Once upon a time...

... it was suggested to our local borough council that hosting a festival to celebrate all things yarn would be a really great idea.

Spinning Yarns; a festival of colour, creativity and craft comes to Antrim Castle Gardens & Clotworthy House this weekend. Open on both Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd September 10am - 6pm there will be fun for all the family.

But most importantly 'The Estate' will be on public display for the first time.  The Estate has been our largest crochet project to date, both in timeline and finished size, measuring just over 3m by 2m (9feet by 6feet) and nearly eight months in the making, we have created a 2 dimensional map of the Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough area featuring railways, rivers and roads and a range of historical, modern and mythical locations.












Come along and see how any you can recognise.

Temperature temptations, tribulations and trebles

I hope everyone had a quiet Christmas and that Santa was good.  Happy New Year to you all.

The ladies of the group all seem to have read the same Facebook and blog posts around the turn of 2017 into 2018 and the theme of a piece of temperature work has come up.  Enthusiastically last week we discussed the prospect of doing these and about six of us have got the ball rolling.   This is going to be a sort of CAL within the group but we will all progress at our own pace and at our own skill level. 

There are many blogs and Facebook posts about temperature work and Pinterest is chock full of photos for example The Crochet Crowd, Lion Brand, Simple Knitting, Sleepy Eyes, and photos on Facebook and Pinterest.  I have no affiliation to any of these sites but a good Google search will elicit myriad results to aid you in your research and give you lots of (too many!) ideas to get you started.

The idea is soooo simple …   Isn’t It?  The idea is that you work a set number of rows  per day of an item in a colour that co-ordinates with the temperature. You can pre-decide a colour range/chart using perhaps eight to ten different colors depending on your climate and as you work your piece, you will get a beautiful variation of colour throughout the year. Depending on the climate where you live, each color will probably correspond to between three and seven degrees.  If like me you live in Northern Ireland then temperatures will mostly vary between -5 to about 35 degrees.  However, you may live in a country where a temperature range of -20 to +40 is normal.  Choose your colours wisely.

And they’re off ...  

 

Or perhaps not …

Will I knit or crochet?

Will it be a scarf, a blanket or a tube scarf, a baby blanket? A cat? 

Straight lines or zigzag? Hexagons or circles?  Corner-to-corner?  Granny square?  Ribbed?

A straightforward temperature chart or a ‘mood’ chart, a weather type chart e.g. stormy, windy, wet, hot and sunny?

At what time each day should I take the temperature?  Max temperature, or at a set time?  What if I go on holiday, should still I record and use the temperature at home or the temperature wherever I am?  Do I use the highest temperature each day AND the lowest temperature?

How many colours each day?  Just one or two for the highest and lowest temperatures?  A granny square with three rows using white always as the middle row and the other colour as per the daily temperature?

Shades of the same colour such as a blue theme or a rainbow of colours?

DK, chunky or aran?  Use up my stash or buy new yarn?

Get myself organised?

Which stitch?  Doubles, trebles … Use the same stitch Monday to Friday and change for each weekend?  Use a different stitch each month?

Getting started was not as easy as first thought for many of us.  Two of us have frogged out the first 10 days and started over again.  One has taken a dramatic turn and halved the number of daily rows as her scarf was going to end up measuring over 3 metres/10 feet and another has planned a new colour scheme.  One other person has a spreadsheet to assist her with colours and moods together. 

One of our number, who lives at a great distance from the group but calls in with us when she can, will be working along with us and sharing lots of pics on Facebook.  Hopefully she'll get to visit us often throughout the year.

It’s so nice to see that we are all working differently, interpreting the challenge on a very personal skill level and colour preference.  Most of us are keeping diaries and I hope to update this blog monthly with pics of our work.  It's going to be very exciting watching all the pieces develop.

I thought I had made my mind up but time to cut the ties, I think, and start again …

(All pics courtesy of Pinterest and Google except for those depicting the work of ladies in the group.

Crafted Christmas

Hello readers

I hope you’re all feeling rested and have had an enjoyable festive time of mulled wine, mince pies and mellowness with your families and friends?

The decorations are (mostly) down, the wrapping paper and cards have been recycled and Christmas has been and gone for another year.  The frantic rush to shop for, buy and wrap presents; the food shop and then cooking the Christmas turkey is over for another year.  As Mags would say ‘And breathe .....’

I was wondering how many of you hand made presents this year, or in the past? Or who was given a hand made gift this year?  It doesn’t have to be knitted or crocheted but post your pics and comments below.  Let’s just share our beautifully made gifts.

I did quite a bit of my gift shopping at local craft fairs this year under the ‘shop local’ banner giving custom to local small business owners and crafters.  Whilst I didn’t by any means save money I supported the continuation of crafting skills and more traditional gifted goods. And because all of the items are hand made they are more labour and time intensive so cost more than a mass-produced item from abroad!  Only another crafter can appreciate this time and effort.

