Day of Dingle and Murphy Pubs

We drove to Dingle along the coast. As you can see it was VERY windy! There were kite surfers in the water. They were going really fast and it looked like with little control.

Carrie was so busy collecting little tiny shells that she did not see a wave coming. Gortex shoes are not water proof when the water goes over the tops!

We also stopped where they filmed the last Star Wars movie. I may have to watch to see if I can see it.

Dingle is a small sea town with lots of tourists. We started at either Murphs or Murphy's ice cream (They had toilets with no line -- and ICE CREAM!) We had lunch at Murphy's Pub and a Guinness with our lunch.

Trish so far all of the ketchup has come in packets and tastes the same. The tarter sauce is more tangy/vinegary.

When we got back to Killarney, we had our second class, the knot to make our necklace.  Now I have to add the beads and chain...

We had dinner at....Murphy's Pub! Every town seems to have one! We then went to a "live music" venue.  There were not very many people in the bar. We left ehen he started to play Johnny Cash...

I Love Ireland Pin

We had our first crochet class on Monday.  Jennifer taught us how to weave a crocheted row of single crochets into the shape of a heart.

Just like all sailors know,  every other weave is under then over!

Our teacher, Jennifer Ryan (of Manchester, New Hampshire ) sang a great variation of Danny Boy about crochet!

Of course, I can't keep the tune with the regular words AND the music.

Peggy 1st wrote a poem as well and recited it for us.

With class over we had 1 hour before boarding the bus to ...

Cliffs of Moher

After we left the farm we drove another 1.5 hours the cliffs. Did I mention that we are in a BIG bus, the roads are narrow, there was a bicycle race going on and EVERYONE else is in BIG buses? There was one time Carrie (who was in the window seat) thought we were going to collide with a bus coming down from the cliffs.

I was reminded of the Camp Granada song when we got to the cliffs. It was raining and you could hardly see the person in front of you let alone the cliffs. We looked around the visitor center for awhile. It is built into the side of the cliff so you hardly notice it.

About an hour before we needed to board the bus, we decided we would walk out to the viewpoints even if we couldn't see anything to get in a walk. Low and behold, it was clearing up!

The as we were taking pictures,  the wind, rain and Mist rolled back in but we got some good picture first. We were SOAKED by the time we got back to the visitor center.

We then got back on the bus😏

Scones, Sheep, Shearing Oh My

The tour has really started now. We had breakfast at the hotel. Tried everything but the mushrooms.

Well it started with the 6:30 wake up call. Breakfast at 7:30, on the bus at 8:30. We headed to the Rathbaun Farm for scone making, see a border collie round up some sheep and watch a sheep be shorn.

First, we made the scones (I bought the recipe and cutter) Now we will if I can make them without Francis.

Turns out Ireland does not raise sheep for wool. It is almost a by-product. The sheep they raise produces a course wool not suitable for cratfts. One of the women called out. "That saves me a bunch of money".

I took videos of the sheep. Not sure where I will post them. One of a little guy bleeting -- don't think it will replace the crying goat for the next youtube sensation.   One of the dog, Ted, rounding up the sheep and one of a sheep being shorn.

We then came back into the house and ate our scones - yum!

Then back on the bus...

All Night Long

Our flight was about an hour late,leaving. We were on an airbus 330. Sadly, no way to charge phones.

Food, pillows, blankets and head sets were free. We got to Dublin about 9. Took about 20 minutes to get through customs.

We then headed to Galway. About 2.5 hrs. from Dublin. We stopped at a travel station (complete with a Burger King -- nope we didn't eat there)

We spent an hour and a half at the Saturday market. Lots of homemade items and fresh BREAD. We split a roll with vintage cheddar cheese on the bus to our hotel.

Nice room even has a fridge!  We had dinner as a group at the hotel. It was buffet ao we tried everything but the soup. (We didn't try it only cuz I didn't think to!)

