I've just completed winter. Not actual winter, since it's August and we're in the northern hemisphere, but the chilliest colourway of the four-season cowl design that I'll be publishing shortly. But as I said in my last post, this is a British winter, so discard any notions of sparkly white snow against a blue sky, and instead embrace the dank and soggy undertones of sludgy reality. They're quite pretty once you get used to them. The yarn is Stylecraft Highland Heathers DK. Next up on my Continue Reading
On The Weighty Matter Of Orange
The reworking of the Falling Leaves cowl is going medium-well, but it's been temporarily stalled because the orange I was using was just a bit too exuberantly orange (think irradiated mega-pumpkins on steroids), so I've ordered an alternative yarn, and am drumming my fingers on the kitchen table, impatient for its arrival. Chris-the-postman will doubtless deliver it soon, with his usual unnerving ability to know exactly what's in any given parcel/letter he pushes through the letterbox. "Looks Continue Reading
The Half-Filled Kettle Dilemma
One of the odder consequences of having breast cancer is finding yourself standing in the middle the street wondering how much horse poo would half-fill a kettle. When you're diagnosed, they send you a chunky booklet about what to expect, and absolutely nowhere does it mention either kettles or horse poo - a disappointing oversight. But I'll come back to all this silly cancer stuff later in this post. For now, let's discuss the vastly more serious matter of yarnery, specifically knitting. Continue Reading
2018… Oops, I mean 2019
So here we are - another year. Another one. Couldn't we have stuck with the old one for just a smidge longer?* There's nothing like replacing the calendar that hangs on your kitchen wall to bring on a reflective mood. When I was younger, I struggled with all sorts of "Another-year-and-I-STILL-haven't..." angsty thoughts at roughly 11.59pm every 31st December, no matter how much fun the NYE party. Now that I'm 46 (ouch) and various life stuff has taken shape - even if that shape is a Continue Reading
Patching Up The House (With Knitting)
A day's leave from work is a chance for some full-on knitting. I've been working on the stranded skirt that I'm designing:- I also had a temporary craft-swerve into decoupage, but only because I found a way to do so that involved knitting. Allow me to explain. We have a pug-ugly mirror in our house that the Stoic Spouse bought when he was young. The frame is plasticky beech-effect laminate that's so orange, it looks like it over-did the fake tan. It's not even properly trying to look like Continue Reading