a sock graduation…

This post is written by guest blogger, Bairbre, a regular knitter at the Wednesday morning and Saturday afternoon Knit in the City groups

Every November for the past eight years myself and my sister Eithne have
taught a week-end knitting workshop in the ICA Education Centre at An
Grianan, Termonfeckin, County Louth. In the early years we advertised the
workshop in yarn-shops around the country but pretty soon we had a core
bunch of between 16 and 20 people who turned up year after year and we gave up advertising.

Each workshop we concentrate on something different eg
knitting from the top down, mitred knitting, shadow knitting, lace knitting.
This year the group requested sock knitting so that¹s what we did.

It was hugely successful and all the participants went away happy. By Sunday lunchtime the majority of people had at least 1 sock completed, a couple even had both done and were ready to start a second pair!

unleashing the knitters of Dublin…

Dublin’s knitting scene is showing non-knitters that knitting is a lifestyle. It moves beyond a hobby.

There are groups of knitters & crocheters (I do not mean to exclude the crocheters of Dublin) meeting up all over Dublin on a weekly basis. Sundays & Mondays are the only days of the week, that knitters have yet to claim as some type of fiber related meet up.

It is a great sight to see that there is a growing number of LYS (local yarn shops) throughout the city. Each LYS is original and unique in its own way.

Knitting is creating media attention. The TV programmes are featuring our knitting events and LYS in the area.

Keep up the great job of promoting the knitting lifestyle, we are out there….

Dublin Knit Collective X-FACTOR Challenge…

Do you have the The X-Factor???  Join the DKC X-Factor Challenge, no auditions required, only a passion to knit.

 Do you have what it takes to design or find a pattern to knit any one of  these items? 

• The Louis Walshcloth
• The Simon Cowl
• The Cheryl Colesy (as in teacosy, coffee cup cosy, hotwater bottle cosy,etc.)
• The Danni Mi Toque (it is what the Canadians call a hat)
• The DerMitten O’Leary

 

Make  your entry an instant gratification project (make it a quick knit)  or as complex and complicated as you can. 

Details:

1.  Competition is open to members of the Dublin Knit Collective Ravelry forum group.
2.  Post your picture of the finished project by midnight (Dublin time) December 4th on the DKC forum (Link will be provided closer to the posting date)
3. The winners are chosen by YOU;  the voting Ravelry  public.  Click the LOVE button from December 5^th until December 11^th. 

Did we mention prizes*?  Yes, thank you to our prize sponsors:

chicwithstix

gaietygirl.etsy.com

kneehigh

lhogan.etsy.com

swannandsmerlin.etsy.com

theconstantknitter.ie

The Yarn Room

This is Knit

*prize list to tba

Knit in the City: fibre fun fridays…

The Fibre Fun Fridays Group meet at The Tea Garden

For those of you who will be joining us for the first time this Friday, we have directions from Dublin’s City Hall on Dame Street…

Visualise yourself with your back towards City Hall on Dame Street, directly in front of you is Parliament Street…

Walk along Parliament Street towards the Liffey River…

cross Welllington Quay…

Follow the green bridge over the Liffey River…

as you walk along the bridge, you will see the Ha’Penny Bridge to your right…

if you look over your right shoulder, you will see The Clarence Hotel, which is owned by U2’s Bono and The Edge…

Once you’ve crossed the bridge,

cross the road which is Lower Ormond Quay and head to your right  and you will see, a bright green storefront…

Walk down the stairs…

and you’ll find the entrance to this little gem of paradise called The Tea Garden…

K & S show 2009…

Today is the last day of the Knitting and Stitching Show at the RDS. Originally, I was not going to attend this year’s show due to my academic committments, however, teaandcakes gave me a ticket and off we went on Saturday morning.

We managed to work our way through the busy aisles. I was able to spend within my budget. I went for the beads and some very nice bling this year.

How about you? What did you buy and how did you increase your stash at this annual event.

We ran into a few  Knitterly and Ravelry friends at the show on Saturday, if you are not listed here, that is because 1) you did not wear your Ravelry badge 2) I recognised your face but not your name – please accept my absentmindness, it must have been the yarn fumes that was affecting my memory…

clarabel

dmaxi

hmabells

and of course it was nice to see the crew, who worked very hard at this year’s show, there would not be a show without you….

elana
Lisa & Jacqui
Stephanie

 

If anyone has any interesting photos, please share…we would like to see some of them.

the annual event of the season…

This coming Thursday 29 October until Sunday 01 November marks the annual pilgrammage of a large population Ireland’s crocheters, cross stitchers, felters, knitters, quilters, lacemakers, scrapbookers, sewers, spinners, weavers, you get the general idea.  All these people will descend on Dublin’s Knitting & Stitching Show to experience a bit of retail therapy, learn a few new skills and meet up with friends from all over Ireland.

