Birmingham Knitting and Stitching Show - Part 1

I've gone through a wormhole for a moment. I have a few pics to share. Be prepared there will be more.

We had a fantastic weekend. Sara, Isobel, Sharon, Cheryl and myself left Friday for a fibre filled weekend. We arrived mid afternoon and were treated to a lecture tour of the city by our taxi driver. Making several references to the abundance of night life for us to enjoy. We got to the hotel and promptly asked for a room in the back. Top floor. One room was brisk and the other a sauna. So much so that it had to be traded in for another room on a different floor. The sacrifice was made. Cooler room, hall way that smelled of dirty sweat socks. At least you could close the door.


We were very close to the canals and restaurants, so the options for food was plenty. The first night was Japanese. Anyone in the US been to BeniHana?? Cook the food in front of you? That was us. Plenty of metal banging metal causing banging heads. Food was great. I loved mine. So did everyone else.








Saturday morning we decided to go into the city to Selfrige's for a look around. Cool store. There was a miniature American section in the food section on the lower level. Jelly Belly World, Double Stuff Oreo, Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix and Syrup, Marshmallow Fluff and our children's all time favourite is Lucy Charms. £6.99 if you can't read the price. At current exchange price that's about $12.00 a box. I bought 2. How many times do you get a sugary cereal and ripped off at the same time??? Not really. The husband was relieved.



This is the outside of the store. I think it's really cool looking, but most City Dweller's say it looks like hubcaps. Entirely possible.









P.S. - Our cook at the Japanese Restaurant was entertaining, yes, but the mole/fu-man-chu was on the verge of a health hazard, but you just can't keep your eyes off it. The hairs, which looked as though they were waxed together, must have been at least 2 inches long. Unbelievable... I was sure he should have had a chin net for that thing, hygiene and all. Couldn't let that pass..

And Now A Word from Our Sponsor

Blogger is unable to load my pictures from Birmingham Knitting and Stitching Show right now. Maybe there's to much fuzz in the gears. Anyway, check out Cheryl and Isobel's blogs for a good rundown until I can post. Please stand by...

Will It Ever End

The volume of events and deadlines coming my way is like being sucked up in a tornado.



Birthday 7 for our daughter. Must have party. Sleepover before school didn't work out so we opted for the Dublin Zoo. 12 girls, 2 boy, 2 parents and we managed to come out with the same amount as we came in with. Not sure if they were the right children, but we had the numbers!! Weather cooperated, food was made and intact, plenty of drinks for thirsty kids, party bag stuff purchased according to zoo theme and some moms pitched in with their family zoo passes, so it was a lot cheaper than I thought it was going to be.


The final spinning is in the works. I over dyed the pastel, but managed to nearly felt the roving beyond use. After much stretching, tugging, pulling and very slow spinning, the yarn is hanging.













Make the actual birthday cake. I will be away until evening on the daughter's birthday. I know, I'm a terrible mom. We had the family party tonight with lots of cake, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Her request. Fine. She is thrilled. I am happy to be part of that. I love being her mom.













Next will be getting ready to go to Birmingham, England tomorrow with 4 other knitting fanatics to the Knitting and Stitching Show. We will be there for the weekend and return Sunday night late. I'm looking forward to being away from the list. Still need to pack. Shouldn't be much, it's only 3 days. I'll have to let you know what happens. I do have an assignment though. I need to take pictures of an exhibit that will be on display at the show. It will be coming to the Dublin show in November. The Feltmakers Ireland Guild will be hosting the exhibit and need to have an idea of what to look forward to. Plus one of my friends has a piece in the show. Cool!

Lots of knitting on the list too. Just bought some yarn for a scarf for one of my nieces for Christmas. Also have a baby item to knit as we have a new baby (Not Mine) in our family. She came last night.

One of These things is not Like the Other

I've started a little project. Felting a piece. Not making felt. Did that with the roving, but knitting and "Fulling." I'm picking colors I have and that I like. Bought some Brown Sheep Bulky last summer in the US. Started with that. It really doesn't go very far so....rip...Go up to Holly's Yarn Emporium (Rubbermaid containers upstairs) and find another set of colours that are very similar. A good mix of Manos (old), Manos (new), something Icelandic (old) and Cascade (new). It's kinda like the wedding thing. Something old, something new... blah, blah, blah and but nothing blue. Yeah, that's how it goes.

