rockpool candy

Fibre, Fibre, More Fibre and Travelling....lots of travelling.....NI, England & Wales

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you'll have read my post about trolling around Northern Ireland with Pom Pom International,

Cue a bum shot of Miss Amy Lamé.

And I must admit, on that tour, I had the best time I've had since I moved over to the Province. And got to meet just the best people.

Thanks go out to Derry Pride organisers and ball goers.

Here's the yarn you helped me to spin. I'll make and extra-special pom pom with it.

But that wasn't the only bit of travelling I got up to in the UK.

After the tour, I caught the sunny Belfast ferry cross the angry body of water better known as the Irish sea.

Ah.....summer......

I picked up the fabulous Ildi and we had a brill couple of days driving down to London, eating delish kebabs and staying in dodgy hotels to drop off one of my 'Great White' reefs for the Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft shows that are touring the UK.

It's for part of their Reclaim, Re-use, Recycle show and it opens for the first time today in Exeter and goes on until early next year. The reef is just one of the elements I've created especially for the show cabinet they've given me. I can't wait to see the final underwater scene.

Next stop, London and I Knit.

Me and my mucker mate, moonspinning . Hanging out, meeting other complete loons, like alabamawhirly and bringing fibre fiddlers over to the dark side of spinning. Come on, can you really resist ferreting in this and getting creative? (even if I do say so myself!)

 

Whizz bang and I'm in Ross on Wye, rumaging through beach detritus to finish my jellyfish.

  

And may I be so bold to suggest that, should you feel the desire to begin untangling neon fishing line and crocheting it... don't. It's a madness not best visited.

And so to Wrexham, Wales. Yale College to be precise. And their recycling exhibition. The poster is in both English and Welsh, in case you're wondering.

And within minutes, like ants around a just-dropped ice-cream, we fibre fiddlers are circling two spinning wheels and sharing techniques.

I even taught Marcus to make plastic-bag yarn and to spin moonlight, all against a back drop of my jellyfish and second 'Great White' reef. Now that doesn't happen very often.

And finally back home. To rest my weary spinning muscles and enjoy a bit of colour therapy.

Yarn is good........

My Spinning Fibre For Sale At I Knit London Show

This weekend is the I Knit Show in London. There are still tickets available, so come along.
I'll be there with Moonspinning.

And I'm proud to announce that we will both be launching our new range of home-produced spinning fibres and yarns at the show.
My fibre batts have been created especially to give you a unique spinning experience. Slubs and noils are incorporated to be celebrated and embraced. The yarn you spin from it will be truly yours and no one else will have one like it.
Many of the fleeces I use are bought directly from UK farmers at fair prices, washed and dyed by me, and then carded into batts. The silks are fairly-traded from a women’s cooperative in India. This fibre is created with respect.
You are part of the wonderful cycle.
Because of its unique blend of many fibres - home-grown and exotic - your finished yarn will have its own personality.  Enjoy it. Relish it. It’s made just for you.

After the show, the gorgeous Gerard will be selling my batts through his I Knit Shop in London and of course, you'll be able to buy them through my site.

Meantime, here are a few close-ups of my fibres spun up to whet your appetite.

   

 

 

Pom Pom International Northern Ireland Tour

What wonderful things pom poms are.
Natalie's beautiful, handmade yurt was the perfect setting to share our fiber fiddlery.

Despite some reservations from those faultering on the the threshold, once they sat down and began to wind a myriad of coloured yarns around their pom pom makers, they became entranced.

These Pom Poms really brought diverse people together in the name of peace.

There were pirates in Portadown.

Singing novice spinners in Derry.

 

Extended families in Fermanagh.

 

Welcoming volunteers in Darkley.

 

Teams of teenagers on the Shankill Road.

 

It was a memorable, if sometimes wet and blowy tour.

Thank you Northern Ireland.

Peace!

Pride in my Pom Poms for Peace

Right.

Think of three things that you would never expect to hear in the same sentence.

Pom pom.

Yurt.

Place of conflict.

So if I tell you that I'm going to be taking part in Amy Lamé's Pom Pom International Peace Tour, in a yurt, travelling to places of conflict here in Northern Ireland, you might be forgiven for thinking..."huh?"

But it's really happening, Reg!

Here are the dates.

Saturday 23rd August 

10am-4pm 

Lunasa - Bash at the Bann

Portadown

Co.Armagh

Sunday 24th August

7.30pm-11pm 

The Official Pride Ball 

(part of Foyle Pride)

The Corinthian Ballroom, City Hotel

Derry

Co.L/Derry

For which I've dyed up some special 'Pride Flag Roving' for proud fibre fiddlers.

Monday 24th August

4pm-9pm 

Share Village

Smith's Strand

Lisnaskea

Co.Fermanagh

 

Wednesday 26th August 

Time to be confirmed 

Crossfire Trust/Singing Kettle

Darkley House

Darkley, Keady

Co.Armagh 

Thursday 28th August 

2pm-5pm 

UNBCEP Cross Community Sports Day

Woodvale Park

Shankhill Road

Belfast

I'll be teaching folks of all ages and abilities how to spin, make yarns from recycled materials and to dye wool with Koolaid!

And all in a beautiful yurt built by the equally beautiful Nat at neck of the woods. 

So come on, set your cynicism aside and embrace the softness, the fluffiness, the pom pomery that is Pom Pom International's Peace Tour.

Oh, and it's free!

The lightest hook on Earth

London picked me up, wrung me out and left me pooped. I'm one tired lady - too tired to even hold the weight of my crochet the last few days.
And then a little angel arrived.

