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. 





World Wide Knit in Public Day June 2017

Here we are at our 3rd WWKIP Day held once again in Yarns Coffee Halt at Theatre at The Mill, Mossley.  We held our WWKIP Day a week earlier than the official date because of holidays etc. among the group.  We had our WWKIP Day on Saturday 3rd June.

Our local Hookery Group were joined by some lovely ladies from
the Knitwits Group in Portstewart who went on to host their own WWKIP Day on Saturday 10th June on Portstewart Promenade. Thank you ladies for your support.   Maybe next year we'll travel
to the North Coast and join you for The WWKIP Day.

We also had some friends from Whitehead who joined us again this year. Thank you ladies. 

The staff at Yarns were very attentive as usual and thanks must go to the Duty Manager and to Heather in the coffee shop.  We had 36 folks who came along - women, men, adults and children, some who could knit and crochet and others who couldn't, some who were coming back for a second time and some who were new.

On the table in the photo above you can see some white pieces of work.  It was quite difficult to get a good picture of the white work.  One belongs to Catherine's great grandmother and was crocheted back in the late 1800s.  Catherine's grandmother worked in the local linen mills and she then attached the crocheted pieces to some linen.  The work is so detailed and one can't even begin to imagine the poor light that the ladies had to do the work and also the material is so white and clean.  Another couple of pieces belong to Helena's sister-in-law who crocheted collars and cuffs for Irish dancing tunics.  All of these pieces of work have Irish roses and shamrocks on them.

We decided on a floral theme this year and everyone pulled out all the stops to come up with unusual ideas for crocheted and knitted garments and other items on the theme of flowers.  The photos don't do justice to the work.

Ladder kindly loaned by Mags and the flowers and vines kindly donated by Judith, Niqi's mum.  Judith was tasked with crocheting 'just a few' while she was over on holidays a few weeks ago. 

  Doesn't Ermintrude look well?  This is one of the cows placed in public places around Northern Ireland.  This one is in The Civic Square at Mossley Mill.  Ermintrude's head was carefully measured to ensure a snug fit of her sun hat!

It was a warm day so Ermintrude didn't really need her blanket but there were a few very heavy showers of rain!

'THE Bernard' as it has become known was ceremoniously cast off on WWKLIP Day.  It had been cast on at last year's WWKIP Day.  

This is a very special little flower.  Maureen was teaching herself how to do this pattern when news came through about the Manchester Arena explosion.  After she had finished the flower Maureen decided to put a single pink button onto the flower to represent each of the 22 lives lost.  

 Some other flowers seen on the day.

On trend cacti ....  Have you noticed them everywhere in the shops, in flower shops, on clothes and in the home decor magazines?  Can you see the dinky red watering can tucked away in the background?  

Here's a cheeky little cacti man made by Chloe ....  And a bouquet of carnations made by me.

 The group are making a friendship blanket.  We have all made flowers according to a pattern from Crochet Now but have chosen our own two-tone colours.  Catherine has started joining them together and some of the rest of us will do some more of this.  It is our intention to raffle it off once completed.

 Meet the members of Hookery Group.  Elaine started to crochet in February and this is her first piece.  It's a labour-of-love blanket for her husband.  The Mayor came to pay us a visit too that day on one of his last official visits at the end of his term of office.

 Evelyn's smiley little happy flower, from an Attic24 pattern, resting against Niqi's Sunshine and Showers blanket.

Maureen's sunshine flower.

 We were lucky enough to have one of our Poppy Pieces on display for our WWKIP Day.  It generated lots of discussion from members of the public who were also using the coffee shop that day.

And so to rest ...

A brief moment somewhere else

 I have to say that it is becoming quite difficult to blog about Hookery because of a Most Special Project that we have just finished and that will be officially, and I mean most officially, unveiled next week! We are sworn to secrecy until then by Heather Boss.

 So, in the meantime, imagine some pleasant music like the stuff they played while we watched the Gallery on that art programme with Morph. We were at my house last week. Catherine, among the many other quite wondrous things she is making for the lucky children in her sphere, is working on the Hungry Caterpillar.

 If I could find the wool I would be fixing the holes that are lamentably appearing in the blanket I made for my mother's birthday a mere year and a half ago. Moving swiftly on...

