Crafty Andy

Yarn Porn what better way to end my blogging this year. I wanted to buy some Mohair/ Silk blend and some fancy wools and I got the opportunity to do it today. Even if my SEX was not completely satisfying, I can say I cam home purring like an angora!
Cascade is always a great yarn to buy and I was going to get more yarn, but my gift Certificate was not for a lot this year. This LYS has a frequent Buyer Club, but let me tell you they have one less Buyer than they use to have. I don't know about you, but I was told that the amount of $ used in my gift certificate could not be used toward the frequent Buyer club. The person that purchased the Certificate was not Happy and let me tell you , that person may not buy another certificate from that place ever again. I did not make a scene, I am not that way, I am writing the owner a letter as she was the one that dealt with my purchase.
The yarn below is beautiful and I am sure I can make a nice hat with that yarn. I just love ha…

This yarn was just very nice, Manos del Uruguay that is. Manos is a very attractive yarn that I will buy anywhere. The price was reasonable otherwise I would have not made that kind of investment. Yes my friends in this day and age yarn should be looked at as an investment lol! You need to invest in renewable environmentally friendly yarn. It's just my ipinion.
Manos and the Kilcarra yarn were my investments at This is Knit in Dublin. The store is not very big, but it has a lot of yarn. I honestly did not have much time to spend here, because Michael does not like to shop at all and while he was in a good shopping mood, I had to be quick lol! This Kilcarra yarn is a tweed and it looks even better than the picture. I like green with colored specks, I would have bought enough for a sweater, but I decided not to. I have enough yarn at home still to make me two or three sweaters. This yarn may be a scarf , gloves or a hat. We shall see!
When we went to the Woollen Mills we ha…

The Dublin Hop on and Hop off Bus Tour is a great way of spending time in the city of Dublin. Our Route included all that we wanted to see, but the Jameson Distillery which we did on our own. There are many companies, our company had Red and Yellow double Decker and the yellow had a different route at some points. The Dublin Tourism office is inside one of Ireland's Churches, some of the churches these days are not Churches at all. We saw one that was a restaurant and this one were the Tourism Centre is. Just outside is the Bus Stop, this tour was about $ 20 each person, the Red Bus has a headphone for the tour the yellow does not.Dublin Castle is situated in the very heart of historic Dublin. In fact the city gets its name from the Dubh Linn or Black Pool (dubh = black), on the site of the present Castle Gardens and Coach House.
The Castle stands on the high ridge, the highest ground in the locality, at the junction of the River Liffey and its tributary the (now underground) Podd…

The day started a bit early, not really! We had breakfast Buffet at the Hotel and that was a really big Brunch. We also took some fruit with us and water as always. WE discussed during breakfast that on Sunday the Two Museums that we were interested in seeing were opened from 2 PM till 5 PM so we had to make a choice. I followed the Choice from Kemberlee and we went to the Archeology Musueum
Today we had a short day in the matter of things we could do, yet we followed the advise of a friend Kemberlee from http://www.all-ireland.com/ . She suggested that we take the DART. The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) is the rail line running along the coast of Dublin, from Malahide and Howth southwards as far as Greystones, Co Wicklow. The DART system is administered by the national rail operator, Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail). You can connect to the regular train service for communities north of Dublin, right up to Belfast. The DART is most convenient if you live in or near the coastal areas. We…

Today we finally got the opportunity to wake up after 7 AM. We wanted to see the Open Market on Temple Bar Area, so that meant to go across the Liffey on the South Side.We had to go through the Temple Bar Area to find the Farmer's Market that meets on Saturday. The area is bounded by the Liffey to the north, Dame Street to the south, Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. It probably got its name from the Temple family, who lived in the area in the 17th century. Sir William Temple, provost of Trinity College Dublin in 1609, had his house and gardens in the area. Alternatively, it could have been named in imitation of the Temple Bar in London. However it got its name, the earliest historical reference to the name Temple Bar is on a 1673 map.
These are very touristic Bars and Pubs that you will have to call tourist magnets( or traps) and they are very pricey. It is a very busy area of Dublin. I was glad we were away from it.

This was a Book Market going on w…

On the 4th day we got up and went to the Heuston Train Station at 6:40 AM and we met the Bright Yellow Jacket People, lol! Those were the ones from the tour. There was a line forming and we promptly were on our way to the reserved seats on this train. The Irish Railways are beautiful extra clean trains with great bathrooms and snack service. There is a Breakfast Car , but we have had breakfast in our room already and brought some snacks for the road. It is very dark, the sun won't come up for another 2 hours. It was exciting to ride a train and get to see some of the Irish Countryside. These train are commuter trains as well, people were coming in and out in the few stops we made.



We got to Blarney under a bit of fog and it was very cold, we drove through Cork I believe and ended up by the Woollen Mills where we will be coming back to greet our tour guide Marie and the other people from the tour. We booked this tour through Expedia. If you wondered how cold it was watch the video a…