Irish Wasp - Orla Howard
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irishwasp.bsky.social
Irish Wasp - Orla Howard
@irishwasp.bsky.social
230 followers 460 following 940 posts
knitter/designer/felter/spinner/crafter
#IrishWaspCreations
Patterns #OrlaHowardDesigns (Ravelry, Lovecrafts, Payhip)
Irish in Germany
Child loss survivor
Pro-Immigration, Pro-LBGTQ+, Anti-Discrimination,
Posts Replies Media Videos
irishwasp.bsky.social
I won the latest game of Yarn Chicken! Go me!!!
🧶🐔
A piece of knitting (Brioche technique) cast off up to the last stitch, which is still on the needle. A short piece of yarn is protruding from the knitting.
November 24, 2025 at 11:36 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Our Fairy Rose defying the frost and minus temperatures!
A small pink "fairy rose" with frost on it, desperately trying to stay alive! I the background the Rosebush is just a green blur! Four "Fairy Rose" blooms surviving the first hard winter frost. On the grass below, there is visible white frost. In the distance, the corner of a grave can be seen, where the shadow of the headstone is casting a shadow on the otherwise sunny foothpath.
November 23, 2025 at 2:47 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Anyone in the greater Darmstadt area looking for a small, cosy Christmas Market to visit... the Gundernhäuser Weihnachtsmarkt is here on November 29th - for one night, and one night only!