If anyone is up for a knitting meet-up during the Show…

Thursday  30 October:

Anyone want to meet for a cup of tea ? A few of the Irish Knitters from Ravelry are planning on meeting in the big restaurant on the right hand side of the hall at 12.30pm and again at 4pm - just look out for anyone wearing a Ravelry badge!

knitting in the news…

What a lovely sight to see when one opens the Sunday paper…

Lisa Sisk from This is Knit

Q & A

There is a new feature in the DKC blog called Q & A. It is a page for questions and answers. Anyone may answer the email personally or click to the comments section and answer the question.

a new knitting course in town…

Anne sent us an email this week about a new 6 week knitting course presented by the Dublin Woollen Mills and the Curved Street Cafe.

You can find more detailed information here

from the lost archives of my memory…

I have taken a few photos and I have forgotten who these WIP belong to…

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

a short update…

Lately, I have relied heavily on the DKC Ravelry discussion forums and therefore, I apologise for the  lack of  updates within the blogsphere. In addition, I have passed the odd comment on Twitter under the guise of chicwithstix.

Thank you to everyone who has been sending me updates and picture. I will post them some time this weekend.

On the Ravelry forums, knitters from the This is Knit group have started a KAL for the Owl’s sweater and the popularity of this pattern has grown exponentially within the Dublin knitters.

I will be heading over to the Tea Garden for the Friday night meet up, and hopefully some of you will be working on Owl.  Overall, I have heard very good comments about this new fibre fun group and the tea is very good…

the friday night knitting club…

No, it is not the knit-lit novel. It is actually a new SnB/knitting group/knitting meet up or however you want to name a group of knitters/crocheters who just want to get together on a Friday evening apres work…

thread bear and playing with fibre have organised a Friday evening and maybe into the night : ) knitting group.

The inaugural meet-up is this coming Friday 02 October at the Tea Garden from 18:30h. For now, the group plans to meet every other Friday.

look who’s knitting in Dublin…

Our knitters in Dublin showed off a few of their finished projects this past week…

 

The brown and orange colour combination is perfect as Dublin prepares for the cooler temperatures.

 

This nordic colorwork pattern is a real hand warmer…

Siobhan knows how to make a grand entrance at Thursday’s knit night with her stunning new shawl…

A lovely lace bookmark made from one of last week’s Yarn Tasting specimens…

These Tidal Wave socks are going to be added to my Ravelry queue…

Barb’s lacework socks…

Deirdre using three different yarns to create this textured textile…

TiK’s Yarn Tasting event…

This is Knit’s Yarn Tasting Event last Thursday 27 August was enjoyed by all…A great evening of sampling a variety of yarns along with a glass of wine or two.

You can read teaandcake’s account of the evening and does anyone want to translate aissa’s blog post?

it only gets better…

When I first arrived in Dublin three years ago, I was surprised at the lack yarn shops and the quality of yarns available to the avid knitter.

Today, we can find yarnly goodliness in This is Knit, Stitch, The Yarn Room. Etsy has become widely popular as we fiber fanatics shop online for Irish-based indie dyers and spinners. We have even spotted vintage yarns in Dublin’s charity shops.

Our favourite yarn shops are bringing in new and wonderful things for us to buy and try. It only gets better…there is a new online shop in town, The Constant Knitter.
Rosemary, an enthusiastic knitter is the proprietor of this new online store. Take note, knitters/crocheters; she has yarns by Garnstudio~Drops Designs….self-patterning sock yarn, alpaca, Egyptian cotton, wool; need we say more.

the Rathmines swap…

Last Tuesday, the Rathmines knitting group organised a yarn swap and brought in their unwanted yarnstash…

Some of the yarns had a history, such as resurfacing after a year or two from a previous swap; or recycled yarn from a cardigan bought at a charity shop.

I am not sure whether I was destashing, but It certainly looks like a stash enhancement…

A Twitter quote from teaandcakes, sums it up nicely, “Dublin Knitters have a communal stash, we just all mind different bits at a time…”

knitting in the city centre…

Thank you to kneehigh for submitting these photos from knitting in the city last Wednesday morning at Powerscourt Cafe, which I believe is under new management and a new name (Pygmalion???)

mollydot’s mermaid

Barb (who usually attends the Saturday’s City Centre SnB) joined the Wednesday morning knitters.

