A Historic Day Out in Dublin - the Labour Special Delegate Conference

Labour Women - Ciara, me and Kirsi Hanafin

Kirsi, Jan and Ciara at the Conference

I felt very proud yesterday to share a part of the history of our beloved albeit beleaguered country when hubby Jan and me set off to Dublin (with me knitting all the way) for the Labour Party's Special Delegate Conference - the conference being special, not necessarily the delegates! Around a thousand delegates from all over the country gathered in the O'Reilly Hall in UCD in Belfield to listen to the proposal of the party leadership to go into government in partnership with Fine Gael, the largest party with 76 seats, with Labour being the second largest party with 37 seats. We were equally proud to see among the new TDs Waterford's own Ciara Conway, up there on the stage with the biggest parliamentary party Labour's ever had. We cheered as each new TD was introduced to the delegates, and especially loudly when Ciara's name was called.

Ciara Conway TD speaking to the motion

Fianna Fail have been reduced to a fraction of their former seats - losing 58 they are down to 20, which is a huge humiliation and a vindication of the anger of the people of Ireland at the mess they left us in after 14 years in government - a time marked by a Celtic Tiger boom and vulgar conspicuous consumption that was all built on the sand of a building and property development bubble, that when it burst two years ago left us high and dry.

I have already mentioned in previous posts about the ghost estates littering every county of Ireland, where apartment blocks and ticky-tacky housing estates sprung up overnight in remote villages where there was no sustainability in terms of schools, jobs or infrastructure. Even water and sewage supplies weren't able to cope with the size of some of the developments, which have left so many families living in negative equity in the middle of a building site morass of unfinished roads, footpaths and half-finished houses.

The developers have long since fled the scene while the banks who lent them money are now being bailed out by us, the taxpayers and citizens, and to enable that we have been bailed out by the IMF and the ECB. It's a tale of GUBU proportions (Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented - the acronym famously attributed to Charlie Haughey's reaction to the double murderer Malcolm McArthur hiding out in the apartment of the Attorney General while he was on holidays).

Programme for National Government 2011-16

Yesterday's conference was called for the party membership to debate and vote on the revised Programme for Government that was drafted after 5 days of tortuous negotiations between Fine Gael and Labour's negotiating teams. The Labour Team was headed by veteran TD and deputy Speaker/Ceann Comhairle Brendan Howlin, with Joan Burton TD, Finance spokesperson and Deputy Party Leader, and Pat Rabbitte TD and Justice spokesperson with the razor-sharp wit.

That same sardonic wit and rhetoric entertained us during dull days of the 30th Dáil, as when Pat famously excoriated the Greens for a full 10 minutes - without interruption, which was probably due to the timely presence of Brendan Howlin in the Chair that day. It became known as the day Rabbitte ate his Greens - and with good reason. You can have a look back at the YouTube clip here and it's also on my blog sidebar. The funniest part is seeing Conor "Kebabs" Lenihan (who just lost his seat as Fianna Fail TD) in stitches over beside the Taoiseach Brian "Biffo" Cowen (soon-to-be-ex as the 31st Dáil meets on Wednesday).

Rabbitte eats his Greens - Budget speech 2009


The buzz at the Conference was palpable, as there was a charge in the air that change was afoot; that we were about to vote for the motion that would give the green light to Labour's leadership to follow through on the mandate given them by the voters and the people the canvassers and candidates met on the campaign trail. There was an overwhelming sense that Labour had to take the reins and go into government if invited to join a coalition with Fine Gael as to not do so would be letting down the people who voted for the most Labour TDs ever seen in Ireland's history.

Eamon Gilmore, Ciara, Brian O'Shea, Ita McAuliffe

 Many speakers against the motion had strong arguments for staying out of coalition, but the sense I got was they were arguing for the possibility of providing a robust opposition (true, they would and could) and be returned as a party with a popular majority to lead government in 2016. But Joan Burton summed up the feeling of the majority of delegates and TDs by saying that "Power postponed is not an option". That is very true, as most of us canvassers found that people were wary of Fine Gael going into single party government, that untrammeled they could wreak havoc on the public sector, being a party of the right with vested interests in the private sector, and they would need to be marked and kept in check by Labour.

The document "Towards Recovery: Programme for a National Government 2011-2016" contains a lot of the Labour Party's Election Manifesto, and while there are compromises, there is a lot to be positive about, as this provides a framework for working out the finer detail of the various plans. Labour are in a much stronger position than that of the Greens at the start of the last government when they went into coalition with Fianna Fail with six seats, and they were totally out of their depth with the cunning ploys of the party that wrote the handbook for cute hoorism and cunning plans Irish-style. Not for nothing did Charlie Haughey call Bertie Ahern "the most cunning, the most devious and the most ruthless of them all".

After three hours of pro-con debaters on the podium, we were all ready for the vote, which was overwhelmingly carried by a show of cards. It was a powerful moment and a proud one, to see the reality of a change of regime in Leinster House so imminent, and the hope that will shadow this government will give them the momentum to carry through their programme committments, and deliver a new and improved economy over the course of the 31st Dáil.

The best chipper in Dublin - Perki Chick on Dorset Street.

