That title is misleading. I'm not really a millionaire, although I did just find a bar of chocolate that I'd forgotten about so I am feeling pretty fortunate. (I sometimes hide chocolate away from the Twinnage, and the advantage/disadvantage of having a rubbish memory is that I then promptly forget it ever existed.) But the title of this post is because recently, my blog visit stats passed the million mark. Those visits can't all have been by my mum, surely? A million! That's quite a big number. Continue Reading
A Thing
I've finished knitting a thing. It's a big thing. 110cm (43") square, to be precise. You're looking at 123 500 stitches which, it's fair to say, took a good while to complete. It's made of Jamieson's of Shetland Spindrift, and it weighs in at 500 grams. That's a kilometre of yarn. It was knitted in the round with a steek, which I then cut. (Steeks aren't as scary as folk think, I promise. Here's a quick how-to.) I used 3mm needles for the stranded work, then 2.5mm needles for the Continue Reading
Winter Colours
There is knitting in this post I promise, but there's also lots of winter colour because if you're anything like me, you find the natural world and the landscape endlessly fascinating and inspiring. (And if you're not anything like me, then congratulations on being such a well-adjusted member of society.) Those eleventy hundred bulbs I planted in the autumn are beginning to reveal themselves and I can't resist showing you a few:- Judging by the green fronds poking up all over the Continue Reading
Frogging The Frog
The other morning, I picked up my knitting (nothing unusual in that), muttered some words that aren't repeatable here (not as rare as it should be), and frogged FOURTEEN THOUSAND stitches of stranded colourwork. (Youch.) I even frogged this little diving frog. (But forgot to photograph it first, so this is the reknitted version.) I tried to film the experience in a speeded-up, time-lapsy, sort of way, but technology was against me. So then I went off to do my tax return Continue Reading
Winter. With Yarn.
Hello, dear knitters and crocheters, and runners, and my mum, and people who inexplicably landed here whilst searching for a blog about oxyacetylene welding. Come and sit with me beside the fire, because it's way too cold out there. Walking to school to collect the twinnage this afternoon, it looked as though somebody had combed the sky. I hope you've brought your yarn. (No, please don't start oxyacetylene welding in my sitting room. The blog you're looking for is that way. --> Continue Reading
Fair Isle Designs From Shetland Knitters, A Review
Every time Hazel Tindall (world's fastest knitter) sends me something in the post for review, it snows. It snowed when her brilliant DVD of knitting advice arrived, and it snowed again months ago when a parcel containing this new book flolloped through the letterbox and onto the doormat. This, despite the fact that it hardly ever snows here. You might argue that a sample of two has very little scientific validity, but I love snow and I'm sticking to my theory that THIS IS NOT A 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?* The wildlife pond has frozen over. 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 Continue Reading
Knitting. Also, Cake.
Ah, there you are! Good to see you. Come in, come in, bring your yarnery-in-progress and sit here beside the fire. This blog post contains both knitting and cake. Let's begin the yarn. I've been designing. And knitting. I should've been doing other things, but I just couldn't help it. If you've hung around here for more than about three seconds, then it won't surprise you to know that what I'm making involves stranded colourwork… and freshwater life... and geology. These are three of the Continue Reading
May I Show You My Blocking Mats?
Gosh, you are a lovely lot. Would you like an update on Mary's blanket? If you search deep amongst the comments on the last post, you'll notice a long and heart-warming response by one Mary Megarry. Executive summary: I THINK SHE LIKES THE BLANKET! Phew. I just hope it brings her a little comfort as she goes through the long process of recuperation. Anyway, onwards - at terrifyingly high speed - towards Christmas. Terrifying at least for those of us who aren't good at getting prepared Continue Reading
With Apologies To WH Auden
There isn't much in knitting that scares me. I can k3togtbl, I can cut a steek whilst stone-cold sober, and I laugh in the face of complex colourwork (unless it's intarsia, in which case I sigh and then untangle all 76 bobbins for the eleventy millionth time). But today, I'm anxious. You see, I've finished the book-blanket that I designed and made for my dear friend Mary, and yesterday I wrapped it up and took it to the Post Office. Quick summary in case you missed the original post: Mary has Continue Reading