So I've been working funny days this week, and in between times I've been knitting and knitting and knitting an Yvette hat because, (i) it's getting seriously nippy round here and the Stoic Spouse nicked my other hat, and (ii) my friend gave me some chunky, colourful yarn that's perfect for the job. At precisely 3pm this afternoon I'm due to take my place outside in the twinnage's school playground in order to help with the class cake sale, and if I'm going to stand out there freezing my bits Continue Reading
Knitting A Pond, Crocheting The Lillies
So yesterday, TheTwistedYarn passed the happy milestone of 100 000 views. I'm sure that a few of these were folks landing here accidentally and scurrying rapidly through the labyrinthine corridors of the 'Yarn on their way in search of a site about molecular biology or how to mend vacuum cleaners. And that's OK: we're inclusive here, though not very informative about molecular biology. But hopefully, the vast, vast majority of these hits were by colour-loving yarn-wielders, and I really hope Continue Reading
Subverting The Medium Of Colourwork
Friday, my fine friend, you have been a long time coming this week. And by the way, ANYONE WHO RECEIVED AN EMAIL NOTIFYING YOU OF A BAG PATTERN POST THAT DOESN'T YET EXIST, PLEASE SEE THE END OF THIS POST! Anyway, the Knitting And Crochet Guild / Yarn Stories competition is closing. Did you enter? Best o' luck if you did. I can't wait to see everyone's entries when they're shown online. For anyone who hasn't seen it, the Knitting and Crochet Guild promotes both crafts within the UK and also 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
Distracted From The Knitting By Cake
So there I was, sitting innocently in the garden drafting the skirt post, and the post about looking round the Spectrum Yarns mill, when I was rudely interrupted by a silly idea that just would not go away. An idea that had nowt to do with knitting or crochet. And whilst I tried my hardest to concentrate on telling you about the luscious yarn being worked at that mill, this pesky idea grabbed me by the brain cell and dragged me all the way into the kitchen, whereupon it told me to look for some Continue Reading
Easy Crochet Christmas Decorations, Part One
Right, people, it's crochet time. Hooks to the ready, my fine fearless friends. Mince pie, anyone? That's it - do pass the plate round. We're getting properly festive here at the 'Yarn. The tree is up. The Toddler Twinnage is over-excited. The Stoic Spouse is.... stoic. And there are decorations, especially the little trees, Santa, paper chains, wreaths, and candles that I knitted the other week. But now we've got our hooks all ready, it'd be a shame not to use them, so shall we make some Continue Reading
Summer flowers
So, you'll maybe remember that in spring, I made a few collages of seasonal flowers in a rainbow pattern, here and here. T'was fun. Well, the season has marched on, as is its wont. And now we have summer flowers, with green ones even harder to find. Fortunately my lovely, horticulturally-talented neighbour has some green flowers to complete my montage. Witness:- Whilst I'm florally rambling like a wisteria on an ancient thatched cottage, let me tell you about the hollyhocks. I mention Continue Reading
The Yarn-Bombing Continues
The yarn-bombing of our brewery home is spreading slowly, very slowly, like one of those garden weeds that - once you initially notice it's there - you keep spotting more and more outbreaks, until you realize that it's actually everywhere. Stand still for too long (say, approximately a week) in our house and you risk being measured up for adornment with crochet, or perhaps having your extremities entrelacced (ouch). Consider y'self warned, my friend. Unfortunately the Toddler Twinnage move Continue Reading
More crochet flowers
Evenin' all. Project blog header continues. Flowers for its edge are blooming, mostly of the crocheted variety, but also a few knitted ones. And there's a butterfly. This is yesterday and today's haul:- And here's the total group so far:- I'll sew them around the edge of the blog header when they're all done. I'm a little out of my comfort zone with this stuff, because I like big, solid, get-lost-in-the-detail-for-weeks projects rather than making small things, but it's fun Continue Reading
Knitting is in fashion
So, d'you think this new-fangled* knitting malarkey will catch on? Actually, I fear that we're becoming trendy. This makes me a little nervous, because anything that is currently trendy will, perforce, soon be deeply untrendy. Take today, for example. I had to pop out in the car to a nearby town. On the way, I passed this bus stop:- Then I stopped for petrol. It seems that Cadbury has gone all knitted for Christmas. Obviously I had to buy the following items so that I could photograph Continue Reading