Irish Spoils

Dear readers, I have just returned from a week touring beautiful Northern Ireland, and had managed to stow the above two skeins in my bag by the time I returned. The red skein, although beautiful, is really nothing special - just a a skein of Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed - but it will do well for a winter hat, and Ireland seemed an appopriate place to buy it. This purchase was made in Fivemiletown, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, at this unprepossessing but surprisingly well-stocked yarn shop:

The other skein of handspun Jacob was purchased from the spinner herself  (trading as Simply Spun) at a craft fair at the stunningly-located Ward Castle, near Downpatrick, County Down:

This is a stock photo, as my ipod had run out of battery while we were there - on the gloriously sunny day we visited, Ward Castle had been yarn-bombed with a bright pink piece of ?crochet hanging from the centre balcony, still attached to a skein of yarn. I saw a little bit of other yarn bombing in Belfast as well, so it seems the knitters of Northern Ireland are out, about and active!
I also had a task to complete while travelling - my Ravellenics project, Spring Cloud, for Linda. Well, the closing ceremony was last night and I finished to a degree. I finished, but am not happy with the outcome, so want to make some changes. I am, right at this very moment, debating whether to take another break from Spring Cloud while I think about these changes, or just charge on with them. I like to knit for other people, but this is starting to feel a bit like a chore!

I could do a couple of quick one-skein projects - I want some light slippers for wearing in the house in summer, as my winter slippers (sheepskin ankle boots) are too heavy for this time of year, but our wood laminate floors downstairs are too cold to wear nothing, and socks are too slippery, and I am thinking of making a smart hat as well, for a dressy occasion I have been invited to in late August. These might distract me and energise me to return to Spring Cloud - or I might struggle to ever pick it up again!