Blasta

This episode I'm using a slightly different format - more chat from me about recent event in the Irish Crafting scene. This month our focus is on all things woolly for Wovember.   The main items discussed this episode are: the winner of our giveaway from Episode 7. Thanks to everyone who entered a review on iTunes or Stitcher and to those who took the trouble to give me feedback - positive and negative - it all makes me better, right? The Knitting & Stitching Show in the RDS "Olann And" a new magazine about Fibre and Craft in Ireland Wovember - what is it? An interview with Diarmuid Commins, the man behind "S-Twist Wool"  

For this episode we join Dublin yarn store, This Is Knit, as they celebrate Carol Feller's latest publications: Short Row Knits and Dovestone Hills First I met with Carol to find out about her life, her design process and her future plans. During this interview, Carol or I mention: A Playful Day podcast Contemporary Irish Knits Doddy ball Two Irish designers in Knitty Winter 2007: Fair Isle Rapids by Kieran Foley Patterns published by Carol in 2015 so far (I counted 39 - it's actually 42!!) Dragon Flames pattern and blogging about the design process La Leche League Carol's Classes with Craftsy: Short Rows (free), Celtic Cables, Sweater Surgery and Essential Short Row Techniques. Pin-up Queen sweater pattern designed by Annie Modesitt in the first Stitch and Bitch book Baa Ram Ewe yarn shop in Yorkshire Titus Fingering weight Yarn Dovestone DK weight yarn The range of colours for Dovestone DK yarn from Baa Ram Ewe Ravi sweater pattern design by Carol Mithral  

Hello and welcome to Episode 7! This episode has been in the works since back in May when Claire and I went down to the Sheep's Head Yarn Festival. We stopped off in Cork City to have lunch with Evin O'Keefe, the person behind Irish publishing company, Anchor and Bee. We met Evin at her favourite restaurant Fenn's Quay, which has been awarded "Best Restaurant in Cork" in the Munster Regional Final of the Irish Restaurant Awards in 2015. We chat with Evin about two craft books she's recently published and her future plans for Anchor and Bee. The following day we met Sara Brietenfeldt at the Sheep's Head Yarn Festival. You heard most of this interview in Episode 6 but I held on to some that was more relevant for the book "These Islands" which she worked on with Evin. More recently, I met with Suzanne and Cathy. Suzanne worked with Evin on the books and Suzanne and Cathy share a blog "Fibre Friends". Fingerless mitts designed by Suzanne McEndoo for "These Islands" book. Our craft be

Welcome to Episode 6! As promised this is the second part of our visit to the Sheep's Head Yarn Festival in May. In the first part, we met the organiser, Niamh Cooper, and some of the workshop teachers. Another aspect of the Sheep's Head Yarn Festival was the Market Hall which took place in Kilcrohane Community Hall. The Market Hall So, this episode brings you the chats we had with some of the vendors: Kathleen McCarthy who was selling hand-knits Fiona Waters of Green Elephant Hand Dyed Yarns with her husband Ciaran. Sara Breitenfeldt of Smudge Yarns Caroline and Johnny Niland of Life In The Long Grass I apologise in advance for the quality of the audio in our first interview with Kathleen. We chatted with her in The Old Creamery after the meet & greet but there was a lot of background noise and I've played with it a lot but it's still quite difficult to hear. Just let it wash over you and pretend you're eavesdropping! Also, Happy Congratulations to Sara on her recent engagement to Justin! To

For episode 5, Clarabel and Dearbhla travelled down to the Sheep's Head Peninsula in Co. Cork for the Sheep's Head Yarn Festival, which took place on the weekend of 16th and 17th of May. Our road-trip had no Thelma & Louise-style incidents and we didn't even accidentally end up on the road to Barack Obama's ancestral home in Monegal. Roadtrip Thelma & Louise style! We arrived on Friday afternoon to a peninsula shrouded in mist and only managed to find some yarn-bombing. Yarn-bombing in the mist By Saturday morning the mist had lifted and revealed the stunning landscape. Stunning views in sunshine! The Sheep's Head Yarn Festival kicked off with meet-and-greet at The Old Creamery in Kilcrohane. Up early at The Old Creamery ready for the meet-and-greet They met the festival's main organiser, Niamh Cooper, and chatted with her about the background to the Sheep's Head Yarn Festival and life on the Sheep's Head peninsula. Having a blasta-blast with organiser, Niamh In part

