A new season begins. Before announcing the details, I would like to give you an update.
As you all know, the hospitality industry is experiencing tough times. Prices increases are happening frequently. Sitting for a few hours while just having a drink is not possible with many cafes/restaurants and with a large group, a deposit is often required.
The IFI has been our regular meeting place since September 2023 and it’s been a good experience. But, price increases meant that we were looking at €13/€14 per person for the platters. And they wouldn’t provide cutlery/plates. We provided the paper plates the last few socials.
I asked Greg to see what he could do as he has good relationships with a number of cafes/restaurants. And I can announce that we will trial a new venue for our Knit Social. I will ask for feedback/input at this event in terms of going forward.
It is La Caverna in Temple Bar. A lovely Italian restaurant with a wonderful ambiance. They will be providing us with our own room from 1pm-4pm. It will be a sit down brunch at one long table with dining chairs and spacing so we can knit.
It is €17.95 for any main course from the brunch menu. The menu is available to view here:
Please indicate your menu choice when your booking is confirmed.
Hot and cold beverages are available for purchase at the Bar.
There will be some fabulous prizes provided by a number of sponsors which I will be posting in my stories. The Murphy Leaf will cover the service charge.
Full refund if cancellation is by Saturday 31st August 2024.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on Saturday 7th September.
Two years ago, Fibre Shed Ireland invited Instagrammers to use the hashtag #fridayfashionshift. I’ve missed these Fridays, so how about a re-boot this summer?
#FridayFashionShift
Each Friday, choose something from your wardrobe that fits at least one of the categories: [ ] Made from natural fibres [ ] Made locally or by even by you [ ] Is a family heirloom [ ] Has been mended/repaired [ ] Something else which represents your individual ethos surrounding fashion and clothing
Wear it for that day and share a photo with the hashtag #fridayfashionshift
Don’t forget to tell us why you choose it and how it represents your personal fashion ethos
Handknits for #FridayFashionShiftSecond hand denim dress
I don’t remember when I’ve been focused on sustainability. Maybe it started around the time of the Pandemic when I started making reuseable cloth facemasks. It really bothered me to see so many disposable blue face coverings littered carelessly on the sidewalks and footpaths around the hospital.
I recently attended the CAI Annual Congress of Anaesthesia and the Sustainability Session was one I attended with interest. Three very relevant topics in our current world:
• Sustainable Anaesthesia
•Planning the Irish Green Theatre
• Human Healthcare and the Ocean
Listening to these speakers and the Q & A following the session has made me even more passionate and speaking out about sustainability and the impactnto our planet’s ecosystem.
When I look around in the perioperative setting, we generate a lot of healthcare related waste from packaging to single-use items. In particular, the blue disposable head coverings worn in the operating theatres
I did a quick calculation on the number of operating theatre staff – nurses, doctors, support staff, technicians and med & nursing students who cross that red line you know the one, that says Surgical Attire Only Beyond This Point.
For example, a general surgery operating theatre staffed with a minimum of: 4 perioperative nurses, 1 anaesthetic nurse 1 Consultant Anaesthesiologist 1 Anaesthetic Registrar 1 HealthCare Aid 1 Consultant Surgeon 2 Surgical Registrars 1 Surgical SHO 2 students on their surgical rotation
That is 14 people wearing disposable hats and multiply that by say , 10 Operating Theatres. That sum is 140 per day. Elective surgery lists are 5 days a week which brings our total up to 700 single use theatre hats per week that may end up in landfill.
Single use hats are made from viscose, manufactured from tree pulp. It is estimated that 120million trees are cut down each year for viscose production, deforesting woodland and therefore potentially degrading local ecosystems and adding to climate change.
Viscose is produced when wood chips from the trees are pulped in a process requiring steam and chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and bleach (chlorine) This process is toxic and produces water waste.
I applaud the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who published their case study in 2022, whereby they tackled excess waste by switching to re-useable theatre caps.
I make my own theatre hats, which is my miniscule contribution to “saving the planet”.
I also sell 100% cotton theatre caps, mainly to my loyal and regular customers all over Ireland, using the tagline, Life is too short to wear boring scrubhats.
It’s time for me to elaborate and advocate for reuseable cloth scrub hats.
Things you need to know about the me and my VillaMaker ScrubHats:
• The fabric I use is 100% cotton.
• I support Irish by purchasing my fabric from shops and businesses based in Ireland.
• I contribute to reducing excess fabric and textiles by purchasing from many individuals who have “re-homing sales” to sell off their stashed fabric.
• I only use quality sewing thread (Gutterman)
• My hats are made in the VillaMaker Studio (a spare bedroom in our home in Crumlin)
• my pricing reflects my time and labour to making each hat
Some of my healthcare colleagues have sited and bought from Temu because the price is cheap. As a Maker, I detest the likes of Temu and Shein. But that’s a discussion for another day.
At the moment, I really don’t push my sales because it would take huge amounts of my time and energy to make my way to the top of the algorithms on the social media platforms.
