I was away for a few days visiting a good friend in Glastonbury and of course the knitting came too.
I had lots of remnants from previous projects and donations, so I knotted them all together, wound it up on a wool winder and am using it double to make a long gilet.
In the background you can see some sourdough dough that I had mixed with a good, well risen starter – it was ready to bake the next morning.
My current commission is to spin some dog hair and make mittens, hats, socks and scarves for the client’s young nieces.
The dog hair is quite short and will not spin at all well on its own, so I have blended it with some alpaca, spun it as a single, and plied with a fine, commercial acrylic yarn.
First two hats completed
This is the jumper I was asked to knit by a client, based on one that got shrunk in the wash.
I include it in a series of items I plan to knit, following what is knit/ crocheted in the Game of Wool program. I didn’t exactly follow the Game of Wool criteria in that I didn’t design it from scratch, however the client wanted a different yarn type, so I had to find appropriate yarn and work out needle size, tension etc before I could start.
This was based on the 80’s style mohair jersey made, I think, in episode 2.
And it’s finished. Ends sewn in and blocked.
I crocheted arm and neck bands as it looked neater than picking up stitches to knit them.
I chose waves and viking ships as the Vikings are historically linked with the Strangford area.
Next project will be the ’80s mohair jersey. Except I will be cheating a bit. I have been asked to knit an acrylic mohair style jersey from an old 1980s mohair pattern. Very little brushed acrylic out there in all of the colours that I need, and at the right weight of wool. So I have bought yarn in a different weight and will need to knit swatches to get correct needles and tension. So I have a bit of a challenge, but not the design work.
It’s not quite finished yet, another hour or so. So it will have taken between 10 and 11 hours to knit.
Will post again when finished
I have been watching Game of Wool – not out of any particular liking for this type of program, rather because knitting is one of my crafts and I wanted to know what people would be talking about.
I have no comments or observations about it, it is what it is. But it did inspire me and challenge me to see if I could do any of the projects, using the same criteria that contestants were given.
So I picked their first challenge – a fair isle style tank top, knit in bulky yarn on a circular needle. I took time to create a pattern, choose colours and get ready to knit. About 4 hours in, this is what I have knitted to so far. Can you tell what the motifs are?
I received my official certificate this morning for the Sustainable Tourism Practice in Destinations course that I did earlier in the year
Castle Espie was the ‘view from the office’ today, more precisely the Lime Kiln Bird Observatory.
I was to take part in the Ards & North Down Council ‘Shorelife Festival’ earlier in the month, however it was cancelled courtesy of storm Amy. The Council then very kindly offered a number of us the chance to exhibit at Castle Espie today, so Welig Crafts, Strangford Lough Activity Centre, myself and MRS MAKER is ART offered a range of activities to visitors to the castle today.
Despite the very changeable weather, plenty of visitors had a go at painting, archery, and making bracelets, and watched willow weaving in action, all with a shore life theme.
Below are photos of my activities, the calm before the storm…..both in relation to numbers of visitors and the weather
Every great place has a story — and here in Ards and North Down, there are so many to tell! From our stunning coastline and historic towns to the people and places that make this region unique, storytelling is at the heart of what makes our destination truly special.
Delighted to welcome Eimear Callaghan, Tourism Northern Ireland; Alice Mansergh,
Tourism Ireland; Aoife McVeigh, Visit Belfast and lots of local tourism providers to our Industry Day today – celebrating The Power of Storytelling.
A fantastic opportunity to connect, collaborate, and share the stories that make Ards and North Down such a vibrant and inspiring place to visit.
I was playing with the Brother Drum Carder this afternoon, blending hand dyed batts with silk (including sari silk), linen and some sparkle.
Suitable for spinning and felting. It is quite textured with the other fibres added in.
We had a little visitor to Makers’ Moot this morning – meet Santi, a retired guide dog, here with his owner Jane.
Three hanks of quite textured long wool x Bichon Freise.
Spun with a very short draft and a lot of twist (which is very evident in the finished yarn).