If my memory serves me right, which it often doesn't, seems to me that the old (more than 15 yrs.) Manos tends to fade in the felting process. Better do a test run. What do you think??

They all shrank equally. Yeah! I still like the effect a lot, but something is different.

Mama, What's for Dinner??

It's the cry I hear every day, shortly after lunch or coming in from school. "Wool children" I say, "Ah, wool again" they shout from the computer or Lego pile.
These days I am working on a project for a friend at the kids school. Enough yarn for a jumper and matching scarf. 800+ grams of spun wool. I've never done that much at one time. It's also not all the same colour, so stretch out the wood planks and plastic table cloth.

It makes me tired just thinking of the wool that has passed through my hands in the past few days. This is the second batch. The first turned out to be very pale pastel. Not what she ordered.

Best of all, I ran out of purple dye. No one sells purple dye in Ireland that is close to Cushing's Violet. What to do? Cheryl to the rescue with some Deep Purple Procion MX in a close colour. Mix that for the second batch. By this time my back is killing me and oh, did I say I have to steam them one at a time due to the size. Oh, yeah, put to much dye on and it started to tidal wave liquid as I rolled it. Mop, mop, mop, roll, mop, mop, roll. All done. All steamed, all dried. Looks pretty good. Not as dark as I remember....

Spun it up today and guess what? I have another lovely pastel yarn!!! A wee bit darker, but still pastel. So I took 100 grams of roving and redyed it. It's drying now. We'll see tomorrow. It doesn't even look as good as the picture. If it doesn't work out with the next one, I'll be bagging it up and selling the dyed roving at the Knitting and Stitching Show in November.

National Heritage Week

This was National Heritage Week at the Collins Barracks Decorative Arts Museum in Dublin. The Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Guild was asked to do a textile demo for the a few hours today. Cheryl, Maire and I went down with our spinning wheel, loom and weaving sticks this afternoon. We weren't sure what type of crowd to expect seeing that it was the Cork/Kilkenny Hurling Match at Croke Park today. OK, Hurling in Ireland in not a vomiting competition. It is a very fast paced game involving a small hard ball and men wielding wooden mallets flattened at one end like a spatula. Dangerous, emotional and everyone comes in to support their county.
Indeed not everyone had shelled out euro for tickets today. We were swamped with primary school aged children and their families. Cheryl did the most popular ride at the theme park. No, the weaving sticks were a great success. You wrap yarn around the sticks in a figure 8 pattern and come out with fantastic bracelets, hairbands and body jewelry. The children were patient and everyone that wanted one got a turn.

I did spinning with some very awful wool I got from a mill in Kerry. Lots of lumps, bumps and other uglies you just don't want, but great for demo purposes. Dyed in Kool Aid. Lemon Lime and Blue Raspberry? Children had never seen the rare breed sheep of Ireland in blue and green. Oh, the faces, oh, the questions. Oh the terminology used by parents to describe an art form they've never seen! It's great. Got to talk to lots of people, young and old. Met a new knitter that will join our Tuesday night group. Yippee!! I love new knitters!!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to school we go!!

Well it's the morning of the first day of school. Everyone was up, dressed and ready to go with time to spare. It is the first day after all. We skipped out the door and met up with fellow classmates making their trek.
The yard was jammed. This year school starts at 8:30. Last year it was 8:50. Line up began at 8:30 and the children all went in a semi orderly line into their classes. OK.
Somehow the school that my children go to is 20 minutes short of the national average each day. So this year we'll "Start at 8:30!" and get those extra minutes. Hmmm! The lineup in the yard is still at 8:30 this year. I don't really get this. The "opening" time is earlier, but their not in their classes any earlier. Glad I'm not in Government Education here.
Around 9:00, most parents were leaving the yard. Seems like a national holiday for parents. Laughing, talking, leisurely walking down to the coffee shop with half of the parents at the school. The sun is out, light breeze, coffee, scones. Man, we could get used to this and we will!! Most of the toddlers that were around last year have started school. There is an expression of FREEDOM on some parents faces I have never seen. No whinging, tugging, screaming or interception of conversations with anyone over the age of 3. FREEDOM I tell you. In the words of Martha "It's a good thing" I don't usually quote her, but it is. All that and I must say, we've been beyond that for a good many years, but it was great to see it happen to others.