Johanna, who is visiting from Sweden, works on a pair of socks.

Ravelry’s rguthrie starts knitting a pair of socks, and I’m also admiring the buttons.

is that a handknit?

Spotted on the Dublin Bus Route 15…a handknit hat you think?

spinning for Team Ireland…

A few of the Dublin knitters/crocheters are members of  Team Ireland, participating in Ravelry’s Tour de Fleece 2009 which began simultaneously as the Tour de France on 4 July 2009.

Look how your team is doing….

bioniclaura

chicwithstix

flick

deimne

teaandcakes

this is how rumours get started…

I was walking along Rathmines Road this morning and passed by the old Lifeboat Charity Shop which has been empty and unoccupied for some time now. I thought I was seeing a mirage…

I took a closer look…

and yes it is definitely yarn! I spotted Hazbo at the bus stop and showed her what I saw in the shop window. She was able to confirm that IT is YARN which must have appeared overnight since it was not there yesterday.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that this yarn is organic and Fairtrade…

So please confirm our suspicions…is there going to be a new yarn shop in Rathmines????

knitting in the city…

An aerial shot of the Thursday evening knitting group which meets in the Cafe at the Powerscourt Towncentre from 6pm to 8pm. This is the original Blackrock Knit Night group and relocated to the City Centre with This is Knit.

This group is gaining more knitters and crocheters every week. The portability of a drop spindle is also gaining popularity amongst the knitters in the city.

a fiber summer…

Summer is officially here and as we head into the summer vacation months of July and August, Dublin Knit Collective would like to hear about your summer vacation. During the summer months, we will feature a “look what I did on my summer vaction” post.

So, whether you are travelling abroad or staying local during the summer holidays, upload your fiber related photos to the DKC’s Flickr Group and tag your photo(s) summer2009.

I’m sure it will be a busy fiber summer for all. Have a safe and enjoyable summer!!

chicwithstix

managing one’s photos…

I often take photos of anything related to knitting when I attend the SnB’s around Dublin.

It takes me awhile to organise myself to upload the pictures, edit the photos since some knitters like myself wish to remain faceless.

I have upgraded my Flickr account so, I have created a sub-set so that one can find the photos from a particular SnB in the DKC Flickr group.

I did not take too many photos at todays, since my memorycard is full. But you’ll find the photos of knitting in Dublin city here.

Post-WWKiPD 2009

World Wide Knit in Public Day 2009 has come and gone…

We were knitting, crocheting, spinning, and evening making stitch markers in Dublin. We have posted our pictures on Flickr

Countdown to 13.06.09

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Saturday 13 June 2009

 

We will be celebrating WWKiP 2009 from 11:00am in the piano balcony of the Powerscourt TownHouse, then from 2:00pm we will head over to our outdoor venue at the South Bandstand  at St. Stephen’s Green

A few tips:

• bring something to sit on in St. Stephen’s Green
• an umbrella (this is Ireland, remember?)
• feel free to bring any baking goods to share 
• this event is not knitting exclusive, wh are inclusive of any type of craft you wish to bring along
• if it rains, we will stay on at Powerscourt
• bring along your stash for our DESTASH MARKET in the Green

 

Everyone is welcome to join us…

For anyone on Twitter, you can follow me. I am chicwithstix.

WWKiP Day 2009: announcements

Thank you to Sinéad for sorting out the planning permission for Dublin’s WWKiP Day 2009 and posting the info on the WWKiP Day website.

When: Saturday 13 June 2009 from 1400h

Where: St. Stephens Green, at the bandstand near the south gate, opposite University Church.

There has been a discussion on Ravelry’s DKC forum to hold a morning event at Powerscourt and going out for a round of drinks after knitting at the Green…stay tuned for further updates.

this week’s collective…

This past week, I have photos from the Wednesday morning SnB at Powerscourt and the Tuesday evening SnB in Rathmines.  I have numbered each photo. Can you identify yourself?

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…

Six…

Seven…

Eight…

Nine…

Ten…

eleven…

Twelve…

thirteen…

Fourteen…

afternoon tea…

The City Centre SnB ventured over to the north side of town, and held a May Bank Holiday TeaParty at Stitch.

A cozy yet funky place to sit, knit and have a cup of coffee or tea

coffee, tea and treats…

knitting on the patio…

Coraline opens in Dublin…

The global knitting community is aware of Althea Crome’s creative contribution to the film, Coraline . She meticulously knit miniature sweaters and other clothing for the characters.

