Colours and Patterns and Tools....oh my!!

Frozen Canal

I'm back from my holidays earlier than expected. Although my hols was shorter than planned, it felt like longer....Long saga about frozen treacherous roads, frozen water pipes, no working toilets/showers, empty water reservoirs, cabin fever, tummy bugs, etc... There was a break in the weather, and I made a run for it. I am glad to be home, be clean, and have another Christmas over with. Well, I'm actually glad to have 2009 over with it was a very extreme year for me. Not just for me but for the country of Ireland in general. We've had all the weather and scandals a nation can handle in one year. But, this isn't a moany blog, its a textile blog, so here's some Colour and Patterns and Tools...Oh My!! (I had to watch the Wizard of Oz at 9 am this morning...)

COLOURS

The best part of Christmas is of course Fairy lights. I love fairy lights, so much so I went a bit bananas one evening with the camera, trying to take a nice photo of my lights. Here's the results....

PATTERNS

When you go on your holidays, normally you wait till you're on the road before taking pictures. But when I went to pack the car, there was the most amazing patterns over the whole thing. I had to pull the camera out and start taking pictures.

and TOOLS....OH MY!

This is really the oh my bit. You might have thought I was jammy enough to buy one beautiful working spinning wheel for cheap. (And she is a real beauty, you can see here here). but how about buying a 2nd spinning wheel, another real beauty, and almost in working condition!! I found this baby on gumtree.ie. The ad was a few months old, and I presumed it would be gone, but rang anyway. To my great surprise, not only was the wheel not gone, but no-one else had even called about it. It took me a few months to get down and actually see it, as I had to drive to Cork, but I had decided to buy it whether it work or not. It is a.. oh..beautiful old, old, Saxony wheel. Almost in working condition, just needs a bit of love here and there.

The lady I bought it off turned out to be a carbon copy of myself, a dabbler in all things textile and we had a great chat. You should have heard her stories keeping angora bunnies.... She was a bit sad to part with the wheel, but knew she wouldn't be using it. And since I kept gushing about how beautiful it was, knew it was going to a loving home. I have never seen a wheel like this up close. It has a double thingy, and the thingy is adjustable for tension. God, I need to learn more new spinning wheel words...

She also gave me a pile of books, including everything from felting to rug weaving. In it is a beautiful book called The Wool Book by Margaret Dixon. It has a big picture of a Saxony wheel, and I will, over the next week, learn all the proper terms for my new restoration project.

I am really looking forward to 2010. There are so many exciting events on the horizon, and you will just have to wait until the New Year to hear about them....


Best Wishes to All, and for god's sakes take care on the roads.....

Happy Christmas and New Year!!

A very quick post, because its late and I should be in bed... Tomorrow is going to be spent packing, and I know since I'm going to the land of appalling dial-up, I wont get the chance to go online over the Xmas. So I'd just like to say Happy Christmas and New Year to anyone that knows me or even doesn't know me, but reads my humble blog...

It's going to be an exciting 2010, I'm not going to let anything away but here's a few teasers...

- exciting news from the Cork Textiles Network!
- shopping news (what have I bought now!!).
- new patterns (for crazy things like crocheted fruit and veg)
- new books
- the Irish Crocheted Coral Reef, more workshops
- the Pink Auction, a charity textile Auction being planned for Autumn in aid of Irish Cancer Society

Looking forward to catching up with everyone next year....

Autumn Ends...

It's cold enough to feel like winter at the moment. It's the 2nd of December, and between floods, storms and the flu, its been a tough few weeks. My first workshop got postponed because of the bad weather, so here are the revised workshop listings.

3rd December 11.30am - 12.30pm Macroom Purlies, Macroom Library, Cork
4th December 10am - 12pm The Crafty Knitand Stitchers, The Crafty Alley, Killarney
6th December , 11.00am - 5.00pm Tralee Christmas Craft Fair, Fels Point Hotel, Tralee

We had a great crochet session at The Matchbox, in Listowel last week. The ladies were very impressive in their skills and their ideas for uses of coral! I am going to try to make something a bit festive for the stand at the Christmas Craft Fair, I just hope I have time to do it... I've no photos of anything, because the battery went in my camera, and I haven't been able to find the charger, for what feels like months now... Everything feels like chaos, but hopefully after this weekend, I can catch up on the simple things, making hats, scarves, and gloves for the cold weather!!

