In the Wet Room studio this week we have “Sheep to Shawl” with resident artist Martha Owen. “This class is a process class, not a production class,” Martha reminded her students. In the middle of the week we were working with piles of wool, roots, vegetables, bugs, and other such ingredients. But how would it all come together?
There are numerous steps involved in making a finished knitted garment and Martha’s goal was to give her students a glimpse of all these steps (while telling stories, jokes, and singing songs.)
Wool fleece right off the sheep
In the beginning it’s hard to tell though. How is a heap of muddy raw wool going to become something I want to wear – and what about the smell?
And what do we have here? Onion skins? Roots? Bugs? A walnut?
Spin! Spin!
And then there’s the spinning wheel with a flier, mother-of-all, bobbin, treadle, ratios, drafting, orifice hook… So you see, there is a lot to learn!
I will let you know how it turns out as we finish the week!