Based on information I found on  Cineworld’s website,  the Dublin release date for the long awaited animated film, Coraline, based on Neil Gaiman’s 2002 novella is set for Friday 08 May, 2009.

City Centre SnB: May Bank Holiday

Due to the May Bank Holiday closure of the Curved Street Café, an alternative venue has been arranged for the City Centre SnB on Saturday May 2, 2009.
Kneehigh and chicwithstix have organized a Spring TeaParty at Stitch starting at 4:00pm.  Fran & Teresa, the charming and friendly proprietors of Stitch are opening their doors for a Spring TeaParty and SnB for the City Centre SnB and anyone who else who wants to join us…all are welcome to attend.

There will be a selection of tea and fairtrade coffee to purchase and we can bring our own cakes and cookies.

Now that’s a TeaParty…tea, cakes and knitting in a yarn shop. What more can you ask for on a Bank Holiday weekend?

RSVP: We would appreciate a show of hands, so we can have an idea of the number knitters who plan to attend since the shop can only accommodate a maximum of 15 people.

Directions to the shop can be found here

Progress reports…

DKC would like to see your progress on your Wear 2Be Seen project.

Send your link to your blog, Ravelry project page, on the comment’s page or by email (dublinknitcollectiveATgmailDOTcom)

You can view the updates here

Wear 2Be Seen on WWKiP Day 2009

Plan to be out and about on 13 June 2009 WWKiP Day. It will be a great day to show off the pinnacle of your knitting skills. 

DKC is proposing a twist to a well known knitting tradition in the United States. For those of you who are familiar with the tradition of the Rhinebeck Sweater; the concept is to knit a complicated sweater and show it off during the Rhinebeck Festival. 

In honour of this time held tradition, DKC is calling on all knitters and crocheters to knit/crochet an accessory/garment to Wear 2Be Seen on WWKiP Day 2009.  Knit or crochet anything your heart desires, the possibilities are endless… and showcase your talents as you proudly wear your accessory/garment on WWKiP Day 2009.

Don’t forget to keep your fellow blogging/ knitting friends up to date on your Wear 2Be Seen project by spreading the word…blog your progress, post a link on the comments, or start a discussion thread on your favourite Ravelry forum.

save the date…

13 June 2009 is World Wide Knit in Public Day

watch this space for updates

Last chance to sign up…

Today is the last day to sign up for the Dublin Dishcloth & Fairtrade Swap.

You must be a Ravelry member and living in Ireland.

Dublin Dish Cloth & Fairtrade Swap

DKC is organising their first-ever swap, The Dublin Dish Cloth & Fairtrade Swap is to raise ecological and ethical awareness of products and goods in Ireland.

Knitter or crocheter, sign up for this swap on Ravelry’s Dublin Knit Collective Group.

**This swap is only open to Ravelry members who are residents of Ireland.**

A good ole SnB…

It was a great turn out this afternoon at the Curved Street Cafe for the bi-monthly SnB in the City Centre.

Fifteen knitters took over two tables and a sofa…good food and drink and lots of knitting and yarn selling and swapping amongst the group.

Dublin is knitting…

I am finally getting around to posting these photos from the Wednesday morning knitting group, who meet weekly at the Powerscourt Cafe.

What a cute bag…

Salvaging the bottons from this charity shop jumper and plans to recycle the yarn…

It is not all knitting, but cross-stitching, as Jill can attest to…

photos are compliments of  kneehigh on Ravelry

The winner of our St.Patrick’s Day KAL

The winner was chosen by this this random name generator…

and the winner is Benitha a.k.a Beezzi on Ravelry. Please send me your contact details so that you can collect your Irish prize…

SnB in Temple Bar…

 GaietyGirl brought her yummy dyed yarn to sell.

The grey ribbing for the boyfriend sweater by KneeHigh.

Working on a bright green by Orla

The blue kilcarra is Bettina’s St Patrick’s Day project

Kat’s shawl made it from the pub on Wednesday to SnB  on Saturday.

 Ger’s French lacework.

This week’s photos are courtesy of teaandcakes  who managed not take any pictures of her own knitting, ” it was just the dark grey boring scarf, so nothing worth photographing” (her words, not mine…) 

knitting captured in pictures

Albert Einstein made an appearance at the Rathmines’ knitting group this past Tuesday…

what a great hairstyle, eh?