Bad Internet and more Coral

My Internet connection is crap in the evenings. It's so slow, its painful. The only time it works at a reasonable speed is in the mornings. But the little man doesn't like me sitting at the laptop so everything I am doing online at the moment is rushed. Well, thanks to The Irish Hyperbolic Crocheted Coral Reef, everything in my life is rushed! Not thinking ahead, I gave a big bag of coral to the Science Gallery already, glad to get rid of it, but now I'm doing some demos, I need to make more samples!! Panic crocheting. The plan is to try get as much info out there before Xmas, so people can sit at their leisure over the holidays and crochet coral.

I've a few gigs lined up. On the 19th November I'm in Macroom Library, Co. Cork, meeting the Macroom Purlies. On 6th December, I will be at the Tralee Christmas Craft Fair with Mairead Sharry. It's going to be a Crochet Coral Reef recruitment stand, we'll be doing demo's, and giving out patterns. The Fair is in the Fels Point Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry.

It's all free and very informal, so anyone in the area, come along. WEneed all the crochet we can get.

The Knitting and Stitching Show 09

What a crazy few weeks it has been. I am almost glad it's raining today, so I have an excuse to just sit at home...

I was due to catch the morning train to Dublin on Wednesday, so on Tuesday I did a little search in the charity shop for a book to bring. For some reason I'm luckier with finding books that I like in the charity shop than in the library. I don't know why that is. Maybe the scavenger in me, likes a good bargain. I know you shouldn't judge a book by the cover, but you do, don't you. I tend to go for the publishers first, then the cover. I know I'm safe with certain publishers, like Penguin and Faber and Faber. I saw the ff logo on a nice dark cover, the title was Mauve, I though interesting...read the back and gasped. It was about William Perkin, an aspiring chemist, who discovered the first artificial dye, mauve at the age of 18. Not only did it make him the richest chemist in Britain, but it changed the world.

My friends and family know I harp on (especially after a few pints) about textiles being the beginning of everything, civilization, commerce, world economy, etc. I have the notion that whoever is the current leader of textiles is the current leader of the world. Look through history, and you will see a direct link between ruling powers of the time, the Romans, Genghis Khan, Ancient Chinese dynasties, the USA, Modern China, etc, etc..., and the textiles favored.

But now, I have proof in this small, unassuming book, that the invention of artificial dye, changed the world, in an amazing, yet a bit scary, way. I had brought lots of yarn with me with the intention of crocheting lots of coral on the way up and back, and didn't get a lot done. I couldn't put this book down. If you are into any kind of textile history, artificial or otherwise, into chemistry, the history of chemistry, read this book. I am not exaggerating, the invention of mauve created a new world, the first every direct association of chemistry and industry, leading to the discovery of bacteria, cures for illnesses, such as chemotherapy, even the discovery of DNA. Simon Garfild, thank you for writing this book! (Would make another very interesting exhibition in the Science Gallery!!)

Okay, so back to my trip... Got to Dublin, then went down to the Science Gallery for a meeting with Anja and Lynn, organisers of the up and coming Irish Crocheted Reef. It works out that our deadline is 4 months. Not that much time, so another plea, if you can crochet, please have ago. Anything, even one small piece of coral can make a difference.. Keep an eye out for an updated Science Gallery website with all the relevant info...

After the meeting went across Trinity to the Douglas Hyde, and caught a small exhibition of Japanese CountryTextiles from C18th/C19th. Interesting fabrics and stitches, but you sometimes wonder whether the peasants who wore these patched up and rough sewn garments would have believed many years in the future,they would be exhibited in a gallery. I don't think my child would appreciate me leaving him rags as inheritance saying,in the future they will be worth something...

Thursday was a very very busy day at the Knitting and Stitching Show. Where I bumped into old friends rarely seen, and new friends, fellow Ravelrs. I didn't get to the Ravelry meeting, but since I had told everyone where would be, a few people came up to say hello. Thank You, was lovely to meet you!!

The Cork Textiles Network stand was very busy,and we sold some pictures and lots of postcards. A good day all round. I didn't get to see much at the show.Probably because every time I took a break and went for a wander, I'd bump into someone and stay chatting. That's what the show means for me anyway. I don't got there to shop. I bought a few things, postcards, I always buy a few of those, especially from the graduates, a beautiful book of drawings, etches and prints by Ernst Haeckel , a 2010 calendar from the Weavers, Spinners, Dyers group and surprise, surprise a crochet hook. A Tunisian crochet hook,(which I am glad to say the The Yarn Room stocks now!!). I did get to make a Morsbag. Great idea, great stand, make your own shopping bag for free. Started in the UK by a lady sick of plastic bags.