We had pork loin, fried haddock, pastawith a white carbonara sauce, small potatoes and carrots with parsnips (I think )

Dessert was a chocolate creamy cake the an apple pie like a bisquick impossible pie.

Laundry and Life of Pi. Now sleep. We have a 6:30 am wake up call.

Night.

1st Sports Pub

We haven't even left Seattle  but this restaurant is located right next to our gate AND the bathrooms!  And they hsve great music playing lots of local  bands. Carrie called them "deep cuts" aka not just the most popular songs.

I so LOVE TSA Pre check. I was surprised at how long the lines were at 6 am.

A big thank you to Mike for driving us to the airport.

Yeah ending with Springsteen! I can hear him and Little Steven together on one mic.

Carrie just commented that this was our first trip that wasn't a crochet trip!  WHAT?!?

25 minute delay for our flight.  More time to drink coffee!

New Crochet Adventure

I am setting up my blog to post entries while visiting New York and Ireland.

Carrie and I will be taking a crochet tour through crafttours.com. If you would like to follow our adventures, you should be able to subscribe to the blog.

This weekend I finished up 5 projects!  One Linus Project Blanket, one Purrfect Pals cat blanket and 3 versions of the dishcloth I used for teaching the class from last years Workplace Giving Auction. One nice thing about teaching a class, it makes me dabble in writing patterns.  Writing a dishcloth pattern is pretty risk free!

The yarn for the 2 blankets are from the bags of yarn Marlene gave me.

New Year New Entry

I am no different then others, I find myself looking forward to the new year and thinking about what I can do to make my life experience different in the coming year.

Of course, I think if the usual bad habits I have that I wish I did not. Unfortunately, we know those goals rarely last past week 2 of January. (Just long enough to have all my friends NOT want to eat or drink to celebrate my birthday -- poor me!)

I realized that I did not attend any photography group events last year. I did take lots of photographs (although very few have been posted) but I did them on more spur of the moment events rather then doing the planning to do it with the photography group.

I have made lots of cat blankets for Purrfect Pals. I made some scarves for the Warm for Winter project but did not ever get them sent to the group -- next year! I also participated in a project organized by the The Burien Yarn Stash store to make scarves for women going through breast cancer treatment. Their most current email talked about creating purple or lavender hats for newborns to send home with new babies to remind parents about the dangers of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Another great project to support.

So what about 2011. I am the Guild chair for the Crochet Guild Seattle. I have been thinking about what I would like to do with this group. I am trying to think of 5 minute info bites about the crochet world or book reviews at our meetings. I don't want to make our meetings a chore but at the same time I want the time the women spend with us valuable.

While I was at a conference for work in Dallas, Texas earlier this year, I heard an author speak about his book, The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Anchor. He had some simple tips for adding happiness in your life and in the lives of others (thus adding more to your life).

One tip he had was the 20 second rule. If it will take 20 seconds to get something, you will not do it. So if you want to break a habit put a barrier of 5 to 20 seconds for you to do it. My challenge it playing games on my cell phone. If my phone is next to my chair, I can find myself playing games for hours while watching TV. I believe playing games on those small machines harm my hands and arms more than working on the computer or crocheting. The challenge is that I miss text messages if the phone is not near... However, I can certainly move and/or donate my OLD phones so they are not right there :)

If you want to DO something take that barrier away.

The other tip I plan to do (he has 7) is to email a thank you to someone every day. It starts your day out with a good feeling for realizing yet another person in your life and it will improve that person's day too!

Now, off to do something away from the computer. Really! I'm not going to play a game on the computer!

Knit & Crochet Show in New Hampshire

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since I got home from New Hampshire and have not written a thing. I got home from vacation and have been running ever since! (and playing WAY too many games of Mahjongg Dimensions)

The conference was great. They made the lobby section the hangout location which was easier to come and go from then the hotel room they did in the past. The goody bag was a disappointment. No yarn! Same book we got last year as well as the way too big Lion Brand bag.

