The Last trip, long road to Donegal

Coming back from Kanturk was a quick unpack and repack for the next morning we were on the way to Donegal. For all the time I had been in Ireland I was waiting for this trip to the northwest where sheep are still very important to the knitting mills and weaving, although a dyeing art, is still being practiced. We drove through familiar territory as we headed towards Westport where I had brought reports and an artists calendar to the local council. The landacape changed from raw and craggy of Connemaras to more open and fields and more people and towns. We drove through Sligo planning to stop on the way back to pay my repects to Yeats and onto Donegal Town not stopping on the way as we still had a trec to get to Naran by Portnoo. We went the long way to get to Kilcar where the Donegal tweed comes from. At Dongal Studio just walking in the door was a flash back to my old days of raising sheep, weaving and selling yarn. The familiar smell of yarn that has not had all the wonderful smells washed out of it. and I was there in time to go to the 3rd floor and see the 2 weavers that were busy at the 45" looms. One had put on a 90 yard warp. I only ever put on 30 and that was a feat in itself. The other weaver had just tied on a new warp and he had also tied his tredles rogether so it was 1 down on one side and one down on the other. Normally it would have been 1 and 3 and 2 and 4. I had never seen this tying together. They both sat on long skinny boards laid across the back of the loom. There was a dobby loom forerunner to the computerised looms of today and they had cut a hole in the ceiling to allow the top to go straight up. It was rather tall. One more loom of 125" wide was to weave coverlets or queen size blankets. That was fun and always make me wonder if I have a few more warps in my life to get woven....

I bought some yarn and a book back downstairs and we were off again to go to another weaver but when I knocked on the door, the woman said that her husband had died suddenly but to come in and see the sweaters, We did chat for a while she sends Irish sweaters to Nantucket. Then to another woolen place in the middle of nowhere... The tag on my sweater said Rossan and there was a place with that name on the map. Some of these places were so tiny, not on any maps that I had with me but once home was able to trace the route. So many sweaters to choose from but I needed something very warm and found it. Then I also found a long vest in a dark donegal tweed for less than I could make it for.

From here we went through Adara and onto Caranaween House where we were staying that night. Since we were the only ones there we had the place to ourselves.   There was no place to get an evening meal so we went to a shop in Portnoo and got a medly of things to make a meal.

Taken out the rooms window

Beach at Naran Evening

Dunes Evening

Well you may not believe this but I just got the scratch disk is full again so thats it for images today I will try to add one of the Omey series that I completed today in the studio but who knows I already sized it so lets try...

Well that did not work, so off i go to see what I can change to get access to my images...