Another train trip back home, I have barely unpacked my bag at home, as it's Halloween. So we made some spiders and ghosts to decorate the windows, and got our facepaints ready...We're all exhausted from sweets and generally spooky excitement. It's nice to be home, and be able to chill for a few days, well, chill while crocheting coral.

Fibre feast or famine

Nothing happens for months and months then it all comes together. A fantastic day on Saturday was had by all that attended the Margaret Werthiem workshop in the Science Gallery. Lots of excitement and lots of plans to be put together. We have roughly 5 months to put an Irish Crocheted Coral Reef together. A tough deadline, but we'll have to do our best. All I can say is GET CROCHETING!! The Science Gallery will be in charge of all boring logistics, we should just concentrate on doing the crochet. If you are interested in taking part, there will be workshops organised around the country, but if you can't wait. The gals from the Sydney Crocheted Coral Reef have put together a fantastic PDF of basic patterns on their blog. I'm sure they won't mind me saying... and there is also instruction's on the Institute of Figuring website.

I'm hoping the Science Gallery will start a Blog/Flickr account for the project. Be great to have it documented, with lots of links and photos. Between the fellow Ravelrs that attended the meeting, we have started a Ravelry group Irish Hyperbolic Crocheted Coral Reef.

Before I finish on the topic, I would just like to pass on a few suggestions that were made at the workshop: be colourful, be imaginative, and think vertical. The Coral doesn't have to be realistic, in size, shape or colour. Use the patterns until you feel comfortable making the coral, then go off on a tangent. Make up your own wondrous shapes. Take a look at books on coral reefs and you will see nature is far more strange than anything most of us can come up with. Think vertical: the crocheted coral reef looks good if it is different heights, reflecting the diversity you see in real life. Think about using structures. Crochet over plastic bottles, wire, stuff them to make bulbous shapes...Most of all enjoy it.

Rambling over, back to my 2nd fibre trip to Dublin. This weekend is the Knit and Stitch, and anyone interested in any kind of textiles usually attends. Yes it can be a bit samey every year, but it's the only textile event of its kind in the Republic, and if it weren't there we'd miss it...
Check out the Cork Textiles Network stand upstairs... and fellow Ravelrs, there's an unofficial meeting at 12.30pm in the cafe. Wear a badge or something with your Rav name.

Another 8 hour train journey there and back, but guess what I'll be doing!!On Saturday, I started a hyperbolic crocheted scarf on the train up, and had it finished by the time I got back to Kerry. I'm sure I can get a few bits of coral done along the way this time...

The bag is packed...

The train ticket is booked, and the bag is packed for a fun fibre-filled day in Dublin tomorrow.

Over 4 hours of crochet on the train up, an hour for coffee and chat with fellow Ravelrs, then 3 hours in a crochet workshop on Hyperbolic Crochet with Margaret Wertheim in the Science Gallery , then probably another coffee, then if there's time, an exhibition on Japanese textiles in the Douglas Hyde, then back on the train, and 4 hours of crochet home!!

Heaven!!

New Patterns

I had said my plan for this winter was to learn how to write patterns. It's hard, especially for someone who can't read them very well. I know people who are in Ravelry tend to go on and on and on about it, but for people, new designers like me, you can't get a better resource. There is a group called The Testing Pool, where you can find people who will test your pattern for free, using their own yarn. What a resource. But I'm nervous about taking the plunge, incase I get messages back saying its all gobbledigook.... so I am also going to post messages here for test crocheters.

I had planned on trying to make a series of patterns that could be used with a variety of yarns and hooks, using remnants, etc, but it would take too long. I could spend eternity trying to write just one pattern in 20 different hook sizes. It's just I never have the right hook or the right yarn to make projects and always adapt patterns. But that's me, and it's probably why I can't follow a pattern. But if I want to do this properly, I have to go along with the whole yarn brand/gauge thing.

But, (not another but!), I have decided to try act on my principles, and use only either eco/fairtrade yarn or local yarn. Local meaning, either from Irish sheep, partially from Irish sheep, or at least processed in some way in Ireland. My apologies in advance if you can't get your hands on the particular yarn. Knowing me, there won't be that many patterns, or they won't be popular enough to warrant me feeling bad about this decision.... Support Irish Sheep...(and alpaca, llama, flax, etc....)

