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:

For this episode we join Dublin yarn store, This Is Knit, as they celebrate Carol Feller's latest publications: Short Row KnitsDovestone 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 podcastContemporary Irish KnitsDoddy ballKnitty Winter 2007Fair Isle RapidsKieran FoleyPatterns published by Carol in 2015 so farDragon Flamesblogging about the design processLa Leche LeagueShort...

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...

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. So, this episode brings you the chats we had with some of the vendors: I apologise in advance for the quality of the audio in our first interview with Kathleen. We chatted...

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. We arrived on Friday afternoon to a peninsula shrouded in mist and only managed to find some yarn-bombing. By Saturday morning the mist had lifted and...

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...

For Episode 4, Dearbhla caught up with Elanor King a.k.a. "catchloops" when they were both at Unravel earlier this year. During their chat they speak about a number of patterns: Eleven Hundred DollarsHitch: Patterns Inspired by the Films of Alfred HitchcockIn the Loopdesigner challengeKnit Nowloom band hatSinead's Hotty BottyKISS MittsLady LismoreSpring + 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...

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: InstagramTwitter Ravelry#spin15in15Know Your WoolThe Drafting ZoneTwitter RavelryFibre FriendsThese Islands - Knits from Ireland, Scotland and BritainReady Set StitchInstagramTwitter RavelryThe Yarn CakeThis Is KnitInstagramTwitter RavelryCraftreeInstagramTwitter www.kersti.com Relaxing back at their hotel after their first...

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: Dublin Dye Company PatternsHowthStepaside s Autumn Whispers by Carol FellerDublin Dye Swing Sock Water Sprite Llewellyns Orchard Links to the wine and cider...

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: Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker Clones Summer School The Constant KnitterOlga Krivenko This Is KnitSpringwools Beoir.org http://katedaviesdesigns.com/2009/12/09/cable/...