson, ‘a hardened and shameless tea drinker’, who for ‘twenty years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant’ ....my (sic) ‘kettle scarcely has time to cool , tea amuses me in (sic) the evening...solaces the midnight and ...welcomes the morning’.

With thanks to Samuel Johnson

This is one of my favourite photographs and illustrates that the ritual of tea is universal...it was taken in the workshop in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and it never fails to make me smile as I think back over long but very happy days developing ak felt products ...days punctuated by laughter – lots of laughter, concentration, enormous creative pleasure and many, many cups of tea.  It was winter on the day this image was taken and bitterly cold...Chinara (left) and Dinara are both rugged up with lots of extra layers and would doubtless see this photo as less than flattering but I love it because it captures those precious shared moments.

Back to 2011 and I’ve decided that ak will be part of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, a Cancer Council of Australia event because a very dear person in our family is currently being treated for breast cancer. 

When looking for a theme, it seemed only natural to bring together the genial character of morning tea with mini-workshops to make handmade accessories featuring the Cancer Council of Australia's symbol, bright and cheerful daffodils.  Various project options and beginners most welcome...a great chance to have a play with felting and support a terrific organisation who help countless numbers of Australians.

I’ll be following preparations and my ‘work in progress’ on the different projects in future posts and through a calendar on the blog but the bare bones are as follows

You can look up details or donate on ak’s page at the Cancer Council of Australia’s website www.cancer.org.au/Getinvolved/biggestmorningtea.htm ...

In the meantime, a sneak peak at a new felt sprites I’m playing around with...

a postcard from Hawksburn Village

Yesterday we were delighted to take part in a Postcard shoot showcasing the gorgeous Hawksburn Village shopping strip where ak traditions is situated.  Rebecca, Leanne and the crew were warm and friendly and made it very easy ...thank you all very much.

So if you'd like to see what the inside of ak ...and yours truly... looks like, watch Postcards on Channel 9 on May 8th at 6.30pm  or check out the Tourism Victoria web site.

The perils of life in a creative house....

We live in an extremely animal-centric house...doona strewn dog beds are found in most rooms, under tables and in front of the hydronic heaters.

Every animal we’ve shared our lives has been a joy with their own unique characteristics but several have shared a fetish for eating totally inappropriate things.  PB, my much loved and long departed black lab x almost died one January after cleaning out a kitchen bin containing  left over Christmas plum pudding, flour and assorted out-of-date pantry dry goods.  Squidge, a black oriental suffered from pica and obsessively ate wool, linen, and even rubber leading to several medical emergencies, substantial vet bills, much nerve strain and serious damage to clothes.  As a puppy Lara, our standard poodle who died last year at 17, destroyed 9 pairs of glasses over one twelve month period and went on to eat silently and efficiently through successive car seat belts throughout her life...Mercedes belts and not inexpensive. 

Our current team includes a rescue litter of 12 month old J. Russel X’s ...utterly gorgeous, loving little people but dedicated hunters and collectors like all terriers.  Unfortunately they also seem to have inherited their predecessor’s fondness for chewing questionable items ...in this case small shiny objects like needles and pins.  Much more worrying than seat belts...and absolutely lethal in a creative house where my work ‘in progress’ is never neatly confined to a dedicated work space.   

Over past months we’ve had a couple of close shaves but managed to retrieve said items...however on the Wednesday night before Easter... at night, of course...Oona swallowed a sewing needle while sitting companionably on Charles’s knee.   This despite my very best efforts to dog-proof the room before inviting them to join us...I’d carefully vacuumed, obsessively pulled out cushions before getting down on my knees and running a magnet, then a clothes brush over the slate and the rug.  Where she’d found it remains a mystery but luckily there is an excellent Pet Emergency centre fairly close by and so at 11pm there we were sitting and waiting for results of Oonas x-ray.

Major surgery was judged the best option so there was nothing else to do but go home to wait for the results...happily around 4am the call came telling us she was fine.   Another very costly adventure but other than being kept apart from her rough housing brothers for 10 days Oona is recovering well...I just wish she could make the link her enforced holiday in hospital, her rather tender tummy and the momentary pleasure of chewing on sharp shiny objects. 

Life beyond Bilbys and new directions...

As you’ve probably gathered, Bilbys have been my constant companions in recent weeks...I felt in my sleep and my hands feel permanently raw and unnaturally ‘tight’.  But after working into the small hours for the past few nights I’ve have finally finished all the Bilby orders in time for Easter...along with Jimmy, a custom made felt mouse and a white felt rabbit for a special customer who gets more joy from each seasonal celebration than is imaginable.

With one exception...to be picked up tomorrow...every Bilby has left the building. 

School holiday workshops also come to an end tomorrow and while I thoroughly enjoy the children’s workshops, I’m certainly looking forward to some headspace to complete on-going orders and plan the projects and patterns for Winter.  

And still more Bilbys ...

Just home from this afternoons Bilby workshop with six interesting women, each skilled in different aspects of fine art and craft but new to felting...a very pleasant, if full-on few hours...the process probably took far longer than any anticipated however the results were wonderful.  And I’m absolutely certain the lucky recipients will love their unique gifts

I hope they had fun and have been inspired to go away and explore other uses for felt.

We worked on a high wooden industrial bench near the front of the shop and being a Saturday lots of passersby dropped in, fascinated by the rather messy, soapy proceedings... many itching to have a go.  I’ve realised very soon after opening ak that our customers really enjoyed seeing ‘work in progress’, getting a glimpse into the development of products...Similarly, they like nothing more than checking out the textiles, fabric scraps, baskets of trims and jars of buttons in the ‘back room’ where much of the creative action takes place.  Over the years they’ve also grown accustomed to hearing me signpost my about new ideas as they evolve and develop... the level of interest today was a timely reminder that I need to work on more hand felted projects , a collection Australian animals perhaps ...and other new projects for winter.

baby bilbys

Awash with hand felted Bilbys

Horray!  Checking details for this post I’ve just read that the proactive approach of The Foundation for a Rabbit Free Australia and their supporters, in particular Haigh’s Chocolates in Adelaide, seems to be producing positive results ... Bilby numbers are on the rise in the wild but also at ak where we’re risk of being overrun by the quirky little creatures.  I’ve long been an Bilby advocate and designed ak’s own wet felted version several years ago...since then every Easter our ‘house models’ sit shyly in the shop window, small wicker egg basket in hand, attracting admirers.  But unfortunately their popularity has now grown to the point where I have to limit the number of custom orders for readymade Bilbys... oh, for more time. 

We do, however, run hand felting Bilby workshops in the weeks leading up to Easter which offer felt enthusiasts a novel way to explore this traditional and versatile method of creating a textile ...or more specifically; the chance to create their own small, three-dimensional, seamless marsupial with overly large ears and delicate feet.  

All materials and equipment provided... participants to supply elbow grease, a willingness to get wet and soapy, patience...felting is not quick...and a curiosity about the way in which wool fibres morph into a sturdy thick fabric as you manipulate them between your hands.

This year, Easter and the school holidays run into each other meaning that children taking part in ak’s school holiday workshops have also had the option to create Bilby characters.  The new baby Bilbys are the perfect size for small hands and have proved especially popular...and happily, they’re a little quicker to make than their full grown relations.