Anyway, enough banter, here's my latest pattern that needs testing, if anyone is interested.Don't laugh, remember I'm learning and starting small, very small....

Eco/Fairtrade Cotton Dishcloth

I got a strange request through The Woolly Way yesterday. Most of the emails I get are from people looking to post info or from tourists looking for specific items, fabric in Cork, or knitting in Mayo, where-ever they are holidaying. This time someone in France was looking to import Aran jumpers, and stuff, and they wanted me to pass on their info to manufacturers.... Has the blog now become a competitor for The Crafts Council or Enterprise Ireland? I don't understand why, I mean the blog looks crap, in fairness, I just haven't had the time to fancify it up, I was hoping some nice volunteer graphic designer would do it for me (still hoping by the way....). It's taking up more and more of my time just posting everything, and answering emails. But I must admit it did make me feel a bit, well, proud and peeved off at the same time. Firstly, proud that the blog would be considered anyway professional to have those kind of connections, but also peeved off that the governmental agencies supposedly in charge of this stuff are not doing their job properly. Look at the FAS scandal, for god's sake! I mean this person must be desperate to have emailed a blogger for information...

I told him The Woolly Way was a "grassroots organisation, not affiliated with any large manufacturers or mass exporters in any way". Yep, I'm getting good at the ole b******t, I mean the vocabulary needed to work in the official industry. They gave me a link to a company in France that imports and sells authentic Irish goods throughout France, Comptoir Irlandais. Got a great kick out of looking at the authentic textiles, but have a look at the Whiskey page! I've never seen so many types of whiskey, let alone the Oirish ones....

Also take a look at the Wacky Woollies rubiks cube....

Finally...The Electric Picnic Post!

I'm still wrecked, obviously because if I wasn't, I would have put up a blog post before now. I couldn't even type let alone gather my thoughts on what happened over the past week and a half...I will try to do so now, forgive me if I bore the pants off you, I will just ramble on as is my way....I didn't take very many interesting photos. So, apologies...

Firstly, we packed the van, well fecked everything in because of the pouring rain. It was a bad day, the rain fell in 'biblical proportions', as was discussed much later in a very muddy and flooded EP field. We sent the man with the van on, then headed over to get Catrin from Kerry Airport. I had decided that this year I would round up my crew from Kerry, to make it easier to organise, and Catrin just got in there by flying from Germany to Kerry. When Catrin arrived she was greeted not only by hugs but by a raincoat and wellies. "Welcome to Ireland, put these on, you'll need them". So I had Phil, Catrin and Laura helping me out. Thanks a million guys, you were great!!

A long, tiring drive in relentless rain to Stradbally. The journey felt epic, now I know how Frodo felt, well, nearly, maybe if Frodo had a car...We get there, meet the man with the van who had arrived hours earlier. I decide to leave my crew in search of the hidden entry point. Talk about making it hard. I wont go into the boring details, but it was quite arduous trying to get into the camp. Fields, carparks and campsites had been flooded, vans and trucks stuck in the mud, as I said, a day of epic journeys and relentless rain. We finally made it into the Greencrafts area...

What the hay, we're there! Long journey over, we arrive, and several hours later start to pitch the marquee. The wind was so bad, we decided to secure it to the van. At least if it fell down, it wouldn't blow away. My theme was all about Sit and Stitch, I had brought along 4 wooden palettes, to put the cushions on. But the cushions were so big, they took up all the space!! although they didn't make the impact I thought they would, they amused a few people anyway. I was hoping to have the cushions on the ground, I figured the kids might like to get into the sandwich, but that was me being an optimist...especially in this country.

