A Date with 11 Women!

Last year I felt very lonely in my crochet and yarn addiction, I wanted to meet more like minded sick women ;) and so after a few weeks Café Create was born! Galway’s first Stitch’n’Bitch Group,

Well what a beautiful day it turned out to be for our first group outing! The sun was shining and we were all ready for a great time, We met at the Menlo Hotel as this would be the pick up/ drop off spot for John our bus driver,

People attending were: Me (Neen), Aga, Elizabeth, Jacqueline, Anne, Ann, Siobhan, Julie, Kym, Yvonne, Kathleen and Maureen.

We all pilled on the bus eager to start our day...

Siobhan Sewing her summer hat

Ann and Elizabeth deep in conversation

We arrived in Turlough Park for the Feile Na Tuaithe festive at 12 noon, and I for one was so surprised by the sheer beauty of the surroundings, still waters boarded by woodlands – breathtaking.

Ann, Siobhan and Aga

Kym looking very Happy!

I was disappointed that there was not that many craft demonstration stands but the people there were very friendly and very helpful – Spinners, Corn Threshing, Pottery, Candle Making etc

Spinning with fresh sheep wool

Jacqueline with the drop spindle 

Traditional Rope Knotting

I was very happy to meet Ester Kelly and her wonderful patchwork projects; I also was delighted to pick up these adorable craft buttons from Willow Crafts and at only 2euro a bag a real bargain! When I met up with Anne, Julie and Kym we all laughed to see we had gotten the same buttons!

1.30pm Lunch time, Sitting on the grass we all dug into our food, we were so hungry! And Kym was so thoughtful to bring some homemade coconut bakes which was so yummy that I had two!

Kym's Coconut Bake

The group soon got separated and I was very happily left with Aga to wander around, this is when we found Lambs, a Lama, Calves, Chicks, and a Peacock! We took a walk around the lake, I loved kicking off my shoes and walking bare footed in the grass, where we sat for a short time, 

Art surrounded the grounds and was so interesting

we soon bumped into Elizabeth and Jacqueline (who was comfortably knitting standing beside a bin) it was then we heard she had lost her camera and thought it could have been in the bin, but it wasn’t and the camera wasn’t found L poor J!

Jackie and Liz wishing they had some swimsuits!

We decided to have a look see in the museum, and it was very ... much like any other museum, but what a surprise we got when on the second floor we stumbled upon a group The Connacht Textile Crafters, these are a group of women that meet once every second month to promote handmade crafting

A HUGE Spinning Wheel

Back into the sunshine and there was Siobhan very happy as she had just been kept busy by two men!! ;) No scandal here though one was teaching her the art of traditional rope knotting and the other how to do corn threshing! Or at least that’s what she told us ;) hehe

Siobhan and Me(see I was there!)

I also picked up a pack of buttons, hair clips, and a necklace from Derryaun Crafts,

Somehow I lost my companion Aga and so was on my own to take in the woodland around me and it was then that I found Lothar Mushketat with his pet Owl and HUGE Bald Headed American Eagle! also I walked through a with over hedge into the cutest herb garden where the lilac scented the air - beautiful!

I am very proud of this photo!

Soon it was close to the 5.30 pickup time and slowly we began our walk back to the main gate – where here before we climbed back on our bus we had a group photo taken.... I had such a wonderful day with these wonderful women J

Liz, Ann and Me

The Two Ann's

Yvonne and Siobhan

Jackie,Me,Ann,Siobhan,Aga,Kathleen,Yvonne,Liz
Anne,Kym,Julie,Marin 

Look what I got ...

My crafty friend Aga gave me one of her gorgeous wet felted flowers today at our stitch group, are'nt they amazing! Aga is a polish woman who has lived in Galway for many years (maybe thats because she loves the Irish weather;) hehe), to say that she is talented with her knitting needles is a HUGE understatement! this woman has created the most breathtaking shawls I have ever seen everyday ones and bridal ones, and one day I hope to own a Jagienka Original, which can be gotten from here>> http://www.etsy.com/shop/knitspinfelt or here>> http://en.dawanda.com/shop/knitspinfelt
as well as Knitting/ Spinning/ Felting/ Dying yarn I cant help but wonder is there anything this girl cant do? Thank you Aga for the lovely Pin, I love it!

Fetustard Inspired Hat

Morgan  and I have really been enjoying watching The Shaytards on YouTube, The Shaytards are: ShayCarl (The Dad), Kate (The Mom, who is pregnant with Fetustard) and then we have the adorable three children Sontard, Princesstard and Babytard - 

Communion Bag

I was commissioned to make this Communion Bag for a little girl in Australia from Ann her aunt. The pattern is my own and I think it turned out very pretty and simple, It was made with Pearl yarn, and in the center of each handmade flower is a hand stitched crystal. I hope she will like it

Patchwork and Hooking in Galway

On Saturday Morgan I went to see this patchwork exhibit in the city museum, everything was so beautifully put together, I really enjoyed looking at them all and loved them even more knowing that all works were made by people living in Galway and wanted to share them here with you :) The museum was very interesting and in many ways I was ashamed I had never visited before, I mean it is full of history of my home land! I enjoyed my time spent there and I know it wont be my last visit!

