Knit-a-thon for National Day of Volunteering

We are getting very excited about this Friday, 30th September. Normally we host our regular knitting and stitching group on Friday mornings but this Friday is extra special.

Friday the 30th September is National Day of Volunteering in Ireland and to show our support we are hosting a knit-a-thon.

Volunteer Ireland say "The aim of the National Day of Volunteering is to encourage everyone in Ireland to give volunteering a try, so that everyone can learn that - even if it’s only for a minute, an hour, or a day - volunteering can make a big difference and be a lot of fun! Read more under our ’Get Informed’, ’Get Involved,’ and ’Get Organised’ buttoms to learn more about the National Day of Volunteering and how you can get involved! ". 

We thought that taking part in this event would show our support for the wonderful volunteers in Ireland, promote a local charity (Bee for Battens) and bring all the lovely knitters and crocheters in Kerry together. 

You can read lots more about the knit-a-thon here but basically these events are going to be held all over Ireland on Friday and we are going to collectively try and break the Guinness World Record of the most people knitting simultaneously which currently stands at 1147. Easy right?

You can knit whatever you like on the day but we are also asking people to donate a piece knitted or in crochet (Any size or item) to donate for sale to raise funds for the local charity Bee for Battens. The donated garments will be put for sale in the shop between now and Christmas and all proceeds donated to the charity, 


So all you have to do is turn up with your yarn and needles on Friday September 30th between 10am and 1pm at the shop and get knitting and crocheting, have a cuppa and meet other stitchers. 


We look forward to seeing you then.

Birthdays, workshops, craft fairs...it's all happening!

Well here is a bit of a mega blog post just to bring you up to date with all the latest happenings.

Countdown to new website going live......

The new web shop is almost there (as in almost days away). It has take some major hard work but the site is getting to a stage where we are happy with it. We discovered in the process of putting up the products that we hold more than 12000 products. I know, scary right? But I suppose by the time you add up sheets of paper, buttons, paints, brushes, beads its not an unrealistic figure. So we are not going to be putting 12000 products on line as that is just asking for trouble. We are instead going to take baby steps and the first month will be a test period for the new site so a few of your favourites and new lines will be going up and each day we will add a few more. Anyway I hope to be giving away lots more info on this early next week so I'm not going to give away too much now

Its our birthday!

3rd Birthday Celebrations. I cant believe the shop turns three this Saturday. From a personal point of view it feels like such a milestone as I remember when we opened we never new would we see year three as it seemed so far away. Well we are glad to say that we are still here and it is because of the loyalty, friendship and support our customers have shown us not to mention our staff (big shout out to Clare and Ebony). So year three I hope is going to be a good one and maybe even the year that some our "BIG" goals are realised. Again I am dropping hints but I just don't want to jinx any plans but needless to say watch this space.

So to celebrate our 3rd Birthday there will be of course some special offers in store Saturday and Sunday. We are also hosting a scrapbooking workshop on Saturday the 19th March from 12pm to 2pm. It is 30 Euros for a whole lots of materials so book by giving us a call on 0646630800

Sunday we are hosting our very own Crafty Alley Shop Craft Fair and we are inviting our amazingly talented customers to take a table and demonstrate and hopefully sell their handmade goods. No charge to participate or to attend but if you do want to take a stand on the day please give us a call so we can allocate space.

Upcoming Workshops

We have two very exciting workshops coming up.

April 2nd 2011, Colourway Knitting Techniques with Carol Fellers 

Carol is back with a very special knitting workshop especially designed for The Crafty Alley Shop. When I say especially designed I mean that Carol has actually written an exclusive pattern for the workshop!

(Sneak peak of Carol's exclusive pattern for the workshop)

Here is what Carol had to say "I’m having lots of fun putting together the colourwork class for you! I’m busy putting the finishing touches to the cowl pattern that should be a really good introduction to stranded knitting. As its knit in the round it is by far the easiest way to experiment with stranded knitting. (Plus you get an introduction to continental style knitting!) Intarsia and slip stitch colour pattern work will also get a mention."


This really is a not to miss workshop and we are thrilled to have Carol back with us. The cost is 40Euro for tuition and pattern. Yarn is sold seperately and we would appreciate it if the yarn has or is purchased from The Crafty Alley Shop. We are bringing in a new yarn especially for the class so more information on that to follow as well as needle requirements. You can read more about Carol here. Also remember that we stock some of Carol's patterns in the shop. 

......................................

April 11th 2011 Make a felt bag with Mairead Sharry

The second workshop we have coming up is with the amazing talented and inspiring Mairead Sharry.

This is the third felting workshop Mairead has taught at The Crafty Alley Shop and we are thrilled to have her back. Mairead will be teaching how t make a felt bag using the wet felting technique. 


Felting a bay with Mairead Sharry Monday April 11th 20100 10.30AM to 12:00PM 25 Euro including materials. 


One again we are taking booking for Mairead's workshop now s please call 0646630800 to book your place. You can read more about Mairead here. 


I hope that was not information overload but just had to get all the information out there. 


Will be back next week with some more news so in the meantime Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona Duit agus go raibh a mile maith agat (Happy St Patricks Day and Thank you). 


Cathy

A Knitted Christmas Gift Workshop Sat 6th Nov

As part of The Crafty Alley Shop Handmade Christmas Gift campaign for 2010 we will commence our season of workshops this Saturday, 6th November form 12.30PM to 14.30PM. The cost of the workshop is €20 which includes materials but please bring along your own size 10mm knitting needles. We will be making this stunning Patons Curly Scarf pattern. As well as this you will take away a little knitting kit for an additional gift which can be made at home.