You'll find me in my stall, do come over for a chat!
Weihnachtsmarkt in Gundernhausen Samstag, 29. November 2025 vom 15:00 bis 22:00 auf dem Kerbplatz 15:00 Weihnachtsmarkteröffnung mit Bürgermeister Norman Zimmermann 15:15 Auftritt der Kinder Aus dem Kindergarten Abenteuerland 17:30 Der Nikolaus kommt vorbei 18:30 Auftritt des Posaunenchors Wir freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch Almstüberl, Blauersteinhof, Blumen und Ideen, Buntköpp, BZV Roßdorf, Ev. Kirchengemeinde, Förderverein Abenteuerland eV, GSV Gundernhausen "Next Generation ", Irish Wasp Creations, Kerbbörsche Gundernhausen, Mrs. Plotter, SEVEGRAM, Zita Szànto und Melinda Szöke
November 21, 2025 at 6:56 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Some felted dolls that I finished last week.
A needle-felted doll with long dark hair and a red dress A needle-felted doll with long blonde hair and a blue and white dress. A needle-felted doll with dark hair and skin and a mint-green and cream dress. A needle-felted doll with brown hair in a bunch and a blue and purple dress.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Just some needle-felted angel pictures I worked on this week.
A needle-felted picture of an angel, dressed in white, on a red background. A needle-felted picture of an angel in a blue dress on a beige background. Her dress has a circular, celtc pattern. A needle-felted picture of an angel in a red dress on a white background. Her wings are depicted as celtic curls. A needle-felted picture of an angel in a blue dress on a purple background. Her wings have concentric cricles as a pattern .
November 19, 2025 at 3:43 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
@dublinairport.bsky.social trollng Ronaldo on Instagram is priceless!😂
A screenshot of an Instagram post by Dublin Airport showing Cristiano Ronaldo arriving in Dublin ahead of the game where Ireland beat them 2-0 and he was sent off. Their caption reads, "Something tells us he's not going to be any happier on the way home..." The picture was alluding to their post on the previous day showing how unimpressed he was with the Irish weather!
November 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
All my handspun yarn ready for the Martinsmarkt in Darmstadt-Arheilgen tomorrow.
The funny thing about my handspun yarn, is that if I don't sell it, I'm not too sad, as I love knittng with it myself!😁🧶
Skeins of handspun yarn, in varying colours, hanging up - displayed with price tags.
November 7, 2025 at 4:48 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
I dunno about the rest of you, but maybe Netflix Germany should think again about how they name their categories!! 😁
A screenshot of a Netflix Germany page showing 3 different categories. In the centre, showing Gilmore Girls, Nobody Wants This and Wednesday, the category is titled "Publikumshits"!
November 6, 2025 at 6:04 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Anyone in the greater Darmstadt Area this weekend, this is where I'll be! Do call by!
Advert for Martinsmarkt im Gemeindehaus der Auferstehungsgemeinde, Messeler Straße 29, 64291 Darmstadt-Arheilgen Sa. 08.11.2025 - 16:00 bis 19:00 So. 09.11.2025 nach dem Gottesdienst bis 16:00 Mit dem Reinerlös des Marktes werden die Frauenhäuser und das Übergangswohnheim der näheren Umgebung unterstützt. Für den leiblichen Wohl ist gesorgt. Sonntags mit Suppen von Gabi's Stübchen. Auf Ihren Besuch freuen sich: Café Plus, Pfadfinder, Ideengeflüster, VIVAnja, Stricktreff Heilig Geist, Irish Wasp Creations (that's me!😀), Maschenleibe, Tüfteltaff, Kerstin Späth Art, Willowbaskets, die Wollmäuse und viele weitere Künstler. Musikalische Unterhaltung: Musik. Früherziehung, Posaunenchor Kostenlose Mitmachangebot für Erwachsene, Kinder, Jugendliche und Junggebliebene NEU: Kreativkurse zu jeder vollen Stunde. Anmeldung vor Ort und unter dem Kennwort "Kreativkurs" an Martinsmarkt-Arheilgen@web.de
November 4, 2025 at 11:05 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
A gif from the movie Amelie showing the actress, Audrey Tautou, who played the title character; with raised eyebrows, looking "side-eye" at the camera and smiling - as if to say, "I know something!".
September 21, 2025 at 8:33 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
For the 3rd time this week, his fellow has built a website across an entryway somewhere in our yard. He's letting us know who's the boss! Well, this one is across the doorway to the utility room - so he can do the laundry because I'm never going in there again!😱😧😬🫣
A scary-looking spider with tiger-like stripes hanging by a thread across the doorway to our utility room. The photo is taken from the underside of the spider, because I am not crossing his path to take him from a more photogenic angle!
September 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Dongeal may have won the game, but what an honour this was! For this proud Meathman who devoted a huge part of his 93 years to the GAA, to be remembered like this in front of a packed-out Croke Park, on All-Ireland Semi final day, would have made him so proud!
On a screen in Croke Park, a photo of Finian Englishby (my Dad), with the words "In Ómós, Finian Englishby, Athboy, Co. Meath. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis."
July 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
I spent last week working on a special project, which was a birthday present for a friend!
As he's a big fan of #WerderBremen, I wanted to make something unique - so I felted a picture of the #Weserstadion. I wasn't sure he would even recognise what it was, but he did straight away - and loved it!
A needle-felted picture depicting the Weserstadion in Bremen - home to the Bundesliga team Werder Bremen. The picture shows the stadium from an aerial view. In the corner of the picture is the emblem if the team, Werder Bremen - a white letter W in a dark green diamond.
June 15, 2025 at 8:12 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
All set for some outside felting. Picture won't be revealed until well after completion, as it is a gift.
An easle set up under a canvas tent. On the easel is a square foam piece, used for needle felting. Pieces of equipment on a table, including a pencil, set-square and scissors, a small foam cushion with pins in it, 3 felting needles in various holders, and varying pieces of wool and felt.
June 11, 2025 at 1:05 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Timeline cleanser - taken this evening out in the fields!
A bee on a purple flower (identified via PlantNet as Fiddleneck). A strip of purple flowers (Fiddleneck) planted oalong the border of a large field of corn.
June 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Just finished two more needle-felted pictures. When I have my website sorted, I will have all of these up with full details and prices.
A needle-felted picture of a dark blue butterfly on an orange background, in a white frame with a white passepartout. A needle-felted picture of holding hands, framed and standing on a wooden easel. The hands are in off-white and outlined in dark brown. The background is a mixture of bright colours. Around the picture is a white passepartout.
June 5, 2025 at 8:59 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Hmm - I'm reading a book and have just read this...a flashback to 1998... not just thinking back - but told from the 1998 perspective...

