Did you know that yesterday was The International Day for Biological Diversity? No, neither did I, I read it this morning on the Heritage Council newsletter.
I've been a flu-induced haze for the past week. I knew I was tired after my trip to Mayo, and came down with a touch of a cold. Well it developed into full blown, stay in bed flu. Then when the flu subsided a bit, the sinus and chest infection kicked in. I though, oh a few days in bed catching up on some crochet, but I haven't able to do a thing, except watch endless telly...I am feeling a bit better today, so I checked my emails, and discovered yesterday was International Day for Biological Diversity, and this is the end of Biodiversity Week. There has been loads of activities going on all over the country, and as usual I missed them all... The only thing I did yesterday was go to the doctor to confirm my illness, get drugs, and then back to bed. My garden has been taken over by biodiversity, and I plan on spending a few days once I'm better, on destroying a lot of it, eg grass, slugs, snails, moss, dandelions, daisy's, etc, etc.....Not very PC, but a veg-patch is like a war-zone. I'm a pacifist towards the ones that can walk, wiggle, or otherwise move. They benefit from the re-location programme. But the weeds, I'm not so pacifist... (But there is karma for you, you will return as compost!)
So to celebrate some kind of International Diversity, I shall tell you my photo's got accepted into the International Freeform Crochet Guild
The 2009 International Freeform Guild's Show, Four Seasons, includes 52 freeform fiber artists from all around the globe. The artists were given the choice of creating one or more freeform pieces interpreting the four seasons.
Here's my page!!
http://www.freeformcrochet.com/2009/Pages/orla.html
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Works in Progress, and on the road AGAIN
I was never very good at keeping diary's as a kid or as a teenager. They would go from being very impersonal to very personal, with huge blank entries. Sometimes this blog feels like a diary, and when life throws many great big humongous soul-wrenching thingumabobs, its hard trying to keep it not too personal. At least you don't have big blank entries!!
But, this is a textile blog, so I'll try and keep it textile, oh, and a bit of travel....
I didn't get to the Kingdom County Fair, because I ended up hastily going to Mayo for a week. But I did drop in my entry to the Soft Toy category of the Crafts Competition.
This is another version of Sackgirl, very similar to the other versions, yes I know. She's in the car on her way up to the competiton. Sadly, she didn't get anywhere....
Before I left, I did another panic project. Are there any other type? The International Freeform Crochet Guild had a deadline for their 2009 Challange, Four Seasons, and I really wanted to get something in. I'm a member of their Yahoo Group, and although I don't say much on it (don't sound surprised, I still haven't said anything on Facebook), I do enjoy the conversations. I've been going through a case of creative block, where I suddenly feel so overwhelmed by wanting to make absolutely everything, I ended up making nothing. I think it did me good though, it was good to sit back and have a rest. My wrists needed it as well, they were starting to get a bit achey. Because I didn't really have anything specific in that theme, I decided to just mess around with the bag of Crocheted Coral that's left over from last years Electric Picnic. I grouped them into seasonal colours, and took some photos. I never actually took any decent photos of them, so it was nice to play around with them.
I received a lovely donation to my textile supply room. (It used to be called the spare bedroom, but now its pure fibre. I don't pretend anymore). I had been lamenting the lack of buttons available in charity shops these days. You used to be able to pick up bags of them, but they are a rare enough commodity. So, the mother-in-law, a hoarder the same as me, gave me her rather large button collection - 8 jars! Its funny, all the expensive noisy toys, and the kid goes straight for the jars of buttons. You just can't beat them for entertainment. So, I opened one jar for him to play with and went off to make dinner. A very short time later I returned to find he had opened all the jars, (He can open jars now? Crap. More safety needed round the house). They were everywhere. So, what do you do with a button mountain the EU would be proud of? (You oldies out there will remember the butter mountain, god bless those butter vouchers. When they ran out, I asked the man in the dole office if we could start on the wine lake!). You colour co-ordinate them of course! I got the child to help for about 5 mins then, spent the whole evening sorting out the rest myself. You textile people understand, but when my mum rang, and she asked what are you up to, and I said sorting buttons, it didn't really register as a fun thing to do of an evening..
So, bags packed it was on the road to Mayo. I usually stop over with my sister for a night, because driving to Mayo with a toddler is to much for one day. Especially when there are pennies in the CD player and it doesn't work. There's only so long I can sing for!! It was a beautiful day, and when I arrived a t their new house in Kinvara, they were sunning themselves in the garden, with their new cob oven all fired up. Home-made pizza's, delicious. If we ever get the one in the Community Garden finished, we'll have to get them down for pizza-making lessons! After lunch, a walk round the harbour, we managed to catch an early session in Connellys. I haven't driven round the Burren for years, and I'd forgotten how much I liked it there. Of all the places I've lived, I think its the nearest I'd call home.