Wednesday’s Knit Night in the City Centre at the Lord Edward Pub…
This knitter’s mother gave her size 19 mm needles

and one hour later…

and this knitter just learned how to knit…lace weight/mohair yarn and garter stitch

every knitter loves to show and tell…

an adaptation of the everlasting bagstopper

using up the yarn stash to design her unique felted bag…

stitching, drinking, eating, talking, stitching, drinking, and going out for a quick ciggie…how does one concentrate on this pattern at knit night???

Saturday’s Knit Along on the 16A…

The bus ride on the 16A was a too bumpy…the driver drove too fast over the bumps on the the road. But we arrived at Stitch in Dublin 9 with an air of excitement…
Shelves of yarn…

and a bargain bin…

also many sewing notions…

cosy is the word in this place…from tea to settee

a different type of knit along

What do you get when you combine a few knitters on the Dublin Bus Route 16A and a Local Yarn Shop (LYS) in Dublin 9?

A knit along field trip to Stitch…

When: this Saturday 28 February
Meet in front of SuperMac on Westmoreland Street at 12 noon, then as a group, take the 16A bus as we knit along to Stitch…

send me an email if you want to join us…

dublinknitcollective@gmail.com

Also, for those of you who twitter; you can follow me along ontwitter.com. My username is knittywife

St. Patrick’s Day Knit-a-Long…

The deadline to register for DKC’s St. Patrick’s Day KAL is a few days from now, on March 1st…

So far, the we have the following knitting along…
Ravelry’s gerryberry
Rebecca
Ravelry’s Jellyknits
Liu
Deirdre
Beezzi on Ravelry
deimne on Ravelry

SnB in Temple Bar this week…

A small group this week at the City Centre SnB…however, Beezzi on Ravelry, chicwithstix, kneehigh on Ravelry, Gaiety Girl and Turtleknits managed to keep the knitting and knattering going.

St. Patrick’s Day Knit-A-Long 2009

Join the Dublin Knit Collective’s St. Patrick’s Day 2009 Knit -a-long (KAL). It is very simple; knit something in a celtic/Irish/ St. Patrick’s Day theme and complete it by St. Patrick’s Day.

In order to join this KAL, please leave a comment or send me a message on Ravelry by March 1st.

Here are the rules:
1) Knit with an aran tweed type yarn such as Kilcarra , DB Donegal Tweed, Bergere de France Celtic.
2) Choose an Celtic/Irish/St. Paddy’s Day themed pattern from your own library or the Ravelry pattern data base.
3) Start knitting once you have yourself organized.
4) Post your progress on your blog or the DKC forum Ravelry so that your fellow knitting mates can see how you are getting along with your project.
5) Don’t forget to post your finished project either on your project page in Ravelry or your blog by March 17th.

Ideas for your St. Paddy’s Day KAL project. There are many patterns in the Ravelry search engine, and here is a small sample of patterns that you can use Kilcarra.

Tudora
Celtic Cable neckwarmer
Fetchings
Irish hiking scarf
thermis neckwarmer
Le Slouch
Chickadee cowl

Oh yeah, why register? So that your name will be entered for the random draw for a St. Patrick’s Day themed prize package which will be held on March 17th for registered participants who complete their projects.

watch this space…

stay tuned and watch this space on 17 February…

Look who’s knitting in Rathmines…

I would have taken more photos at last Tuesday’s Knit Night in Rathmines; however, the chatty laughter got the better of me…

Ger and Olive received their special Valentine’s cappuccino…

Knitting in the City Centre…

A Dublin knitter, known as kneehigh on Ravelry, posted directions to the City Centre SnB on her blog.  This pictorial makes it easier for anyone to navigate the cobblestone-like streets of Temple Bar and find the Curved Street Cafe.

It is all about show ‘n’ tell at this week’s SnB…

Katie’s fingerless gloves are embellished with a simple embroidered design.

Is teaandcakes planning to set up a farm of knitted animals? This book really had some cute knitty things!

A so-called new knitter…picking up the needles again after being dormant

It’s not all about knitting, we crochet and design…

A new group in town…

There is a new knitting group in town. This mid-week group meets every Wednesday morning from 10:30am until 12:30pm at the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre on South Williams Street.

This is an ideal city centre location because the knitting group has direct access to This is Knit since it is only one level up from the Cafe.

Look who was knitting today…

A couple of Ireland’s Ravelry members were knitting away on a comfy couch:

kneehigh just casted off a poncho

rguthrie modelled these amazing slippers and I’ve put in a request for her pattern

and chicwithstix was spinning away on the drop spindle

we’re on Ravelry…

We now have a group on Ravelry. The group can be found here or do a search as Dublin Knit Collective.