The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade: THE JOY OF JOURNALS

The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade: THE JOY OF JOURNALS: A long time ago...when I had a "proper" job as a library person, magazines got to be called "journals" and I still call 'em that. Well, thi...

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

...the geese are getting fat...remember the rhyme?  Well, we've handmade cards, tree and table decorations, gift tags and labels ......and gifts from $4 to $250. 

Come in and say hello!  Oatlands is magic on a weekend, Monday or Tuesday.  Pancakes next door with great coffee and just over the road from the Callington Mill and the yummy flour for your Christmas cooking!

 

LITTLE QUILTS from BICHENO

Today I had a vist from Pam Troode who some of you may know from Bicheno quilting endeavours (AND men's sheds too!!).  She was telling me about a wonderful workshop they had had at Bicheno with Lisa Walton of Sydney which resulted in a number of small quilts being made which Lisa subsequently took to the USA for exhibitions.  Wonderful!!!

Here they are  Dyed and Gone to Heaven: Small Quilts for the Exhibition: Here are some of the small quilts which are part of my Houston Exhibition. These are all about 25in square or less and done in or as a resul...

The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade: YESTERDAY

The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade: YESTERDAY:  In an effort to retain my sanity I've made the decision to give myself Fridays in the Studio for the next two weeks until we make the ...

The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade: More from the Dye Pot

The Lucky Ewe @ Oatlands Handmade: More from the Dye Pot: Spent another night immersed in colour (and water).  This time it was the blues' turn.   I'm always amazed that these (left) end up l...

MORE SHOPPING

Just updated our Online Shop with some new season goodies for you!  Sterling silver chain maille earrings from Lyn's Maille and new season's ear colours from Felicity Matthews.  DARING make-it-yourself knit kits are in stock together with some utterly gorgeous yarns and I've popped some on for you together with Teresa Dair's creatively innovative book "I Knitted My Way".  

Lots more coming over the next week, so keep checking for new listings.  I recommend you subscribe to our updates by clicking on the KEEP ME UPDATED button on our Home Page.

Sea Glass Buttons from Stella



A selection of our always popular
Victorian Sewing Boxes from Maggie Crafts

Superfine Merino and Tas Wallaby Fur
Blended Batt - ready to spin or felt

New goodies from Otter and Wombat - never
get lost with our Midlands Key Rings!

 

OPEN OPEN OPEN

Day two of trading for Spring 2012........so lovely to be back and talking to our wonderful customers!  Some old friends have dropped by already - so lovely to see you.

Hard to believe this will be our third season  :)  Thank you to all our customers who have supported the Oatlands Handmade concept and made us happy!!!

Selections from this season's stock :

Feltwolke Jewellery

Diane Brown Leadlighting Australian Birds

Fudgey Fudge ....yum!!!

Blossom Town Tea Caddy Houses

Unique steel & glass rings from the HR Factor

Jillaroo Jams & Sauces - local produce!

Our new jewellery - unique Sterling Silver wire creations from Jon Meares

Willowtree Lane Babies Sets, Lynda Kay Crochet, Handknitted Woollies, CleverZebra Designs Stationery, Tasmanian Softies

Lyn's Maille gorgeous Sterling & Niobium Earrings

Handdyed Silk Scarves in every hue from Land Sea & Sky - Mahdi Chandler

Our new range of candles and infusers from Emma of Pure Sense

Lots of new Stationery including cards...Zebra Designs, Gypsy Two, Joanna Gair Fine Paper, Ruby Victoria Letterpress, Deb Winzar

Walking Tall Hiking Crooks, Walking Sticks and Walking Canes

.......Hats, Beanies, Berets, Caps.......

Sue Evans Superfine Merino Jackets

Wendy Koolhof beautiful woollen Recycled -  Restyled Garments with a History

Feltwolke Accessories

 

RE-OPENING DELAY

Looks like we may have to wait another week to re-open :( 
.................As our wonderful visitors know, the little shop is housed in a beautiful old (1840s - 1870) sandstone cottage in the heart of Oatlands, Tassie.  Along with the joy of historic accoms comes the responsibility of maintenance....we need repairs to the front window of the shop and the stone mason says next week is it!  No way I can dress the shop and open next Friday with the wonderful Guy and David on-site and in the front room! So, watch this space - I think a week will do it and we'll aim for the 14th.  Please email/post if you need anything or go to www.oatlandshandmade.com.au  I'm only a phone call away.


