Yarn Along

Happily joining Ginny and the gang over at Small Things for this first Yarn Along of 2012! 

I'm not ready to let go of Christmas yet ; ) 

Liz our lovely crochet mentor at the Woollygatherings brought along this pattern for a tree decoration, a snowflake with a flower centre at one of our last sessions. It was tricky enough to begin with... I finished it at home and very happy to be conquering the art of following crochet patterns. Very satisfying to work in this mercerised cotton with a small hook.

I have such a block about blocking these days ; ) no idea why. I've a stack of crochet pieces waiting. It's vital for this little piece, as the six corners get pinned out to lovely points. The pattern calls for spraying starch to stiffen it for hanging and I haven't been able to find such a thing in our local shops yet. I'm envisioning this hanging at the top of our christmas tree next year : )

I'm doing very little reading at the moment, just getting caught up with all my favourite blogs. It's so much more fun to talk about childrens books at this time of year, no? My sister gave this charming book The Story of the Snow Children to smallie for Christmas and we've been enjoying it, such a seasonal read. The illustrations are really darling. Sibylle von Olfers died almost a century ago, she was only thirty four. There's a captivating photo of her at the back of the book, complete with crochet collar (a little obsession of mine these days, sharing these in an upcoming post) and what looks like a silk smocked dress. She was born in a castle, was stunningly beautiful and became a nun. Fascinating, I really want to read more about her. 

Thank you for lovely comments on last weeks post and look forward to checking in with what you're all up to in this much calmer time for stitching. Warmly, M

March of the hedgehogs

 My son and I moved to County Clare three years ago expressly so he could go to the Steiner school. (They are few and far between in Ireland). I so wanted that for him... I'm not sure I ever imagined how much it would bring to me, on many levels, and the countless quiet ways in which we have grown towards the ethos, and settled so naturally and comfortably within its folds.
  A whole new chapter of my life, of our lives began with this move. 

Marked by a very tough first year of missing the Dingle Peninsula we'd left behind, the stunningly beautiful coast and good, old friends. To top it all I was driving a car independently for the first time, something I had avoided 'til then, something that scared me. Initially I felt land-locked and isolated. But never once considered going back.

After that first transitional year passed, my boy had come of age to be welcomed into the kindergarten. A whole new like-minded community seemed to open up before me, a feeling that has only deepened since. How blessed do I feel. 

I arrived here as a painter. I had not yet been touched by the world of craftwork, the wonders of wool, of felting needles and embroidery thread. All that changed with my association with the school, initially through my enthusiasm and commitment to the parents craft group and eventually through our woollygatherings and my own personal journey with it all, beavering away, overcoming blocks and limiting beliefs like 'I can't sew' and 'I don't know how to knit'. It completely renewed my love of learning...I now find myself a part-time handwork teacher at the school and learning ever more. It has enriched my life, incredibly so.

 Knitting needles lovingly crafted by the children in the first of our handwork lessons, yarn   
kindly gifted to us by one of the teachers

I used to feel an element of guilt that I did so little art with my small child at home. It amazed me how people presumed, that as I was an artist it was a natural activity for us at home. But it wasn't at all. For I felt so desperate to make my art, and child-free time was so so limited and precious, that it was a separate thing for me. Gladly, that too has changed. Now my son is older and (most of the time!) I'm more relaxed about creativity happening at home, it seems to happen quite naturally. Who knows exactly why or how or when these small changes come. But through osmosis...witnessing fleeting scenes of the children crafting at the kindergarten, working around the table with other moms showing each other how to make things, standing before a group of children learning how to help them learn, how to knit or crochet. Small changes bring great changes, that I have seen.

The annual Advent Fair happened on the day that I write this, and its a funny thing for me because I feel like I've never really experienced this wonderful event and all its child-centred ventures, as I am a stall holder on the day. My kindly family come quite a way to join in the day's activities and care for smallie. 

And gladly I run my stall in one little area. Leading up to this year I really wondered, questioned, doubted whether I could pull it off, if it was worth it, whether during an already busy time it would send me over the edge into total overwhelm. I am prone to feeling overwhelmed on the average day! And wouldn't it be lovely to spend the day wandering with my own child..? Yet I couldn't seem to let it go : ) It traditionally provides a timely boost to my income at a spendy time of year. But there's much more to it than that. The work I make meets a a niche market. I know all you artists and craftworkers out there can relate to the deep feeling of wonder and satisfaction when you see someone walk away from your table with a bag containing something you've handmade, that they've handpicked. 

