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SeaFlowerSpins

@seaflowerspins.bsky.social

390 followers 710 following 200 posts

Alison | she/her Spinner, weaver, knitter & dyer, fibre enthusiast, crafting thru chaos & perfecting post-apocalypse skills. #nevernotmaking. Reader, lover of tea, whisky & cheese, watercolour dabbler, would-be musician. Canberra, Ngunnawal land 🇦🇺

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 1d

An experiment in using a creative prompt to paint, and then using that painting to make a tiny tapestry.

#australian #craft #tapestryweaving #handspunyarn 🧶

A watercolour painting of an empty rowboat in blue, brown and orange floating on a lake, against a hazy pink sunset sky. The painting was based on the prompt word drift. A smaller more stylised version of the painting showing the boat’s prow is next to the detailed piece.

A tiny woven tapestry in the colours and shapes of the paintings. The contrast in the yarn colours is too low for many details to emerge but the orange details pop out the most - the blues, browns and pinks have optically merged together in the weave.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 5d

The last images from September’s creative prompt words - future, connect, layers, memory

#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething

Future - a watercolour painting of a house. The house is blocky and in orange tones to reflect the colour of bricks, and is set amongst softer green shapes suggesting an overgrown garden.

Connect - a yellow-green hillside speckled with aqua dots representing the local tree-planting efforts. In the foreground, aqua boxes shelter young trees in long yellow grass.

Layers - In changeable spring weather it’s wise to wear layers. A watercolour painting of folded clothes piled on a chair.

Memory - a watercolour painting of an arm with a blood donation needle inserted in its crook. The plasma machine is behind the arm, and wine-dark blood can be seen in collection tubes.

I donate plasma in memory of my lovely dad, and to continue his legacy. ❤️

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 8d

Full as a goog!

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 10d

He is such a lovely boy. It’s hard to believe we’ve only had him two years, it feels like we’ve always been his people.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 10d

Deep breath, tomorrow will be a better day. Extend the compassion you’d give a friend in the same situation to yourself.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 10d

Two years ago we rescued this boy - painfully underweight and desperate to be loved. He knows he has a better life now, and we love him to the moon and back. 🖤🤍
#dogsky

Our rescue border collie two years ago after we brought him home - we shaved off his filthy matted coat and were a bit horrified by how painfully thin he was. Here he is shaved with his ribs, hips and spine all visible.

Earlier this year, our rescue border collie at a healthy weight, up on his hind legs and snapping at bubbles

My dog is broken - our rescue border collie writhing on the carpet near his favourite mangled toy - his face is upside down and he looks like he’s grinning

Me with our rescue border collie - a selfie taken while out running. I’m wearing a run shirt and shorts, with sunglasses and a visor, and kneeling with my arm around the dog. He has his mouth wide open open and is panting.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 11d

Off the loom this morning - saltmarsh. Mother yarns are handspun Shetland, and the tresses are from the Australian Tapestry Workshop. Herdwick & Nth Ronaldsay handspun in the sky.
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#handspunyarn #australianspinnersandweavers #canberraspinnersandweavers #australiantapestry #australian #craft 🧶

A small tapestry of a Scottish saltmarsh, about 20cm wide and 25cm tall. The marsh in the foreground is yellow-green shot with shades of russet brown, with a loch behind reflecting the sky. Hills rise behind the loch under a grey sky. The piece is an exploration of colour and an attempt to capture the wild beauty of Ardgour. It’s also an exploration of weaving technique as I prep for a larger tapestry.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 15d

Four more creative prompt responses in watercolour - window, environment, life, spark.

#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething #notenoughhoursintheday

A watercolour in response to the word WINDOW - British recipe books and a white and blue ceramic jug sit on a sill with a jar of Vegemite - the window looks out on a verdant temperate wood.

Responding to the prompt ENVIRONMENT, a watercolour painting of a lamb and its mother grazing on a slope with gum trees in the background under a grey sky. These sheep are keeping the grass down around the turbines of the Crookwell wind farm (not pictured).

A small watercolour responding to the prompt LIFE - an amanita mushroom with a red speckled cap growing in leaf litter near the cork oaks at the Australian National Arboretum.

A small watercolour responding to the word SPARK, a bonfire in a vacant lot. Sparks are rising into a dark sky, while the smoke behind the bonfire is tinted orange by the light of the fire.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 19d

A little more this morning on my saltmarsh tapestry.
The mother yarns are handspun, home dyed Shetland, and the tresses (4 to a bundle) are from the Australian Tapestry Workshop.
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#handspunyarn #australianspinnersandweavers #canberraspinnersandweavers #australiantapestry #australian #craft 🧶

An unfinished woven tapestry, worked from bottom up. The work is in shades of yellow-green shot with rusty brown to indicate the marsh, with the blue of a loch at the top edge of the work.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 19d

The pattern is Pteryx by Nim Teasdale on Ravelry: www.ravelry.com/patterns/lib...

Pteryx pattern by Nim Teasdale

Pteryx is an asymmetric triangle designed to show off a variegated yarn with an engaging combination of garter and stockinette.

www.ravelry.com

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 19d

I’ve studiously ignored this knit for the last month since I found the needle’s shaft had come away from its metal fixing and made a mess of the previous two rows. I finally fixed the mess and am back on track.

#handspunyarn #australianspinnersandknitters #australian #craft #notenoughhoursintheday

An asymmetrical knit shawl in progress - it is displayed on a brown rug, and a knitting project bag made of fabric printed with Wonder Woman cartoons lies next to it. The shawl is knitted out of handspun, hand-dyed yarn in a colourway called ‘Coastal’ - predominantly white with bands of pale blue and pale orange.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 21d

Four more little paintings 😊
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#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething #notenoughhoursintheday

A watercolour and ink painting of a tricolour border collie, responding to the prompt word ‘soul’. She is gazing to the left and is painted against a grass-green background.