Anyone else see a flaw here?

According to the cover it's a "Number One Sunday Times Bestseller"!
Excerpt from a "Number One Sunday Times Bestseller " "In the last eight months he'd even begun visiting her in Staff-bury on the odd occasion - although they were very careful never to be seen together, usually holed up in the little Airbnb apartment he rented under a false name." Airbnb didn't exist in 1998!
June 2, 2025 at 9:17 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
The Rock of Cashel - 100% wool!

I think I'm finished! The second picture is the reference photo from which I worked!

For those who aren't familiar with needle-felting, it involves stabbing pieces of wool with a very sharp needle, until a piece of art is created!
A picture made of wool, standing on a wooden easel. The picture depicts The Rock of Cashel, in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. A photograph of the Rock of Cashel taken from the street below. The old castle sits above the town and in the foreground a row of houses can be seen.
May 27, 2025 at 9:21 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
I've taken my workplace outside today - working on a felted pictures of another Irish Castle. I still have a long way to go until it's finished, but I wonder can anyone figure out which Castle it is?
A easel in a yard, with a chair in front of it. On the easel is a foam mat, which is used as an underlay for needle-felting. A selection of woollen fibers in blues, greens, greys and beige coming out of glass jars on a circular table. A half-finished needle felted picture of an old castle on a hill, pinned to a foam mat on an easel. Another view of the half-finished needle-felted picture on the foam mat.
May 26, 2025 at 1:55 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Reminds me of my favourite @ruthe.de cartoon!
A cartoon by the German artist and comedian, Ralph Ruthe - A man standing in his bathroom at a mirror, beside him is a radio, with a voice saying," Und hier die Nachrichten: Alle bekloppt geworden. Das Wetter..." (And here's the News: Everyone's gone crazy. The Weather...)
May 25, 2025 at 7:08 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Blending some scrumptious fibers and spinning them into a fabulous skien of yarn! All in a day's work!
May 14, 2025 at 10:11 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Great to be back at the wheel!

Sari Silk and Blue-faced Leicester- Yesterday blended and spun, today plied and wound.

I love how the recycled Sari Silk brings pops of colour into the yarn. It's a small skein (45g/112m) an experiment blending the two fibers.
A spool of a newly spun yarn on a spinning wheel. In places, the yarn is curling on itself, as it has not yet been plied. There are two colours - a mixture of greens (with dots of other colours) from the recycled Sari Silk and white from the Blue-Faced Leicester A plied and wound skien of green yarn. The colour here is more homogeneous after being plied. It is mainly a grass green, with pops of other shades and colours appearing intermittently.
May 8, 2025 at 4:13 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
I'd like to think that I'm not the only one with one of these kitchen cupboards - baking supplies, etc. - bought, opened, used once, and forgotten! The oldest packet I've found so far - coconut dated "best before 2016" (which means bought a few years earlier!). I really should tidy out more often!🤦🏼‍♀️
An empty coconut packet showing the date 30.09.2016 An opened kitchen drawer with various packets of dried products, which had been once opened and closed with a plastic clip.
May 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
irishwasp.bsky.social
I spent the last four months documenting the lives of almost 100 ancestors in a family archive. Today, I visited the old graveyard at Killeen, where many of them were laid to rest! They are not forgotten!
#Genealogy #KilleenCastle
An old graveyard with the ruins of a church in the background. The headstones are tilting and some falling over; almost all are covered in moss. Very few have legible writing, and some are just stone stumps in the ground. There are trees dotted around, throwing some shade on the graves, on a very sunny day.
April 29, 2025 at 10:34 PM
irishwasp.bsky.social
Then there's Hairy Styles Pet Groomer
A pet grooming salon called Hairy Styles!
April 26, 2025 at 6:10 PM