There is something very meaningful in being part of those who, like the wonderful parents craft group, provide natural toys for children that encourage imaginative play. Not easy to find in these parts and not always affordable.

All told, between the jigs and the reels what with teaching and other commitments, I found myself with all of two weeks to make new work in the lead-up to this. And out of the blue I was smacked with a brutal toothache that lasted a week.Yikes! Funny how that happens. Work began nonetheless, with the making of a community of hogs ; ) I wrote about these in a previous post. And with my partner at sea for these few weeks, I had wondered what would smallie do all this time as I beavered away all the rainy weekend under my work lamp. Why, he did what all six year olds are wont to do. Imitate : ) He got busy with his own pom pom production. 

He matter-of -factly moved a small table right beside mine and asked for a lamp of his own. And when he'd made a pom pom in every size his holders would allow, he went off and played contentedly with them : )

 I try to be cool about mounds of coloured wool moving in and taking over our living room as smallie and I dine off the very end of our long table and work takes over the rest ; )

There was magic about on that fair day, smallie had a brilliant time with loved ones, and me..? I was pretty much in my element : ) With me hard-earned christmas money in my pockets

I am already dreaming up next years stock ; )

Over the next couple of weeks I'll be posting more photos of some of the rest of the new work I made, thankfully mostly gone now.
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who visited and supported my stall that day.
And to all of you reading this. Wishing you a wonderful Advent season. M 

Yarn Along

I am joining Ginny and the gang over at small things for this weeks Yarn Along. I began to learn how to knit this Spring at our local Woollygatherings and while I feel I've a lot to learn yet, I'm delighted to be tackling my first 'big' project, a sleeveless v-neck jumper for my small man. He pulls one on practically every morning for school, but they're not easily available to buy around here in the pure wool version. It's also very hard to find fun colours in boy's clothing.
 I'm loving working on circular needles and this Noro yarn is really vibrant. I do find the colour gradations a bit dubious in places though, so for this piece which is the front, I broke off the yarn and re-joined to get a smoother colour change. I love self-striping yarns.
Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance is a comforting read.  There's a short essay for every day so it's ideal, as I can tend to have poor staying-power when it comes to books without pictures, but I can just dip in and out of this. Alas, less reading and more knitting is called for these days as a certain smallie keeps asking 'Is my jumper finished yet..?' Daunted by the mysteries of how to knit a neckband, I go on! I look forward to seeing it 'in action' for that's when a piece of knitwear truly comes to life, right? with a moving body inside it...and there is no doubt that this one will see lots of movement ; )

Timeless Stitching

I had a real soft-spot for my Grandmother, one that ran deep. As an art student in my early twenties I would catch the bus about once a month to spend the weekend with her in County Limerick. A traditional hot meal always lay ready for me and an old-fashioned nightie lay neatly folded on the spare bed.

She would sit by the range knitting, two needles clicking away in the still evening as we caught up. It helped keep arthritis from crippling the hands she'd heard, and she repeated this to me somewhat hopefully! I'd join her later with my crochet. I had the basic stitches then and I went through a stage of making cushion covers for friends and family, made of the granny square stitch. I knew nothing of wool then, of the value of natural fibres and the amazing qualities of pure wool. I doubt I ever gave a second thought to the origins of the yarns I used. I simply sought the very cheapest and the very brightest. Acrylic, inevitably! Nana seemed to find both the garish colour combinations and the openwork of the crochet itself somewhat exotic, relative to her stoic, undyed wool and solid aran stitching. This amused me as, for me she was a master of her craft and despite those neon colours, mine paled in comparison.

When the making of aran jumpers had become too heavy and involved for her as she aged, she moved to knitting panels. Strips of cablework that would then be attached to the sleeves and collars of jumpers machine-knit by another woman. For this, she was paid a meagre fee and the assembled jumpers were then labelled 'handcrafted' and sold, mostly to tourists. She was glad of the ongoing arrangement I think, the work helped her keep active, the bit of pocket money handy in whatever small way.