Also I called into PippaBlue  one of the best yarn/ material shop in Galway and the owner Ger, gave me this great huge hook as a gift! Ger and Eva have been wonderful over the year to me and the stitch group and  now I cant wait to start my broomstick lace :)

Wonderland Blanket

For Elizabeth's birthday I decided to crochet her this patched granny square blanket, I made it up in white and pinks yarn, it took quite a bit of time, as while making it, I came down with the flu and took a break from the hook ;) I finally got it done and I hope she liked it                                      

You are invited to:

For my Mother-in law's 50th we all decided to throw her a Alice in Wonderland themed tea party, we all worked really hard on the food, desserts and decorations, Everyone seemed to really enjoy themself and loved our little touches like, jelly filled teacups, flowers in teapots, even the kids dressed up 

Ladybird, Ladybird Fly Away Home!

Last Saturday Morning, while in my garden I found a little friend, a Ladybird! Ladybirds are welcome visitors to the garden as the seven spot helps to keep down the destructive aphids. In Ireland and England there are over forty five different species. This beetle was originally called Beetle of Our Lady as for some reason it was associated with the Blessed Virgin

My Weekend

On Saturday 17th April 2010 Jacinta and Andrew got married, we were very happy to share this day with them and had a wonderful time! The ceremony was very tasteful with a strong Irish theme and the Hotel was beautiful with very nice food, the band was wonderful and played everything from jive, waltz, swing music and Morgan and I had a great time dancing for the night.

A little about my week

This week has been pretty busy in the nursing home, I am introducing Gardening into the activity timetable and a few weeks ago we sowed so many seeds, and so far we have signs of the spring onion and beetroot growing and our strawberry bushes are blooming, the residents are so excited and so am I, Today we sat in the garden and watered all of the containers and enjoyed the sunshine.

Back to Crochet:
I get alot of questions from people asking me about what crochet hooks I use so here they are: Clover Soft Touch they come in sizes 2.50mm - 6mm and are so wonderful to use, I just love them, I got them as a gift from Danni for my help in her charity Sophies Cozies, it was such a huge treat as in Ireland all that you can get are the ugly grey crochet hooks, and when your working on a long project it is nice to have something comfy and pretty to use :)

This week Morgan ordered me some aluminium crochet hooks from ebay

So I have been buying "The Art of Crochet" magazine weekly, I havent made the blanket yet and I am not sure when I will, It is the only crochet magazine available in Ireland, which is horrid as I love "Crochet Today" and "Inside Crochet" but can hardly get them :(

So today Morgan went to the store and picked me up issue 15, I am looking forward to reading it with a cup of tea.

And the winner is.........

First of all I want to thank you all for the wonderful messages and support with this giveaway and due to the response I have decided to do giveaways every couple of months so make sure to drop by and check them out! I am already getting things organized for the next one ;)

But there can be only one winner so after pulling a name from a hat just this minute I can say CONGRATULATIONS to :

loomingramie

Loomingramie, please contact me via email neencrochet@gmail.com with an address to post it too,

Thank you every one who took part :)

Easter GiveAway

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter!

As most people already know I have a YOUTUBE channel neencrochet. When I started this it was really just to show the projects that I had made, never in a million years did I dream I would ever show myself on camera or talk about anything personal ... but as the year went on I was very inspired mostly by Mikey to show myself and chat and how lucky was I, because not only have I gotten 681 subscribers but I have not gotten one nasty or negative comment (which to be honest was a fear of mine) so as a huge Thank you to all my Subscribers I am holding a give away and the winner will receive :

x1 handmade crochet hat

x2 100% new Irish lamb wool balls

& Some Irish chocolate

To enter for this giveaway you must

• Enter by comment in the comment section below
• Be a subscriber to my channel,
• And a follower to this blog

The winner will be drawn on the 10th of April 2010

Good Luck Everyone :)

Also you can find me here: on the website Ravelry, my username is neencrochet

Tea anyone?

A woman from the Glow event ordered this tea cosy, I liked how it turned out and the yarn is so soft and easy to work with

Wedding Ring Cushions

I have always LOVED weddings, When it came to planning mine I wanted to put my own personal touch to it by making as much as I could myself, One of those things was our ring cushion, My land lady even ordered one for her daughter after seeing mine and here they are:

Kelly & Cosgrove Wedding 17th April 2010

Gill & O'Brien Wedding 17th Oct 2009

Hat orders

Over the past two weeks I have received a lot of crochet orders - A co-worker has asked me to make her three hats, She wanted all of them to be spring/ summer hats so I did my best to make them look different from each other and here they are:

White with turquoise and white flowers

Orange with bright flower and green leafing

Black with three grey flowers