I’d rather be sewing and selling for my loyal customer base who appreciate not only the quality of what I make, but those who are ethically and sustainably like myself.
Anyone have a history of joining the knitters’ parade of MKALs and not completing the mystery FO?
To quote Marshall McLuhan, “We look at the present through a rear view mirror.”
I’ve just started looking at the art of affirmations. • I am grateful for my past as it brought me to the present.
A last minute decision to join @feller.carol MKAL Grainchloch Shawl. Factor in that Vivacious 4ply is my stash and an online purchase for some luxurious fluff, Manos del Uruguay Cabrito in Tiza and Sea Salt.
There’s great community support and plenty of Knitworking opportunities on the Stolen Stitches Knit Hub.
Note: Just a note to those buying a ticket to the Knit and Stitch Social that the price reflects menu price increases. I set the ticket price to cover the cost of food and gratuity.
I am extremely fortunate to be able to use the Mezzanine of the IFI Cafe Bar once a month. As it is in the city centre, this is an excellent venue for knitters and crocheters to meet.
Although I am the host for these socials, my other half is the event planner and organiser.
January is a long month, so we choose to keep things cheap and cheerful with tea, coffee, mini cakes and pastries.
Enjoying the auditory, visual and tactile pleasures of knitworking alongside some incredible makers is an incredible experience.
In the coming week or so, I will make an announcement regarding our next Knit & Stitch Social.
Keep an eye on my Instagram, @diane.villamaker for the most recent updates.
Happy New Year to you all and hope you had a great Christmas. Now, it’s time to get together for our Knit & Stitch social.
Going forward, the Knit and Stitch social will be monthly with a break in the summer.
I am absolutely delighted to be the host of our first knit and stitch social of 2024. A warm welcome to all knitters, crocheters and other stitchers, be it embroidery, cross stitch, etc.
I am mindful that it can be financially stressful for people right after Christmas. I was able to arrange something a little different for this social get together. And will arrange platters for our future monthly socials.
Date: Saturday 13th January Time: 1:30pm to 4pm Venue: The Mezzanine at the Irish Film Institute
Cost: €7 includes one coffee/tea and a couple mini desserts from a selection of mini cakes and mini pastries and gratuity)
It’s been several years since I got myself involved with the Guild and when the call out for “fiber helpers” at this year’s Dublin Maker in Richmond Barracks, I jumped right in to help Máire set up the Guild’s demo area.
Boy oh boy, we were fortunate to be outdoors, under the big tent, what must have been the hottest day in September.
There were people and people and people who tried their hand at spinning and weaving.
It was so busy ( we heard thousands of people walked through the entrance!) I really never had time to catch up with my fellow members Ailbhe, Liz and Máire.
If you have to opportunity to volunteer for any event with the Guild, I definitely recommend Dublin Maker (that’s only because I LOVE the souvenir lanyard and t-shirt we receive as volunteers).
Two weeks following Dublin Maker was World Wide Spin in Public. Another fine opportunity to get involved with the Eastern Region of the Guild. For this world wide event, we celebrated the day at a new to us venue in Dublin 12, The Green Kitchen & Garden Shop.
We had a lovely group of spinners arrive with their spinning wheels and drop spindles.
The curious arrived wanting to give spinning a try on a drop spindle.
What a lovely way to get my spinning mojo back, while catching up with my friends from the Guild.
While a song from the 1980s kept
spinning in my head,
You spin me right ’round, baby, right ’round Like a record, baby, right ’round, ’round, ’round ~ You Spin Me Round by Dead or Alive
We’re halfway through Soctober and I’ve been toting my current sock wip in the first Japanese knot bag that I made at the start of the Pandemic.
Making these little project bags were a perfect stashbuster, using up cotton fabrics from sewing cloth facemasks.
Last year, I went to a party and needed an evening bag .
So, I whipped up one, out of a vintage art deco style damask fabric and lined it with gold silk satin.
I had no pockets and this Japanese knot bag was the perfect little carry all for my essentials – phone, money, lipstick, hotel keycard and my salbutamol inhaler.
My latest collection of Japanese Knot Bags will only be available by made to order soon.
Kandinsky Knot Bag
This Kandinsky inspired knot bag is a work of art . The abstract artist and colour theorist was well known with his bold and brilliantly coloured paintings.
Kandinsky saw the dot, or point, as a small circle. He argued that this was the most basic, fundamental element of painting, observing “everything starts from a dot.” From this basic dot, one could go on to create any variation of line or shape.
Circles were a recurring feature in his abstract art, and he painted them in a huge range of variations, from planet-like orbs to repetitive concentric designs.
Made from a Kandinsky inspired tapestry textile and lined with re-homed drapery fabric.
And knot forgetting one of the famous Impressionists, Van Gogh
Impression by Colour
This knot bag is inspired by Van Gogh’s colour palette. The post-impressionist artist became well known for his techniques in passionate brush strokes in symbolic and intense color, in surface tension, and in the movement and vibration of form and line.
VillaMaker 