Being an adult has its plus sides, I suppose. For example, nobody threatens to withhold your only source of income if you don't tidy your bedroom.* Also, CAKE FOR BREAKFAST, PEOPLE! I wanted to add a third item to this list, but I'm struggling to think of one, so instead I'll show you a picture from today's autumnal walk with the twinnage:- But mostly, adulthood involves noticing stuff and guiltily muttering "Oh yeah, I must sort that out," 712 times per day. The last time I was fully up to Continue Reading
Pausing
We've reached that post-summer pre-autumn jitter that can't decide whether to roast us, freeze us, soak us, drop spheres of ice on our heads, or blow us over - so it swings wildly between all of these things. Permacultural food-grower Liz Zorab refers to this sub-season as The Pause, which describes it admirably, in my arrogant opinion. (Actually we've moved past that stage into proper-autumn if I'm honest, but it takes me so long to finish drafting a blog post that I'll probably be scraping ice Continue Reading
Summery Summary
Summer evenings imagined: lounging on the garden bench in the sunshine, wine chilled to perfection, an olive or thirty within reach. There is knitting - perhaps a skirt-in-progress, with neither dropped stitches nor tangled yarn. On the lawn in front of me, children and wildlife gambol endearingly. (No, I didn't say gamble - that would be a bit less charming.) The Stoic Spouse is nearby, being stoic of course. Summer evenings lived: Oh, is it raining again? Never mind, I'll just relax in the Continue Reading
A Journey Of A Thousand Miles Ends Suddenly With A Single Step
I've finished the race. (The race mentioned near the end of THIS post, in case you're wondering what on earth I'm blithering about.) Inspired by your generous donations to pancreatic cancer research, I did it. I ran 1084 miles of a wiggly route from Land's End to John O'Groats. (For non-UK folk, that's the bottom left hand toe of England up to the top right nobble of mainland Scotland.) Actually I ran the distance along the tracks/paths/roads of south Oxfordshire, but the people - or Continue Reading
Rollercoasting
I am calm. I am serene. I am not going to fling this ball of yarn across the room in a fit of temper. I am calm. I am serene. I am not going to... Oh! Erm, hello! Didn't see you there. Oops. Please don't mind me, I'm just having a little... trouble with a scarf that I'm designing. The sort of trouble that involves unravelling several hours' knitting and muttering darkly at my yarn whilst I rework the whole thing. This happens a lot, but I've learned hard lessons about how it's never ever Continue Reading
Zen and the art of marathon knitting
Wow. I already know from your comments that you people are lovely, wise, witty, and creative (yes, even YOU lurking at the back, there), but now I know that you're generous too. Thanks to you, £1646 and rising is going to pancreatic cancer research. You're awesome. More than awesome. Awesomer! Awesomest! Thank you. One day when you read about a new treatment for pancreatic cancer, you can smile in the knowledge that you've helped that happen. A heartbreakingly high number of you have Continue Reading
Hiatus
A confession: I've been neglecting my knitting. This is problematic when you're a knitting blogger. The yarny hiatus is temporary, and it's partly because we've reached peak season in the veg-growing calendar. My coping strategies for covid, cancer, Brexit, and perimenopause are all pretty similar: grow as much fruit and veg as possible, drink wine, go running a lot, and laugh in the face of adversity. Oh, and - usually - knit or crochet too, just not these past couple of weeks. It's the Continue Reading
Magic Eye
Would you like to see a finished object? Those of you who've been reading here since March 2014 (yes I do recognize you long-termers in the comments) will have seen it already. But as I said in this post seven long years ago, I finished the crochet, but failed to weave in the ends. And I continued not weaving in the ends for a really, really, long time. Slippery cotton takes some restraining, so getting this done was never an appealing prospect. Way back then, my boys were the Toddler Continue Reading
Crochetin’ The Covid
Right, people, lets get straight down to business. I have a new pattern out, in what risks becoming an extensive range of Covid-related knitted/crocheted accessories, thanks to those of you who will insist on suggesting additional products. Please nobody request a laceweight Covidy blanket, because I'm weak-willed in the face of such challenges. The new pattern is available via Ravelry, HERE. But read on, to see how you can get a small discount. We've already had the knitted Covid Cowl. Continue Reading
Dynasty
Throughout history, powerful figures have established dynasties, enabling their influence in a pre-Instagram world to continue beyond their own mortal years. The Nehru-Gandhis in India, the Ming dynasty in China, plus my personal faves, the Plantagenets.* But more ambitious and proud than any of these is the dynasty in our own back garden, right here at Twisted Towers. Many of you will remember Robyn-the-robin, the four-inch-high adorable tyrant who stole hearts and mealworms around here Continue Reading