Island of Inspiration

Not long ago, a cousin kindly invited my husband and I to accompany him on a trip to Ireland, a place none of us had ever visited. Although our trip was short (just 4 full days), we packed in an amazing amount of activity and I came home fairly bursting with inspiration.  

Irish hospitality is legendary and one of the best parts of the trip were the Irish themselves, certainly some of the warmest, friendliest people in the world. Every person we interacted with made us feel welcome. 

A popular nickname for this land is the "Emerald Isle." With miles upon miles of brilliant green vegetation that label is apt, but Ireland also delights the eye in many other ways with rugged vistas, ancient ruins, peacefully grazing livestock (especially sheep), sparkling coastlines, quaint villages and beautiful cities.

We flew into Shannon airport and rented a car (a left-hand stick shift for driving on the left side of the road - yikes!!). Thankfully, my cousin handled the driving. 

After loading up the car we headed north to Galway, on the coast, our first place to explore and a base from which to venture out on day trips.  

Galway is a fun, colorful city full of shops selling sweaters, blankets, hand and mill spun yarn, and other wool goods, as well as plenty of other things to inspire the imagination.

 

Each day we chose a different direction and final destination, stopping along the way to inspect anything we found interesting. Unfortunately, narrow, rock wall-lined roads and few parking places made it difficult to easily stop for photographs, so some beautiful views will have to remain only in my memory. However, I did manage to insist on stopping for scenic photos now and then. 

And in case you are wondering, yes, the grass really is that green and the sky really was that blue (we had four days of warm sunshine, apparently unheard of in Ireland)!

 

And for photos at a few historic sites as well...

Aughnanure Castle, a lovely place to visit.
 

 Boyle Abbey, where amazing restoration is ongoing.

Bunratty Castle, a well-restored site.

Foxford Woollen Mills, begun by Catholic nuns to provide work during the  famines of the 19th century, and where incredible blankets and scarves are still woven for sale. 

Kylemore Abbey, with a fantastic Victorian, walled garden.

Roundstone, a charming seaside town

Clonfert Cathedral, an early 12th century church filled with elaborate sandstone carvings.

And there were of course, lots of sheep!

Since my cousin planned the trip, visits to knitting sites were not a top priority, however, we couldn't help but be surrounded by wonderful things of interest to knitters and non-knitters alike.

If Ireland sounds like a place you'd like to visit, you might want to consider joining my friend Amy Detjen's Knitting Tour of Ireland coming up next month which will be packed with things both knitting and Irish. Amy is a superb knitting teacher, experienced in Irish travel, and a super fun person to hang out with, so you are sure to have a great time!

If you can't go this time around, you can follow her via her website, or join her Ravelry knitting travel group and keep up on plans for future trips.

I'm still absorbing everything we saw on our visit to this inspiring island nation, I think I feel a bout of cable knitting coming on...

The Wool Festival at Taos

Yarnie heaven. That's what my visit to The Wool Festival at Taos (WFT), the coolest fiber fest in the west, felt like.  

Presented by the Mountain and Valley Wool Association since 1984, and always held the first full weekend in October, this festival delights in many ways.  

WFT is large enough to offer a dazzling array of fiber and related goodies, and small enough to allow you to enjoy thoroughly checking out each and every booth before exhaustion sets in.  This is truly a knitting and spinning paradise.

The set up in festival venue Kit Carson Park, in the heart of historic Taos, New Mexico, is ideal with vendors' tents ringing the tree-shaded park, and information, meet-up and refreshment tents grouped in the center.  

 

Although crowds were thick later in the day, shopping was a breeze when we arrived at opening time of 9 AM.  The full-fever pitch of a true fiber frenzy had not yet been reached, but you could feel it brewing in the atmosphere as shoppers dashed from booth to booth to get the best choice of merchandise. 

Vendors, many of whom are from New Mexico, Texas, Colorado and California, were relaxed and friendly, even the staff working the crowded tents at Brooks Farm, Elsawool and other popular sellers.  

 

Sixty-eight vendors exhibited wool and exotic spinning fibers, handspun, millspun and hand-dyed yarn, woven, knitted and felted finished garments, rugs, hats, sheepskin shoes and accessories, hand-made wood fiber tools, buttons, jewelry, body products, and so many other wonderful things I can't begin to list them all here. 

 

 

An entertainment and competition stage, fiber animal pens, workshops, silent auction, fashion show and technique demonstrations rounded out the offerings.  

You know I can't resist the animals, including this mama alpaca and her cria.

These sheep, in a large pen, swirled and flocked together in a tight clump.

I loved the hand-dyed yarn at Royal Fibers Spinnery.

I would've bought cartloads of wool if I could have!  But in the end my pocketbook dictated that I be choosy, so I selected some things I haven't tried before including: Brooks Farm Mas Acero in a grey-brown mix;

 

cushy Elsawool worsted weight, woolen spun Cormo in soft grey;

and some cool natural stone buttons.

A favorite part of this year's festival was getting to meet many fellow Ravelry members, including founder Mary-Heather Cogar (seen taking a photo in the Ravelry meet-up tent below).

Mary-Heather (Rainydaygoods on Ravelry) is such a nice person, and she did a super job of conversing with complete strangers for hours, always with a friendly smile.

The festival's site in the heart of Taos is surrounded by streets lined with intriguing galleries, shops and restaurants, making it easy to walk to a small cafe for lunch and check out a few of the local shops.  

Across the street from the cafe was La Lana Wools, renowned for their gorgeous, naturally-dyed fibers.  

I loved Common Thread (big Indian dude notwithstanding, LOL), a specialty shop offering silks and exotic fabrics by the yard.

Displays were pure eye candy.

In the same block as the fabric store is Weaving Southwest, a large, airy space in this area of tiny boutiques.  

Filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves bursting with yarn, hand-woven rugs, giant looms, knitting tools, and racks of finished knitted and crocheted items, this well-laid-out store delights fiber artists of all sorts.  

 

 

The front of the shop held large boxes of wool, silk, mohair and alpaca yarns at amazing clearance prices of $5 and $8 per 100 gr. skein.

 

The Taos area is, of course, famous for many other things not limited to spectacular scenery, charming southwest atmosphere, outdoor pursuits like cycling, hiking, river rafting and rock climbing, and the Taos Pueblo.  

In fact, because there were so many wonderful sights, smells, sounds and other treats for the senses that I cannot possibly relate them all here, I highly  recommend any knitter, spinner or weaver consider the Wool Festival at Taos for a fiber holiday some year soon, and discover the wonders of Taos for themselves.  

And just one teensy, non-Taos-related note before I close this long post, I am absolutely thrilled to bits that my new free pattern, Greyhaven, has been nominated in the Ravelry Cowls Group for their November knitalong!

Voting closes this weekend, so if you are interested in participating in the KAL, please pop into the group and vote for your favorite pattern in the November KAL thread.  

That's it for now, new knitting projects and recipes coming up soon.  Until then, peace, blessings and happy stitching!