Saturday 3 July 2010

Pheeeew! Back Again :)

Well, three days without an internet connection was quite strange, a bit scary too when you can't respond to e-mails and such, but hey, we survived and it gave me some free time to browse some craft books.

I came across this lovely local publication about a very famous Harris Tweed weaver called Marion Campbell, in my local book shop. This amazing lady was famous for her beautiful tweeds (she won several awards for the design and quality of her work), and for the fact that she made the cloth from start to finish, entirely on the croft (except for carding the wool, which was done in a local mill). She hand-dyed the wool fleece using locally sourced, natural plant dyes and pigments, spun the wool, warped the yarn, wove the cloth, waulked the finished tweed, washed and dried it by hand, finishing the cloth ready for sale.

How inspiring! I love the fact that she completed all the stages herself - must have been a really rewarding experience to see the finished tweed. It was worth being without my internet connection to browse through this little book - it's a cracker! It's called 'A Harris Way of Life' by Gisela Vogler - sorry, I'm not sure if it's available online but you can always Google it though and find out! Back on Monday to announce the Giveaway winner :)

Cheerio an Drasda!

4 comments:

mairi said...

It's wonderful what can be found to occupy the mind when the internet is not there to distract.

Tweed Thoughts said...

Definitely Mairi! :D

Mairi said...

Just to say thank you for highlighting this book.
I have just ordered if for my mum's birthday.

Hope it arrives in time :o)

Tweed Thoughts said...

Lovely little book - full of fab photos, I'm sure she will love it! Hope it arrives in time :)