This is where I finished up yesterday evening – one full bobbin, and one nearly full,
Will definitely be a ‘textured’ yarn when finished.
There was about 600gm Bichon Freise, and 200g washed, carded long wool (can’t remember which breed). It’s all been through the Brother Drum Carder twice, and that has helped to blend the dog hair more consistently through the fleece. Now to the spinning whee
I have taken on an interesting commission – to spin Bichon Freise hair for a lady. Sadly her little dog passed over the rainbow bridge a few months ago and she wants to have a memory of her.
Beautiful, soft, black alpaca on the Brother Drum Carder this evening. This will spin really fine and is destined to be woven by a client.
Some teeswater fleece, spun and piled with some linen yarn, rescued by my friends Hermann and Marion from an old linen mill some time after it closed.
If you are free Saturday 4 October, head over to Glenside Farm, just outside Comber,, and support this very worthy social enterprise. Great coffee and maybe get a head start on your Christmas shopping.
Mum and daughter day today, learning to spin. The lovely Ruth and Sophie were quick learners, and went home with a ball of wool each.
Enrolments for the Autumn Term of Creative Classes and Workshops at Ards Arts Centre is currently open! So if you have ever wanted to try your hand at a new artistic skill, and meet like minded people, then check out the classes available.
I recently knit a friend an ’emotional support chicken’. I posted it over to her, as she is in England and I am in Northern Ireland.
These have been showcased across Facebook and Instagram over the last few months.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟳 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝟮-𝟰𝗽𝗺
𝗡𝗜 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗿𝘆 returns with their wonderful birds of prey,
Christine of Kiri Cottage Crafts will be sharing her baking skills with 𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 for sharing.
And, the entertaining 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲 will be bringing the past alive
Inspiring Yarns in Newtownards has a lovely selection of wool, and plenty of other craft supplies. Well worth a visit!
We have now become an ‘unincorporated constituted group’, and renamed ourselves ‘The Makers’ Moot’. The main aim of our group is to help retain, share and promote local heritage, and other crafts by increasing our skills and knowledge as a group. By becoming a group such as this, we can apply for relevant grants so that we can learn more crafting skills.
As part of Ards and North Down Council’s Creative Peninsula, craft demonstrations were set up in the North Down Museum in Bangor on Sunday 3 August.
I brought several lucets, a Scandinavian braiding tool, for demonstration. Lots of chat with interested visitors, and a few who tried it out Lucets were used to create decorative braids and trimmings for clothings and household, and also to make more practical cordage and fine rope.
Ards and North Down Council kicked off Creative Peninsula on Friday 1 August in the square in newtownards. A number of us did some demonstrations in the Arts Centre, offering opportunities for the visitors to have a go at the crafts on display.
I had brought a number of peg looms and had plenty of customers, aged from under 10 to over 80.
Peg loom weaving is fun, easy to learn and provides an opportunity for creativity.
I had a lovely morning on Thursday with Molly, over from England and staying with her daughter Zoe for a couple of weeks.
An experienced knitter, Molly was interested in the Scandinavian craft of nalbinding. So we spent a couple of hours nalbinding, between cups of coffee and homemade cherry and lemon scones, and soda bread.
I was given about 20 fleeces this morning from a local farmer – a very welcome gift.
The first job to do is to ‘skirt’ the fleeces which involves removing both the very dirty fleece, and the shorter and weathered parts of the fleece as using these would create a poorer quality yarn once spun.
This has turned out as a lovely, bright wool. It is hand dyed Galway fleece. It is spun as a single and is very textured.
I am now spinning some raw fleece for a customer to knit an Aran jumper. She has asked that some lanolin is left in the wool, as that is what her customer for the jumper has asked for.
I have just finished spinning the pet sheep commission from yesterday. It was really successful and produced approximately 2 kg of lovely Aran weight wool ready for my customer.
I have plenty of spinning to do tomorrow. There will be need to go out into Storm Éowyn!
I have already washed two large fleeces, then they were picked and carded. Hopefully, I will have them spun by the end of the day.