We went home following the conference after visiting son Martin over in Drumcondra where we had a delicious fast-food supper from the best Chipper in Dublin - in my humble opinion - from the Perki Chick on Dorset Street, beloved of punters to Croke Park at many an All-Ireland Sunday Game. I enjoyed a large curry chips and fresh battered cod from that august establishment that's been around since my student days in the 1970s  - and probably long beforehand.

Bloggers' Book Club - The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

I have to confess that I read this book a few years ago and didn't get a chance or time to re-read it - it was a library copy and I know it is still in the library here but I haven't had a minute to get back there- and I also was being distracted by reading the marvellous new book by Jonathan Franzen, Freedom. I adored that book, as I did his last book, The Corrections, and as I'd read The Reader before, I didn't feel too guilty. Thanks to Lorna for recommending it.

Also I saw the DVD of the film with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes a year or two ago. It was one of those rare films that was faithful to the book. It captured my impressions of the book's atmosphere - lyrical and very evocative of the era in which it is set, which is post-war 1950s Germany when Michael is a teenager and meets Hanna and their affair starts, right to the war trials of the 1960s which are underway when he's a law student.

I remember the book left an impression as a powerful read, which has stayed with me in its general context rather than the detail. Michael's whole life is changed and affected by his encounter with the older woman who is Hanna, whom he meets when he is sick near her apartment and who takes him in to care for him. The initial meeting leads to revisits and the start of a torrid affair. He knows little or nothing about her other than her work as a tram conductor, and her secret of illiteracy is only discovered by him much later on.

The title of the book comes from Michael's role in their relationship, that of her reader, when he reads aloud the German classics, in a post-coital haze, and this pattern shapes their encounters. It's an intense relationship, excluding all others, and its eroticism precludes too much information. When the denouement of her Nazi past is disclosed in such a shocking manner to Michael when he turns up at her war crimes trial it's a life-changer for him. He has to come to terms with the fact that his lover was an SS guard at a camp for women prisoners, 300 of whom died in a fire in a church on the death march from Auschwitz, and her illiteracy is such a secret shame she accepts responsibility for a report on the fire rather than admit illiteracy. She also admitted to selections at Auschwitz of women who ended up in the gas chambers.

As she had left him suddenly at the height of their affair years earlier, he never got over her and had no chance to expunge her from his impressionable youth, and this lasting damage led to his subsequent marriage breakdown, and his sad and lonely future is well portrayed out when he renews his relationship with Hanna - albeit on a platonic level - in prison. He sends her tapes of his readings, and she learns to read by following the recordings with the books in the prison library. He seems to treat her like a benevolent nephew but he never visits her in her 18 years in jail. On her release he agrees to find her a place to live, but she hangs herself prior to her release, and he discovers her conquest of illiteracy through his readings.

I liked Schlink's style of writing. It's a very spare and sparsely written book, and he chooses his words very thoughtfully. I found the eroticism almost contradictory to the spare style of the writing, yet paradoxically it fitted into the intensity of an affair predicated on lust, secrecy and isolation - they were locked away from the wider world in their own bubble, and it's full of conflicting emotion, and the old debate on German collective guilt is well illustrated. It's not a very long book, and I remember it as a gripping read at the time. I think I would re-read it again, if and when I have a minute. Would I recommend it to friends or our book club? I think it would be a great trigger for a good heated debate, and well worth the effort.

Don't forget to visit the other members of the Bloggers' Book Club - Lily is the terrific moderator who keeps us all coordinated, and as it's late and I'm wrecked after a day in Dublin at the Labour Party Special Delegate Conference deciding to go into Government with Fine Gael later this week, I won't list the other members here - rather you can find them over at Lily's blog. Read their reviews, always entertaining and informative and they're a great bunch of women(thus far, no men, but I'm sure that's always open to change!)

I have our own Book Club tomorrow night and have a few chapters to finish of our chosen book - Somewhere Towards the End by Diana Athill - who was on BBC World Service this morning on The Interview which was a bit of a blagger's guide for me! Serendipity I can live with, as I enjoyed putting a voice on this feisty 90 year old.

Spring has sprung - Road Art Spotted around Co. Waterford

Golden Harvest by Colm Brennan - Kilmac bypass, N25

Today was one of those glorious spring days that started off with a sharp hoar frost whitening everything and a dense fog that  took a few hours to clear and led to a few pile-ups on the motorways up the country. No-one hurt but lots of inconvenienced motorists and closed lanes. The sun shone through around mid-morning and some things just begged to be photographed - like this shot of the sun glistening on the sea off Helvick Head in Ring, and the view from Helvick across to Mine Head.

Golden Harvest, N25 on Kilmacthomas Bypass

Falla na Sioga by Alan Counihan, Windgap,Dungarvan-N25

 I feel really lucky to work in a job that involves driving around the beautiful scenic south coast of Co. Waterford, and quickly forget the days of winter ice and snow and dark dense fog that never clears and totally disorientates even the most seasoned drivers, particularly around Old Parish, which is an upland area near the coast that often seems to be the only foggy part of the county!

Falla na Sioga detail-Alan Counihan,Windgap,Dungarvan-N25

Falla na Sioga (Fairy's Wall) Alan Counihan,N25 Windgap

 The election posters are nearly all gone- tomorrow's the deadline after which there'll be hell (and fines) to pay, so every candidate's making trojan efforts to get rid of them. I took this last billboard standing of Ciara and Eamon Gilmore today near Ring Cross on the N25, with nicely bilingual Thank You stickers attached.

