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Thursday 30 November 2017

Hookery in the Bookery went to Bessbrook-ery

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Supper and shop was how it was described, and who could resist?  What could be nicer than a wee festive treat for our ladies, a group excursion to a quaint little village tucked away in the Co Down countryside, to spend an evening at Crafty Wishes?  The welcoming Christmas windows were spectacular with an old-fashioned fireplace and a knitted fair isle Christmas stocking hanging on it.  Moreover, no parking issues, which was the icing on the cake.
Lorna advertised her November/December friendship evenings on 2nd October and I think it took us all of 24 hours to book our visit.  We did not want to go too early because we wanted to be as festive as possible, but we didn’t want to get into the midst of the December rush and vie with other bookings that the women in the group might have had.
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We set out from Newtownabbey at 5.40 and it took until 7.10 to get there - soooo glad I don't have to negotiate that rush our traffic every day.  the evening flew by and soon it was time to make the reverse journey but I imagine many of us will definitely be back.  I have my eye on the Christmas table cloth ....  Just saying.
Knitting, crochet and craft are all about sharing ideas and time, helping others or encouraging those who have lost their mo-jo, assisting the inexperienced and finding new challenges for the confident crafter to make or do.  It’s about the fellowship of time spent together, relaxing, the problems shared and the problems halved. 
A few of us have been there on a couple of occasions in the past, including for the Macmillan coffee morning in September, and we have found that the welcome is always warm and friendly.
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This shop is a real treasure trove, a treat for the dedicated, enthusiastic knitter and crocheter, many beautiful gifts for sale, yarns to die for and patterns a-plenty.  There are seasonal Christmas patterns for festive characters and decorations, scarves and hats as well as all the usual array of patterns from all the major suppliers.  Accessories from buttons and bows to yarns of all ply, from the very fine to the super chunky.   And lots of already knitted and crocheted items on display, which give her customers ideas.  
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Lorna also sells some costume jewellery such as brooches and long necklaces to adorn your yarny creations.  The shop even has a loyalty card!
We were presented with festive treats of (non-alcoholic) mulled wine, mince pies and other festive goodies.
It was a real winter's treat.  Thanks to all the ladies for coming along and than you Lorna for hosting. 

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Wednesday 8 November 2017

The return of the Knitter

In school, we learned Amo, Amavi, and Amabo.  I love, I loved, I will love.  In my case, it is I knit, I knitted, I will knit.  I tell you this, it is partly through an old school friend, that I have fallen in love with knitting again.

I was always a knitter, I come from a long family of knits.  I learned to knit when I was 4 years old, it was almost an extension of me.  Girl Guide knitting badge was like taking candy off a baby, not of course that I would ever do that!  

At university, I used to knit my own clothes.  I remember an illicit weekend in Dublin and I was knitting a dress to take with me.  Time was against me, I was knitting blue Donegal tweed and silk on a circular needle.  I kept knitting until I stepped into the magic circle, and, I thought it covered all the requisite bits.  A pair of pink tights, and white ankle boots and I was ready to go!  And I am sure I was lovely.  Looking back, it was a little on the short side!


For me, when I had children, it was great!  Now I got to knit children’s jumpers.  There was a brief halcyon moment when I used to design my own jumpers for my twin boys.



And then came the Julius Caesar dagger in the heart moment.  Twin one was whispering to twin two. “Can you knit school trousers?” asked twin one.  “No, you can’t” I replied.  The relief in the voice was tangible as twin one whispered to twin two “she says you can’t, we will be buying them in a proper shop”.  Et tu Brute.

So …. That was the end of the knitting, and a heart broken mother.
Fast forward 25 years and twin one marries a girl who not only knits, but spins her own yarn.  Result!  But talking to the young is a whole different language these days, yarn not wool, cake not ball, (cake – I eat cake!), indie dyers not wool shops, ravelry not patterns in a big folder.  This was all a foreign land to me, then my daughter in law took me to Unravelled in 2016.

Unravelled was my epiphany.  I had no idea what was going on, mostly, but it was ever so exciting.  I walked round and round in a state of confused awakening.  I love all these skeins, but what do you do with single skeins?  Why does everybody knit shawls, or wraps, or even stranger, haps?  What is a hap?  How do you know how much wool to buy if you don’t have a pattern book to flip through?  Where did all these “young” people come from?  They all knit?  I came home enthused but emotionally exhausted.  I spent hours reading knitting blogs and trying to get to grips with Ravelry.  I started buying random amounts of wool, sorry yarn, but no clear idea what to do.

And then Heather contacted me.  I had left a comment on this Hookery blog,  Heather and Elaine had a conversation about this lady who had posted a comment and how there could be connections. Elaine, realised we had gone to school together and that our fathers had been friends for years and years.   And then I was contacted, I was invited to join the girls in their meet up.  And …. It all clicked.  I had come home again.  I could see why folks knitted more shawls and scarves than there were days in the week!  Knitting in the round and having cake on the needles was where I was meant to be!  I spent a lovely summer with the girls, and set off to our very own Yarnfest at Whitehead in August fully prepared.

This time around, I knew where I was going.  I was buying skeins with a purpose.  I knew what BFL high twist was, I knew what fingering weight was, I even knew what sport yarn was.  And, no it isn’t a jumper you wear when playing cricket!

So, back to my declensions.  I knit, I knitted, I will knit.  I DO knit!  And I look forward to spending time with the girls again, and seeing the eventual completion of Bernard.  And, would you believe it? I have even mastered brioche!  Yes, this time last year, I thought brioche was a French bread too.


Helen x