Three of our members (Flo, Marilyn P, and Caroline) each taught a different method of making felted balls.


Brenda’s Knitted Jumper and Beanie. Helen’s Knitted Teddy Bear.
Rachel’s Hand-dyed, Hand-Spun, Knitted Shawl.
Fran’s Weaving – woven on a Triangle Loom, and Crocheted together.
Rachel’s Knitted Cotton Shawl.
Audrey was born and raised in Australia but lived most of her adult life in New Zealand. Her husband Bill was a radio engineer and also very creative. He made Audrey many tools to use in her fibre work. They had two children and a few years ago celebrated 55 years of marriage.
Over 25 years ago she had the idea to start a creative fibre guild in Johnsonville and rallied a group of local ladies and has been a vital part of the Guild ever since.
She wrote and published a book on Knitting Finishing and was very generous with her time teaching spinning, knitting, and weaving. Audrey’s work speaks for itself here in this exhibition, it is clear she held herself to very high standards and the Guild members were encouraged to do the same.
This exhibition was conceived of while Audrey was in the Cashmere Home. We originally planned to make items using materials and pieces from her stash, and then take them to her at the Home to share with her, however she passed on to be with her beloved Bill earlier this year. We asked our members to make anything they liked but to firstly include items that were previously Audrey’s and secondly to hold themselves to her high standards. Our tributes to Audrey are now at this exhibition, accompanied by many examples of her work, several of which have won awards in national competitions.
She made many of her own outfits, sometimes in collaboration with her sister Edna, also a talented fibre artist and seamstress. There was always a hat, a scarf and often a broach. She has a distinct style, often playful and exactly what she wanted to wear. Most of these outfits were made starting with wool straight off the sheep’s back, or with raw silk, so cleaning of the fibre, dying, spinning fibre all had to occur before knitting or weaving could even start.
So as Onslow Fibre Crafts Guild goes forward, we hold her memory dear and aim to educate and support our members to excellence in the fibre arts. Enjoy these items on display and be inspired to go on and nurture your own creativity in whatever avenue you choose. If it’s in the fibre arts, we’re always happy to have new members.
The Challenge to members for 2022 was to make something using some of Audrey’s stash which she had donated to the Guild. Any item and technique could be used and the item could be started from scratch; finishing something she started; or including her work as an embellishment.
Audrey was the founder of Onslow Fibrecrafts Guild in 1994, and we aimed to reflect Audrey and her high standards of worksmanship in what we made.
Challenge Categories and Results:
Caroline taught a workshop on how to make Dorset Buttons.
She suppled the group with a table full of resources.
Concentrating hard……..
Being able to use the large screen at the Collective Hub adds to our learning experience.
Helen’s elephant that she has knitted for charity, with fabric-lined ears.
Kay’s hand-spun, knitted and felted bag containing knitted Christmas decorations to be sent to her son overseas.
Tomoko’s Corriedale wool spinning plied with cotton boucle.
Rachel has modified a dress by adding an eco-dyed panel into the front and as a shawl.
Various yarns which Rachel has spun and is deciding which to weave together into a blanket. The orange and blue yarns are hand-dyed.
Esther’s Beanie, Knitted with Brioche stitch, and learnt at the FibreEd event in New Plymouth.
Mary, joined by her colleague Shan, took a workshop on Spinning Wheel maintenance. She first talked about the essential aspects of maintaining a wheel, and then she and Shan helped members with their individual wheels. There were many happy members with smoothly-running wheels by the end of the session. A very big “Thank You” to Mary and Shan!
Mary and Shan’s website: https://nzspinningwheels.wordpress.com/ To follow, sign up on their website.