Thursday eased up a bit and the day was spent getting the stand ready. Because of the restless night we all had, we decided the best way to cope with the wet and the cold was to get drunk. We did, and it probably wasn't a good idea... We slept through the night, but the next day, I couldn't string two words together, let alone spin. I seemed to have lost all multi-tasking abilities...and to make matters worse I got interviewed by Midlands Radio! Here's hoping no one heard my garbled nonsense. I'm afraid I did nothing for the woolly cause....Things picked up pretty quick, instead of having a quiet day Friday to ease into the weekend, the people started coming as soon as the place opened. It was fantastic. I talked for 3 days solid, everything from basic knitting and crochet, to the inner workings of a spinning wheel, to my little Natural Fibres Project! Bringing the wheel was a good decision, it really stopped people in their tracks, even the menfolk...Although I still didn't have the coordination to do it, Catrin was great, spinning away on my behalf. I spend most of the time using the CD spindles, and to my surprise and delight they worked out great. They actually spin better than then the one I bought. I did a few workshops throughout the weekend, but most of the time was just spent chatting. A few fellow Ravellers came along, and spend a good hour or two spinning or knitting. I love meeting people who don't know anything about textiles and showing them the light, but even better it is to meet women of the cloth, or spindle, or needle, or whatever else it is they do. It was great to meet them, and I have to say Thank you girls, you made my weekend!! I'm not joking you really did. We were in the perfect spot for doing some people-watching. Here is the view from our stand!

OK so there's no people in the picture. this is very early in the morning. As soon as anyone came along, I was too busy yapping to take photos!

I can't really remember what else I did, apart from drink lots of coffee. After Thurday night/Friday moning hangover disaster, I decided to be professional and not get drunk for the following 2 nights. Although I didn't have to be open until 12pm, I found a lot of the other traders were wandering about early. Like myself they were working, so missed out on all the other stalls. So I was open by 9.30am to cater for any passerbys. I had the luxury of being able to open up in my pj's and wellies!

Efterklang

I did get to see some music. We finished up about 6/7pm then headed off to get food (mostly falafals..). Last year I tried to see specific bands but either didn't get in, or didn't get round to it, so this year I decided to try see bands I didn't know, and be pleasantly surprises (or not). A few stood out for me, Efterklang, Baaba Mal and Kila, Ebony bones (crazy lady), Alabama 3, Lucent Dossier show, a good old reggae dance in Trenchtown. Whatever band were playing in the Chai tent on Sunday night... A few disappointments: Dinosaur Jr, the dodgy 6 guys on laptops band, and a few others. I'd need to find the schedule and go through it to see what I actually did!!
Last year, I did a needlefelting workshops, and the clay ball thing, but this year I didn't get round to it, there was too much chat going on!! Here is some pics of the other stands in Greencrafts area.


It was a fantastic festival, we had 2 dry days on Friday and Saturday, and rain on Sunday during the day, but it eased of when we finished up. Handy that! I know I sound, (am), a bit biased, but the Greencrafts area is the nicest in the whole festival. It was so chilled out and down to earth. Thought I did stick out like a sore thumb, all the other stands were lovely yurts and tipi's, or earthy brown and green tarps, whereas my marquee was cheap plastic white with almost neon acrylic bunting and psychedelic mushrooms!!

The mushrooms got a lot of attention, probably more than me! Maybe next year, I'll just crochet one giant mushroom, and sit in it alone spinning or something....or a giant wellie like the old lady that lived in a shoe. I have lots of potential ideas. Well, I better have, I've just given away my marquee!! Next year I want to totally embarrass myself...Sure I only do it once a year...why not!!

But next year, I wont spend hours dancing in wellies in the mud. Jeez, my big toe and my knees were killing me for days after!

As if getting ready for the Electric Picnic wasn't enough, I've put my foot in it by trying to promote 2 great days of fibre activities this Autumn.

Worldwide Spin in Public - 19th September 2009 (more info here)
www.wwsip.com

International Day of Felt - 3rd of October 2009 (more about it here)
www.feltunited.com

I've just written exhaustively about them on The Woolly Way blog so am all typed out for now, but please if you are a spinner or felter in Ireland, get something together, get in touch, and we'll see if we can organise a great day.

On both days, I'll be in The Crafty Alley Shop, in Killarney, Co. Kerry, from 2pm - 5pm with my fleece and spindle. Please come along and join in the fibre fun!!

If you can't wait until then to meet me (!!...or you want to come for the knitting)....come to The Crafty Knit and Stitchers group. A new weekly knitting and stitching sessions starting on Friday 11th Septermber in The Crafty Alley in Killarney from 10am - 12pm.
For fellow Ravellers theres a new group The Crafty Knit and Stitchers!

A big thanks to Cathy and Felicia from The Crafty Alley, I don't think they knew what they were letting themselves in for when they first hosted the WWKIP, they are awash with woolly types ever since!!

Little Rant on Travelling in Ireland....

Excuse me while I vent a little....