I took 4 classes 3 were good 1 not so much. Karen Klemp taught 2 classes that were great. I still need time to practice what I learned -- especially the braided cables! They are beautiful but not straight forward. Since I crochet in traffic or watching TV, these are not patterns I can do in either of those situations yet.

We also got to do some sightseeing. Instead of doing the "professional" day, we drove through the White Mountains. They were beautiful but similar to our passes. One thing I thought strange was that they have BIG liquor stores at the rest area/tourist information stops! Nothing says drink and drive like a big liquor store with easy freeway access!

We had lunch at Polly's Pancake Parlor. Great maple syrups, spreads and sugar! They also had at least 6 different types of pancakes. I wished I could eat more!

As we were driving back to Manchester, we stopped at a gas station/grocery/deli. I really regret not getting some of the fried chicken they had. It smelled so good. As we were entering, I thought it was funny that they had a sign "Turkey Registrations". We have deer registrations but turkeys??? Then a few miles down the road, what do we see Wild Turkeys and not the alcohol! No wonder we had turkey at Thanksgiving. They are pretty plentiful!

I danced with Doris Chan! Not a slow dance and I wasn't the only one. But they had a dance Thursday night. Now a conference made of up 500 middle aged women, 6 husbands and 5 gay guys seemed like an interesting choice. But it was fun! Doris has an incredible amount of energy. I don't think I saw her sitting still -- even when she was signing autographs.

Well, I better get ready for work...

New Gloves for Mariners Games!

These gloves originally only had the index and thumb open but I choose to keep all of the fingers open. I used Bernat SOX yarn, wooded denim. When I bought the yarn this was the closest I could come to Mariner's colors.

The pattern is a Red Heart pattern and called for their Heart & Sole yarn. However, there is wool in that yarn so I had to choose a yarn without wool. This pattern used a stitch I had never done before. Extended Single Crochet (esc) -- yes I read it as "escape" from my computer world! But I like it! It is as tall as a double crochet but not as fat. All by NOT yarning over before drawing up the first loop. It is basically a single crochet with a chain in the middle. Of course, it is now getting warmer so I may not get to use them until September although it has been raining all this weekend -- of course, it is Memorial Day weekend!

Tank Top Finished!

I finally finished the tank top (Crochet Light and Lacy Top, Season 2 of Knit & Crochet Today, show 213, pattern by Doris Chan). I need to wash it and then block it. However, I can't find my sweater dryer. I have been "done" with the top for two weeks but could not make myself do the final row around the neck and sleeves. And of course, the dreaded weaving of the ends!

This was my first attempt at making clothing besides scarves. Of course, I have not tackled the sleeves yet! I did start the first of the removable sleeves we are making as one of our projects for the guild meeting. I have maybe one row done! I am supposed to have them done for our next meeting. Well, maybe one will get done.

Picture to come...

Non-Rectangle Items

My goal this year was to crochet non-rectangle items. I have! I am almost done with a tank top (I will wear it as a sweater vest -- no bare arms for me!) I created a pineapple pattern shawl (V shape). I started it while in Hillsboro visiting Dad. As with most items, once I got the pattern down, it was not difficult. You start at the V and increase your way up. It made it's border scallop as you went so once you reached the width and length desired, you just stop! My kind of project. I hate having to do lots of stuff to an item when it feels done to me. This was done in Reynolds Kids Cottentail.

The next non-rectangle thing I created was a scarflett. We learned how to create it in our Guild Meeting. Of course, the home work was to create the collar (50-rows of single-crochets in the back loop) However, I needed 74 to go around my neck! However, this was surprisingly easy too! As you are making the collar, the turn on the even numbered rows included 5 chains. This created loops at the bottom. You then created a shell in each of the loops and continued down until it was the length you want. Great for those times when your shoulders and neck are cold in a meeting or when reading in bed :) This was made in Caron SPA bamboo yarn. It is really soft.