Falla na Sioga by Alan Counihan, Windgap,Dungarvan-N25

Falla na Sioga -detail of inscription-Windgap,Dungarvan-N25

Last Billboard Standing in West Waterford! N25 Ring Cross

Sun over Atlantic Ocean from Helvick Head today

Then this evening I was checking my phone in a lay-by near The Sweep on the same N25 up near Windgap, when I thought to photograph this piece of road art in the lay-by. The funny thing is that the gap in the wall is art which I erroneously attributed to a botched County Council repair job, until I realised it had a name - Falla na Síoga (Wall of the Fairies) and an inscription - and what's even more bizarre, I'd met the sculptor (Alan Counihan) and his partner Gypsy Ray (to whom it's dedicated) a number of years ago in Lismore at travel writer Dervla Murphy's house. He is also an actor who played in a stage production of Yasmina Reza's The Unexpected Man in Lismore some years ago, which I really enjoyed. On the Co.Council's website photo they only show the doughnut and not the inscribed wall.

There's a fascinating piece of well-known road art on the N25 at the Kilmacthomas Bypass - Golden Harvest by Colm Brennan - which represents sheaves of waving corn. It's a lovely prominent piece of sculpture which always gladdens my heart on the road to Waterford - especially if it's for some interminable meeting.

Panoramic vista from Helvick Head to Mine Head today

So I hope you like the first days of spring which seems to have sprung in West Waterford- we can live with the cold frosty nights as long as the days are warm and sunny - and nothing like the stretch in the evenings with the setting sun blinding me on the drive home every evening. Another three weeks or so and the clocks go forward. "Spring Forward, Fall Back" is my mnemonic for Daylight Saving - I hate it when the clocks go back in October and love it when they go forward in March - even if I lose an hour's sleep!

The Changing Face of Irish Politics - An Electoral Triumph for the Next Generation

We are all in a state of euphoria in Ireland this weekend as the General Election results roll in - still four constituencies count goes on ...and on...and into recount territory. But the good news is - Ciara Conway, Labour's candidate for Waterford, got elected on the tenth count to the third seat in Waterford, following the elimination of her running mate Seamus Ryan, whose transfers went a long way to securing the third seat of four. In fact when the final tally was in, she had the second seat from the transfers. I've blogged about Ciara's launch already here, and this is the sequel!

The Ciara Camp at the Selection Convention, Jan. 2011

Ciara speaking at launch

The Government party Fianna Fail has been eviscerated, as have their former bedfellows, the Green Party - who lost all six of their seats to return a big fat zero. Fianna Fail have dropped from 77 seats in 2007 to a current 18 with little chance of more than one or two more seats. This is such a historic election as there is only one FF TD in Dublin - Brian Lenihan - and no woman TD elected. Their talk of regrouping is all a bit hollow given the anger of the public towards their arrogant behaviour regarding expenses and salaries and pensions - many ministers get such wonderful pensions that a number didn't bother standing for re-election knowing their chances were nil, and instead they'll be spending more time with their pensions and lump sums!

Ciara with Labour leader Eamon Gilmore

It was a nail biting evening - and I wasn't even at the Count Centre in Butlerstown in Waterford City. Hubby Jan was Ciara's Director of Elections and he has been busy for the past month running the campaign and organising canvassing schedules all over the county and city of Waterford. It was a major exercise to try and cover as much of the constituency as possible but it certainly paid off! Our three sons were at the count as Tallymen, and it was a very close call. I find it bizarre how accurate the Tallymen can be, as it seems so chaotic and random in the Count Centre.

The total to date for Labour is 36 seats, Fine Gael 70, Fianna Fail 18, Sinn Féin 13 and Others 18 00:15hrs on Monday 27th - there are still 15 or 16 seats undecided

Ciara and Jan, her Director of Elections, at the launch

I was with the team on two days canvassing in Tramore, and then I spent a number of evenings canvassing in Lismore with Jane, another Labour member and stalwart supporter of Ciara. We got a great reception on the doorsteps as many people said we were the only party to call and they hadn't any Fianna Fail canvassers or candidates - they were only leaflet-dropping and running along!

I suppose given the state they left the country in they hadn't the bottle to knock and face an electorate whose lives have been thrown into turmoil from job losses, negative equity in home-owners, and children forced into emigration. That's a far cry from the voluntary emigration of my own experience, not driven by unemployment but by a sense of adventure and altruism that moved me to become a development worker and volunteer.

Ciara with Jane and me at her campaign launch

So I thought it worth sharing the good news of the election of Ciara, a new young woman TD (MP) to the 31st Dáil Eireann (Irish Parliament) which will convene on March 9th. Whether Labour will form a coalition with the majority Fine Gael Party is yet undecided as Eamon Gilmore the Labour leader hasn't been approached yet by Enda Kenny the Fine Gael leader who will lead the next government as Taoiseach (Prime Minister).

