Wow, what a hectic week it’s been! We’re working flat out here at Beastie Towers, but of course we’re never too busy to stop in and have a chat with all you lovely readers on a Tuesday lunchtime. And today, we have some super exciting news… The Beasties have set foot on US soil!
Now, I am aware that a few intrepid monsters have already moved out there on their own – yes, Finn McSpool, I’m talking about you – but this is more of a migration, or a diplomatic mission.
(Not an invasion, though… I want to be very clear about that. The Beasties come in peace!)
They’ve set themselves up in Glen Rock, NJ, in a place that feels very much like home – Carrick Mór Irish Store! The owners, Kristin and Michael, have been long-standing Beastie supporters, and it was brilliant to be able to send them over a small delegation of monsters to stand alongside their incredible range of Irish goodies.
So, who are these brave travellers? Well, I wanted to cram as much of the Beasties’ homeland into this precious parcel as possible, and I figured the best way to do that was to send a crew of 100% Irish wool Barróg Beasties. The first ones to hop in the box were a pair of Tae (not a typo!) Beasties, each clutching a mug of deeeelicious hot, strong tea!
Next up, a pair of Redhead Beasties, with matching fiery tresses and tweed scarves!
For the sports fans out there, a couple of Hurling Beasties joined the team – one in Dublin colours, and one who appears to hail from Kilkenny!
Now, we’re all used to hearing that winter is coming… And from what I hear, winter in New Jersey hits a lot harder than it does here in Ireland! At least these two Aran Beasties are wrapped up and ready for whatever the weather throws at them!
And for anyone who’d rather curl up by the fire with a good book…
Finally, I added a new face to these tried-and-true favourites – meet Luck O’the Irish Beastie, who set sail with a big bunch of shamrocks! It’s probably thanks to him that everyone made it across the Atlantic safely.
Oh, and I couldn’t resist cramming ALL the Beasties together in the teeny photo studio for some happy snappies before they left!
As you can see, Beasties are just like people – it’s impossible to get them all looking at the camera for a group picture.
So, if you find yourself in Glen Rock sometime soon, do swing by Carrick Mór and say hello to this happy band of explorers! And for anyone closer to our home here in Dublin…
I’ve been a regular at this market over the last few years, and I’m looking forward to joining them again this weekend! If you’re in the area, rock on up and say hello… We’d love to see you!
Right, I’d better get back to it… I have a houseful of Beasties clamouring for accessories, and only three days left to make them! Have a super week, everybody!
I’d hate for anyone to miss out on Frankenstein’s Monster Beastie, for starters! I have to admit that I kind of love the bolts in his neck and the random lines of stitching holding his sweet green face together.
And yes, I still make these!
Next, how about we take a look at where these fibres come from? Now, I know that farming is hardly a squeaky-clean, environmentally-friendly enterprise. I realise that sheep are prone to all manner of parasites and diseases, and that the chemicals required to prevent against these nasties taking hold are probably pretty nasty themselves. But let’s not forget that synthetic fibres are extracted from crude oil, and held up against the oil extraction and processing industry, even the most intensive sheep farming comes out looking pretty angelic.
Explorer Beastie was tempted to freewheel down twisty Fishamble Street on this greenery-bedecked bicycle, but fortunately I was able to talk him out of it. Let’s just walk the rest of the way, perhaps?
And sure enough, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the narrow cobbled streets of Temple Bar!
And look… There they are!
The Beasties will be guests at Cow’s Lane Designer Studio for at least the next month, so if you’re in the area, please do pop in and say hello! All of them are eager to meet you, and maybe find their forever home!
Ta-daaaaah! The people have spoken, and they’ve come out in favour of a calendar gap year. Although I reckon I’ll really have to deliver on my promise to get something bigger, brighter and better together for 2019! It’s also interesting that the idea of abandoning the calendar altogether was the least popular option – I’ve been happy to discover that I’m not the last person on earth who depends one of these primitive devices to stop my world from descending into chaos!
Delicious! Burger Beastie seems to be especially enjoying the whole picnicking experience.
If you’re in any way craftily inclined, you’ll find so much to love on Melissa’s blog… Although her enthusiasm for all things woolly and yarny is really quite infectious, so even if you don’t know your knit from your purl, you might find yourself getting sucked in! What makes Melissa different from so many other craft bloggers out there is that she takes a look beyond her own works in progress, and taps into the growing community of people involved in producing the wool she knits and spins. This takes in everything from visiting farms (and getting involved in the sheep shearing!) to meeting indie dyers and pattern designers. One of my favourite recent posts was her interview with 
I love checking in with Shirley’s blog. I think it has a lot to do with the way she writes – her calm, warm voice just puts you at ease, and it’s like you’re meeting a good friend for coffee and a catchup. Shirley is another person who is all about handmade, and her posts are mostly about what she’s got on the go at the moment – she knits, weaves and is a super-talented illustrator. She also loves to read around her interests, and I’ve so enjoyed sharing in her library finds (or special orders)… Especially when she comes across something with a crafty theme! Lately, I’ve been avidly following her first foray into working with reclaimed yarn (
Wow, haven’t they changed? Unsurprisingly, this first post of mine got no likes… at least not until Noémie from 
Urrrgh, again with the terrible photography! Isn’t it lucky that I was trying to rehome Beasties that weekend, rather than photographs? That said, I was pretty surprised that I had to put up this sign on my table halfway through Sunday afternoon…
And thus, a Maker of Monsters was born! From there, it was a short leap to taking on my first commission…
… And by now, I’d picked up two of my longest-standing followers, who I still try to keep up with. Knitters will find lots to love on 
Look at him there, hanging out with Ampelmann in Berlin! And by the time he’d taken the first of many trips to Co. Roscommon, in the western midlands of Ireland…
… We’d picked up another BeastieBlog lifer,
Barróg Beasties (the name is the Irish word for “hug”) have gone on to become some of the most popular Beasties out there… Especially the ones with pints of Guinness or little Aran sweaters! Oh, and it’s around this time that
By now, we’d been joined by 
That year, I also found some great new blogs through WordPress’s Blogging 101 course – including one of my favourite travel blogs, 
It’s also been fun to see more people getting in touch with pictures of their own Beasties’ adventures – like 
Aaaand that’s probably enough gushing from me for one day! I hope you enjoyed this whistle-stop tour of Beastie history – it’s actually been fun for me to look back through the archives as well. It’s also made me realise that, although there are a good few people who have been with me since the early days, I’ve encountered a whole LOAD of interesting and inspiring bloggers in the last few months. So I’m saving my “who I’m reading now” list for a future post, coming up in a couple of weeks!