...to a word on frogging. Catherine is here frogging a cardigan with which she is not entirely pleased. Niqi, however, is working on a beauty of a shawl, a covetable piece, for which she hasn't had quite enough wool, and so has frogged other less precious things to finish. Sometimes the end result is worth the wait- and the wait will soon be over!

Sun, seaside and silks

Ohhhh what a lovely, relaxing day we had yesterday at Corrymeela overlooking the sea and Rathlin Island.  Catherine, Niqi, Mags and I were at an away day led by Pauline Edmiston the most wonderful Scottish artist who works with silk and can use her craft for either relaxation or therapy.  The day was entitled Dreams and we were gathered in the very restful, and very peaceful, Croi.

We arrived to tea/coffee and a lovely plate of home made scones with beautiful blackcurrant jam; lunch was lasagne, creamy garlic and leek potatoes with a multitude of salad sides to choose from and peach and pear pavlova for dessert.  At the end of the day, after we had finished our craft and had everything packed up for the journey home, we were given yet another cup of tea or coffee and another slab of home made lemon cake topped with fresh blueberries and raspberries. It was all very yummy.

The sun shone all day although the drive to Ballycastle was a little longer and more diverted than usual due to the annual Auld Lammas Fair being held on the same Bank Holiday Monday.  The fair has been running for about 400 years and is associated with the start of harvest and the Lammas tradition.  The tradition is to bring a loaf, made from the new wheat harvest, to Church for a blessing.  Bits of the bread were also placed in corners of the grain store to protect the grain and ensuring a season of plenty.

I was walking along the beach just after 8am and Ballycastle was just waking up in preparation for the Auld Lammas Fair.  You might be able to see the 'Big Wheel' in the background.

We all took different routes to get there, some coming from Coleraine or Bushmills/Balintoy, others from Belfast either around the coast road or via the M2.  Whichever route you had to travel the day was fabulous and so were the colours of nature.

Pauline told us a little about her work, how she became involved and talked about the textures and colours of the silks, how they can be cool or warm, vibrant or pale and how they can remind us of people, situations or of scenery.  The silk was so fine and yet so strong.  Pauline likened all of this to our lives, our strengths and weaknesses, colourful times in our lives and duller episodes, the warmth of family and friends or the coolness of hurtful situations.

We got to see a tiny cocoon, the size of a thimble and first of all we stretched it out to the size of a hat for a human head! Pauline talked about when is the best time to dye the silk and what different effects you can achieve if you dye it at the cocoon stage of wait until it has been unfurled.  Then we started to take apart the ten layers within each 'hat' all the time the silk getting finer and finer.

 
At every stage we had the opportunity to be hands on and to learn so much.  It was indeed interesting to see how tentative everyone held the tiny cocoons at the start of the day and pulled the silk for the first time but by the end of the day we were all so much more confident.  Did you know that silk makes a noise when you stretch it out?  Yes, it creaks and crackles - amazing.

Can you imagine that this ....

... would become this?

Each of us had the opportunity to add some of our own history, emotions, family life, thoughts and prayers into the creation which was a great privilege and whilst very personal also showed a high level of trust, sensitivity and understanding within the group.  Pauline spoke to us at various stages throughout the day and asked us to concentrate on something specific mentioned by her and to then choose a colour which represented what we were thinking about at that time.  We created something completely original and personal yesterday and which, one lady said, can never be replicated even if we had tried there and then to do the same thing again.  The piece has been gifted to Corrymeela.

We also got the opportunity to make our own piece to bring home.  Here is mine and it represents the seaside where I am always very at home and which has so many 'associations' for me.  I am also, if you know me well, drawn to the colour blue.

It was a day to re-kindle friendships and to make new friends.  Thanks to everyone for an absolutely wonderful day.  If you are on Facebook you may be able to see some photos here.

We had time to ourselves as well within the very busy day, time to knit or crochet or to just relax around the beautiful grounds and admire the views of Rathlin Island.  Niqi and I caught up on some knitting and crochet and I even managed to get a pic of part of my Seaside Winter Blanket CAL on the beach!

At the end of the day we 'yarn-bombed' this ladder which tied in nicely with Mags' closing theme of Jacob's dream and the ladder.

And goodnight