Ciara and Aoife

The results are not all in - Ciara was elected at 3:25am Sunday morning after a gruelling ten counts to the third seat - a process of Irish democracy that took from when the Count started at 9:00am on Saturday morning. I won't even begin to describe the Irish system of PR-STV - Proportional Representation by Single Transferable Vote. It is an arcane, complex and exciting system that differs from the first-past-the-post system that the UK operates. It beats Electronic Voting (which the Irish trialled disastrously in 2002 and has been a notorious white elephant ever since - just ask former TD Nora Owen how heartless it was to lose a seat in a heartbeat on election night)  for the thrill of count and transfers and recounts and it gives political junkies like me a day or more of nail-biting anticipation glued to the TV, Radio and this year for the first time, Twitter and Facebook as well as numerous websites.

The WLRFM Candidates' Debate, Dungarvan

RTÉ was one of those offering live coverage yet it fell behind the live Twitter streams from the various Hashtag sites. I followed #GE11, #wd (Waterford constituency resultshttp://www.rte.ie/news/election2011/results/waterford.html) and #RTE which gave a good general overview. There was a lot of criticism of the dearth of TV coverage of the Waterford count, and they only focused on the first two TDs elected, Fine Gael's John Deasy and Paudie Coffey. Deasy was returned as TD, and Coffey was a first time elected TD, having lost in 2007 and gained a Senate seat as recompense. That sort of nepotism might all be a thing of the past as the Senate's future looks bleak. Having two houses of parliament is seen as a bit excessive in a country of 4 million so it might bite the dust as it was mooted by Fine Gael and Labour as part of their Election Manifesto.

About to exercise my democratic franchise on Friday!

The photos show the path to Leinster House for Ciara since Eamon Gilmore came to Waterford in January for a Constituency meeting, to the Selection convention and the Campaign launch and the WLRFM Town Hall Candidates' Debate last week. Then there's one of me going into the polling station to cast my vote.

We are delighted to have a talented and energetic young woman like Ciara representing Waterford in the 31st Dáil and wish her every success and good luck!

Spot the Typo - and beat the Pre-Election Moratorium

Today I was in Dungarvan Library at lunchtime, reading and knitting (a cap to match the lovely ballerina cardigan in the photo) my way through a relaxing lunch hour. The library's a little haven of tranquility and I go there fairly often when I don't have to dash around Lidl or if I'm not going to lunch with friends or colleagues. I hasten to add that while I don't quite fit the label of "Ladies who Lunch", I do go to a nice place at least once a week for a great value lunch - the Local in Grattan Square. It deserves a little plug and for those who haven't been, don't miss their wonderful healthy option - Spicy Chicken Pitta - it's the business if you're ever in Dungarvan (or Fungarvan as it's sometimes designated!)

I was finishing off Jonathan Franzen's terrific Freedom, and when that was done, I read the Irish Times, to catch up on the last-minute pre-election news, before the Broadcast Media Moratorium kicked in at 2p.m. this afternoon. I was listening to the news at one on my phone radio, listening to the various Party Leaders' final desperate pleas to the electorate before the news blackout began. I don't know if this is a phenomenon peculiar to Irish Elections, or an internationally  recognised practice, but it is the norm here that there will be a total ban on any Election-related broadcasting on TV or Radio (all stations) from the day before the Election to the close of polling on voting day.

This campaign has been a whirlwind, and we are all rooting for the local Labour Candidates, Ciara Conway and Séamus Ryan, who are both aiming to retain the Labour seat vacated by Brian O'Shea, who held it for 24 years, and even hoping for a second seat. Hubby is Director of Elections for Ciara, and she has run a great campaign, which I've been involved in from the periphery, in that I joined the canvass a couple of days in Tramore and spent four or five evenings canvassing  in Lismore. We got a great reception overall, with the recurrent refrain of "You're the first/only ones to come knocking on the doors" or "the rest of them are just leaflet dropping and running away"! This seems to apply particularly to the outgoing Government Party Fianna Fail who have really banjaxed the country with sellouts to the IMF and ECB, as I've previously ranted about. We are hopeful for a positive change of regime, with a strong Labour presence in a coalition being the most realistic outcome.

Where was I? Oh yes, this was to be about the Terrible (or wonderful!) Typo that jumped out at me from this O2 ad on the front page of the Irish Times. Out with the camera and captured for posterity and a blogpost. I feel an anorak attack coming on, but I'll take the tablets! (I'm guessing you can all spot it - it's a real sore point with an apostrophe nerd like me!)

 We all need a laugh and while I'm at it I'll share the best of the satirical asides from the plethora of Election and Current Affairs programmes on Irish TV at the moment - it's Mario Rosenstock on Tonight with Vincent Browne Show on TV3 - a terrifically animated programme that electrifies audiences nightly from 11:10p.m. to 12:30a.m. The Twitter stream for #vinb is too busy to follow live, such is the reaction it provokes.




Enjoy Mario as Vincent, Willie "Crackshot" O'Dea and Micheál "Choirboy" Martyr (Martin). It may be a bit obscure to those not in the know of Irish politics at present but it's hilarious as a stand-alone. Suffice to say, Vincent takes no prisoners, Willie famously posed with a gun for the media when Minister of Defence, and Micheál is the current Fianna Fail leader after Brian "Biffo" Cowen (was) stood down, and he has gaffed spectacularly last week by doing a bad imitation of a Chinese accent  á la Prince Philip - he's hardly racist but it had a surreal Father Ted feel to it - "should we all be racists now, father? what's the official line the church is takin on this? only, the farm takes up most of the day, and at night i just like a cup of tea, so i might not be able to devote meself full-time to the old racism." That's an episode worth checking out!

