But all is not lost! Gaynor has set up a Yahoo! Group for cross stitchers in Ireland called Emerald Isle Cross Stitchers. It is just getting going at the moment, but already I have found out about a cheap online Australian cross stitch magazine, The Gift of Stitching, and great lightweight frames from the US called Q-snaps. So if you are in Ireland, and into cross stitch in any way, pop along and join the group – the more the merrier!

My life has been fairly topsy turvy of late with enough twists and turns to fill a chick lit novel. Don’t worry, I am not depriving my blog in order to save all the goss for my bestseller! I just have not had the time to share some of it and the inclination to share the rest, not that much of it is of any interest anyway. It’s just exciting to a tragic wannabe geek!

House hunting is still my main pursuit. Almost four months on the property trail now. It was both consoling and depressing to read recently that my recent anecdotal evidence regarding the Dublin property market is backed up by Sherry FitzGerald’s quarterly findings. Dublin house prices rose by 11% in the first 3 months of 2006, which means that prices have increased by over 30% since March 2005!

Not content with attempting to move house, I am also in the process of changing jobs. This is the first time that I have done the “find another job when you already have a job” thing, and I did not like living a double life one bit, so it’s a big relief that it’s all out in the open now. I have been serving 4 weeks notice which felt a bit strange to start off with, but at least it has given me some time to get used to the idea! So, next week will be my last week in my current job after over 2 years, which seems like forever when you’re 25! Then it’s straight into my new job which will be a bit of a change from my code bunker but I’m quite looking forward to a fresh challenge.

They say a change is as good as a rest, so why am I so exhausted? At least stitching always stays the same, and it is keeping me somewhat sane these days. I have used a snapshot of my latest cross stitch project to illustrate this post. Many hours in, it’s still very much a work in progress! Any ideas what it is? Maybe I will throw away my pattern and turn it in to something else just for a change!

I doubt that this will start a commuter crafting cult, but it’s great to have finally found something that lets me escape from my daily drudge on Dublin Bus. My iPod and radio can only do so much! The most popular pursuit seems to be reading newspapers or novels, but unfortunately that makes me feel sick, as does playing my Game Boy. Crosswords and sudoku puzzles are popular too. Does anyone else have any weird or wonderful ways of making the most of their commute?

We had both been eagerly awaiting the event but were quite disappointed overall.
Despite the name of the show, there were not actually that many decent knitting and stitching supplies stalls there. Quite a lot of stalls were selling general paper craft supplies instead, which is fair enough given the explosion of interest recently in that niche. About half the area was dedicated to exhibitions of craft work or learning sessions where visitors could pay to try out a craft for a couple of hours in a small group. This meant that the shop stalls were very small and squashed together which made it very difficult to get around. When we did come across an interesting stall, there was such a big crowd around it that it was often not worth the hassle of investigating it.

My mum was particularly interested in finding some modern knitting patterns and expected to see vast arrays of standard double knitting wool, but the selection was quite disappointing and patterns were in short supply. I was mainly looking for unusual cross stitch kits and accessories but did not see anything special. I kept thinking that I would see a far better selection and get much better value at the click of a mouse, which sure beats traipsing round a crowded airless squashed exhibition hall!

One thing we did not expect was the amount of stands totally unrelated to crafts. If you want a cheap handbag, a pair of wellington boots, a scarf that doubles as a blouse, an out of this world window cleaner or a spiky ball that will revolutionise your tumble dryer, you may think that the hefty €14 entrance fee (plus another €3 if you want an exhibitor list/map) is a bargain. Otherwise, unless you love crowds and stuffy atmospheres, stick to shopping online!

Given the lack of shops stocking supplies these days, it will be a real treat to have oodles to choose from. I heard about this from the excellent Craft Supplies newsletter. I’ve mentioned that site before and it’s great that an Irish online craft store seems to be doing so well. They will be exhibiting at the show at stand M9 even though they mainly carry paper and card crafting supplies. Aisling at Craft Supplies says that lots of suppliers from the UK with paper, general craft and needlework products will be there too. So don’t let the rather specific show title put you off! If you are into crafts in any way, it might be worth dropping by.