Responding to the word ‘foliage’, a fern in the Australian National Botanic Gardens slowly unfurling

Responding to the prompt ‘forage’, a group of pale golden brown and white death cap mushrooms

Responding to the prompt ‘magic’, a silhouetted person runs down a beach to a sparkling sea.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 21d

Best of both!

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 22d

I love a fringe, but I'll be keen to see the result if you choose narrow bands.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 24d

I started this spin at the end of June, finished it at Murramurang camp over the weekend. The multicolour singles are Polwarth while the green semisolid is merino - 273g. Now to decide what to do with it!
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#canberraspinnersandweavers #slowmade #handspun #australian #craft #notenoughhoursintheday

A bowl containing multicoloured handspun yarn - shot from directly above against a black background.

Close-up of multicoloured yarn with an Australian 5 cent coin demonstrating the fineness of the yarn.

A bowl of multicoloured yarn - the photo is taken from the side, showing the yarn piled up in it.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 25d

I started another tapestry over the weekend - another scene from Ardgour in Scotland. Some images showing my process and progress, from photo to attempts at watercolour to the first few cm of weaving. I’m trying out a wider sett for this piece.
#australianspinnersandweavers #australian #craft 🧶

A photo of a Scottish saltmarsh near Ardgour - the foreground is yellow-green (buidhe) grass with rusty red (ruadh) channels winding across it. Behind the marsh is a sliver of light blue (liath) loch and a green-blue (gorm) mountain in cloud-shade and a louring grey sky (glas) shot with blue and white.

My first watercolour based on the scene - a Scottish saltmarsh near Ardgour - the foreground is deep grass with brown channels winding across it. Behind the marsh is a sliver of light blue loch and a grass-green mountain in cloud-shade and a pale grey sky.

My second watercolour painting of the same Scottish saltmarsh near Ardgour - the foreground is yellow-green grass with rusty red and muddy blue channels winding across it. Behind the marsh is a sliver of light blue loch and a yellow-green mountain in cloud-shade and a grey sky shot with blue and white.

The first few centimetres of a tapestry based on the photo and watercolours - this shows the development of the foreground in shades of yellow-green and russet, with the curves of the channels emerging in the weave.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 25d

I spent my weekend at the Murramurang fibre retreat hosted by Milton Spinners & Weavers. Stunning location, wonderful people and so much creativity. These weekends are the best. I spun, & advanced my little tapestry - here are my spinning results.
#australianspinnersandweavers #australian #craft 🧶

Multicoloured yarn plied on a bobbin. The yarn is in shades of blue, orange and green.

My plying setup - three bobbins on a flat-pack lazy kate, with the fourth jumbo bobbin with the final yarn on the same kate. The jumbo bobbin has cut-out ends so the yarn colours in green, blue and orange show through.

A close-up of the jumbo bobbin showing the layers of yarn colours in blue, orange and green.

$The finished fractal yarn in blue, orange and green, resting on top of my plying setup.$

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 25d

Some little paintings from my weekend on the NSW south coast.

#free #wood #duo #zoo
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#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething

A watercolour painting of a sunset in orange and purple-grey over a dark brown mountain range. The painting uses a lot of wet-in-wet so the sky colours bleed together.

A small watercolour painting of a twisted gum tree reclining against vivid green grass. The tree trunks are grey and white while the foliage is in shades of warm yellow-green.

A watercolour painting of two sooty oystercatchers walking on a rocky shore with small ocean waves rolling in behind. The birds are black with white chests and red beaks, and the waves are in shades of ultramarine. The rocky foreground is painted in sepia brown with pale blue reflections of sky and sea.

A watercolour painting of a bluetongue lizard sunning on a rock. The lizard’s head is creamy while its characteristic fat stubby body and tail are banded in shades of dark brown. The leaf litter is suggested by brown and ochre marks, and a small green plant sits above the lizard.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · 29d

#challenge
I thought I might be up to the challenge of painting people today - but it turns out I wasn’t. So here’s a currawong at sunset instead.
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#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething

A currawong (an Australian similar in shape to ravens) sitting on power lines. A dark hillside is in the lower third of the painting, and the bird is silhouetted against an evening sky shading from blue to lemon.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · Sep 10

#contrast ~ I was mesmerised by this beautiful wolf spider with its contrasting carapace. We try to be kind to spiders, and this one was safely released into the back yard.
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#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething

A watercolour painting of a wolf spider trapped in a glass. The spider is a dark brown with golden-brown highlights.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · Sep 9

#nature
My nature isn’t defined by impossibly distant balls of flaming gas, but I do like a bit of colour.
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#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething

A watercolour painting of a scorpion - its shape is rendered fairly accurately but it is painted in multiple bright colours. It has a tagline that reads ‘Nature - Scorpio with Scorpio rising’.

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SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · Sep 9

😂

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · Sep 8

#eternal
Nothing is really eternal, but microplastics come close, and that’s ultimately what this weird little Kinder Surprise toy will become.
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#septemberpromptword #watercolor #watercolour #australian #craft #permissiontosuckatsomething #notenoughhoursintheday

A watercolour painting of a strange Kinder Surprise toy in cream, pink and blue plastics. It looks like a cross between a mermaid, an angel and a fairy. The base looks like an inverted pink heart, while the head and torso are made of blue and cream plastic - cream for the face, skin and wings, and dark blue for the dress/torso and hair. The face is smooth with eyes and mouth picked out in dark blue.

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · Sep 8

It was hand made - just not by me!

SeaFlowerSpins @seaflowerspins.bsky.social · Sep 8

Nooooo, I don’t sew! I bought it for my 50th birthday party a few years ago.