Happy Voting tomorrow for all of you in the Constituencies - just remember the old adage - "Vote Early and Often"! 

My First Sock Pattern - Variation on a few Themes

Et voilà - the finished sock!

I've been asked to share the knitting pattern for my latest sock project, and as it's an adapted one and not a straightforward copy, I am going to try to write it as a pattern should be written. This is a new challenge as I have to strive to be accurate, but I might  manage it. I met a lady yesterday who's an avid knitter and she has also bought the lovely pre-patterned wool from Lidl that is specifically (but not solely - hey, unintended pun but I like it so it stays!) for socks.

Having made a half-dozen pairs of socks over recent months, I decided to go for these with variations. I used the stitch numbers as per the pattern with the sock wool (Lidl are great for enclosing patterns and sometimes needles with their knit-kits.)

My Lidl Sock Stash - with first completed sock

I have tried plain stocking stitch (Stockinette in US) and it is just too baggy for socks, unless you've very elasticky yarn, which I'm not sure this wool-mix is (75% pure wool, 25% Polyamide).

So I made it a K2P2 rib throughout, except for the sole and gusset which is in plain stocking stitch, and the heel flap which is nicely textured in a fancy rib.

Ribbed Socks

 Gauge for these socks = 42 rows and 30 stitches over 10x10cm) 
 (Use 4 DPN (Double-Pointed Needles -Size 3mm/     )

Sock as in pattern

Some Abbreviations: 

RS = Right Side; WS = Wrong Side; Sl = Slip (take stitch off left-hand needle without knitting it)
N = Needle K or k = Knit; P or p = Purl; sl1,k1,psso = slip 1, knit 1, pass slip stitch over knit stitch (you can use ssk instead = slip1, slip1, knit 2 tog.)

Socks Pattern
Cast on 60 stitches and divide between 3 needles - 20 per needle (duh!)
K2 P2 rib for desired length - about 6-7 inches is fine for ankle boot socks

Heel Flap

Knit 30 stitches onto one needle and put remaining 30 stitches on Stitch Holder (or a big nappy/safety pin!)
Knit back and forth on heel flap as follows:

Heel & Gusset close-up

• Row 1 (RS) - Slip 1, K1, *P1, K2 Repeat from * to end
• Row 2 (WS) -Slip 1, P1, *K1, P2 Repeat from * to end
• Repeat these 2 rows total of 15 times - you'll have 15 slip stitches along edge of heel flap.

Turning Heel

 (I used stocking stitch, but you could continue the K2 P2 rib of main sock if you prefer - gives a springy sole!)

• R1(RS) – Sl 1, k16, ssk, k1, turn.
• R2(WS) – Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R3 – Sl 1, k6, ssk, k1, turn.
• R4 – Sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R5 – Sl 1, k8, ssk, k1, turn.
• R6 – Sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R7 – Sl 1, k10, ssk, k1, turn.
• R8 – Sl 1, p11, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R9 – Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1, turn.
• R10 – Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1, turn.
• R11 – Sl 1, k14, ssk, k1, turn.



Modelling the sock!

• R12 – Sl 1, p15, p2tog, p1, turn. (18 sts. remain)

Slip 1, knit 8 sts (to middle of heel), this will now be the beginning of round.


(I copied and pasted this part from a Ravelry downloaded PDF pattern for SKYP Rib Socks by Adrienne Ku - here is the link)

Heel – gusset
Set-up Round

• Needle 1 - knit remaining 9 stitches from heel turn, pick up and knit 15 stitches along heel edge flap plus 1 extra between flap and instep. (Total = 25 stitches)
• Needle 2 - transfer instep stitches from needle holder to needle and K2 P2 Rib across instep.
• Needle 3 - pick up and knit 1 stitch between instep and heel flap, pick up and knit 15 stitches along heel edge, K 9 from sole. 

There are now 3 needles with 25, 30, and 25 stitches.
You will need to decrease 1 stitch at instep edge of alternate rows until you are back to 15, 30 and 15 stitches.
Do this as follows:

• Round 1 -N1 - K to last 3 stitches, k2 tog., k1. N 2 - Continue K2 P2 rib across instep. N 3 = k1, sl1,k1,psso, k to end 
• Round 2 - Knit N 1 & 3, K2 P2 rib on instep
• Repeat these 2 rounds  until you are left with 15, 30 and 15 stitches on each needle.

Foot

Continue sock foot in rounds until 2 ins/4cm shorter than length of foot (allow for some stretch)

Another angle

Toe shaping

Round 1: Knit
Round 2:
N1: K to last 3 stitches - k2 tog. k1.
N2: k1, sl1,k1,psso, k to last 3 stitches, k2 tog. k1.
N3: k1, sl1,k1,psso, k to end.
Continue these 2 rounds until 16 stitches remain. (4, 8, 4). Put 4+4 on one needle = 2 needles of 8 stitches. Graft toe with Kitchener Stitch. This is a neat seamless finish for a toe.

Here's a video clip of how it's done

Kitchener Stitch Video Clip

Finishing can also be done by casting off two stitches together (One stitch from each needle knitted as one, then knit next stitch from each needle as one and pass the 1st one over the last one. Repeat until all cast off, then weave in cut ends of yarn. I am sure there's a video for that method too but I  haven't found it yet. I'll be back like Arnie when I do!