This workshop is limited to 6 participants so please book early by calling the shop on 0646630800 or emailing us.

Thank you

Cathy

A quick round up of the last few days

Hi all,

I hope you are still enjoying the sunshine? It seems to put everybody in a better mood and I hope it continues. It has been a terrible week for all of those stuck in their travel arrangements due to the volcano and I really hope that everybody arrives to their destinations as soon and as safe as possible, be it by boat, car, train or camel!

This week I took part in the RTE Radio 1 show The Business with John Murray.

We took part in a Mad Knitters Tea Party and it was both fun and extremely interesting. I have to say my favourite bit was meeting fellow entrepreneurs in the textile field as sometimes when you are running a business you are so busy you never get to meet others. Everybody was lovely and it was enlightening to see people building businesses around textiles in Ireland.

I have been researching the web a lot this week and I am always on the look out for fabulous creative resources so here is a few of my favourites I have found.

• Sister Diane and her Crafty Pod -http://www.craftypod.com/ (Thanks Claudine for sharing this one)
• Where Women Create -http://www.wherewomencreate.com/ (I would love to get my hands on that magazine if anybody knows a source for Ireland?)
• To all you knitters and stitchers out there I wanted to mention Ravelry again which has to be the single best resource on the net for knitting and crochet. Great way to find the newest patters, meet fellow stitcher's and join an amazing community
• I have also recently signed up to Milliandes community as I was trying to find a community that encompassed my favourite types of art forms including Mandalas and Art Journal and this one does it all. An amazing community for creative women and well worth a visit. 

I noticed as well that all of these people have Facebook Fan pages which is great as it means I get their updates regularly through my Facebook Page. On that note I also set up a Facebook page this week to bring all of us knitter and crocheters together. You can check it out here 

There are literally hundreds more but I don't want to bombard you so I will share a few every week! Also have yo any cool creative resources you can share back?

The sunshine always makes me want to sit outside and draw and paint. Lots of people have been asking me how to improve their drawing so here some drawing challenges over at on the network. Join in!

Happy crafting in the sun guys!

Cathy

Knitpro Symfonie Wood Needles arriving any day now!

We are very excited as the long awaited Symfonie Wood needles are due in the shop this week. As well as the single and double pointed needles plus crochet hooks and a few other bits we are also getting a limited number of sets in just in time for Christmas.

All needles come with sharp, tapered tips


» Available in extremely Attractive Colour Combination/Pattern

» Lightweight, yet exceptionally strong & durable

» Lustrous Wood Surface designed to provide more grasp to easily cope with slick yarns like angora and mohair

» A knitters best companion – smooth surface allows for hours of convenient knitting and the Symfonie wood provides that much–needed warmth to hands

So watch this space and I will post more details as soon as they arrive!

The Crafty Knit and Stitchers

Our first get together of The Crafty Knit and Stitchers was a great success I am delighted to report. A fab bunch of ladies turned up with their needles, yarns, advice and laughs. We had a really great mix from total beginners to total experts and there was great support offered for newbies and people stuck on projects.

Just a reminder that we meet every Friday morning from 10am to 12pm in the shop. Also this Saturday we are hosting a World Wide Spin in Public Day and there will be spinning demonstrations in the shop from 2pm to 5pm.

Hope to see you there!

Cathy

The Crafty Knit and Stitchers

This year after getting numerous requests we started selling yarn and all the bits and bobs to go with it. As a result we have met some fabulous people and we have decided to set up a weekly knit an stitch group in the shop every Friday from 10am to 12pm. There is no cost involved just bring your yarn and needles and meet some other fabulous knit and stitchers.

Thanks for all the support at our WWKIP Day!

Thank you to everyone who turned up for our WWKIP Day at the shop last Saturday. It was nice to meet all the familiar and new faces.

Besides from the few showers which had us running in and out of the shop, it was a great success and we are really looking forward to the knitting circle starting in September.

We have everybodys contact details and we will be in touch as soon as dates are finalised.

So thank you and hope to see you really soon.

Oh - also the rest of our wool and patterns order arrived so we are now the proud shop keepers of Debbie Bliss, Sirdar, Tivoli, Patons, Rayher and Adriafil yarn....

Cathy

World Wide Knit in Public Day

We are delighted to announce that we will be hosting the World Wide Knit in Public Day outside The Crafty Alley Shop in Killarney this year on June 13th at noon.

Started in 1995 the World Wide Knit in Public Day is a fun event to promote the art of knitting and allow fellow knitters to get together and have some fun and show knitting is for everyone! This is the largest knitting event run in the world and shows that knitting can be a community activity.

Following on from this event we will be starting up a new knitting circle in September. We will give more details of dates and times as soon as we have them confirmed. This is a great way to meet new friends and knit over a cup of tea for a morning - bliss!

If you would like to take part come along on the day with your needles and yarn and join in - as simple as that. It may be advisable to bring a chair to sit on an an umbrella just in case. If it gets too wet we will move the event into the shop.

There will also be special discounts and promotions in the knitting section of the shop for everyone to enjoy on the day.

Over the last few weeks we have been building up a yarn section with plenty more to come in time for the big event. You can even purchase online through our new yarn section of the website.

Please email the shop at shop@craftyalley.com or call us on 0646630800 if you and your friends would like to take part!

For more information World Wide Knit in Public Day please visit www.kipday.com

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Cathy