Celtic Memory comes to Texas

What a surprise! Jo of Celtic Memory came to visit! Well actually, after reading here about Heritage Arts at Beaumont Ranch and something about sock dyeing, she decided that's what she wanted for her upcoming birthday. And dear Richard made it all possible. We are talking 4 days warning here, for an international trip. The spontaneity of it all was too fab!

Richard e-mailed that the "bird" had flown, so there was the rush to pick Jo up at the airport. Out into the evening sun and a bit of hot and humid Texas atmosphere soup! She really wanted to meet the Sisters of the Wool in a normal KnitNight at our regular Border's Books, so this was arranged and we went straight from the airport. The Sisters were out in force and delighted to meet Jo.

Show and tell included Micki's gorgeous Print o' the Wave from Eunny Jang. Check out Micki's blog for all the details, but gotta tell you, it's wonderful.

Aisling and the PatternWhisperer were hard at work. In fact, most of the Sisters were there. Please note, Aisling is knitting socks!!! Finally!And BookGrump's babies were much admired. Thanks to sadly blogless KnitTX for these three photos.

Jet-lagged and over-stimulated, we tried to get some sleep, then it was off to Yarns Ewenique to give Jo an idea of our LYS. We did so well there, that we decided to hit Louis Kahn's Kimbell Art Museum, with its special exhibit of The Mirror and the Mask - Portraiture in the Age of Picasso, instead of still more yarn shops. This wonderful exhibition is up through September and I highly recommend it.

Posing in front of the "Wall of Needles" at Yarns Ewenique.

A quick stop at Central Market turned up a lovely Irish lady who lives in the area. She overheard Jo's accent and immediately introduced herself. Within minutes, they were singing "The Spinning Song" and waltzing in the aisles of the market. This photo was taken sureptitiously since an employee had already come up to Jo and told her there was a no photos policy. Not to mention that there was a band out front...a Celtic Rock band called the Killarneys, with bagpipes! Who knew there was so much Irish in Fort Worth?

We toured the Stockyards and downtown, with a stop at the Philip Johnson designed Water Gardens so Jo could tour the fountain used in the last scene of Blade Runner. Then we of course had to be at the bookstore at midnight to get a fresh off the press copy of Harry Potter and see all the craziness that is a HP booklaunch. The next morning, we gathered the PatternWhisperer and were off to the Ranch where Lorelei and Sue had hung banners for Jo's birthday. These two ladies are just a pleasure, Sue is quiet and sweet and Lorelei is a very positive force of nature! The shop has changed since I first went a few years ago. Less normal knitting yarn, and much more spinning and dyeing and weaving. You can buy wheels and looms and all sorts of odd gadgets as well as fiber, dyed and natural, and all the dyes to go with it. Spindles and carding combs and such. If you haven't been, they are well worth the trip. There are classes on spinning and weaving and other fiber arts. Third Saturdays are for spinners just to meet and gossip and share. That was delightful! Everyone is open and helpful. I'm going back to get my spinning mojo working. Nice atmosphere and the spinning room is well air-conditioned. We noticed.

They only do this workshop once a year, but Lorelei offered to do a special dyeing workshop for the Sisters. Are we excited? You betcha. Now the difficulty is finding a Saturday in the next six months which suits us all, easier said than done. We met some spinners who had come in from Waco to dye yarns.

And here are our efforts of the day. It was very hard not to grab another and still another skein just to see what else we could do. Like children with fingerpaints. A quick downpour raised the steam factor several notches, and I must say, we just about melted.
This little fellow saw us off from the ranch. The zedonks and alpacas were in hiding. Too exhausted to go to dinner, we spent a quiet evening knitting, then sent our Irish friend back to Cork. There is nothing more delightful than an Irish lilt and Jo was a joy to have around. A few more days would have been more relaxing, but we did our best. The age of the internet is so amazing...to read someone's blog from continents away, develop a friendship, then meet as though we had been friends forever. Ain't life just grand??? What's next?