Texture

I can't get over the richness of the texture here. Nothing is smooth and square. It's all crumbling stones and lichen. The ground is a giant sponge. Yesterday I was out for a drive and thinking about places for a photo shoot. I came across this lovely stream. Can't you just see a guy in a tweedy coat fishing there...?



This arch is from the crumbling church just up the hill behind the mill. There is a lovely view of the village and beyond. This too seemed like an ideal site.



I have become obsessed with rocks. Within a limited palette there is so much color.



Do these two things not seem similar?

Donegal Yarns...the tour

Donegal Yarns is located next door to Studio. They produce much of the yarn used for hand-weaving the blankets and cloth produced here. They also supply a variety of designers and commercial enterprises. They make lovely hand knitting yarn in the Donegal style (more about what that means in a moment) and recently have begun introducing luxury fibers (cashmere, angora, mohair, etc.) into their traditional wool blends. This means you get that lovely rustic look in a sweater that is super soft. Smart. That kind of reinterpretation of tradition makes a lot of sense to me. The other day Chris, the General Manager, was gracious enough to give me a tour.

What makes a Donegal a Donegal and not some other kind of a thing, heathered for example? It's all about the color...and the flecks. First, the base color of the yarn is blended using several colors of fleece. Small amounts are weighed carded together to create a recipe that can be reproduced on a larger scale.


Look at those colors! Amazing! After the base mixture is achieved smaller bits of contrasting color are added to create the highlights, those little surprising bursts of color that give the yarn its character. Nora, who creates the shades for Donegal Yarns, has been doing this for over twenty years. She says greens are the hardest. I wouldn't have guessed that. Then again, there is A LOT of green here. I suppose it would be easy to be just a little off. Perhaps it is equally challenging to mix rust and brown in Arizona.

Once the recipe is achieved it is weighed out in mountains of dyed fleece. The wool starts out looking like this.



Those are giant bales of dyed wool. It is blended together with the correct fiber content (there are many types of wool with different degrees of softness and texture) and also in the correct proportions necessary to achieve the color. The fibers are air-mixed in small rooms (and then again by machine). It is a surreal experience to look in and see bits of colorful fleece falling from the ceiling. I tried to photograph this, but no image could do this process justice.

DY has an in-house dye works. That's how they achieve all their unique vibrant colors. They don't routinely color their employees though...I couldn't resist the shot. This gentleman had been removing some brilliant purple fleece from the dye pot which is so large he had to climb inside it.



Once blended the wool is then carded and spun. This is done on colossal machines which take up much of the factory floor. They seemed gigantic to me anyway. Then Chris informed me that DY is a small boutique operation. Other operations producing other types of yarn would be much larger.



Here the yarn is being twisted and put on to cones. It's dizzying to watch them work.

Donegal Yarns has existed in one form or another in this area for over one hundred years and grew out of the local hand-spinning tradition. They are perhaps the last commercial spinnery remaining in Ireland. There are other spinneries but these differ in that they produce primarily for their in-house needs and not for the broader market.

I feel quite fortunate to have this gem in my back yard!

Product Photography

Among the many hats I am wearing lately is that of in-house photographer. SD has a man that they regularly work with but he won't be here to photograph the new work for several weeks. In the meantime we are in the process of updating the website and need some half decent place holder shots and images to send to our various agents.

Today I was out in the graveyard behind the mill. (Yes, there IS a cemetery around the back complete with crumbling church and some interesting old stones.) The rustic stone wall has an iron gate and some abandoned flower pots, perfect for draping blankets. So that's what I did. I made the most of twenty minutes of sun and shot some of the newest offerings.

Before settling on this spot I took a drive up the hill where there is a second abandoned churchyard. There are also several traditional cottages with lovely views of the hills, ocean, and beyond. Here is a view of Kilcar as seen from above. If you look carefully you can see all of the colorfully painted buildings in the center of town.

Driving in Donegal

Beware the roadways! I have a car! Behold, this is my chariot and I am a holy terror!

Actually, I'm a fairly cautious driver. Somewhat fearful and not very good. I keep reaching for the door expecting to find the gear-shift. I say my affirmations as I go along, "I will execute the upcoming right-hand turn perfectly." Never mind that there is a giant bread truck obstructing my view of oncoming traffic. Just ignore the gaggle of young men chuckling into their sleeves as I stall out...again! They missed my three subsequent flawless executions.

The other day I drove up to Sliabh Liag, the sea cliffs one town over in Carrick. It's a straight climb up on a one lane road with a few boulders dotted along the edge to keep the car from tumbling into the sea. What with my cold I can't distinguish the scent of burning turf from burning clutch. It was quite the adventure.













The reward was well worth it. The views are astonishing, all ocean and clouds and the vista of Donegal Bay.













There was a bit of entertaining signage that made me chuckle. As though the cliffs would do you in and not your own stupidity.



















And because it's Ireland there were sheep up there on the top of the world. This particular ewe was a model-in-waiting. She posed graciously while I stopped the car and fiddled with the camera. Note the gentle breeze in her fleece. Farrah Fawcett on four legs that one.

The Irony of ASDA

There is an irony here. I work at a company that specializes in handmade items. The weavers are located next to the office. I can hear the clack of the looms as I type. One of a kind hand knit hats are sold in the mill store downstairs. Great care and effort are put into the work that they do. They are indignant when cheap knock-offs of their goods are produced in China. And then everyone shops at ASDA.

ASDA is the Walmart of this part of the world. It is located just over the border in Northern Ireland. They sell acrylic sweaters for under ten pounds. Food is cheap. They primarily stock groceries. Their George line was put together by the creative team from Next and has good style/design aesthetic and colors that pop though the garments are made of cheap blended fabrics and produced for pennies in Asia.

Back in Easthampton I take for granted that there are half a dozen supermarkets and three natural food stores within twenty minutes. Here in Kilcar at the local store the smallest head of wilted lettuce you have ever seen was on sale for three and a half euro. That's five dollars for a handful of rotten greens! Then again, good cheese and soda bread are quite affordable.

I am accustomed to the Valley's "buy local" ethos and life doesn't work that way in Ireland. The coats, and throws and hats produced at Studio Donegal are destined for the export and luxury markets. They are not intended for local consumption. That's not to say that locals don't buy them but they are not the target customers.

I'm feeling a little funny about that.