Can it be that the event, Wool - the Legacy of St Brigid was more than a month ago?
Recap
The delightful day was organised by Deirdre Lane of Shamrock Spring, with the help of the AONTAS Adult Learners Festival. The event was very professionally run, with a sound system and videographers. The setting was splendid: the town hall in Newbridge is a beautiful space. It was formerly a Methodist church built in 1859. HERE are some photos via Google of the outside of the building.
Me
Below is a photo of my table. On the left side, there are finished hats made with Irish-grown wool and Merino wool. On the far right is my workspace to show how felt is made.
During the event, I had different 'stages of feltmaking' in the form of two-in-process hats to better show visitors. You can see them above, nestled amongst the bubble wrap.
The photo below, shows the finished the two hats alongside with the original triskele beret.
Meanwhile
The hall was abuzz with various fibre-related activities. Below are some photos that I managed to snap, inbetween happily chatting with visitors.
Carding
There was a delightful carding demonstration by Seamus Kirwan. I will now remember to angle my carders to get them to work better!
More Felters
Right next to me were more feltmakers - my friends from FeltmakersIreland. Here's Annika Berglund sharing the organisation's discoveries about using Irish wool for felting for the upcoming book Exploring Irish Wool for Feltmaking.
Below are Feltmakers Ireland members Fiona Leech and Deirdre Crofts. They are demonstrating how fluffy wool roving is transfromed into strong and flexible felt. All around them you can see finished felted wearables and artworks created by the members.
Other Types of Fibre Art
I enjoyed chatting with fibre artist and world explorer Susan Stephens-Barimo about her handcrafted rugs.
Below is a table loom that I believe belongs to Seamus Kirwan.
Wool Yarns
Here's another yarn display from Yarn Vibes. Leaning against the wall, there is an interesting photograph of historic Newbridge.
European Wool Day
During the event, there was a small crew filming the day's happenings. A short excellent video of Wool: the Legacy of St Brigid can be seen at the EWE Foundation's European Wool Day, which was on the 9th of April. This year it happened in Serbia!
The entire day's event can be watched HERE. (Note: there were technical difficulties with sound, initially).
The section from Newbridge happens HERE and is EXCELLENT!
Tech Hack for YouTube
Okay! I am feeling proud that I figured out how to link to the middle of the European Wool Day's YouTube video. For those who are curious, you add the specific time of your segment to the end of the YouTube URL.
Then you add a bit of 'code'. The Xs stand for whatever time that you have, while the h is for hour, the m is for minute and the s is for seconds. The code would look like this #t=XhXmXs
So for the Wool: Legacy of St Brigid segment at the European Wool Day, the URL changes from this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O_CglksJdU
to this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O_CglksJdU#t=5h10m15s
(To demonstrate, I have bolded the additional code).
In Summary
Wool: The Legacy of St Brigid was a lovely day, in a new-to-me location, Newbridge, Co Kildare. Many thanks to all who braved the rain and came and chatted. Again, huge thanks to Deirdre Lane of Shamrock Spring for organising the day.