It was so thrilling to come back to Roscommon in early May, and such a warm welcome we received. And guess who was there to meet us? Debbie Zawinski, the Feral Spinner, from Scotland! If you follow Cathy’s Travel Blog, you may recall that she made a video in honor of Debbie back on the Shetland Islands, even before they met.
Then, while walking the Camino de Santiago back in October, Cathy met Gerry and Caitlin Browne. In different ways, they had mistakenly ended up in the same albergue (hostel) for the night.
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| Gerry and Caitlin on the Camino de Santigo del Norte |
As they became acquainted, Cathy told Gerry, just conversationally, about Debbie and how she walks cross-country gathering wool from pastures and then spinning and knitting it. (Hence her nickname, “The Feral Spinner.”) Gerry got very excited, and said, way back then in October, “I’m going to call her and see if she will come to our Lamb Festival. Wouldn’t it be great if we had you and Debbie as our guest demonstrators at the festival?”
Cathy replied, “Oh NO...I’ll be back in the States by then, but I think it is a great idea to see if Debbie would come!” (I guess back then Cathy actually believed there would be an end to this journey.) I think Gerry barely got home before he was on the phone with Debbie—and she accepted. When we turned up in Ireland "just to visit" in January, we learned that Debbie was coming to the Festival in May, So, Cathy made the decision to stay in this part of the world until May and return to Roscommon to demonstrate and teach lace knitting.
Cathy replied, “Oh NO...I’ll be back in the States by then, but I think it is a great idea to see if Debbie would come!” (I guess back then Cathy actually believed there would be an end to this journey.) I think Gerry barely got home before he was on the phone with Debbie—and she accepted. When we turned up in Ireland "just to visit" in January, we learned that Debbie was coming to the Festival in May, So, Cathy made the decision to stay in this part of the world until May and return to Roscommon to demonstrate and teach lace knitting.
In the meantime, we went to Scotland and actually got to MEET Debbie in March. And so, here we all are! Thank you, Cathy! I am so glad that you and Gerry and Caitlin got mixed up in your Camino planning back in October!
On Saturday, Cathy ducked out of the Woolcraft tent to go across the street to teach “Beautiful Holes,” a beginning lace-knitting class. With thirteen eager participants, they had a very productive three hours. Cathy was nice enough to display me during the workshop, so if folks got bored, they could admire my beautiful colors!
We also had a great deal of fun with Bridget Banham who spent the weekend demonstrating spinning on her wheel. Cathy teased her about what a “tough” assignment that was—as if any spinner would not relish a whole weekend to just spin…Ha! Bridget donated a ball of her “Just an Old Black Irish Sheep” yarn to my stash. Thank you Bridget!
Lorraine, a delightful fellow knitter, stopped by to apologize that she had not been able to make it to Cathy’s Lace Knitting Class. She asked if Cathy could still give her some pointers. She pulled out a beautiful partly-knitted lace shawl. Cathy exclaimed, “You didn’t need that class! This is wonderful!” Indeed, Lorraine even helped Cathy discuss lace knitting with visitors for the rest of the day. It is always good to have a helper. Thanks Lorraine!
Debbie, Cathy and I got to be great friends during that week and I don’t know how many times one of them remarked, “I cannot believe this happened and we all came together like this! Isn’t it unbelievable?”It’s true: the feelings of friendship and colleague-ship and serendipity were quite phenomenal.
OK, OK…just kidding, Cathy…
It was hard for Cathy to hug everyone goodbye and get on the train that would take us to Dublin; and then we would be flying to Portugal and Spain so she could meet Rebecca, her daughter. Oh GREAAAAT! They will just eat and drink and giggle for three weeks and give little thought to me stuffed in that tiny orange bag.
