A beautiful day for a tour from Norway

Velcommen was The word of Our week.
We were getting ready to greet a planned Textile tour from Norway passionate about yarns, spinning, knitting and craft .

Morning is here and Corporate Touring is negotiating Knitfields tree aligned avenue

Through the arched doorway to the mystery beyond! Edel greets the touring guests of Knitfield from 'Norges Linforening', the Linen association of Norway.

www.norges-linforening.no

Denver our on site ginger girl has a word with Chef and kitchen chief of the morning, Tess.

New at Knitfield is our 'This is us!' visual screen story by Maggy, after a little ancedotal background by Edel on her road to busy Textile decades in Irelands North West.

Stitch interest time and most popular again is Aran in all it's guises. Workshop one becomes a hive of ladies loving the honeycomb and learning the blackberry - back to front and upside down!

They say WE KNIT FUNNY !!! Well done for being such genuine sports and eager weavers.

Edel was challenged to 'cast on' Scandi style and managed a little with great tuition from Hanne. Intense conversation and skill swapping set the whole Townland on fire, like a recreation of some ancient 'meet-up' in this historically textile rich locality.

Johnny Shiels prepares for a well informed invasion in workshop two. His beautiful wheel was built by himself in a family tradition going back to his grandfather. Guests were invited to spin or card wool and Johnny brought his very special hand build loom with an opportunity for everyone to weave a part of Inishowen.

Inspirational Knitfield patterns designed and written in house by Edel MacBride are on the best seller list! We remarked how many beautiful and rich textures and tones the ladies were wearing, many wearing their own soft knitwear or weaving.

Edel tells the story of the yarn designed recently by herself exclusively for Knitfield.

Read more about this on our blog Slieve League here. A hush descended and orders were placed!

The pantry was a go to for refreshments in the form of delicious scones with cream and home made jam.

Produced and co-ordinated beautifully by Tess who brought an assortment of Nicolas Mosse pottery to the party in the form of jugs. Our Knitfield Moville pottery mugs were a little unmatched, yet the home made and real made feel of everything was magical.

Under a Donegal sky !

Norway we imagine is cold and beautiful. Perfect to wear our hand knitted hats and gloves in Donegal spun merino.

 

                                                
From left :Hanne Julie Gjendem  (Leder) of Norges Linforening, Edel MacBride, founder of Knitfield and Designer, Anne Holth Larsen (Norges linforening), Elaine McInaw (tour co- ordinator)

Ireland & Norway

Knitfield and Edel MacBride workshop with Norges Linforening organisation,

April 30, 2014 at the Knitfield Centre in Convoy, Donegal, Ireland

 

 

Farewell, Edel bids a personal good bye and spies some incredible knitting aboard the bus!

The horses made new friends too as they were hand fed clover.

 

Visit again soon !

Thank you to everyone involved. To the family who appeared like night owls to help with prep especially the younger members who brought lots of enthusiasm. To the visual display team on video, sound, merchandising and buttons !!!

Full credit to photographer Mary McDermott and kitchen hospitality Tess Corry (Edel's sisters).

 

A great word of gratitude to Norges Linforening for selecting our destination and bringing such a sense of new beginnings to our year.

 

all images 1987 -2014 (c)Edel MacBride ltd

Thank you to our friends at Marley Wools Ltd and Donegal yarns. 

more information: www.spinningwheels.ie

www.norges-linforening.no

www.edelmacbride.com

www.movillepottery.com 

www.nicholasmossepottery.com

 

 

Dunboyne Castle Hotel workshop with Edel

The knitting needles and hooks of Knitfield and Edel were invited a little further afield this Spring.
The historic location of Dunboyne Castle Hotel, in the picturesque village of Dunboyne in Co Meath called for some knit with style action!
The castle team set to planning, promoting and printing ahead of the theatre style demonstration workshop planned for April 13th.

Edel wears sky eve hood and is ready to knit with a cone of slieve league grey wool exclusively designed by Edel for Knitfield

With a Dunboyne speaker and workshop line up this year to date that included Gaye Byrne and Neven Maguire, it was time to get the best yarns ready and the best dress pressed!

The keys to our Art ! We could crochet with this one on the grand front entrance door ?

After an early start it was time to check the final slides for the introduction. Edel is looking right at home here!

A guest should always be brought in by the front door, on their first visit, so an old irish etiquette goes. 

This includes all the yarn and supplies for the demo too we reckoned.

Time to work the room. What a wonderful audience. Lots of early arrival enthusiasm and great questions. Most attendees could both knit and crochet and some had interests in entrelac and broomstick crochet which is undergoing a revival. 

Indeed Edel was learning a thing or two.

It's great when friends encourage each other into handcraft as these ladies did.

Thank you for bringing your work along. Entrelac in crochet or knit has great possibilities and is fun to 'build'

The little Knitfield boots kept an eye on proceedings.

Indeed inspiration was everywhere. While the drawing room was great for the busy event we did fall a little in love with the library. This pretty ceramic chandelier held great colour chart possibilities !

It was a busy weekend with two weddings at the castle, yet that didn't stop us from swishing on the 

Downton stairwell and looking heavenwards for more inspiration.

If flora and fauna is more your inspirational kick off point, the grounds are wonderful for a dreamy dander or to sneak outside with the knitting. While we had lovely food and service in The Ivy dining room, the ivy in the garden woodlands was every bit as enchanting.

The end

For now

We hope to be back. This lovely gothic door stands lost amid trees in the garden. A nod to the textured history of Dunboyne stretching back a thousand years to the Normans. Many yarns of it's own hidden here.

Thank you if you attended the workshop. It was great to have such a like minded get together. The interest in perfecting finish and technique was heartening indeed, no rush jobs! Thank you if you purchased a 'KNITFIELD' kit or pattern on the day. We are happy to accommodate any follow up requests via the email below or at the Convoy studio number  074 9147508.

To book an inspirational workshop with Edel MacBride or for details on this years events email Knitfield1@gmail.com

Thank you to the team at Dunboyne and to the press which gave the event great mention.