There are endless variations possible with these socks. You can use the SKYP Rib Socks I referenced above, or a simpler ribby pattern, liek K4 P2 or K2 P1. I hope you see it as a basic pattern, and I might make it a PDF to upload to Ravelry in the future, when the General Election's over and I get my life back to normal - this time next week all will be revealed - let's hope Labour will have a new woman TD from Waterford!

The 2011 Irish Blog Awards: And the Nominees include...me!

2011 Nomination!

I noticed on Twitter the other night that the nominations had been posted for the 2011Irish Blog Awards and I am delighted that I got nominated - in two categories!

I got a nomination in the Best Personal and Best Food//Drink Blogs. Thanks a million to my nominees - you know who you are, even if I'm just guessing! I promise I won't make a cringe-making Oscar/Bafta/Ifta-style acceptance speech - unless I make it to the shortlist or the finalist list!

There are a multitude of great blogs in the numerous categories - Humour, Newcomer, Political, Politician, Best Post, Personal, Food/Drink, Youth, Irish Language (eat your heart out Fine Gael!) and  so I am delighted to get to the longlist.

Last year I was lucky enough to make the shortlist and while I didn't win, it was great to follow the progress of the awards and to read so many new (for me) blogs. So I hope you enjoy them as much as I do - life's too short to be reading them all (and do other stuff as well, like work and knit and read!) but there are plenty of good ones out there.

I already recognise a lot of the names in the various categories, some that I follow and some who follow me - and there is a great camaraderie in the blogosphere that makes everyone happy for their fellow-bloggers when they appear on the list. At least that's how I see it; maybe I'm hopelessly out of tune and everyone's really gritting their teeth to see their nemesis nominated! Well, I'll keep up my Pollyanna-ish faith in human nature and believe in my theory - there's plenty of room in the Twittersphere for acerbic wit and cutting-edge scathing commentary!

If nothing else, it's great to see the increased traffic to my blog in the past few days - for a while there I felt I was blogging for myself as there seemed to be a decline in visitor numbers, but it's turned around since the list went up, so it definitely has an impact.

I've mused before on blogging and its appeal - and while I do it mainly because I enjoy writing and sharing recipes and reviews and ideas on issues that interest me, I'd be disingenuous if I said I didn't get a buzz from having new followers and seeing comments - so keep up the ego-massage, people!

Keep on visiting, commenting and following - and I'll keep on posting Dispatches from a cold and damp Déise!

I'm a Stylish Blogger - or so the Award says!

I was chuffed when I got this award recently - it's been a couple of weeks ago but better late than never, Stylish Blogger no less! - from Laura in California who blogs at Our Scented Cottage, well worth a visit. Thanks a lot Laura!

I will now tell you what the Award sharing entails, for those of you who will receive it from me - if you wish to share with your fellow-bloggers just follow the guidelines below. I don't think this one is too onerous; I have refused to pass on Awards in the past that were too difficult or intrusive, so it's entirely up to you what to do. It's all a bit of fun, not something to agonise over accuracy or factual verification thereof - even if you're using a bit of poetic/artistic licence to embellish it's not a hanging offence!

To Accept The Award Requirements: Thank and Link Back to the Blogger Who Awarded You With The Award and Share 7 Things About Yourself. Award 15 Recently Discovered Great Bloggers and contact the bloggers, inform them of the award.

Right - here goes - Seven things about me (that you were afraid to ask?!)

1. I love reading - I am in a real-world book club and an online Bloggers' Book Club - which is worth checking out and much thanks to Lily for setting it up. I am not always great at reading the required books as I am always short on time - but I try. I enjoy sharing the reviews and seeing other people's opinions on a favourite read.  Our house is full of books - hubby keeps wondering where we're going to fit any more and yet there's a certain elasticity in our bookshelves! I am always reading some book or other, usually multitasking it with something else like knitting (see 2 below!)

My latest socks project - ribbed wool socks

2. My current favourite hobby is knitting - small projects like socks (See photo) which can be done anywhere - in the car, the coffee shop, watching TV, waiting around for people, hospital appointments - it makes the wait tolerable and combined with No. 1 above is the perfect relaxation. I do enjoy crochet but I am not as good at it as I once was so I defer to my daughter-in-law-to-be who has become a whiz at it since I showed her how to make a pot-holder a few short months ago - now she's teaching me her wonderful projects! Check out her Facebook Group (Jany's Cozy Crochets) for her work. Also the advent of YouTube tutorials on knitting and crochet make it accessible to the masses and the plethora of wonderful crafty books now available have reawakened interest in these terrific pastimes.

Sofia's No. 1 Cake!

3. I have always loved baking since learning the craft from my late mother as a child - I also had a friend whose grandfather had a bakery and she taught me how to make yeast bread, something not very common in Ireland - home of the Soda Bread (brown bread made with buttermilk and with Bread Soda (Soda Bicarbonate) as the raising agent. No waiting around for proving or rising and knocking down, it's a simple fast mixing method - can be wet or dry as wished, depending on whether you want to bake in a loaf tin or shaped round or whatever you fancy. Now I mostly bake cakes, buns (cupcakes) and tarts and pies. And I have a Facebook Group (Cakes, Bakes and Tasty Treats) which showcases some of my favourite recipes, all of which I've blogged about. My most recent was Sofia's First Birthday Cake which you can see here - we celebrated the big day yesterday!