One of my crafted presents

I also made a few gifts, but not as many as I could have or should have because time didn’t permit. I’ll just have to start earlier for next year.

A completed chunky scarf

A work-in-progress

 

The scarves above are made with 4 strands of DK knitted together on a chunky needle and the effect is quite surprising.  The pink scarf uses a ball of Stylecraft Candy Swirl in Coconut Ice plus a ball each of the grey, white and pink.  The Candy Swirl gives the overall stripe effect. The blue scarf uses a ball of flecked green/navy/white/grey/mocha plus a ball each of grey, white and teal.

I know many of you have gone the extra mile and produced endless Christmas gifts from your hooks and needles because I have seen the final garments.  If you can, post your pics below, or send them to me and I’ll post them for you.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2018.

Hookery in the Bookery went to Bessbrook-ery

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 2^nd 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.

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.

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.  

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. 





Report on Away Day

Oh my....Wow....Oh, look....Gorgeous....I love this!

Just a few of the utterances to be heard this morning as the smallest band there could possibly be completed the Glen Gallery quest.

You drive down an insignificant and narrow country lane and enter a tiny pink cottage which transforms TARDIS like into the most amazing craft barn. They sell jewellery and finished goods as well as the tools and materials for knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross-stitch, quilting, felting, beadwork and a lot of other handi-crafts too.  And loads of pattern books and how-to manuals as well.  Throughout the year they organise full-day courses (inc refreshments on arrival and lunch) around various crafts from knitting to beadcraft.  They stock the entire range of Debbie Bliss and Rowan yarns and have a very extensive range of other beautiful designer yarns.

Some pennies did change hands throughout the day and here are a few snaps of our purchases.   You'll have to keep an eye on the blog to find out what we intend to do with them :-)

And, of course, the gallant adventurers partook of some delicious food at the Millside Restaurant which is in the recently restored Old School in Gracehill, a quaint Moravian village full of beautiful buildings, fantastic front doors and a quiet village green.

Refreshed after lunch we visited yet another craft outlet, Gemini Crafts also in the Old School.

For those of you unable to join our foray into uncharted territories, all I can say is that you missed a fantastic day.  A return trip to all three locations is already on the cards .....

Away day Friday 4th Jan & 2013 schedules

Ladies,

An idea was mooted, interested was expressed, excitement is building and we now have a plan.

Meet at Niqi's in Dalewood from 8.30 tomorrow morning. Tea, coffee and second breakfasts will be available for all Hookits that fancy sharing in our adventure. Departure will be around 9.30, Ann's bus permitting.

Destination Glen Gallery, Cullybackey!

Due to commitments (not the 80's film) we will need to be back in Newtownabbey for around 2.30, so lunch on the way home has been suggested.

If you fancy joining us text Niqi on 07770430441 before 8.30 tomorrow morning.

We are also going to try to come up with a schedule to allow all the Hookers to be able to attend some of the meetings each month - so can you make sure that you let Heather, Mags or Niqi know which evenings you can make. Our hope is to alternate weeks between Weds at the Dock and another night at Heather's.

Deja vu ....

I believe that hookery twice in one week shows great enthusiasm and true dedication to our craft.

As you can see, the bobble hats are progressing well with or without extra assistance!  We pledged 6 but already have 10 to send off to St Mungo's next month.  Well done to all knitters of plain, chunky, aran or double stranded double knitting, with two needles or, last but not least, with a circular needle!  Picture required Niqi. After next week there is going to be sooo much 'orange' wool left on the shelves of local wool shops!  I'm sure the owners did wonder why, all of a sudden, orange was a popular colour.

 

  

The new recruits have been yarn shopping in Parlour Yarns.  Anne and Gillian have decided upon the crochet bag from our textbook and are being given intense tuition from an expert in our midst.

Sheila is finally happy enough with her project to allow us to photograph it and share it with the world.

 

And the ta-dah moment has finally arrived.  Gail has completed her afghan and proudly shows it off in situ.  Well done, it looks fabulous.

 

Gail's next project (which, without giving away too many details, is on a similar theme) is well under way but she stresses that it is on a much smaller scale.

Until next week then, when the bobble hats should all be finished and ready to be posted off to a collection warehouse in London. Bye

An extra night this week

An extra night of crochet was held this week because Angela and Bob were visting Mags and her family. Angela is an accomplished crafter and Bob a keen musician in his spare time.


Heather's bag making great progress. The squares are sooo neatly crocheted together.

Making mini bobbles on a fork. Angela said she had seen the idea and in a flash 3 of us had lifted forks and started winding wool. It works really well.

Angela (Tracing Rainbows) who is knitting winter hats for a seamen's charity, and Heather hard at work.

Niqi's latest project. Hat, scarf and Mitts.

Catherine's pretty ripple blanket with a glimpse of Lynne's ripple blanket.

Gillian and Anne are making a joint decision on a project from THE textbook.