I love yarn, wool, knitting, spinning (even though I'm a novice), just generally being around crafty type stores. There are so many possibilities to express creativity and to learn something new! And Ashburton is home to the Ashford spinning wheel, my favorite!! So this trip was something of a pilgrimage for me. I hoped they had at least some spinning wheels and maybe we could finally find some NZ wool, so well known for its merino in particular.
A cute little cluster of stores and artisan shops comprised the Ashford craft village, yay! And surrounded by gorgeous rose bushes, so many cultivated in NZ in yards and public gardens, perhaps the English and Irish cultural influences?
Anyway, in we walked and WOO HOO!!! Yarn, yarn, and more yarn! Roving! Spinning wheels! A spinning wheel museum on the second floor! Weaving supplies and looms! Books! Jewelry! Patterns! HEAVEN! hehehe. Even Wen got excited, now that she knows how to knit!!
I want so badly to have my own wheel, a gorgeous upright double treadle Ashford. Someday. But for now, this is my mecca and it is awesome. Wendy and I were gleeful. And the upstairs museum held all sorts of treasures!
I watched a short documentary on the company. Apparently, spinning came into vogue during WWII as a means to support troops. Did NZ send troops into that war? *shrugs* In any case, it fell out of fashion once the war was over and the man who developed the Ashford spinning wheel went back to making chairs, stools and wooden toys. However, during the 1960s, a famous sheep shearer was making his rounds at all the county fairs and demonstrating the usefulness of taking that wool to spin and make your own garments. Suddenly spinning was fashionable again! Ashford started making more of their wheels and couldn't keep up with demand at first. It developed into a worldwide market and the rest is history.
The socks were knitted using wool that was collected from the tufts left on barbed wire fences when wool rations were running low during the war. Crazy!Check out this photo of a woman spinning in Antarctica! My kind of chick!!
And yes, I ALWAYS have to touch things, particularly wool in its raw form. My hands smell all sheepy afterwards and are oily from the lanolin. Aaahhh...lovely!
Wen and I *mostly* controlled ourselves and each spent less than NZ$100. Not too shabby! Especially because I could have easily spent hundreds more. After spending over an hour in that shop, we spent more time walking around the other artsy shops and we both ended up buying some beautiful jewelry. A perfect day for retail therapy since it was cold and drizzly outside. We had a very tasty lunch (me: smoked salmon omelette with the typical NZ salad topped with julienned carrots and beet root) and headed onward to Christchurch.
Chch (as they commonly abbreviate Christchurch) is a bustling city that meshes the natural world (lovely green parks, plenty of trees, a river running through the city), the old architecture (and trolleys) along with newer, edgier types of art and architecture.
I wish we had more time to explore the city itself, but we did spend a bit of time in the arts center looking at the local artist shops, photography, wool socks, a native Maori woman with tattoos under her chin as is traditional, jewelry, some tourists. The arts center is located in a neat old church-like building, still retaining its old wooden floors. Also, Chch has funny disturbing street signs.
We hurried through the city to find our campground for the night nearby. Wen needed time to pack for her flight out and relax before leaving on her loooooong trip home. We knitted, journaled, had the worst dinner ever by trying to use up what we had--the most digusting can of baked beans ever (think beans with ketchup), "oriental" noodles and champagne! hehehe. Tomorrow morning I begin my solo journey in NZ!
No comments:
Post a Comment