This is not an episode! This is Claire and Dearbhla having a chat about the pattern for Episode 1. As mentioned in Episode 1, we plan on releasing a pattern with each episode. Each pattern will be free until the next pattern is released. At the end of the year we will publish an ebook collection of all the patterns released during the year. The pattern being release with Episode 1 is called "Muireann" and we hope you enjoy the pattern and enjoy the chat. VATMOSS We held off on issuing this pattern in the hope that the repercussions of the VATMOSS mess would have been resolved. As you'll hear us discussing, we sought advice from a Chartered Accountant. Since recording we have received the following response regarding VATMOSS: Hi Claire, There is no requirement to register as you are well below the VAT threshold of €37,500 of turnover per year. If you need anything else just let me know. Kind regards _____________________________ FCA | Principal The following is an extract from Dea

For Episode 4, Dearbhla caught up with Elanor King a.k.a. "catchloops" when they were both at Unravel earlier this year. Unravel souvenirs During their chat they speak about a number of patterns: The sweater Elanor is wearing is her Eleven Hundred Dollars pattern from "Hitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred Hitchcock" published by Co-operative Press. Her first published pattern, In the Loop, was her response to a designer challenge from Knit Now magazine. At Edinburgh Yarn Festival Elanor was wearing her loom band hat. Patterns that Dearbhla has tech-edited for Elanor are Sinead's Hotty Botty and KISS Mitts. Last, but not least, Elanor's pattern Lady Lismore was one of the Knitty surprise patterns for  their Spring + Summer 2015 issue. To celebrate her Knitty success, Elanor has set up a KAL. The cast-on date was May 1st but you have until July 20th to be in with a chance to win a number of

For Episode 3, Claire and Dearbhla took the show to Edinburgh Yarn Festival and met up with lots of crafters that have a connection to the Irish Crafting scene such as: Heather - an American woman living in Belfast in Northern Ireland . Find her on Instagram, Twitter and Ravelry. During our chat we mention the Instagram hashtag #spin15in15 and Deborah Robson's Craftsy class "Know Your Wool". Since chatting with us, Heather has launched The Drafting Zone. All spinners should check it out. Suzanne - an Irish woman living in Edinburgh. Find her on Twitter and Ravelry. Suzanne blogs with Cathy McFadden at Fibre Friends and is one of the designers in the recent publication "These Islands - Knits from Ireland, Scotland and Britain". Heidi of Ready Set Stitch, a New Yorker who lived in Dublin for a few years but is now finding her feet with a new crafting community in Milton Keynes. Find her on In

Welcome to Episode 2! This episode, Dearbhla met with Yvonne of Dublin Dye Company. Even though Yvonne was in the middle of getting stock ready to sell at Edinburgh Yarn Festival - her first major show - she generously took time out to be interviewed for BLASTA. Some links and visuals for what was mentioned in this episode: In the dye shed, Yvonne mentions that Dearbhla previously bought Shetland Roving from Dublin Dye Company's Etsy shop: Shetland Roving from Dublin Dye Company, colourway "Cloudy Day" The naming of Dublin Dye Company Patterns was discussed and later on Yvonne's designs for Howth socks and Stepaside socks were discussed in detail. Dearbhla used Alpaca Lace from Dublin Dye Company in this Petals Wrap: Petals Wrap in Alpaca Lace by Dublin Dye Company  Back in the dye shed, Yvonne discusses how she dyed the custom-dyes yarn that Caroline requested for Dearbhla, Prism: Custom-dyed Merino DK by Dublin Dye Company, colourway

Hello! Failte! This is episode one - the Introductions episode - where we tell you a little bit about ourselves and a lot about our plans for BLASTA! So, wherever you are in the world - and whatever your fibre craft - sit down, relax and have a listen. In this episode we mention: Debbie Stoller's book "Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker" in relation to Irish Crochet Lace Clones Summer School in relation to workshops in Irish Crochet Lace In June 2012 Dearbhla attended a workshop in The Constant Knitter by Olga Krivenko on Russian-made Irish Crochet Lace. The attached photographs that Dearbhla took show the stunning work done by Olga and her friends in Russia and Olga demonstrating how to do the netting around Irish Crochet motifs. Irish Yarn shops mentioned were: This Is Knit in Dublin City Centre Springwools in Walkinstown, Dublin The website for craft beers in Ireland is Beoir.org Kate Davies' articles in relation to the Aran Sweater Myth c