Whilst I sort through my photos from the Stylecraft Blogstars weekend (and tweek my over-excited posting about it all), shall we knit/crochet a-while? I have a couple of finished objects that you might like to see. The nice thing about getting round to finishing long-neglected projects (LNPs) is that, if - and it's a big if - if you can figure out where you were up to, and why on earth you put that stitch marker there, and why for that matter you thought that fluorescent yellow would look good Continue Reading
Knitting: It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
(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
Time For A Catch-Up
OK, people, you have until tomorrow lunchtime (UK time) to enter the luxuriously colourful Noro giveaway. Just thought I'd mention that, in case you haven't cast your (knitted) hat into the ring, yet. The competition is open worldwide. Anyway, settle y'self in a chair (yes, even the chair if you so wish) with your crochet/knitting, and let's talk yarn. May I see what you're making, please? And of course you can join us in the pub for out knitting group if you so wish. Our membership spans quite 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
Comfort-Knitting
Sometimes, you just need a mindless comfort-knit. This fellow is going to be a cardigan, worked in 'Nepal', a wool-alpaca blend by Drops:- What I was too ashamed to tell you in my last post when I showed you this lovely new yarn I'd bought... ...was that in a moment of financial insanity, I actually bought three different bundles of yarn, to make three different cardigans. (I'm always cold. As is this house. The cardigans will at least get a great deal of wear.) The Drops Nepal is well on Continue Reading
I Fought The Yarn… And The Yarn Won.
See this blog? It should probably be renamed the Don't Try This At Home blog. Because whether it's knitting, crochet, running, or general adulting, these pages sometimes feel like a catalogue of mild inadequacy. That baby blanket I mentioned last post? Well I knitted my portion, and all was good... or at least as good as you can expect for a blanket knitted by three different people using three completely different kinds of stitches. Let's call it... unique (but it is plenty snuggly enough for Continue Reading
A Tale Of The Unexpected
Did you know that llama pregnancies last for 11 months? That's probably not a whole load of fun for the mummy llamas, but it does at least give their friends an additional 2 months over humans in which to get something knitted. Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/glenbowman/7354881078 I need to make friends with some llamas. The reason for this is that despite the fact that a friend has been pregnant for nine months and I have arguably had plenty of time to get knitting... Continue Reading
SereKNITy: A Review And A Giveaway
Morning, all. Shall we have another giveaway-review whilst I put the finishing touches to the cowl pattern? Yes? There’s a new book that may well be right up your street. Or it might not. Hopefully after this review, you’ll know either way.* Introducing the quirkily-monikered Sereknity, by Nikki Van De Car, published just this week by Running Press. And if you’re thinking, ‘Hang on, I definitely know that name from somewhere’, I’ll save you the brow-furrowing by reminding you that Van De Continue Reading
Free Pattern Alert! The Cowl Is Done!
I've been in a bit of a frenzy to finish designing and making the fiery sunset cowl, since so many of you said such kind things about it. I knitted round, and round, and round, so very fast that I was almost flung backwards across the room by the centrifugal forces. Anyway. It's done. And I've typed up the pattern for you. But first, a message. Mother Twisted was enormously touched by all your lovely comments about her cathedral window quilting, and she sends you heartfelt thanks. I think Continue Reading
Knitting A Fiery Sky
Hello. There's a stretch of motorway that I drive often. If it's dusk and there's a half-decent sunset, the view is stunning, with sharp conifers and rolling hills silhouetted against the sky. Often, I see deer. I've long wanted to show you this view because I know you like colour, but stopping on a motorway to whip out my camera would be both illegal and stupid, so it hasn't been possible. But then something happened that meant I could at last show you... in knitting! Because look what Continue Reading