Onto Mayo, to be general skivvy to my mum and her broken ankle. She was very gentle on me. I though she would have me cleaning cupboards, and painting walls for the week, but it was simply a case of keeping her supplied with tea and fags, and the odd meal! The weather turned for the worse, and we were all house-bound for the week. The highlight was when my step-dad caught a huge bug. Well, huge for Irish standards, I've never seen anything so big. The size of a small mouse! We didn't know what it was so I took a few pics, not great I know, I was scared the thing would fly at me. I got home I posted it up on Boards, within minutes someone had identified it. (That website its great!). Turns out its a June Bug, well the Euro version, a cockchafer. Used to be very common, but pesticides have almost wiped it out. It is very sensitive to toxins and is an good indicator for pollution levels. I think they are just too big for this country. I like Ireland for the fact they don't have these big creepy crawlies...
On my return home, via Kinvara and more pizza's again, I had my usual last min dash to get some work done. The deadline for Book 3 of the Crochet Liberation Front, was the following day. I have to say, a big thank you for the wonderful Ladies who tested out the pattern for me. Ravelry is great. I simply put up a post saying a I had a pattern needing testing, and several lovely ladies offered. I did warn them I was new to pattern writing, but they were very kind, and considerate, and gave excellent feedback. The pattern has now been sent, and its just a question of waiting to hear if its been accepted!...
So, after getting home, exhausted form the travel, I felt lousy. I though it was just tiredness, but I've ended up coming down with a nasty cold. I'm wheezing like a good thing, my chest hurts, I'm loaded on Lemsip, and desperately trying to get better for the Girl's Night Out, organised for this Saturday in Galway. I haven't been in a pub at nighttime in a long while! Its the opening weekend of the Volvo Ocean Race stop-over in Galway, so it should be fun...I have a thing for boats, so its great to be able to catch a glimpse this event, oh and the sailors...
Oh, oh, oh, and I forgot, I've finally gotten my Etsy shop together, well sort of...
But, this is a textile blog, so I'll try and keep it textile, oh, and a bit of travel....
I didn't get to the Kingdom County Fair, because I ended up hastily going to Mayo for a week. But I did drop in my entry to the Soft Toy category of the Crafts Competition.
I received a lovely donation to my textile supply room. (It used to be called the spare bedroom, but now its pure fibre. I don't pretend anymore). I had been lamenting the lack of buttons available in charity shops these days. You used to be able to pick up bags of them, but they are a rare enough commodity. So, the mother-in-law, a hoarder the same as me, gave me her rather large button collection - 8 jars! Its funny, all the expensive noisy toys, and the kid goes straight for the jars of buttons. You just can't beat them for entertainment. So, I opened one jar for him to play with and went off to make dinner. A very short time later I returned to find he had opened all the jars, (He can open jars now? Crap. More safety needed round the house). They were everywhere. So, what do you do with a button mountain the EU would be proud of? (You oldies out there will remember the butter mountain, god bless those butter vouchers. When they ran out, I asked the man in the dole office if we could start on the wine lake!). You colour co-ordinate them of course! I got the child to help for about 5 mins then, spent the whole evening sorting out the rest myself. You textile people understand, but when my mum rang, and she asked what are you up to, and I said sorting buttons, it didn't really register as a fun thing to do of an evening..
So, bags packed it was on the road to Mayo. I usually stop over with my sister for a night, because driving to Mayo with a toddler is to much for one day. Especially when there are pennies in the CD player and it doesn't work. There's only so long I can sing for!! It was a beautiful day, and when I arrived a t their new house in Kinvara, they were sunning themselves in the garden, with their new cob oven all fired up. Home-made pizza's, delicious. If we ever get the one in the Community Garden finished, we'll have to get them down for pizza-making lessons! After lunch, a walk round the harbour, we managed to catch an early session in Connellys. I haven't driven round the Burren for years, and I'd forgotten how much I liked it there. Of all the places I've lived, I think its the nearest I'd call home.
Onto Mayo, to be general skivvy to my mum and her broken ankle. She was very gentle on me. I though she would have me cleaning cupboards, and painting walls for the week, but it was simply a case of keeping her supplied with tea and fags, and the odd meal! The weather turned for the worse, and we were all house-bound for the week. The highlight was when my step-dad caught a huge bug. Well, huge for Irish standards, I've never seen anything so big. The size of a small mouse! We didn't know what it was so I took a few pics, not great I know, I was scared the thing would fly at me. I got home I posted it up on Boards, within minutes someone had identified it. (That website its great!). Turns out its a June Bug, well the Euro version, a cockchafer. Used to be very common, but pesticides have almost wiped it out. It is very sensitive to toxins and is an good indicator for pollution levels. I think they are just too big for this country. I like Ireland for the fact they don't have these big creepy crawlies...
So, after getting home, exhausted form the travel, I felt lousy. I though it was just tiredness, but I've ended up coming down with a nasty cold. I'm wheezing like a good thing, my chest hurts, I'm loaded on Lemsip, and desperately trying to get better for the Girl's Night Out, organised for this Saturday in Galway. I haven't been in a pub at nighttime in a long while! Its the opening weekend of the Volvo Ocean Race stop-over in Galway, so it should be fun...I have a thing for boats, so its great to be able to catch a glimpse this event, oh and the sailors...
Oh, oh, oh, and I forgot, I've finally gotten my Etsy shop together, well sort of...