4. I never travelled outside of Ireland until I was 17, when I went overland on a youth pilgrimage to Lourdes in southern France, the famous Marian shrine. I was a helper to a disabled girl, as were a a number of classmates who'd signed up for a bit of adventure, which was in short supply in the Black and White TV days of the early 70s! We had a blast - something not usually associated with pilgrimages, but perhaps there's a clue if I say the pilgrimage  was led by that notorious party animal Bishop Eamon Casey. He was quite the man-about-town then, little did we know then what we knew twenty years later - that he was a father in more than the religious title, which was disclosed by the mother of his then 17 yr old son, a handsome American lad, whose mother had fallen for the popular Bishop's charms all those years earlier. Sadly, he was vilified by the church and sent into exile in the South American missions, in contrast to all those paedophile priests whose crimes came to light years later which were covered up by the institution all the way to the Vatican. If ever there was a case for married priest and an end to compulsory celibacy, Bishop Casey epitomised it. He was a coward of course, in that he ditched Annie Murphy and embezzled diocesan funds to pay maintenance for the kid, and he never acknowledged him until Annie Murphy went public. But theirs was a consenting adult relationship, and as such should have been acknowledged by the hierarchy. 

5. I never flew until I was 22, when I went to Tenerife on my first and only package holiday after I'd finished my midwifery. Nine of us went, all girls, all just-qualified midwives, and we were ready to party. I remember being more excited by the flight than the holiday destination - until I arrived. I had little experience of sub-tropical climes to then, and revelled in two weeks of glorious sunshine in a then largely unspoilt island just discovering its tourist potential. We climbed Mount Tiede, the highest volcano/peak in Europe (not the mainland of course, but the Canary Islands are part of Spain so they are European even though they lie off the coast of Morocco, near the Western Sahara end.

6. I lived without electricity or running water for over a year - in the African bush in the mid-80s when we worked withTutsi refugees from Rwanda near Lake Burigi, the most beautiful place between Lake Victoria and Rwanda. We drew water from the river and in the rainy season collected rainwater in a tank. That was our most basic living ever - we had a small generator which would run a light bulb or two but if you put on the cooker it would dim the lights. I cooked on charcoal and got very creative - anyone who knows those little charcoal jikos or stoves knows they're slow to fire up and can be temperamental, but I ended up baking bread with two African cooking pots - like a bastable oven, one had the bread, the other sat on top with more hot coals in it, and that baked perfect bread. Murder on the tin pots though, as the heat of the charcoal on a dry pot burnt it away after a couple of uses. Happy days, the kids were small and it was pretty idyllic for them, aged 4 and 1, and I was 8 months pregnant with no. 3 when we left for the relative civilisation of Wales and a study break.

7.  I was taught Irish for 13 years in school and I still don't speak it comfortably or anywhere near fluency. This is probably a damning indictment of the school system in how it teaches Irish as a compulsory subject which was foisted on us, as it still is. In fact, it was so forced that if you failed Irish in the Leaving Cert you failed the whole exam, regardless of the rest of the exam - straight As or not. That requirement is now gone, but the baggage it carries for my generation is irreparable. I work in an Irish-speaking area and did a conversation course a few years ago which showed  me how  much I could recall and it was a fun way to learn. I see kids going to Gaelscoileanna where they're taught everything through Irish and they seem fine with it, and there's a resurgence outside Gaeltacht areas. I think future generations will be okay with the language but the teaching has to change and be relevant to everyday life. I speak near-fluent Dutch, am very comfortable in Kiswahili after years in Tanzania, and could even cope with some Lao, a tortuously difficult script and tonal language (like Thai)e that would make Serbo-Croat look like a walk in the park! 

So that's some random things to share - I tried to get a different perspective than in a previous  list for the Versatile Blogger Award I got from Mimi last year, so I hope I achieved that. I will now forward it to the following bloggers I enjoy and who won't mind being tagged with an award - I will not send it to any award-free zone! 

It's been fun to do and I hope you enjoy it too, pass it on and hopefully bring a lot more readers and followers to your blog - which is always nice. Though I write this because I enjoy the process of writing an open diary - as I see a blog - and it documents my life in a way I'm happy to share in the blogosphere. 

And the Award goes to.....

1. Mimi @ MimiinDublin 
2. Rudee @ A Knitting Nurse
3. Ann @ Inkpots n'Quills
4. Alycia @ The Curious Pug
5. Susan @ Joyous Flowers
6. Brownieville Girl @ Brownieville Girl
7. Corry & Heleen @ Dutch Sisters
8. Michelle @ MichelleTeacress
9. Peggy @ Organic Growing Pains
10. ShannonAnn @ One Size Knits All
11. Lilly @ Stuff I make, bake and love
12. Barbara @ Tanzania 5.0
13. Maeve @ The Delights of Tea and Other Things 
14. Kitty Cat @ Red Lemonade
15. Barbara @ From my Kitchen Table 

Irish Blog Awards 2011 - Nomination Time again.

Hard to believe it's a year since the Irish Blog Awards and they have rolled around again. I was lucky last year to get nominated and shortlisted to the last 25 which was a great morale boost for this blogger. I was nominated in two categories, Personal Blog and Food Blog. It was great fun browsing the nominations and seeing the quality of the blogs was a humbling experience.

