For Episode 3, Claire and Dearbhla took the show to Edinburgh Yarn Festival and met up with lots of crafters that have a connection to the Irish Crafting scene such as:

• Heather – an American woman living in Belfast in Northern Ireland . Find her on Instagram, Twitter and Ravelry. During our chat we mention the Instagram hashtag #spin15in15 and Deborah Robson’s Craftsy class “Know Your Wool“. Since chatting with us, Heather has launched The Drafting Zone. All spinners should check it out.
• Suzanne – an Irish woman living in Edinburgh. Find her on Twitter and Ravelry. Suzanne blogs with Cathy McFadden at Fibre Friends and is one of the designers in the recent publication “These Islands – Knits from Ireland, Scotland and Britain“.
• Heidi of Ready Set Stitch, a New Yorker who lived in Dublin for a few years but is now finding her feet with a new crafting community in Milton Keynes. Find her on Instagram, Twitter and Ravelry.
• Antje of The Yarn Cake who grew up in Donegal with German roots. Antje tells us the back-story for The Yarn Cake, which has a connection back to Lisa of This Is Knit. Find The Yarn Cake on Instagram, Twitter and Ravelry.
• Kersti of In Tatters fame who let us know about her most recent endeavour Craftree. Find her on Instagram, Twitter and at her blog www.kersti.com.

(some of) Dearbhla’s purchases

Relaxing back at their hotel after their first day at Edinburgh Yarn Festival, Dearbhla and Claire chat about:

• Dearbhla’s purchases, specifically The Bletchley Collection and enough Milburn Yarn from Eden Cottage Yarns to make Hut 8 a cardigan design by Joanne Scrace.
• Claire’s purchases of Old Gold from Dublin Dye and Army and Navy from Old Maiden Aunt. That very day she had cast-on for The Penrose Tile by Carol Feller.
• Caroline’s acquisition from Dublin Dye (as “requested” during Episode 2) was a skein of Alpaca Lace in “Midnight”.
• And The Numbers Station

Caroline’s Dublin Dye acquisition (on the left)

Back in Ireland, Dearbhla met up with Kirsty/SafetyFox to wrap up the episode over a pint of Cloughmore Granite Lager. Kirsty is an English woman who joined Swords Knit-night shortly after she arrived in Ireland from Qatar in 2012. Quintessential crafter-without-border that she is, Kirsty has since left Ireland to find new crafting groups in either Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Kirsty blogs at expatcats.wordpress.com and you can find her on Instagram, Twitter and Ravelry.

Also discussed were:

• Getting involved with p/hop
• Unwind, Brighton 2014
• Fibre-East
• Woolmakers Bliss
• HandmAid Craft Day
• Going to Glasgow in October to celebrate The Yarn Cake’s 5th anniversary at The Glasgow School of Yarn.
• Sláinte: The Complete Guide to Irish Craft Beer and Cider
• The Maclean Clan Tartans
• Rush Horticultural Society Annual Show. The Kenlake Cup (erroneously reffered to as “Kenure” Cup by Dearbhla) is awarded to the person with the highest aggregate points in the “Home Industries” categories.

Tartan colourway selection