Ireland

I was reasonably pleased with my progress on the second Wandering Sock by the time we reached the Burren in County Clare. I’d almost finished knitting the leg, even though, I’d snoozed for a couple of hours.

End of May to early June is the perfect time to visit the Burren. So many of the wild flowers are flowering or in bud![Read More]

I cast on and started knitting the cuff of my second Wandering Sock while sitting on a rock overlooking the panoramic views from Ladies View. This viewpoint is about 10 miles from Killarney. It is on the road from Killarney to Kenmare which is part of the Ring of Kerry.

[Read More]

The Tetrapod Trackway on Valentia Island dates from the Devonian period over 365 million years ago.

Neil really wanted to see the Tetrapod Trackway although I’ve got to admit that I teased him that the Tetrapod just looked like an enormous prehistoric newt![Read More]

I’d just finished the Knit Circus Socks and had a ball of Opal Beachcombing in Message in a Bottle colour 8734 nestled in my bag just in case I needed to cast on a new project while we were out. I cast on the new sock while parked in a car park in Waterville beside the road to Glencar that we were going to drive along. It was late in the day, and I wanted to have the cuff cast on so that I could knit on our way back to the cottage on the Gap of Dunloe.

We’d decided to take a narrow road through the mountains. After looking at the map, we noticed that it went pretty much through the mountains (as the crow flies) towards where we were staying. As we drove, we passed an old graveyard with a ruined church in it. Deciding to stop, we wandered through the graveyard looking at the hundreds of marker stones. There were a few almost beehive shaped rock burial mounds.[Read More]

We decided to walk down to Dinis Cottage. A lovely walk on a lane way to the cottage with a small slipway. We had hoped to have a coffee and cake in the cafe, but unfortunately the cafe was closed, as they hadn’t yet opened for the summer season even though it was the end of May.

We walked along the narrow path at the end of the path reached the Meeting of the Waters with a pretty view of Old Weir Bridge.[Read More]

We were up very early to drive up the Gap of Dunloe with the aim of photographing my Rum Paradise Socks. We wanted to be out before the visitors and jaunting cars arrived! The Gap of Dunloe becomes rather busy in the morning. Many people like to park at Kate Kearney’s Cottage and use it as the starting point for their visit to the Gap of Dunloe. Some choose to walk up the steep, narrow, winding pass. Others, opt for the pleasure of sitting in a jaunting car and looking at the lovely mountain views at the jaunty pace of a pony and trap. These normally go up to the ruined house three-quarters of the way up and then turn around and go back down.

We found the perfect spot about half way up the narrow road beside an old cottage with a rusty tin roof. It was cool and the grass was damp with dew. Neil kindly brought the picnic blanket from the car so I could sit on it to change my socks.[Read More]