I go everywhere in my car, I don't particularly want to but with the state of Irish public transport, I don't really have a choice. As a treat, and instead of a painful 4/5 hour drive to Dublin (and some scary driving in Dublin...), I booked cheap flights with Ryan Air for myself and my sons (see previous post for our plan!!). The flights were not that much but the taxes were ridiculous, but what the hay. His first time on a plane.

I discovered 2 days before I'm due to fly (this Saturday), that Ryan Air have changed their child policies since I last looked. All children including babies, must have some form of travel document on internal flights. In other words a passport. This came into force in May 09, if you booked your flight before that your OK, if you didn't (and of course I didn't ), your not. My three year old needs a passport to fly to Dublin. To get him a passport in time, I need to do a 2 hour drive to Cork, pay €25 for a 5 year passport, (because he was 3 last week), pay €30 for the privilege of getting it over-the-counter, hang around Cork for a few hours, pick up said passport and drive home to catch a cheap flight to Dublin the following morning.

So, I try to cancel. I can't. You can't cancel a Ryan Air flight, you just don't turn up. I won't get a Ryan Air refund on the price of the flight, the handling etc, but I'm entitled to a refund of the exorbitant airport taxes I was charged. However, Ryan Air charge an administration fee for the privilege of applying for said tax refund and chances are I wont get any money back.

This is what I get for trying to be impulsive and book last minute to go up to Dublin and enjoy myself. I rang my mum, she said just get the train. So, I check Irish Rail: €72.00 for a four hour train journey, but at least the child goes free. And they wonder why we all have cars, and use our cars to go everywhere. Take away the politicians chauffeurs and their privileges, make them suffer like the rest of us. Imagine how fast the public transport would improve if they had to use it!

After all this, I don't know if it's worth if for the 36 hour trip to Dublin...I'm wrecked already just thinking about it!

The crazy things we make and do, when there isn't really the time to make and do it.....

As if I haven't got enough on my plate with the Electric Picnic looming. I have decided to take a trip to Dublin for about 30 hours. There are 4 very valid reasons:

1. my cousins wedding
2. a workshop on making patterns and alterations
3. an exhibition of Harry Clarke's illustrations for Hans Christian Anderson
4. my little man has never been on a plane before
   

Numbers 1 and 4:
My cousins wedding is a very informal affair, a party in a pub, so that's easy enough, and should be good fun. I don't meet up with the 'Eastern' relations that much, and I know my little man will love it. He's a sociable little fella and will love the attention from new relatives. Not to mention the fact he is going on a plane! Yes, I know it's not very Eco of me, but it only takes an hour and it's cheaper than the train...cheaper than the train--scandalous really...

Number 2:
Anyone who knows me, knows I am a terrible shopper. I hate shopping for clothes, hate most clothes, and usually come back in tears because it's all bloody awful, and nothing fits, and the one time I am willing to spend money, and I tried on everything, and, and, and... I have always wanted to make my own clothes. But have never been brave enough. It's funny, ask me to make anything else, and I'll do it, but clothes; they scare me...So, I've booked myself into a fantastic course with re-dress, design, pattern drafting, alterations and up-cycling... all in one day, and the day I'm in Dublin.

Number 3:
Well, what can you say...Harry Clarke...Fairy Tale illustrations...I don't know how I am going to squeeze a trip to the National Gallery into my 30 odd hours but I have to. Especially when the exhibition was supposed to be over, but was extended until September. I used to visit Harry Clarkes stained-glass windows in An Díseart, in Dingle all the time. Not to mention the fact I love, no, adore, fairy tales...Yes, it's the exhibition for me...

So that's the do, what's the make...?

My son is mad about cardboard boxes, well, aren't most kids. When the nappies arrive from ecobaby, they always come in a big brown cardboard box which is just asking to be made into something. First came the robot, which has lasted over a month, and although falling apart, has had lots of fun time. Second came the boat, which did OK, but not as well as the robot. Then last week, feeling guilty for fobbing the child off onto the TV while I tried to get some work done, I said what do you want. He replied 'an aeroplane'....I shouldn't have asked. He was very specific, it had to have 2 wings, a pointed nose and a propeller that went round and round....Well, here it is in all its taped glory!!

The Postman Cometh again...with more fibre goodies!

The Postman Cometh again.... and he thought it was my birthday. I wish I'd get this many parcels on my birthday! I thought all my fibre orders would come slowly, but no, four on the same day! I had to put them away until later, as I could imagine the child being worse than the cat in terms of messing up my lovely fibres....Oh was I excited....

