Atlantic Thread

Hi y'all, and hope this finds you well...today's full moon seems to be going either one way or the other for people I've spoken to. And this is a bit of a difficult posting for me, so bear with me- it's quite personal- and I can be quite guarded about that (I can just hear the raucous cackling of some of my mates as they read that!). I'll try not to ramble on, as that's how this moon is affecting me... Since first having the idea for this project in November last year, I've run it by a few people who know me well. I was surprised that none of them asked me why- they all seemed to get it, and thought it was something worthwhile in terms of the connections it would make, both with the past and the present, and between different people, and that it would be an interesting thing to follow. They also recognised that it brought together many aspects of my life- the crafts, the languages, the writing, the connecting with people, the love of nature and slow travel

Good morning, hope this finds you all well, and surviving any January blues...it's not so cold here, but everyone is sniffling, and it's very hard to imagine those lazy days of summer in times like these when you really want lazy days in bed. Nowhere in this part of the world does wind quite like the Atlantic coast. The waves here both dissuade those who want a relaxing soak in a warm and calm bath-like sea, but attract surfers, windsurfers and those who enjoy that delightful and slightly dangerous feeling of being dumped on the beach by the sea. Storm chasers come here, walkers and thinkers who like to feel the primal energy of the elements, as well as those are not afraid to eat a lot of sand in their sandwiches. In Ireland, there is the Wild Atlantic Way; in France the Atlantic cycle route; the Cantabrian coast route in Spain; the Rota Vicentina in Portugal. In Morocco, you can walk along much of the coast too, and many tour companies organise walking and camel trips there

Good afternoon! Hope this finds you well. I wanted to give you a bit of a context for my journey. Crafts, using our hands and tools to create, are a universal human activity. Skills and techniques have been shared across what we may think of different cultures for time immemorial, so much so that where they originated is often unknown, and to a certain extent, I believe irrelevant. What is produced by each craftsperson will definitely be influenced by the cultural context within which they work, and also by the commercial demands of their potential customers, but their inner world also comes out to play. What we generally understand by crafts is just one individual producing something from start to finish, and so it is inevitable that much of their own self is invested and reflected in their work; their thoughts and experiences and the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches that have come into their lives. Crafts, not requiring language to learn, teach or practise, are sensual an

Good morning all I hope this finds you well. If you have just joined me, this blog is about my crochet journey along some of the North Atlantic coast. The first post 'Germination' details the ideas behind this project; and this one sets out the route I plan to take, travelling simply by ferry and by bus. To keep to a modest budget, I will mostly be camping in my trusty old little canvas tent, except for the Moroccan stage. In a country where economic opportunities are more limited, camping is not so much of a leisure activity, so I will be staying in locally owned accommodation. I am trying to keep as close to the coastline as possible- a little dependent on bus and ferry routes of course. My journey will begin in Killarney, in the south-west of Ireland, going by bus along the south coast, through Cork and to Rosslare, from where I will take the ferry to Roscoff in Brittany. From here, I will go to Quimper and along the south Breton coast to Nantes, and from the port a

It's the depths of winter in the North East Atlantic. After the midwinter reflections,  thoughts are turning forward to the coming year. Where are we going to spend our time, where will we travel to? Who are we going to share parts of our journey with? How are we going to spend our time in positive ways, look after the aspects of our lives that we cherish and let go of the thoughts and behaviours we wish to change? It's daunting, and it's dead exciting...planting seeds and ideas that we hope to tend until they grow and flourish. I wish you all a wonderful garden this year. Atlantic Thread is the project I want to germinate this year. Between September and November, I am going to make a journey along the Atlantic Coast from the West of Ireland to the South of Morocco. I will be following that end of summer cusp as it travels south, taking with it our leaves and the warmth of the sun on our skin, but leaving us with all the potential for new growth that winter gives us. Eve