As far as I know I haven't been nominated thus far, so I will be delighted if any readers see fit to put my blog forward in any category they think it fits. It will be a great honour and very exciting if I do get nominated onto a category, and I will be looking through the blogs I follow to nominate some of them, as they are surely deserving.

It's fun to follow the progress of the blogs through to the finals, and to see who the ultimate winners are.The finals are in Belfast on March 19th and the only criteria for entry is to have been actively blogging between March and December 2010.


Have a look at the website and nominations page and perhaps you will find a category that fits some of the Irish blogs you follow, and you'll have a friend for life if you nominate that blog.




Happy browsing and keep in touch with the awards site as it updates through the heats. I will continue blogging my heart out for the foreseeable future as it is a nice outlet for writing about everything day-to-day in life - from the sublime to the ridiculous.

This is especially relevant now that it's open season on venting and rants with the 2011 General Election about three weeks away. Happy days will be here again, as we all hope for change, echoing Labour leader Eamon "Happy" Gilmore, the persistent poll-topper for Taoiseach. Let's see if the polls' accuracy stands up to scrutiny after the election. Watch this space!

A Labour of Love in the General Election 2011

Lismore Labour Women with Ciara the Candidate!

Today has  been a  historic one for Ireland - the 30th Dáil (Parliament) has just been dissolved and the road to the General Election 2011 Campaign is open. Until the dissolution of the Dáil the campaign posters couldn't go up in public places - not that that stopped some of them stealing a march on their opponents - I saw posters for another candidate (not Labour!) this afternoon in Waterford City - about 3 hours too early!

The Labour Selection Convention 25th January 2011 Waterford

Since two Labour Party Candidates for Waterford Constituency were selected last week I've hardly seen hubby Jan - he's been appointed Director of Elections for Ciara Conway's campaign. Seamus Ryan is the other candidate for Labour. He's based in Waterford City and Ciara in Dungarvan, so there's good countywide representation. Hopefully they'll both get plenty of canvassing done across the county in the coming four weeks leading up to the General Election which will take place on Feburary 25th. If you like you can scan the Labour Party policies which they will bring into government should they be in that position in a few weeks time - which looks like a distinct possibility, if they can negotiate a coalition deal with Fine Gael.

Labour Waterford Women supporting Ciara for the Dáil

 The ruling junta party Fianna Fail (take as read - there should be a fada (á accent) over the "a" in Fail but I prefer it without - more appropriate!) has just bit the dust after being in power for 61 of the last 79 years. For the past 14 years they have brought the country to its knees with their self-serving economic stroke politics of favouring jobs for the boys, propping up dynastic political families with no claim to serve other than taking over the seat of a father or uncle, and creating a housing and property bubble that made millionaires out of developers while crippling people with mortgages for inflated house prices that will never recoup their original value, leaving thousands in negative equity and with job losses, at risk of repossession.

Ciara's campaign launch - Director of Elections Jan speaking

 It's probably a good idea to comfort eat our way through this recession. My previous post is a good example of this, with the recipe for a slow-cooker casserole. Cheap cuts of meat do well in slow-cookers too, so that's another plus! Since the start of the year I am down about €150 a month nett with the new USC - an nice innocuous-sounding acronym for the most inequitable charge we've seen since the pension levies of 2009. This Universal Social Charge is hitting poorer lower-paid workers far more than higher earners, as it draws into its net people previously exempt, because they were deemed too poor to pay levies like health and income levies if they had a medical card.

Ciara speaking at campaign launch

Ciara and her Director of Elections Jan

The charge is now levied on all earning above €4000 p.a. - in other words, everyone in work. So while I might be hit with €150 per month less take-home pay, someone on half my salary could be disproportionately hit and lose €100 - €150. By the way, under the Croke Park deal the public sector didn't get any wage cut - our gross pay stays the same. Just what's in our pocket at the end of the month is down. So it's like a pay cut of about €2000p.a. for  me, and I would bet if I was being means-tested for anything like a grant for college it's my gross pay that'd count!

I wanted to mark this historic day as I hope we're on the cusp of a new age in Irish politics, with Labour at the forefront, even in coalition, where they'll bring in their key policies of Jobs, Reform and Fairness. These aren't mere waffle, as their modus operandi is clearly outlined in the Policy document.

We had Ciara's launch last night in Dungarvan and there will be canvassing and campaigning ad infinitum and ad nauseum for the next three weeks. Fianna Fail canvassers will get a rough time on the campaign trail so even though they go into the campaign with a new leader after Biffo/Brian Cowen bowed to the inevitable opprobrium heaped on him by his own fellow party members, Micheál Martin, his successor, is tainted with being in the cabinet and Minister of key portfolios during the years of excess and waste otherwise known as the Celtic Tiger.

Surely the words of former Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy will come back to haunt the Soldiers of Destiny (a.k.a. Fianna Fail) - If I have it, I'll spend it, was his style during his giveaway budgets during the boom years. Trouble was, we didn't actually have it, it was all built on the bubble of property and development that was totally unsustainable and has come crashing down around us in the past two years, leading us to the arms of the IMF and the ECB, our new taskmasters. It looks like we'll be indentured to them for many years to come. Time for Bono to start a Drop the Debt campaign, as I suggested in another post. Little chance of that!