The first package was from Monike from www.softfibre.etsy.com. Based in Scotland, she has a lovely range of unusual fibres. From her I received some cashmere noil, angora, camel and alpaca tops. She also sent me little samples of cashmere tops and chinchilla. (A chinchilla is a type of rodent. One species of it became extinct through hunting, the fur was so valuable. Wiki for more info. Here's a totally useless wiki fact related to chinchilla's: Colonel K in Dangermouse, was a chinchilla not a walrus!)



The 2nd package came from World of Wool in the UK. I got a few metres of felt, which was going cheap, banana tops, and Seacell tops. Abaca is on the list of fibres to get, but I couldn't find a sample anywhere. It is also called Manilla Hemp, but I don't think manilla envelopes are made from it any more...It is also used in cigarette papers, money, and tea-bags! So, I thought if I can't get some I can always bring a tea-bag as a sample piece. I have plenty of those! It is a relative of the banana plant, and I thought well, I'd love to get some banana, and it would do as a sample of something similar to Abaca...The excuses we use to buy ourselves nice things.... The Seacell tops was not on the list, but it seemed like an interesting fibre, so I thought I better check it out. It's "A luxurious silky fibre made from Seaweed".


Also in the pile of parcels were some leaflets, posters, and stickers from Fairtrade Ireland. They sent some interesting factsheets on fairtrade cotton, one of the big campaigns they are running. An estimated 100 million households are involved in cotton production in 70 countries around the world. Those numbers are incredible, when you think this campaign will affect literally millions of people. Just by giving them a fair wage. (You can read more about it here on www.fairtrade.net/cotton) It's all demand and supply....and being seen to be green. Jeez, even Penny's and Tesco's stock fairtrade clothes now, but it is still hard to find fibres/yarn and fabric which is fairtrade. The only one I know of at the moment with a range of fairtrade cotton yarn is Debbie Bliss.

So, a lot of the fibres are now in, I think I have only one parcel left to get. But the preparation continues...I am currently working on my surprise display items....

ELECTRIC PICNIC 09!!

Its official, I will be attending this year's Electric Picnic again, and I'll have a crazy range of workshops and demonstrations of a fibre nature going on!!

The theme I picked this year, is Eco/Re-cycled. There will be 4 workshops on offer, each workshop has some Eco/re-cycled theme. More details to follow...

Also, to celebrate 2009 being UN International Year of Natural Fibres, I will have info for your reading leisure on the confusing array of fairtrade and organic logos, fact sheets on natural fibres, with lots of samples for you to feel up. Its all touch and go at this years EP!!

As usual I have a goal to make something crazy for displaying on the stand. The Crocheted Coral Reef got a fantastic reception last year, so hopefully the stand this year, will work out just as well....I have to make it yet, so no guarantees...Its easy to come up with great ideas on paper, another to try make it!!

Unofficial Stitchlily Logo

www.electricpicnic.com

A whirlwind 2 weeks of visiting, chatting, and as many fibre-orientated things I could possibly fit in!

How much fibre can you fit into two weeks? Well let me tell you....an awful lot! Firstly, the plan was a holiday, to catch up with family. My nephew came down with chicken-pox, so we skipped the Kinvara night and headed instead, into Galway city to stay with sister no 2. On the way, we stopped off in Doolin, to beautiful scenery and a play on the beach, and in Burrin, on the Kinvara road, to a hidden gem, the Wilde and Wooley Knitwear Studio. I had stopped off to have a look in the Burren Woollen Mills, (which houses the same tacky crap which you will find in the Burren House. A scary place where we did a toilet break, and ended up running away from several bus tours!!).

Follow the signs to Wilde and Wooley, behind the Woollen Mills and you will hear the swish, swish of an old knitting machine. Brings back memories of wrestling with an ancient one in my brief knitwear career..... Then you walk into a conservatory-like studio, with plants growing alongside a display of lovely jumpers, hats and other woollen goods. Take a peek inside the door, into such a homely studio that it melts your heart. A wall of shelves, filled with cones of lovely yarn!! The child being a bit on the restless, cranky side, I didn't get to chat much with the lady who runs the studio, or to check out her goods properly, but she did tell me, she was now a rarity. So many other knitwear studios have closed down, shes one of the few left. Such a shame considering our huge knitwear heritage.

