<<whispers>> I'm taking a risk writing this post, because it's about a gift that I'm knitting for a friend. I don't think Mary reads here - yarn is not her thing - but occasionally the most unexpected people fess up to following my blog, so you never know. So for reasons of secrecy, I'll keep my voice down. And if I suddenly change the subject AND START TALKING LOUDLY ABOUT HOW ISN'T IT A LOVELY DAY TODAY, AND OOOOH LOOK, A SQUIRREL! then that's because I've spotted Mary looking Continue Reading
A Finished Thing
This week, I finished a thing. Is it just me, or does everyone have a Guilt Project languishing in a basket somewhere? I'm talking about the mega-project that seemed like a r-e-a-l-l-y good idea several years ago when you bought/inherited/spun-from-raw-antelope-fibre the 80 balls of yarn that it requires. The Guilt Project is always three quarters complete - you've come too far to frog it - and it nudges you into a flicker of shame every time you trip over it on your way to the wine-rack Continue Reading
Spring has sprung, the grass is ris… so the poor ol’ Stoic Spouse had to get the lawnmower out
Yes yes yes, kind followers, the ridiculous afghan is nearly done. But I'm at the stage where a single round of stitches takes well over a 50g ball of yarn. That's a lot of stitches, and I've got three more rounds to go. Anyway, the blighter might've been finished already if I hadn't also been doing sneaky preparation for a couple of other projects alongside the magnum opus. Projects of much colour and fluffy fairisle loveliness, I hope. Also the yarn-bomby-housey-thing. And a little (or big) Continue Reading
Feeling Blue
The dark blue is done! (Are you new to this marathon-length saga of crochet? I'm referring to this.) The end of the rainbow is nigh. I nearly have a giant rainbow stained glass window afghan with which to cover my scruffy old sofa, or possibly a wall, or possibly both because it's so damn big, and I am more than a little cheery about this little fact. There is only some sewing-in, then some black, then some purple, then some more black, left to go. Most of the afghan has been worked in one Continue Reading
Weaving in ends (or possibly obliterating the hairy blighters with napalm).
Yesterday, I promised a crochet post. Predictably, it's about the rainbow stained glass window afghan. It's going to be a few weeks until it's finished I think, given that it'll end up more than two metres across - that's a lot of stitches. Someone on Ravelry posted that they'd finished the same design in more conventional colours within "about two weeks". Even allowing for this meaning "almost three weeks", and even supposing they spent that fortnight-and-a-bit omitting Continue Reading
And still the rainbow stained glass window grows
The monster afghan grows, and grows. We've achieved light green, with only dark green, a couple of blues, and purple still to go. It's BIG. So whilst I wiggle away with my crochet hook, allow me to present In Other News. We've been out, the twinnage and I. We don't get out as much as we should. The logistical demands of doing stuff with the stroppy twinnage make it tricky. And the stoic spouse firmly believes in parental efficiency, ie no more than one parent should be with the kids at any Continue Reading
Crochet therapy
The end of a stressful day of tantrumming toddler twinnage. The rainbow stained glass window is progressing well, assisted by a two-hour bout of insomnia last night. Can you see the little popcorn stitches? I've reached about 60cm diameter (24 inches), and the final thing will be about 2 metres (>2 yards) across. I love this pattern! It's by Julene Watson, and the increases and pattern are perfectly calculated so that it remains beautifully flat as it grows. And it's cheaper than Continue Reading
Crochet stained glass window
I'm so excited about this project. I'm talking wake-at-4am-and-can't-resist-doing-a-bit levels of excitement. Sitting in the corner of my study for several months has been a large project bag (did I mention that spare curtain fabric is perfect for making drawstring project bags?) containing 51 balls of Rico Design Creative Cotton Aran in a rainbow of colours, plus lots and lots of black. It was bought with a specific purpose in mind. (You know about my stash aversion already, yeah?) But I was Continue Reading
Water, water, everywhere.
It's wet in Oxfordshire right now. Really really wet. (North America, I can't help but envy your polar vortex. I've seen so many beautiful snowy/icy photographs on people's blogs.) Here, there's flooding. We're all about the Thames in this bit of the UK, as its early waters wind their way down through Oxfordshire and Berkshire. On Wednesday morning I had a medical appointment in Oxford, and on the way home, I drove the long-suffering twinnage a twisting route that roughly followed the Thames Continue Reading