It Is Finished!!

So many things have come to a finish today. I love a list, most of the time. It also can make me nervous looking at all the tasks. I usually get great satisfaction from checking off the items and giving a good sigh.

First off the list is the Aqua Blue Cheviot Fleece.
I ended up with 9 - 100ish gram balls and 1 in a darker shade that I will use for edging. I noticed darker bits and put them together to form a large bat of darker colour. It's a little course, but I rinsed it in hair conditioner and it softened it up quite a bit. Now to choose the right pattern. Not to fadish, not to granny, something cool that will last a few seasons or more. AHHH!

Second would be the Prison Workshops. They ended with a bang (not gunfire), but had a good turnout and the ladies seemed to enjoy it. They had a completion ceremony and display of all the things that had been done over the summer. Nice to seem them so proud of creating beautiful things. I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. AHHH!

Third is SUMMER. It officially ends for my children today. Tomorrow at 8:00 we begin the year long walk to school every morning. They are excited to catch up with their friends, meet new teachers and start new after school activities. We'll have to wait on how happy they are to see homework.

Fourth are the mittens. (no photo) Both have a matching set now.

And although the list is getting smaller by four, it does continue on the other side of the paper. I am choosing to ignore that bit for now. One check at a time for now

Mittens

Winter is upon us in Ireland. Well not winter, but it's in the 50's and 60's. The days are getting shorter and the feel is in the air. I love the autumn.
My hands and feet are always cold. I love mittens, gloves, hats and scarves. Really anything that will keep me warm. I saw the Target Wave Mittens in the most recent Interweave, so I got started. They are for children, but the large size fits me. Just adjusted the length a bit before the decrease and added a few rows to the thumb. Really easy and fast. Started the blue/brown and finished within a couple hours, making changes as I went. The other took less time as I knew what to do. Now I have a non-matching set. Will continue to work on the other identical set. Really fun. Not sure how many pairs of mittens I will have this year. Hate to think of it.

Spinning Llama

I got this fibre when I was back in the US in May. I had never spun much but wool, so it took a bit of practice. Slick stuff. Shifts easy. I really love the way it turned out though. Darker brown twists with the white llama. It is beautifully soft. Can't wait to knit something with this.

Making Felted Soap

After a couple requests for directions, I though I'd do one up. The first is for 1 bar at a time. Great for gifts with the holidays coming and it simple for kids to do.


Basic Materials - Few ounces of Fibre, Ziplock bag, knee high stocking and a bar of soap.

Moisten the bar with water. Wrap bar of soap in fibre as tightly as possible. Don't exert yourself. Spritz with water as you go. Helps the fibre hold on to the soap better.


Insert covered bar into stocking and tie loose knot. You can reuse (not rewear) the socks for another bar.

Put soap and sock into Ziplock and put a few inches of warm water in. Enough to mostly cover the soap. Squeeze out as much air as you can from the bag. Rub between your hands for 10-15 minutes. To much and it will felt to the sock. Yikes!
Untie the sock, rub any areas that appear loose and rinse the bar, squeezing out excess water. There you go. Felted Soap.

Multiple soaps - Must have top loading clothes washer. Cut leg off of a pair of panty hose. Do the same process with wrapping the fibre. Place one bar in, tie, place the next one in, tie and so one. You can get 6-10 soaps per leg. It will look like an Genetically Modified Sausage!
Place on Delicate cycle, HOT water wash and COLD rinse. Put in with a towel or pair of jeans. You may need to rerun cycle depending on the feel of the fibre. To loose, run it again.
Happy Felting

Soap, coin purses and so on

Well tomorrow will be the 3rd of 4 Felting Workshops that I'm helping with. The Feltmaker's Ireland have for the past 2 years been doing workshops in the summer for the Women's Prison in Dublin. It's a low security place that helps the ladies to sort out issues and gives them another chance. They have great summer programs and courses for them to participate in.













This is one of the projects we've done. When I was back in the US in May, I went to a Fiber Show with my mother. We found these great soaps. I bought one for myself. Then I found kits for the same price $4.00. Really cute. Really easy. So my mom has become the soap making machine. Queen on the Kool Aid. We made dozens. I showed the ladies at the Guild and they thought it would be a great project for the prison. Compact, contained, easy and they could take it with them that day.
So we're making felted soaps every week. It's a great beginner project with quick results. Looks cool too! We've moved on to small coin purses, mobile (cell) phone bags, wall hangings and coasters. I really enjoy the ladies that have come for the course and those that volunteer with me each week.