Onto Galway City and yes it was the day that Michael Jackson died...It followed lots of videos on cable, and a big, cross-country telephone debate on what year Michael Jackson played in Cork...I did see this wonderful fencing along a new building development. Isn't it amazing how lovely some new things can be, if done well....

Onto Mayo, to chill for a day or two before letting the ma babysit and whizzing across country to Co. Monaghan to attend the Cassandra Hand Summer School of Lace. Crochet Lace has never been my thing, but in the attempt of trying to find out more about my textile heritage, and excuse to abandon the child for a whole 4 days, I went to this lace workshop. I had chatted to a few people going already through Ravelry, and to Maire, through emails, and I was a bit anxious about being a lace beginner. The plan was to have a few motifs done before going, but plans, mostly, go out the window. It didn't matter. Just the sheer joy of being around people who love crochet as much as I do was and is enough to fill me up with awe. You know that sense of awe, when you see something hand-made that is simply fabulous, that always stays with you, the wonder of how it was made, who made it, and my god the work that went into it. That's the awe I felt and still feel after a wonderful weekend. It was crammed with crochet, trips to lace museums, crochet, visits to weaving workshops, more crochet, a few pints, more crochet....sheer heaven!! The weather wasn't great, but well, we were indoors so who cared!! I don't know the North well at all, and it was fascinating to hear stories about the area, the North, the Troubles, the now open boarders. Here is a collage of photos, the drive across Leitrim, Carrickmacross Lace we saw at the Monaghan Museum, the Class of 09, and the weaving workshop we visited.

I had nothing definite I wanted to make, I simply wanted to learn the techniques, and how to do the clones Knot filling. So I made a few motifs, and started to put them together into a doily type thing. At the workshop I got the motifs done, then started the filling. Between returning to my mums house, and the past week, I got the piece finished, finally, today, and it is now in the sink, soaking as we type! This is a pic of the motifs just being tacked in place, and I am about to start the Clones Knot filling.

So, after the return back to Mayo to my folks house, I discovered that I hadn't missed Sheep and Wool Day at the Museum of Folklife as I though I had. Its only a half-hour drive to Castlebar so I decided to head over for an interesting hour of sheep and shearing!

Before and after shearing!

After shearing, the fleece was brought into a marquee where a lady from Connemara proceeded to spin it. I had hoped she would go into details about grading the fleece, but she didn't. And as usual, as soon as I start to show an interest in my surroundings the child acts up, and we head home shortly after...How do kids have such a knack of being angels when your gazing into space, but when you shift your focus to something they suddenly turn into little bundles of trouble! So, I didn't get to ask any questions, or chat to any of the knitting circle that was enthusiastically knitting in the corner....

After all this, a glutton for punishment, I went camping for the weekend in very, very wet conditions, in Tipperary. We had been planning this for ages, a weekend of friends, kids, and camping. The campsite was nice but with the weather, we didn't get to see or do much besides sit around chat, cook food, drink, chat, dry the kids, chat...but what more could you want! The campsite had a small pet farm attached, complete with a solitary alpaca and rather grumpy sheep....I knew there had to be some textile connection, even when camping!!

On the road again...

I'm about to embark on another road trip. This one will last at least 2 and half weeks, taking in Galway, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary! Packing for Irish weather, camping and a toddler is blooming hard work...

For anyone who asked about the crochet fruit patterns, I won't get to post them until after this time. Anyone else who is going to the Irish Crochet Lace workshop in Clones, see you there!!! (You can read about the Lace workshops here)

Mobile broadband is still a dream in this country, so I'll be offline for most of that time. Apologies in advance. See you in a few weeks!!

Summer and Fruit!

Had a busy weekend. Lots of kiddies activities because Feile na Blath was on in Tralee town park. It's a lovely little festival, very family orientated. Our first full-on face paint, and although he has never actually seen spiderman before, he was still determined to be spiderman...Stocked up on balloons, free pencils and yoyo's, as well as bouncy castles, playgrounds, picnics, dog shows, etc..The weather was perfect, not to hot, not to cold, and we had great fun.

Then we opened the box of giant chalks I had been saving for a non-rainy day, and graffetied the driveway, our shoes and bums with chalk. I think I had more fun than the child...


Over the past week I've been making fruit and veg. I was supposed to be trying to sew them, but I got carried away with the crochet. As you do! I have the patterns roughly written up, and it'll probably be a while before I get it together to write them up properly, but when I do, I'll be looking for testers, if anyone wants to try their hand....

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...