(We have a giveaway winner: more on that in just a moment.) Hello from a splendid hotel in West Yorkshire! I'm 200 miles from home, attending the twice-yearly gathering of the Stylecraft Blogstars at the Stylecraft woollen mill in Slaithwaite. But I'll tell you about that properly in my next post, because there is so very much exciting loveliness to show you. I love these weekends. (In case you're newish to these 'ere parts, I've written before about jollies such as touring the mill, and Continue Reading
Want To Win A Marvellous Noro Book? Yes?
Have you ever knitted (or hooked) with Noro yarn? If not, then this unique Japanese producer should be on your fibrous bucket list. You might love Noro, you might hate it, but you're unlikely to be indifferent. A quickish guide for the uninitiated: Noro produces s-l-o-w-l-y colour-shifting self-striping yarns in various combinations of wool, silk, cotton, and alpaca. Here's a very old and dodgy photo from my little-more-sophisticated-than-a-chap-sitting-inside-my-phone-drawing-a-sketch phone Continue Reading
Socks. And Mint Tea.
Oh, happy feet! Just look at this colourful sockage! (Let's just gloss over what the Stoic Spouse said about my sanity when he found me lying on my back on the hard tiled floor, crunched upwards in order to photograph my own feet.) Yes, these chaps are the Noro Kureyon socks, and I won't mention again the prima donna-ish proclivities of this yarn. The colours are stunningly intense, and the way they slowly shift makes for knitted fabric that's reminiscent of a painted landscape. Happy feet. Continue Reading
A Word On Noro
Ugh, this blog post smells of paint. Sorry about that. I've been painting the sitting room walls and my hair. To be honest, I've been painting the sitting room for the past nine months, budging toys, furniture, guests, and small children out of the way as I went. One of the many, many downsides to this DIY technique is that now that I'm close(ish) to completion, I've noticed that the wall I painted first is getting decidedly scruffy again and could do with, well, a lick of paint. Sigh. Two words Continue Reading
And Then We Disappeared Off To Herefordshire
So anyway, my parents (the Twisted Seniors) have a long-established tradition of pulling up their tent-pegs and moving to a completely different part of the country every 10-15 years or so. They're at it again as we speak, and have just sold their home in beautiful rural Herefordshire, ready to come and share a county with us here in Oxfordshire. With the move imminent, the Toddler Twinnage and I decided to make a may-or-may-not-be-the-last visit to Herefordshire, whilst the Stoic Spouse stayed Continue Reading