MAKING A LOOM

Hand Weaving seems to be a dying art as near perfect shawls and rugs are readily available in the market. When I heard about a peg loom making course in Scariff Community Centre, I had no idea what it would be. A check on the internet revealed that peg looms can be commercially-made or hand made.

So I left Cormac, the teacher a message, letting him know that I was interested in making a peg loom.

6 ladies including myself turned up for the class. Woodwork is something new to me but I enjoyed it thoroughly - the sawing and the drilling. The first piece of wood was so soft it started breaking up. So, midway Cormac suggested that I abandoned that and start all over again with a new piece of wood. Every little stick was hand made as well.

The history of peg loom weaving is unclear but I remember doing rag rugs as a child and this seems to be something that would be similar. The larger the peg loom, the greater the versatility. Research has shown that weaving slows down the pulse rate as well as blood pressure. Therapeutic indeed.

The basic terms are warp and weft. Warp refers to the up and down threads on which the weave is created on a peg loom. Weft refers to the side to side weaving strands. Peg loom weaving is essentially tapestry weaving.

My first project was a rag rug and I am quite pleased with it. I'll certainly go on and experiment with different types of yarn and such.

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn.

                                         All's well that Ends well - William Shakespeare.

MORE UPCYCLED CHAIRS

I have a connection with chairs. So I got myself a few more second-hand chairs and decided to transform them.

The first one is one that has Orla Kiely's trademark on it. I love Orla Kiely's stuff from dresses to accessories to shoes. So now that I have my own Orla chair to sit on, I must wear my orla outfit, shoes and brooch and sit on it.

This was the original chair

For the next chair, I painted and distressed the wood with chalk paint and made a sugan seat

Finally, I created another one with BEANO - my favourite comic book

Due to the good response to the photos I put up on social media, for the next month, I'll be busy holding workshops on furniture upcycling!

SOFT TOYS TO LOVE

I'm back to sewing again and this time it is all about making soft toys. I bought this doll making kit from Oslo and isn't she gorgeous? This is the first of three and I hope to complete the other two sometime this month.

Then I went on to make 2 elephants for my friends who celebrated the American independence day on the fourth of July this year. The colours reflect the American flag.

The elephant cushion can double up as a lower back cushion for  the driver's seat. This is particularly useful and I find great relief from a small one like this especially when I drive for hours.....

MAKING A SUGAN CHAIR

When I wrote to Slieve Aughty centre about a year ago (2015) and asked them when they would conduct a course on sugan chair making, I heard nothing from them. Then out of the blue in January 2016, they contacted me and told me about the Weekend in the Hills where traditional crafts would be taught. Strangely they had kept my email and decided to respond a year later. This is Ireland.

So I signed up for it and Michael and I made 2 trips just to check out the place, to be sure, to be sure. I'm perfect in the city but I get lost in the country. Slieve Aughty is nestled in Kylebrack, Co. Loughrea. The first time we drove there, we were going uphill and downhill and then we admitted that we were lost. So we pulled to the side and waited for a friendly face. Lo and behold a tractor came by.

I put on my puss in boots look and said, 'I am lost, can you help me?'. No one can resist that, not even myself. The farmer was very helpful and said, 'I will put your feet on the right path again!' He grinned and went over the directions twice. This again is Ireland.

When the day arrived, I was in no position to drive as I had sprained my ankle and tore some ligaments. It was wonderful that my friend Susan said she would take over the wheel. Such is the wonder of having a great friend. Susan had also signed up to do a different course.

At the reception counter, I asked whether I could use the lift. The lady in-charge said the lift was full of stuff and I had to climb the stairs with my crutches. I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Anyway, the tasty organic food made up for it. The room was lovely too.

There were five of us - all ladies. We surrounded the master craftsman Sean Walshe and gave him no peace, We chose our logs and there was a lot of sawing and drilling.

I was completely hopeless when it came to the use of brute strength. I am no brute and I had no strength.

At the end of the day, Susan came by and helped me with the weaving of the seat. The result of four hands working on the seat was spectacular. The master was very pleased and so was I.

Egg cosies or pin cushions?

We all eat our eggs differently. Over here, soft boiled eggs are placed on egg cups. With a tap of two on the shell, the top part of the egg is removed. Then the insides are scooped out with a teaspoon.

His Style of Eating soft-boiled eggs

With lots of bits and bobs in my hands I decided to make some egg cosies. These will prove handy, as they keep the soft boiled eggs warm until the man stirs from his bed. Some of these shapes can be turned into pin cushions as well.

As for me, I prefer to break the eggs straight onto a saucer, chinese cafe (kopitiam) style and slurp the goodness  up. (not forgetting to put in a dash of pepper and soya sauce). And of course, there must be a cup of strong coffee and two slices of toasted bread with butter and coconut jam. (kaya)

My Style of Eating soft-boiled eggs

GARDEN CRAFTS

After months of long cold nights, the first signs of Spring are always very welcome. As the Crafts Coordinator for the International Women's Organisation, I facilitated a bird feeder making class. The bird feeder is made of willow and can last for several years. Now, we only need to wait for the birds to call. This is the sample that I made.

All the ladies went home happy with what they had created.

In preparation for the climbing plants in the garden, I also made this 6 foot willow wigwam. I plan to use for my jasmine plant (if it takes off) or any other plant that needs support.

Still in the crafty mood, I decided to make some vegetable markers. All this while I've been using store bought ones made of plastic. I found some garden border wood which I no longer needed. So I painted them white and then printed designs on them with some of my favourite stamps. After that I used a set of alphabet printers that my daughter bought me last Christmas to print the names of  different types of vegetables. I was very satisfied with the outcome.

Egg-citing Easter 2016

Today is Easter and it is the most important event in my Christian life because without Easter, there is no Christianity. When Pastor Kevin asked me for suggestions to make Easter tokens, I thought decoupage eggs would be an interesting idea.

Since I was away in Malaysia for the early part of the year, I decided to get most of the supplies from home as they are much cheaper. Kevin got some lovely volunteers and together we made 70 decoupage eggs.

And so we completed the eggs, put them into organza bags with a note inside each of the bags and gave them to all the families who attended Easter service at Abundant Life Christian Church Limerick.