By the Sunday afternoon of my stay, loathe as I was to return to my cold, grubby flat in the city, she would always send me on my way with a batch of freshly baked scones wrapped in wax paper to share with my flatmates. Welcome indeed on a Sunday night!

Looking back, I envy those quiet amiable evenings sitting together by the range, the turf burning warm, when she'd often ask me to sing a song for her as we stitched away. I'm not sure if I fully appreciated then the richness of those times but I cherish the thought of it now.

Here she is knitting away as her great-granddaughter plays around her.

Years passed, other creative pursuits took over and in the meantime I'd all but forgotten how to use the humble hook. Until recently, through my involvement in my son's school craft group, I became interested in crochet again and realised I still love it somehow, but yearn to find life beyond the granny square. I never managed to progress past the bare basics and the very idea of being able to follow a pattern seemed way beyond me. So, how to move beyond these frustratingly limited skills I know I share with many..?

Enter Liz, our dear friend and Crochet Queen...check out her beautiful shop here . This girl can dream up her designs as she goes! And I realise, every beginner needs a mentor, no? So I was thrilled at the opportunity to become involved with these Woolly Gatherings.

Hence, here are my very humble beginnings. As a refresher, the first thing I made was this hook roll. It was novel to make something that is everyday useful. This is the first pattern I ever managed to follow through to the end, and while its not perfect, hey, it worked out! This pure wool Noro yarn is really vibrant but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to beginners as it varies a lot in thickness as you go.

At the first of our Woolly Gatherings Liz bravely started us off with a simple pattern for wrist warmers. One pair made in an evening and decorated the next. Deep Satisfaction!

I cannot explain how I have become besotted with such things of late, as buttons, ribbons, embroidery hoops (what..?!) and of course yarn, glorious yarn. Like a child in a sweet shop, even our modest local haberdashery can have me all in a sweat! All number of possibilities, but I settled on ribbon, buttons and embroidery and really had fun with that part on my second go:

These days, I'm interested in where the wool comes from and I try, where possible to buy Irish, or at least Celtic! Here's the lovely Donegal Aran Tweed. Really affordable and very hard wearing. From my favourite local wool shop.

And, for old times sake...? Ye old granny square. And who knows, maybe another cushion cover in the making.. but this time in pure cotton that I got here, a pure pleasure to work in. I worked with a size 3.5 hook. I'd really recommend this particular yarn to beginners, as your stitches will be clearly visible without any of the fuzziness of wool, it makes any mistakes easy to see and ripping back is a breeze. .

If you can get over the name of the website! I found this a really fun inspiration ; )

http://fuckyeahgrannysquare.tumblr.com/

Then, Valentines was in the air and Liz helped us find our way through this surprisingly tricky heart pattern:

but at our last gathering (for now) Liz presented us with what must surely be the mother of all flower patterns, and voila! The petals seemed to unfurl before our very eyes as we stitched...

And I remember... that in contrast to the need for solitude while working on a painting, which is my background, I do love sittin round a table with a bunch of women, stitching, helping each other out and sharing patterns. Thank you Liz!

As a result of these sessions, I'm in the process of beginning my first ambitious project, a cotton waistcoat for meself. Yikes! One thing I've discovered through bitter experience is that the tension swatch is essential, though I really want to dodge this part of the pattern. I'll write again to let you know how it works out. I'll actually feel like I've arrived somewhere when I can make my own clothes : )

Joining the local steiner school community has raised my awareness of the importance of wearing natural, breathable fibres and the insulating layer provided by wool, particularly in our climate. I got to thinking about the aran jumpers that I wore at different ages, and perusing old photo albums, I was really struck by the presence of these handknits, down through the generations and differing social contexts. Like here's my mother at home in Kerry in the sixties, with her brother and sister, going to the well for water

And here she is wearing an Aran at work, in New York where she'd emigrated and gotten a job in a bank..

Here's me at three years old wearing one of the many made by my grandmother. (over a dress that a dear friend had crocheted for me!)

And years later, this Aran Cardigan also made by my Grandmother, which proved a worthy ally day and night against the cold and wind, in my cycling and caravan years in Dingle. These jumpers truly stand the test of time.

And so... work in progress, a connection to my past rekindled, to the historical context of traditional handcrafts in Ireland and to that dear old lady working peacefully by the fire.