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| Debbie's lace shawl made from wool gleaned from pastures. |
On our second day, Gerry took us out to tour a farm. Almost all sheep in this part of Ireland are raised for meat with little profit for the fleece in mind. But as it turned out, the farmers became fascinated with Debbie’s passion for utilizing the wool. Cathy was wearing a shawl of Debbie’s that she had made entirely of fleece gleaned from the fields and the farmers were entranced.
Then Donal Mee, the chairman for the Roscommon Festival, gave a shearing demonstration. He has been shearing sheep since about the age of 14 and is pretty darn good at it! The next day in the Woolcraft Marquee, Donal was the first one to drop by and add a few rows to me! Quite a versatile fellow, that Donal!
Then Donal Mee, the chairman for the Roscommon Festival, gave a shearing demonstration. He has been shearing sheep since about the age of 14 and is pretty darn good at it! The next day in the Woolcraft Marquee, Donal was the first one to drop by and add a few rows to me! Quite a versatile fellow, that Donal!
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| An Irish sheep farmer has to possess many skills, and Donal is no exception. Gerry enjoyed watching! |
Over the weekend, Debbie and Cathy set up demonstration tables each day in the Woolcraft Marquee and talked and talked and talked to visitors. So many enthusiastic people walked by, trying out Debbie’s spinning stick, learning about lace knitting, and adding to ME!
Cathy was quite taken with a hat that Nancy Devlin, the tablet weaving demonstrator, was wearing. She had designed this unique toque with a fascinating construction technique. Nancy and her husband Paul are multi-talented with many skills, including beekeeping and being historical Viking re-enactors.
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| Caitlin and Debbie discuss a field-made drop spindle— another of Debbie's many creations |
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| Here I am on display, waiting for anyone to drop by and knit. |
On Saturday, Cathy ducked out of the Woolcraft tent to go across the street to teach “Beautiful Holes,” a beginning lace-knitting class. With thirteen eager participants, they had a very productive three hours. Cathy was nice enough to display me during the workshop, so if folks got bored, they could admire my beautiful colors! We also had a great deal of fun with Bridget Banham who spent the weekend demonstrating spinning on her wheel. Cathy teased her about what a “tough” assignment that was—as if any spinner would not relish a whole weekend to just spin…Ha! Bridget donated a ball of her “Just an Old Black Irish Sheep” yarn to my stash. Thank you Bridget!
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| Look at that smile! I think Bridget enjoyed herself all weekend! |
On Sunday, more knitters stopped by. Some of them had heard about me by word of mouth. Some of my contributors:
- Orla Leyden, Roscommon's lovely mayor
- Anna who had taught Orla to knit in primary school
- Lena, who, beginning at the age of 10, was knitting Aran swearters to sell. Her entire family knit items to sell to make ends meet.
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| Orla, Anna, and Lena |
Lorraine, a delightful fellow knitter, stopped by to apologize that she had not been able to make it to Cathy’s Lace Knitting Class. She asked if Cathy could still give her some pointers. She pulled out a beautiful partly-knitted lace shawl. Cathy exclaimed, “You didn’t need that class! This is wonderful!” Indeed, Lorraine even helped Cathy discuss lace knitting with visitors for the rest of the day. It is always good to have a helper. Thanks Lorraine!
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| Lorraine, left, discusses lace knitting charts with Theresa. |
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| Debbie with her spinning stick |
We still cannot believe it all happened and was so perfect. We felt like dazzled celebrities, posing for photos and talking to reporters, and even being featured on one of the billboards!
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| Nancy Devlin, Debbie Zawinski, Cathy Fulton, Bridget Banham, and ME...do you see me? |
At the end of the day on Sunday, Gerry Jago, a local radio reporter, dropped by and caught on camera evidence of how poorly I am treated at the end of each day—ouch!
It was hard for Cathy to hug everyone goodbye and get on the train that would take us to Dublin; and then we would be flying to Portugal and Spain so she could meet Rebecca, her daughter. Oh GREAAAAT! They will just eat and drink and giggle for three weeks and give little thought to me stuffed in that tiny orange bag.
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