Hey there Beastie peeps! The weekend is very nearly here, so that means it’s time for another peek behind the scenes here at Beastie Towers… And this week, it’s all about community!
As some of you may already know, I recently started teaching knitting classes at my local yarn store, The Constant Knitter. It’s a lovely yarny haven… That’s located a dangerously short toddle away from my home.
The shop is just one street over from St Patrick’s Cathedral, and as I mentioned in last week’s post, they got in touch to see if we’d like to host some free social crafting sessions in the weeks running up to the biggest event in their annual calendar… The St Patrick’s Day festival!
The idea was to make simple knitted, crocheted or wet-felted items that could be displayed at the Cathedral, and then given to visitors to take home as a memento of their visit. Oh, and it gave local people the chance to stop in and try out some new crafty skills… Or indulge in old favourites while drinking tea!
So, last week was the grand finale… The great giveaway! Unfortunately, by the time I arrived for my stint in the afternoon, quite a lot of the pieces had already been given away…
… But thanks to one of the other hard-working knitting groups, there were still plenty of little spring chickens to add to the lineup!
There were some bigger pieces to enjoy too, like these knitted landmarks of Dublin 8. This masterpiece included the gate of the old women’s hospital at The Coombe, the now-demolished Fatima Mansions flats and even a woolly Luas tram!
Local fibre artist Niki Collier also moved some pieces from her latest exhibition over to the Cathedral for the festival…
…Oh, and of course there was a little bit of last-minute knitting and crochet going on!
A few of these good people were even brave enough to try out this squiggly snake pattern, which I put together for the event!
And after we wrapped up, I took the opportunity to have a quick look around the Cathedral on my way out.
I can’t believe I lived across the road from this place for years and never went inside! It’s beautiful!
Hopefully we’ll get to do it all again next year… And if you’ve been involved in any crafty happenings lately, be sure to tell us all about it in the comments!
Have a super weekend, everybody! We’ll be back on Tuesday with another monster adventure to share!
Yay! I finally got a glimpse of the snakes (love the little tongue)! Those landmark knittings are AMAZING/mind-boggling, but I think the spring chicks have won me over. It’s so cool you have such a tight-knit community of crafters. (Yeah, I know that was a bad and obvious one, but I haven’t punned in SOOO long.)
What, no punning?! That’s terrible! This blog is a safe pun-friendly space, so have at ’em! And yes, it was great to see so many people getting involved… And to get a sneaky peek inside that cathedral at last. Cheers for stopping by, Tammie! 😀
Hand-knit snakes and a pun-safe zone? That’s more than I could have ASPed for! I’m ADDERly giddy now. 😜🙄😜
Yeah yeah… No need to go pythON about it. 😆
I so enjoy your posts and wish I could take a knitting class from you! The Constant Knitter looks like a very yummy shop! St. Patrick’s Cathedral and knitting snakes…hmmm, ha!
Well, if you’re ever over on this side of the pond, Tierney, you’re welcome to drop in! 😀 And I’m afraid the idea of knitted snakes was too fun to resist… We did have a heart pattern on hand for anyone who didn’t want to undo St Patrick’s work though! 😂 Thanks for swinging by, enjoy your weekend!
I will drop by with my future Beastie in hand 🙂
Excellent! You’d better start looking at flights, then! 😀
Glad you had a good time 🕊🦋🐶😀
Thanks Tricia! It was fun to get involved in something a little bit different! 😀
It looks like a great day! I love your snake, very cute.
Thanks Catherine! Next time I might make them with googly eyes for extra cuteness! 😀
Oh my, The Constant Knitter looks like heaven! Be honest: did you pick your flat based on the close proximity??? Lovely to see pictures from the festival. Haha I can’t believe those knitted landmarks! Epic! Love your snake, of course. And what a gorgeous cathedral! Now that you know, you can go claim sanctuary for a few hours if the Beasties are really acting up at the Towers.
Hahaha! Thanks, Weekes… Although since they normally charge admission, I’m probably more likely to end up in the pub! 😆 As for deliberately placing myself within a stone’s throw of a yarn store… Not guilty! I was here first! That said, when I went house-hunting a few years ago, I was very reluctant to move out of this area for some reason… 🤔
Cheers for popping in! 😀
Haha oooohh I seeeee… the yarn store followed you! Very clever of them. 🙂
Oh, those are things I like most!
Thanks Tajana! It was a fun event… And there was such a nice atmosphere on this last day, too! 😀
They all look fun! I tried my hand at knitting and was not successful….lol.
Thanks! And I may be a little biased here, but I think it’s definitely worth giving knitting another shot… Sure, getting the hang of it is tricky, but once you do you’ll find it hard to stop! 😀 Thanks for stopping in!
The Constant Knitter looks like a great LYS. I love to see fiber and knitting in local community building events – this sounds exciting, getting to share the fiber fun with the public! I recently joined a weekly knitting circle, and it always feels right and good to sit and chat with folks over craft – like home. 🙂 I’m sure the visitors enjoyed their knit mementos. Those little handmade chickadees are adorable. Great snake pattern, too! (I love how you’ve gotten those squiggles in!). And beautiful cathedral – it’s funny how the most interesting places are often a hop, skip, and jump away. 🙂
Oh yes, I’m very lucky to have such a great yarn shop so close… And they also do a monthly fibre crafts meetup, for when I need a social knitting fix! I’m glad to hear you found some like-minded people to share your knitting time with too 😀 And finally getting inside St Patrick’s cathedral was a real eye-opener… Now I’m trying to plan a visit to Marsh’s Library, another interesting attraction that’s right in my neighbourhood! Thanks for swinging by, Shirley!
The yarn store looks awesome. I’m kind of glad I live far away so I’m not temped to visit every week and take some yarny goodness home.
I’m surprised the Beasties didn’t scare the spring chicks away. 😀
Oooh, it’s pretty tempting alright! But it has its upsides too… They have a lot of other crafty stuff in stock as well, so it’s super-handy if I need something urgently to finish a project! As for containing the Beasties, I used distraction tactic #1… Left out some biscuits and said I was going to the shops. That’s one “adventure” they never want to join me for! 😂
The Constant Knitter is such a brilliant shop, and I’ve done some great sewing and spinning classes there too! I totally recommend it!
Oh yay, maybe I’ll bump into you there sometime! Do you ever stray into the realm of teeny knitwear design, as well as sewing? Thanks for stopping in, Ann!
I haven’t tried my hand at tiny knitting yet….but maybe!
I love that somebody sat down and knitted a tram 😀 That’s my favourite, but the cute lil snake is a close second!
Yes, the detail on it was crazy! Unsurprisingly, we had to stop a few people from taking THAT away as their keepsake gift! 😂 And cheers for supporting the little snakes… I might pop up the pattern in time for next year’s festivities! 🐍
Yay! Are they knitted? I’ve never made anything not-straight in knitting yet
Yes, they are! For the most part, anyway… I think some of the cottages in one of the pictures might have been crocheted. Awww, it’s a shame you don’t live closer, or I would have said “come along to one of my knitting classes”. But if you do want to take your knit skills up a notch, have a go at knitting in the round… It’s easier than you’d think, and you can make TUBES! It’s what seriously reignited my love of knitting about 10 years ago, and I haven’t stopped since! 😀