Sunday, May 10, 2009
On the road again...
I had planned on spending the weekend, trying to resuscitate my poor neglected blog, but fate intervenes again!
I'm heading to Mayo to be a general skivvy to my mum, who has broken her ankle.
Another day...
I'm heading to Mayo to be a general skivvy to my mum, who has broken her ankle.
Another day...
Friday, May 1, 2009
World Fairtrade Day and other things
Saturday 9th May 2009 is World Fair Trade Day.
Although everyone knows and claims to be more Fairtrade and Organic these days, I realised this week just how hard it is to get stuff. I went shopping this week for some Fairtrade and Organic bits and bobs to put in the Fairtrade and Organic Swap I am doing, organised by the Dublin Knit Collective. I don't do many swop's, but I wanted to support this one. Okay, you can buy 'Green and Blacks' chocs, some bananas, coffee, etc, but what else? The Tralee Oxfam shop doesn't stock fairtrade goodies anymore, and I just couldn't think of anywhere else. I had to drive all the way to Kenmare to get my organic cotton yarn (see previous post!).
I am a crap consumer, I hate shopping, (except in hardware/garden shops, that's my main downfall, oh and books, yes, books too..anyway...). I rarely buy clothes, and if I do its usually 2nd-hand from the local charity shop. Food, I try to be as local and organic as I can. I am part of a local veg box scheme and am trying to grow-my-own. But its the other bits, presents, knickknack's, etc..that I just can't find. The only place is the Internet, which is too dangerous. (I'm a good Internet shopper...books and textile supplies).
So, what did I put in my swap? Some organic, fairtrade yarn and some choc of course!
The other things:
I seem to be a bit blank these days. If someone asks me what have I been doing, I can't think of anything. I know I've been busy, I'm always busy. But since the battery in my camera has all but died, I haven't been taking as many pics. As my short term memory has gone to hell, these are sometimes the only way I cam remember what I've been up to!
So here's a brief...
Although everyone knows and claims to be more Fairtrade and Organic these days, I realised this week just how hard it is to get stuff. I went shopping this week for some Fairtrade and Organic bits and bobs to put in the Fairtrade and Organic Swap I am doing, organised by the Dublin Knit Collective. I don't do many swop's, but I wanted to support this one. Okay, you can buy 'Green and Blacks' chocs, some bananas, coffee, etc, but what else? The Tralee Oxfam shop doesn't stock fairtrade goodies anymore, and I just couldn't think of anywhere else. I had to drive all the way to Kenmare to get my organic cotton yarn (see previous post!).
I am a crap consumer, I hate shopping, (except in hardware/garden shops, that's my main downfall, oh and books, yes, books too..anyway...). I rarely buy clothes, and if I do its usually 2nd-hand from the local charity shop. Food, I try to be as local and organic as I can. I am part of a local veg box scheme and am trying to grow-my-own. But its the other bits, presents, knickknack's, etc..that I just can't find. The only place is the Internet, which is too dangerous. (I'm a good Internet shopper...books and textile supplies).
So, what did I put in my swap? Some organic, fairtrade yarn and some choc of course!
The other things:
I seem to be a bit blank these days. If someone asks me what have I been doing, I can't think of anything. I know I've been busy, I'm always busy. But since the battery in my camera has all but died, I haven't been taking as many pics. As my short term memory has gone to hell, these are sometimes the only way I cam remember what I've been up to!
So here's a brief...
- I'm having my first ever pattern published! It's going to be in the Crochet Liberation Front Book 2. Yes, the naughty one. will have more details when its published. For now its all hush hush....
- Have just finished writing my second ever pattern for the Crochet Liberation Front Book 3. MM mm, yes, they will accept anyone....This is also hush hush....
- Finally getting my handspuns washed and dried!
- Got mentioned in the Kingdom County Fair blog! Dashy the dog has been doing well outta this, am frantically trying to think of something to make for this year...(Just realised I've been linked on their blog!). Since my Sackboy and Sackgirl never got officially released (damn you Sony). Thought the older generation mightn't approve, I think the Playstation-playing generation might...
- Have been helping build a cob-oven at the local community Organic Garden. You can watch the very slow progress on YouTube. I didn't realise it would be on YouTube, until this week. They are planning on making a website, so I'll be watching my P's and Q's from now on, get the designer wellies out! For more info on the garden and the coursed run there, check out the Gortbrack Organic Farm website, as they run the courses there.
- I've finally set up my Etsy shop, but it needs work, so I'll talk more about it when I'm happy with it
- Joined twitter and facebook....God Knows Why?! I just go blank, and can't think of anything to say, which is very unlike me. Just because others said I should join.... Peer-pressure at my age!
- Learning how to do Clones Lace, in preparation of my forthcoming weekend workshop
- trying to take photos of stuff I've made in the past, and finally getting rid of it! It almost feels like The Ghost of Textiles Past. Its stuff I dreamed of making a life out of,making, designing, etc.. Could have, should have, would have but... So I'm getting rid of as much as possible. I need a new lease of life...
- Finally have a picture of my Travelling Scarf!
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