26th April 2015 - Out for the markets

Two markets/fairs were on today that I had on my agenda. First was the Dublin Flea near St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Vintage and Décor Fair in Dun Laoghaire.

I met my friend at the market for breakfast and coffee and we had a chat before our usual nosy around at the market. It usually involves knitting and I'm so delighted that I managed to finish my slippers yesterday, only to leave the embellishments left to do which I completed this morning. I brought the slippers to the market to show them around to my friend and another knitter who owns a shop not far from the market.

My finished slippers. As mentioned in my previous post they are heavily modified. I doubled the yarn - grey is a cotton-bamboo mix from Kingcole, red is Sirdar's Luxury Cotton Soft DK - and I increased the needle size from a 3.75 mm to a 4.5mm. A bit of ripping and re-knitting et voila - my new house slippers. I bought thick insoles from Penny's for about €1.50 and cut them to size and then added a couple of dots on the outer knitted sole with Rico's Sock Stop. I can certainly recommend the product as it avoids slipping on smooth surfaces such as wood.

The embellishments are left-overs from a necklace and a bracelet I also bought in Penny's with the intention of using them as decorations on bags. I remember the day I was taking apart the necklace - took me ages. Also, at the brim I sewed in some elastic so I wouldn't loose the shoes. Overall, I'm very happy with the results and they are really compfy to wear.

After we finished checking out the goods on offer, we headed for Dun Laoghaire in my car (I do have to admit that I bought a round mirror with brass leaves as decorations - will post a picture once I've upcycled it. The brass has to be replaced. Oh, I also got an owl necklace - I going to knit a cardigan soon that will be super-cute with it.).

We had a look around the fair's offering but we were good girls and didn't buy anything else. Instead, we took advantage of the good weather and had a walk around. I took another couple of pictures.

Vintage car outside the Royal Marine Hotel were the fair took place.

We were tempted to buy Fish & Chips as the pier as it smelled so nice - but again, we were good girls and didn't get any greasy food. But the smell was heavenly.

View from the pier wall towards County Wicklow.

Overall, we had a lovely day with a bit of rain and a lot of sunshine. I finished my day with watching a movie and cleaning my room. Then I took out my other project which is a jewel-toned cardigan that still needs a second sleeve. I hope to have it done soon.