 

WILD and FINE by ROSEMARY

Look what our new friend Rosemary, from Western Australia, has made from the TasWild Batt of blended Tasmanian Superfine Merino fibre and Tassie Pademelon fur we sent her last week! 



It's gorgeous Rosemary...and thanks so much for your feedback and for sharing with us!

I just love making my Tas Wild batts...blending our Tasmanian Superfine merino tops with the gorgeous fur from native possum and wallaby...(if they have to be culled, please, it must be OK to use the fur which normally would just be thrown away).  I make each batt to order and gently blend the fibres so that the result is, I think, better than silk!  The results are  stunning - so soft, warm,light and utterly unique!  If you would like one too, just go to our on-line shop at oatlandshandmade.com.au, or email me for the blends available.

TasWild custom-made batts for spinner & felters

SUPERFINE MERINO WOOL

Busy busy busy.......it's shearing time for many of the sheepy ladies (ewes to youse) who will be lambing soon, and so lots of Tassie's best  - superfine merino fibre - is being processed in the workroom at the moment.

Best in the World !

Lee produces a cloud of white with the cooperation of this York Plains lady.

YUM

I have orders for Wild Fibre TasMagic Batts from Western Australia (thanks Rosemary - I'm working fast!) and Sally in the Sunshine State wants some custom-dyed 18.5 micron and some Leicester Curls...I'm onto it.

We have received a shipment of 4 ply yarn too which needs to be made joyous with colour and ready for the spring and the 8 ply shouldn't be far off.

Add to that, spinning for an hour every morning and evening as well as changing all the shop around ready for opening on 7th September!  WHEW!

Also.......sadly, due to circumstances beyond my control,

Oatlands Handmade will no longer be representing White Gum Wool.

Oatlands Handmade and White Gum Wool at Campbell Town Show 2012

 .......I packed up the White Gum Wool stock, Tilly Ewe and the market paraphenalia and Nan, The Shearer and I made the trip to Tassie's premier Sheep and Wool Show - Campbell Town - Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd June. With much appreciated help from Sue, Biz and a visit from Wendy and Sten, we were able to tell visitors to our stand about the joys of the new White Gum Wool range.

We had a prime spot in the Main Pavillion opposite the superfine merinos and within sight of the fleece displays and the catwalk.  Bayer on one side and the innovative McShanes with their Farmware app on the other!

 As well as the WGW gorgeous natural wool top and samples of the scrumptious yarns we will have available, it was the first outing for the new colour pallette designed for WGW by Wendy Koolhof.  These stunning hues were developed with the Midlands Landscape as inspiration and are available as 100g packs of hand-dyed top right now and will be echoed in our new knitting yarn range (available hopefully by end July).  I was gobsmacked too when the Fashion Parade started - there were our colours echoed in the "on trend" colours for the season....thanks Wendy!

Well, the hectic activity was worth it! We had a great time, and gues what?  WGW took out the Midlad Ag Association ANZ Bank Perpetual Trophy for the Best Trade Exhibit !!!

An excited Nan holding the Silver Salver!

A great job Nan too! third in the "Group of Three" Superfine Merino Fleeces. Well done to Nan and White Gum Wool.

For weeks now, the WGW Team has been working feverishly to have our garments ready for the Australian Wool Innovation Fashion Parades at the Show.  Designer/Felters Sue Evans (Launceston) and Svenja (Queensland) and weaver moi ( Rowena) at Oatlands Handmade have been working with WGW Fibre to create a small collection of original garments.  We were stunned by the reception to our results - the comments at the Parades was very very encouraging and we have been invited back next year!  Our thanks must go also to Robyn Quill of Laincot at Ross whose stylish, comfortable and unique jeans partnered several of the outfits.

You can see slideshows of both the WGW Collection and some more Wool Innovation Fashions....

 White Gum Wool Collection

Wool Fashions Snapshot

SNAKES ALIVE! 100 door snakes in 100 days

Well, we're just 11 sleeps out from the conclusion of the Tasmanian Leaders / Anglicare initiative 100 door snakes in 100 days project. 

Oatlands Handmade is thrilled to be contributing a {bed, den, nest, pit, knot} of snakes and other critters !  I think we will have well over a dozen to contribute. THANK YOU so much to those who played with us.    I'd particularly like to thank my 96 year old Mum who has made 3 so far (!) and to local Sue who has brought in 5 (fantastic effort).....
................But, don't forget, you've still got more than a week to drop off some more!

