I mentioned in my last blog post that I was working on a new beanie pattern, and here it is front and centre. The test knit is underway, although some testers have finished two hats already! I hope to have this pattern ready for release soon, but I want to give the testers a chance to get their knits done. It will definitely be out this month, so keep an eye out for the Dris Beanie.

I really like this design, because it makes use of a cable that is not seen very often in Aran knitting. My mother showed it to me, and said that even within the Aran Islands, it seems to be used just on Inis Oírr (the smallest island, and the one we come from). It's a lovely textured cable, which one of the testers said was like rope. Another tester agreed with me that it reminded her of brambles - which is what gave this design its name. Dris (pronounced Drish) is the Irish/Gaeilge word for brambles.

One of my testers said: " I've never seen this type of cable before, so it was really exciting for me to do something that felt completely different." The cable is a wrapped garter stitch cable, which is usually worked flat. I adapted it to work in the round; thankfully the texturing takes place on the rows where cabling does not take place, so it is very adaptable as a design element. I'm so fond of it at the moment that I'm trying to think of other ways I could use it!

My other news is that the Local Food & Craft Fair in Galway is coming up this month. This is the main craft fair that I take part in; it's a lovely experience that I am grateful to be part of. It usually takes place over the last weekend of November or first weekend of December, but it is much expanded this year, and takes place for a whole 6 days! If you are in the Galway area, *please* come and say hello! I will be running a discount on all my patterns during the Fair - and will have a discount for my lovely newsletter subscribers next month. If you would like the discount, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter, for news, behind-the-scenes and extra information about what I'm up to : )