Tired

Can you be to tired to blog? I think so. I've been busy. Not on completing anything wooly and nice, but getting ready for school to start, having guests over (which I enjoy, but the house, the food, the bathroom), baking pies, spinning the aqua, washing and hanging yarn, washing more fleece. Oh yeah, sleepovers. Just the thought of that makes me know I'll be tired.
I feel the need to have the fleece washed before we get into those days when you think the sun is coming up, but, no it's going down. 7 or 8 hours of light (subjective) is all you get. Damp, grey, misty, cold kind of light. So, if there may be sun or not pouring rain, I wash and hope for a breeze to dry.

This is the Jacobs fleece that I got from my friend Sara. Can't wait to card it, spin it and then dye it. I like the heathered bits that
appear from time to time in the fleece. I think it will look good provided I choose the right colour to overdye it.

I think a mental nap is in order. Stop making lists in my head at night. Listless Sleep. AAAHHH!

Mama Mia

Pepperoni, Mushroom or Cheese. What's your pleasure? Mine is knitted food at the moment. This to will pass, like indigestion. All in preparation for the Electric Picnic. It's a massive concert. Think Woodstockish with hundreds lesser known bands playing for 3 days straight. Tents, Campers, Caravans, blankets... You name it, it will be there.
Sharon has been invited to organize the Knitted Picnic to be at the Electric Picnic. Bit of a display of what can be done with more time than you know what to do with. We're also putting together a knitted picnic blanket done by knitters in Ireland to be donated or auctioned off for charity. See more at www.electricpicnic.ie
All for a good cause and a bit of fun. Some of the girls will be hanging out knitting and teaching anyone who's interested or just needs a break, to knit. I won't be able to make it. I'm doing a spinning demo at the Decorative Arts Museum on Sunday and have a Guild meeting Saturday, but the pizza will be there enjoying the day.

Crocs that Roc

Yesterday I got a box, and in that box were crocs, to wear with my hand knit socks. I know, a bit of Dr. Seuss is always good. Anyway, the box is from my mom with lots of goodies including a pair of crocs. Lighter than air, water proof aside from the holes and as comfy as your slippers. I'd been admiring my mom's and she went off and bought me a pair. The true test. Could I walk into City Centre without pain or blisters??? YES!! It was even raining, so the water thing is also true. Thanks a million mom!!

Brown and Red

I love Strawberries. Now I love Wexford strawberries! We used to go berry picking in Indiana in May at The Picken' Patch. Pick one, eat 5, pick one, eat 5 more. Yum!! Autumn was Blueberry season, Summer was Corn season. You name it, you could pick it. We spent a lot of time blanching, freezing, canning and making jam for the off seasons to come. I still love the idea of that, but don't have the space or I would.
Saturday, Sara, Isobel, Sharron, Chery and I got together for a bit of Social Knitting and Chewing. All the girls decided to take pics of the Brownies and Strawberries (hence the name Brown and Red) and post them on their blogs. Since I wasn't eating the Brown (not a big Chocolate fan) I just had Red and not many at that. So I tried to sneak in a shot of someone elses plate and was BLOCKED from the shot! I was never good at basketball either. Did get a good one of her hand. Don't you think?

Hey! We got Fleece

I'll start from the short beginning. Mid May I was back in the US for a short visit. Went to an amazing fibre show. Small, but quality. Bought some felted soap. Wanted to make some while home. Put the call or email out to the local Fibre Arts Guild for anyone with wool in the area to email me. Got an email. Well several. Lovely people. But Lisa, whom I had met years ago under very different circumstances emailed me and lives close to Mom and Dad. She's a shearer, breeder, farmer... What a woman. Anyway, was up to her farm several times and got to talking about Irish fleece. Galway to be specific. I told her I'd look into it for her. Shouldn't be tough. HA!!! Three months later, still no fleece. I've tried everything to get a Galway fleece. As I spread the word that I was looking for some, the interest grew. "I'd like one too, if you find some" OK.
Well 2 days before we left for our holiday in Galway, I found a wool merchant. In Wicklow no less. Not far from Dublin. "I'll be down as soon as I get back. Oh, do you have Galway fleece?" Yes he does. Great! Finally! Amazing!!
Cheryl and I piled into the car and drove over the mountains as it was closer to go that way from her temporary residence. Unsure of where it was, we followed the map for a while, then went by instinct. On the way I discovered I forgot the camera. Cheryl said she had one in her bag. We made it. No cameras!! Photos are off her phone. Pretty good huh??