Carmen's Afghan Finished!

I started Carmen's afghan before she decided to go to Kalamazoo College. I was nearly done with it but knew she would not want to take it to college. I bet it weights close to 10 pounds!

After her time in Budapest, she has decided she is not going back to Michigan for college so... I didn't quite make it by the time we celebrated her birthday (nearly a month and a half late!) But I finished it last week.


Saturday, we went to dinner and I gave her the finished product. I was a bit worried since she had selected the colors almost 3 years prior (when I gave Kirsten her afghan). However, this morning when I logged onto Twitter, I found this tweet by her:


This is actually the second afghan I have made for Carmen. Mom died in 1987 two years before Carmen was born. When she died, the had two incomplete afghans. Carrie and I each finished one for Kirsten and Caitlin so they would have something to remember Mom by. When Carmen was born, I used some of the yarn Mom had in her stash when she died to make her an afghan. It was pale pink and variegated pink to gray. I like it so well, I make one for myself! Here is a picture of the afghan with my sweet Baby napping. Boy I sure miss Baby!

Post for April

I can't believe I have not posted anything this month! I have actually started several times but was interrupted (sometimes by me!)

For our Guild Meeting (Crochet Guild Seattle) this month, I decided I really wanted to have finished a project to take with me. I had created the base of this purse and even done the lace flap during the class that Jean taught us. All I had to do was finish sewing one side and make the strap (the great create a cluster as you go style so you do not have to guess how long it should be!) I finished it and was able to fit my small wallet, car key (not whole key chain) and one tube of lipstick!

This month I also made my Mariner Scarf. I bought the yarn at Stitch and Pitch last year (August 27th this year) from Hilltop Yarn East. The yarn is sock yarn but nobody ever sees my socks so I figured a scarf I can wear on those cold April, May and hopefully, October nights! I went through my 365 Days of Crochet Patterns Perpectual calendar in search of a patterns. My first rule -- lacy, second easy pattern I could do on the plane to and from WLA conference in Spokane and during the conference sessions. I came up with MANY that fit this criteria so then I added "baseball terms" to the criteria so this pattern is Diamonds, March 21 (also my sister's birthday!)

Neat link

I was looking for Office 2007 information on the Pierce County Public Library website and under their Lifelong learning section I found a neat Knit and Crochet link:
http://www.learntoknit.com/home.html

Baby Set

I created this set for Crystal at work. It was fun to make it. This is the first time I ever attempted the sacque (sweater). The hat was from a different group. The hat that was with this set was too girlie for a baby boy. The set also had ribbon around the blanket and sweater. As you can see I choose NOT to do that either! She seemed pleased when she opened it and that is all you can really ask for with a gift.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A New Year -- do I set resolutions NO!

But I do have some goals. I would like to learn how to crochet: socks (I have some great sock yarn), gloves (at least fingerless!) and mobious scarf.

How about you?

It always feels like I time to set goals. However, September still feels more like a time to start something new. I am sure it is from all the years of starting school in September!

Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

Caitlin Likes her Afghan

Finally got to give Caitlin her afghan. She seemed to really like it. Of course, she is spending the winter -- their summer in Australia so it is folded up on the end of her bed here in Seattle. If she was home today, I suspect she would be using it! It is cold out and has been cold for several days now.

Does it look familiar? Yep, it is the background for my Blog heading!

Hooded Scarf

I createad 2 scarves for the NW Family Holiday campaign. The first one I made I did not like the pattern or the yarn that well. This one turned out well. I used yarn I received at the Knit & Crochet Show. On the last day of the show, they had a number of hooks, needles and yarn free for the taking.

I took this yarn and created this scarf. I have 2 balls left which I plan to create a scarf for the Warm for Winter project. However, since the blessing is tomorrow morning, I suspect it will have to be the first scarf I make for next year.