It appeared in the shape of the most beautiful hook, hand carved by Jimbo from a dead aspen branch behind his cabin. He whittled the whole thing whilst sitting on his front porch, overlooking a meadow, so it has relaxation running through its grain!
It's sensuously soft, beautifully smooth and weighs less than a gnat's sneeze! And it's tempting me towards my yarn stash again.

I'm so flattered that Jimbo should take the time to carve me such an object and all inspired by a small piece of lichen that looked like coral. (See how he found it by clicking here.)

LIFE IS IN THE DETAIL. I shall attempt to crochet my own homage to that little piece of lichen tonight.

Thank you Jimbo.

And if you haven't yet tried his chophook, what's keeping you? It's another fantastic creation from the hands of a master. The one pictured here is especially carved for bullion stitches - and we all need help with those little blighters. And do you know what? All you have to do is make a small donation of at least $10- (which is nothing in pounds nowadays!) to the Freidreich's Ataxia Research Alliance through the button on his site and he'll make you one. A good cause AND a bargain. Win win.

He's also got a "gob o hooks" like the one he carved me up for grabs in his auction. Believe me, they'll change your crocheting experience. They're sexy hooks.

Guardian G2 Arts section article

I'll be the woolly-fibre fiddler mentioned!

You can read the full article by ferreting around in last week's recycling, or by clicking here.
Mine are the wall mounds.

I'm a lax blogger!

It's wonderful to be SO busy with all the events coming up, but it does mean that I just don't get time to tell everyone about them. So apologies for being so tardy!

First! Did you know that 8th June is World Ocean Day?

There's a link here to the petition. Sign it and you'll add your voice to the many others asking the UN to recognise the day and bring about a greater awareness of the oceans' plight.

The summer is busy, busy, busy. There's the Hayward, (Darling!)  opening on the 11th June, with a private viewing on the 10th (ooer!)

Where you'll be able to see two of my reefs in my wall reef series; pink and green. And also a smack of my jellyfish.

On the 13th June,  I'll also be 'engaging people in craft' at the Southbank's symposium, 'The Art and Craft of Saving The Planet'. I really can't wait to spend a day with so many like-minded people (whom all happen to be at the pinnacle of their chosen field.) I feel priviliged to have been invited to take part. It promises to be a unique gathering of very exciting uber-boffins! Oh, and nervous wee me!

Please come along and see what we're all up to. And make sure you say hi when you're there.

Then finally, after Much, Much, Much anticipation, it's WOOLFEST!

Anyone and EVERYONE who has any fibre fiddling urges is going to be there. And as it's my birthday just a week before, I'm heading that way with NO restrictions on my purchasing.
It will be fibre gluttony in it's most beautiful form.

I can't wait.

New York, New York: Part II

So, leaving NYC behind, we headed upstate to pick up a car in Albany. (If you ever want to film an alien abduction scene, this is your city. Hardly a soul on the street and yet it was the middle of the afternoon on a working day.) Maybe it has something to do with the Egg - yep, that's its real name. Couldn't get out of this place fast enough. And did you know, it's the true capital of New York state (go figure) it was eerie.

If you want fibre, then you have to head up state and have a chat with the lovely Nancy

at Stitchin Post in Saratoga Springs. She is just the sort of fellow fibre fiddler that I'd love to spend more time with, hanging out, sitting on the front step of the shop. Alas, time was short and we had to rush on. A whistle stop tour of

And I have the first few local yarns to start my New York State travelling reef. (I spent the evening winding it on Adirondeck chair backs.) Here it sits in the woodpile next to a roaring fire.

And what a place to start crocheting it the next day, sitting on the edge of a frozen Mirror Lake, cosied up to an open fire. bliss

Get me! I'm a Goddess!

I can't tell you how honoured I was this morning to be named Chophook Goddess by the lovely Jimbo.

And all I did was have a bit of fun crocheting in order to all to raise awareness of Freidreich's Ataxia. Please read about it here.

It's such a wonderful thing to get feedback from people about what I do. And the warm glow that having such nice words heaped upon me has lifted my otherwise creaky body this morning.
Thanks, Jimbo!

New York, New York: Part I

It's been a while since I posted, but those of you who know me, know it's because I've been crocheting my way across the beautiful state of New York.

My main reason for being in NYC was to set up my artwork in the WFC (World Financial Centre) for the IFF. Yep - it was a festival of abbreviations!
Here's a snapshot of my plastic creations through the tendrils of my jellyfish cloud. It's all hovering over the Chicago crocheted coral reef. (Unfortunately my crocheted work didn't feature in this exhibition in the end.)

But the opening was a great place to meet other artists.

Here, right to left; the breathtakingly-talented Helle Jorgensen, putting on her coral hat; the mathematical machine knitter, John K, into whose brain I can't wait to pick, plunder and delve deeper; the wonderful Molly, without whose determination, good humour and hard work (not to mention resilient liver) the show wouldn't have taken place; and my gorgeous husband, Andy.

Another wonderful high of the trip was hanging out with the beautiful Subway Hooker. Oddly, even after two cocktail-filled nights out with this intelligent and funny lady, the only thing I can show you is her card and an embarrassingly-large bar bill (only because I haven't yet found a way of photographing mojito-induced hangover thuds). But take it from me, it was FUN!

I don't know if it's some fibrey pheromone that I give off, but fellow fiddlers were literally coming out of the walls around me. Even the barman at our hotel turned out to be a class act on the sewing machine.  Not only does Nate make the meanest PINTS of margarita (oh yes, I was drinking them by the pint) but his stitchery is bewitching.

I'm hoping that the little crochet demo that I gave him and Kelly at the opening will inspire him to go 3D, too. Far too good an artist to be pulling pints.

Part II soon.

xx