These are the boys loading fleece into a baler. Yes, the hay type. Most of the wool goes into insulation and anti-squeak mats for under wooden floors. I have never seen so much wool in my life. They seemed a bit surprised that I wanted them for spinning. Getting yarn the hard way. This is Christy pulling out the best Galway fleeces he could find.
The smell of one fleece in the tub is one thing, but thousands and thousands of fleeces is well..... Strong!! I guess you get used to it.

I finally have Galway fleece. 14 Kilos or 30.8 lbs of fleece for about $50.00 One for Lisa, one for Juliet, and two for me (1 Galway, 1 Superfine blend) Superfine is washed and dried and the Galway for Lisa is half on the drying racks and half in the tub. Can't send fleece back to US in it's current state. Doesn't pass Agriculture rules.

Oh yeah. Also came home with 2 Jacob fleeces from Sara
They're the black and white ones.

Works in Progress and a completion

Well the seed stitch/moss stitch scarf if done for Kole. Didn't start out for him, but he's the new owner. It seems to be cold enough for a scarf the last 2 days. We built a fire in the fireplace tonight. Mid August!! It's just not right.
Next is the sock from the self-striping sock yarn. I'm washing a sample to see how much it will shrink before I get to far. I really like the Twisted Sisters Sock Book. Really good.



The piece for the Weavers, Spinners and Dyers Exibit is nearly done. I don't like the natural dye colours that everyone had to use, but it's almost done. Not overly inspiring. That's it for the moment. Frogged the Sage Green Mohair cardigan that I was working on. I've spent to many hours knitting and frogging that yarn. It will find a new home somewhere else.

Into the Garden

The estate comes with a huge walled garden. 12-15 feet high, stone walls with several entrances in. Fruit trees, a shell of a greenhouse from years gone by, vegetable plants, and lovely little pathways throughout. This is the side gate in from the road up to the house.













Artichokes and loganberries fresh every day.






Big hedges, old glass greenhouses, fruit trees and secret pathways. The kids loved it. Who wouldn't.




We had a bonfire one night with all the collected wood and burnables. The flames were at least 15 feet high. It was to hot to get close to for toasting marshmellows, but we were patient.
Batteries died out, so not fire pics, but we got the start up.

Pieces of a Dream

Well something happened and I'm not sure what, but some of the pictures were able to be published thanks to Cheryl

This is our lovely hostess Juliet. She invited us up to Donegal in exchange for some help with a couple of knitting pattern projects for a Master Spinners degree in the UK. Ok, no problem. I had no idea what was in store when she said it was a bit rustic. Hmmm?? This is Trabinia the horse that comes and goes with her from Dublin. Juliet is an expert rider and jumper. Olympics and everything!


This is the main house. Four large bedrooms, six bathrooms, elevator, grand staircase, two wine cellars, amazing kitchen..... I could go on, but on to the next part.

House 2 and 3. The converted carriage house. Two identical residence with the community great room over the large blue doors. Sleeps 6 on each side and has a large granite fireplace in the center room. We stayed here.

House 4 is the Annex. It's separate from the main house and has this lovely glass room that looks out on both front and back gardens. You also have an ocean view from the glass room.

BLOGGER ON BLINK - CAN'T GET GATEHOUSE PIC. AARRGGG!!!!

The Gate House is just in side the property. It sleeps 4-6. Didn't get to peak inside that one. The drive hides the main house until you come around a curve and there it is. This is not my idea of rustic. Did I mention there is a Dance Hall. You go along a little path and up some well grown over stairs. You must have the huge old skeleton key to open the door. This room in it's day was I'm sure amazing. It all was. You can imagine, with a little TLC, what the possibilities could be. End of part one.

Error on Page

Error on Page. That's what it says every time I go to post a picture. Ok, after 4 days of being unable to post pictures of our holiday I might as well let you know we're back. After 6 loads of laundry, I know we're back. I'm still trying to figure out the problem, but until then I won't bore you with the details. Thanks for tuning in...