I think they were on their way back from the Pancake and Crepe Shop next door LOL

We will be puting our snakes in the shop window this week so everyone can enjoy them!

WE'RE BAACK

Back from Victoria - had a great time and met heaps of terrific, enthusiastic and talented people.  Thanks to everyone who made our Muster visit a success!

Unpacking now

• WENDY KOOLHOF's unique HAND DYED Tasmanian Ultra Fine 8 ply merino knitting yarn.  A limited range of Wendy's gorgeous colours in 50g and 100g hanks.  Just a few x100gs left in all-natural sheepy white.

• WHITE GUM WOOL. Our brand new Tasmanian Knitting Yarn.  Oatlands-grown, processed in Victoria and artisan-spun in Tasmania so it's extra special!  Limited quantity of sport weight natural and chunky natural yarn.  Tops a-plenty  100g plus.  Check out the new page from the link at the top.

• DARKE DOINGS Tasmanian Possum and 22 micron wool or Tassie Wallaby and 22 micron wool blends in 8 ply knitting yarn.  Don't bother with New Zealand possum...buy Tasmanian!!  This unique and very special range of knitting yarn is proudly stocked at Oatlands Handmade.

• Control your ball of wool with Yarn Pots from our own JILLI SPENCER.

• Tasmanian-made KNITTING NEEDLES from Tasmanian Forest Beads.

Snakes Alive - 100doorsnakes100days

First of all...where have I been?  I'm not sure mentally, but I do know physically that I have been doing a lot of fibre deying, and my carder handle arm is a little tired LOL but there is lots of gorgeous hand dyed by moi packs of stunning english leicester curls, border leicester  and border x merino fibre in a rainbow of colours available in the shop.  I'm gonna make an effort and list some in the on-line shop for you too.

Now...SNAKES ALIVE !

Oatlands Handmade is thoroughly excited to be a part of the Tasmanian Leaders initiative 100doorsnakes100days project.   Partnering with Anglicare, 100 Door Snakes in 100 Days is a community led innitiative in partnership with Anglicare Tasmania, to provide handmade draught stoppers to Tasmanian households living in supported accommodation and wishing to reduce their energy consumption in a sustainable way.   Check out the website and the  Facebook Page for links, patterns, tips and pics of completed snakes.

We challenge all our friends to make a draught snake and drop into the shop before May 31st. If you need yarn, we have plenty, likewise stuffing and embellishments. You could also grab a plain jane snake from ChickenFeed or ShipLoads for instance and decorate!!

Oatlands Handmade is a designated drop point for snakes : we will be exhibiting completed snakes and there will be a prize for the bestest left with us for transfer to the project.

We will be closed tomorrow (Saturday).  Off to youngest grandson Xavier's 1st Birthday Party.  Yum Birdy Cake Tyson  xoxo

WE’RE OFF TO ECHUCA !

Oatlands Handmade has been accepted for the Vendors’Market at the inaugural Nanny & Ewe Fleece and Fibre Muster which will be happening at the Echuca Workers and Services and Club April 21-22 with a World Record Attempt on the Saturday night for the most spinners spinning on wheels at the Great Aussie Beer Shed.  Organised by the more-magical-by-the-moment Mandie of Ewe Give me the Knits and the innovatively splendiferous Nanny Janet of Fibrefanatic Designs, this first Muster will celebrate fleece and fibre in all their glory.......and we are thrilled to be taking Tasmanian Superfine Merino off to the border!It will be SPECIAL - watch our blog for details of our NEW RANGE OF TASSIE SUPERFINE products……..

NATIONAL WORKING BULLOCK FESTIVAL @ Oatlands

Oatlands Handmade's  High Street Shop will be closed Saturday week 11th Feb 2012 as we will be having fun in a tent at the National Working Bullock Festival.  There will be a plethora (favourite word LOL) of displays stalls and activities based around the "olden days" theme so we will be spinning and weaving and selling our fleece fibre and yarns in the paddock on the corner of the Midland Highway and the Interlaken Road on the highway at Oatlands.  Look out for the big illuminated sign.

See you there !

A SPECIAL VISITOR

He came, chose something special for a friend (which we gift-wrapped and promised to send by courier) and trotted off down the street........

...last seen safely ensconced in Lyn's large garden!

JELLY BABE CBG

Here is our latest Cigar Box Guitar owner !  The proud custodian of the (now famous) Jelly Babe CBG.