In other Irish craft news, I have noticed that there is now a Boards.ie Crafts forum. There are helpful stickies there already listing Irish craft shops and websites, so drop by and introduce yourself if you are interested in any type of arts and crafts.

I first became aware of this through my Mum watching the surreal yet strangely addictive shopping channel QVC. The queen of paper crafting, Dawn Bibby, regularly presents 2 hour long shows demonstrating the latest techniques and kits and you could easily spend € 100 a time. She must be making an absolute fortune from stickers and buttons and coloured glitter pens and she is far from the only one.

I gather this craze started in the USA and most new products come from there. There are a rake of retailers and home businesses in the UK now cashing in. The new mammoth Argos catalogue even devotes 4 pages to craft supplies. At least you won’t need to remortgage the house if you head there rather than QVC. You can get their top of the range deluxe Do Crafts card making kit with tons of stuff for €70. I have noticed that Easons and Roches Stores have started stocking card making supplies lately and I am told that the Inspiring Ideas store in Blanchardstown store has a huge selection of good quality materials. Online, CraftSupplies.ie is an Aladdin’s cave of craft goodies with very reasonable postage.

I have not got into it myself but I can certainly understand its appeal. As an anti-social geek, I wonder who you keep giving all the cards to though? I just cannot get my head round the fact that a huge industry now caters for producing make and do activities for grown-ups. I well remember making homemade cards when I was little with crayons, glue pens, glitter and odds and ends of old wrapping paper and tissue and anything else I could find. It amused us for hours and all cost little or nothing. If my Mum had sat down beside me with lots of expensive equipment to start doing the same thing I would have found it rather strange though!

I vowed in my opening post that this blog would never get too personal.
Yet somehow all my skeletons are coming out of the cupboard these days. Not content with coming out as a non-drinker in Ireland, I am now risking complete ostracism by revealing one of my darket secrets. I fear, that at the ripe old age of 24, I have become addicted to cross stitch.

I’m not sure where it all went wrong. Was it feeling sick so often in recent months and being so fed up that drove me to it? Perhaps it was being at a loose end the odd weekend due to my nearest and dearest cramming for exams? Maybe my innate nerdiness meant I was always destined to take this path?

Whatever it was, I have to admit I like nothing better these days than letting my head empty as I embroider away to my heart’s content. I have received plenty of slagging for this of course but that’s perfectly reasonable under the circumstances! The bottom line is, computer addict that I am, even I realise that *anything* that keeps me away from the monitor for a bit is a good thing…

While there are not too many shops left in Dublin catering for the cross stitch enthusiast, Hickeys have a selection of patterns and threads, as does the large Inspiring Ideas store in Blanchardstown. The Woollen Mills at the Ha’penny bridge also sell all the threads.

Although cross stitch and other crafts have a bad image, and seem to be dying out completely judging by the lack of availability on the high street, the internet reveals that cross stitch is all the rage these days – I’m not alone! There are thousands of kits and patterns available, with new ones being released all the time. While I’m still completing my first large kit, a rather traditional and somewhat staid floral affair, I quickly found that there are designs to suit all tastes.

So far, I can highly recommend 2 sites for buying cross stitch kits online:

Stitch1Knit1 have a huge selection and cover all sorts of needlecraft. The site is indeed extensive and well laid out. Postage to Ireland is quite reasonable and you know the charge before you order. I picked up a funky Mr Men months of the year sampler here, as well as a cute Country Companions Computer Whiz illustration which is right up my street One of the kits was out of stock for a couple of days and I was very impressed that they sent the one they had in stock out right away, instead of waiting to send both together to minimise their postage expenses.

The Cross Stitch Zone is a smaller site which concentrates solely on selling cross stitch kits, threads and fabrics. I chose a colourful Care Bears Follow Your Rainbow kit and it arrived within a couple of days. The personal service from Kathryn who runs the Cross Stitch Zone was the icing on the cake. I’ll definitely be buying more kits there in the future, although I suppose I should wait until I have at least *started* the ones I have already bought!

Mind you, I have never followed that logic when it comes to computer books…