Alexandra

Another great weekend away teaching six ladies in Alexandra.  It was lovely to meet new folk and see their enthusiastic response to the weekend and their results. This time, as well as cutting back the whenu to 34 plus the feather rows to three, we did more on the Friday night. By trying the whatu stitch and casting on we were well ahead. Saturday we finished the feather rows by lunch time and did the taaniko in the afternoon so that on Sunday we only had to do the turning row and the mawhitiwhiti and we were done. We left by lunch time. It snowed Sunday morning but the sun was out by lunch and the snow all gone. There was more snow coming over the Waihola to Taieri Mouth road than anywhere on the road from Alexandra.
Here is our group photo of proud ladies and their mahi.

There were also two ladies from Hawea way who joined us for some of the time.  Enger was working on a big korowai she had started already using Pukeko and pheasant feathers. Interestingly she was putting in the pheasant feathers singly on every second whenu instead of bundles. This saved a bit of work and because they were quite fluffy they seemed to fill in quite well.  I have seen old cloaks where feathers, especially kiwi, were put in singly but haven't tried it.  

The other visitor was working on an exciting piece using stripped harekeke and other native plant leaves. It is so good to see people experimenting with different materials.