Sunday, January 30, 2011

More St. Brigits Crosses...


I wanted to use up the reeds, so here's a few more crosses. I divided up the remaining reeds into grades of 4 from thick to thin, keeping the thinnest for tying the knots.


And then made a cross starting with the thin reeds, 3 of each grade. (I swear I'm not obsessive and a perfectionist!!)



There are other versions of St. Brigit's crosses, but they are not as common, and rarely seen. These were taken from the book Irish Folk Ways by E. Estyn Evans




This style of cross, called a God's Eye, is common among several cultures around the world. It is very easy to make out of yarn, and is a great project to do with kids, who might not be able to handle rushes.


Saturday, January 29, 2011

Lá le Bríde - Crosóg Bhríde

(I'm editing this post, because I had a revelation! Because I didn't bother cleaning up the mess until the day after, I discovered how to tie the knots....read on....)

It's that time of the year again. There's a great demo on how to make a St. Brigid's Cross, and a some blurb on Brigid Of Faughart and the Celtic Festival of Imbolc the original celebration to mark the coming of spring on http://newgrange.com/imbolc.htm

There is something that always bugged me though, knotting the arms. I just can't bring myself to use an elastic band. And I find making the knots fiddly and annoying if you havent got a great range of supple, knotable, reeds. So, after 24 hours of a messy kitchen table, I discovered the secret... This is probably a very silly revelation to an experienced cross maker, or anyone that has worked with reeds before, but for me, years of annoyance has finally been solved....The trick is to use day old cut reeds!

Here is the difference between a cross made with fresh reeds and day old reeds.

Fresh reeds

Day old Reeds

I prefer the cross made with fresh reeds, I find the day old one a bit flat. So, the choice is yours, you can use fresh or day old. BUT for the knots use day old reeds, the thin tips. Dont use if theres any brown bits, they are too brittle. So, here is how I tied the knots:











If you dont have day old reeds and you want to make your cross, tie up like this, and then the following day, tie your knot.




Then, the night of Lá le Brid, burn your cross from last year, and hang your new one up in the kitchen. And dont forget to leave your red rag out! (More info about the tradition on The Woolly Way here)


New and Old St. Brigids Crosses

and because you know I like patterns, and mess, I had to take a pic of the floor.



Sunday, January 23, 2011

Ramblings 2011

It has just occurred to me I haven't started a Ramblings 2011. 23 days into January, and I haven't rambled once! Aren't you lucky.... ( I mean weren't you)...

I have much to ramble about. Especially after a few weeks of sickness and quarantine, after this weekend, where I drove for many hours through thick fog, across the country, to attend the first Curation Masterclass session in Kilkenny, put on by CCOI. Lots of hours of thinking, about the coming year, the projects, the plans. Indeed I have much to ramble about...

This is just a warning of the rambling to come, and it might be a little bit posher (practising my curation oration), a little bit more Irish (practising my native tongue, which remains firmly at the tip), and believe it or not, a lot more textile...

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

More Mushrooms, and more spots...


The worst part about getting chickenpox as an adult is not the scratching, (calamine and liquid anti-histamine are quite an anti-scratch combo), its the resting. How do you rest as much as you need to? I watched lots of films, read a lot, and then, once the spots eased a bit, threw myself into getting stuff done. The kind of stuff I had been meaning to do for ages. And the first one up is...Mushrooms!



I've made a good few mushrooms now, most for display at EP, but I finally got it together to write out the pattern for a small one. Its in the testing phase, and will be up on the blog soon.


These babies are now off to Bournemouth, UK, to be part of a wonderful project by artist, Pauline Stanley. She is creating a textile garden in the library. "An intergenerational community knitting/crochet project were we are knitting a 3D garden to climb, creep, blossom over 3 floors of Bourenmouth Library in an exhibition in May 2011.Participants of any age or ability welcome". She's looking for all manner of flowers, vegetables, leaves, etc, so if you have the time, make something for this wonderful exhibit. More info on her blog. http://bloomingmarvellous1.blogspot.com/ You never know I might finally get round to writting up my lemon/apple/pear/carrot patterns too! They all went off to the Manna Organic Farm, in Gleann na nGealt, Co. Kerry.



It is ironic I spent my invalid time sewing spots onto mushrooms, but then I went one step off the cliff, and messed around with said spots on the computer.





I have now had enought of spots thank you very much!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Update on the Film Job

When I finally got home after Christmas, I found this picture in the post. It's a still from the film 'Neverland'. (Recognise the loom?? )



Thanks to the lovely ladies in props for taking the pic, and sending it to me.