As summer clutches its hand to its forehead (a touch melodramatically, in my opinion) and breathes its last, it must be time for the annual phenomenon that is the... A quick overview, in case you're new around here. For roughly a fortnight each year, the Stylecraft Blogtour Tour Bus trundles its way across the country - nay, the world - stopping for a day at the home of each of the Stylecraft Blogstars. Each of us produces a knitting and/or crochet pattern for the occasion, which we offer Continue Reading
Would You Like Some Tea?
So I was contacted by Adagio Teas, who sell all sorts of luscious tea-based loveliness in various parts of the world, plus the equipment with which to make it. "Help!" they said. "Quickly, please!" I was puzzled. "Huh? I'm a knitting/crochet blogger - I'm not sure how I can help you..." "But it's an emergency!" they insisted. "The weather has turned freezing, and..." "Yeah, tell me about it: you should try living in this house." (Here, for the record, is what this house looks like at the Continue Reading
Nice Day For A Giveaway
GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. Thank you for all your entries. Results are on their way... So... what shall we do today? How about a book review with a giveaway? Does that sound OK? Introducing A Stash Of One's Own, an anthology of musings about yarn collections, edited by Clara Parkes. At first I thought I was the wrong person to write this review, because for all that I love yarn, and knitting, and crochet, I have near-zero desire for stash. (Sorry. I do realize that this makes me a Continue Reading
The ‘October’ Cushion Pattern And The Stylecraft Blog Tour Yarn Giveaway: Hurrah!
Good morning all, especially to those of you who are here for the first time because you're following along with the 2017 Stylecraft Blog Tour. Welcome! Feel free to stay awhile, have a poke around, and make yourself at home. (You may even sit on The Chair.) And yes, this post will include both a brand new free pattern, and the chance to win oodles of yarn, regardless of where in the world you call home. GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. So. Very, very, late last night, the Stylecraft Blog Tour Bus pulled Continue Reading
It’s The Knitting And Stitching Show Giveaway!
Would you like to win free tickets to the Knitting And Stitching Show? And even if you don't win, would you like a nice chunky discount on your ticket price? (Clue: the answer to both of those questions is a big fluffy YES!) I know, I know: a fair few of you would need to zoom through the sky inside a long metal tube in order to attend. (It'd be totally worth the trip, though.) But for anyone who can get to London, the show will be on at Ally Pally from 11th-15th October, and I have in my hand 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
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
Painting By Numbers. Also, A Giveaway Winner!
Hello blog, my fine friend. I've been working on the crochet version of the Hiking Reindeer Cowl. No longer are the trees listing drunkenly to the right. But something in the switch from knitting to crochet appears to have translated the reindeer into a moose. I'm not sure what a moose is doing in the southern English countryside on which the scene is based: it must have been hiking for some time. But the pattern will be done fairly soon, at which point I'll publish it on this site for Continue Reading
An Over-Excited Book Review And A Splendid Giveaway
Since it's a dull Monday, shall we have an over-excited book review and a giveaway? Yes? OK, here goes:- Somewhere in Greenland, there are small birds living in more luxury than you do. See this nest? It's lined with pure qiviut - you know, that crazy-expensive luxury fibre from the tummy-fluff of the musk ox. Lucky birds. That said, after such a pampered start in life, the chicks will probably grow up completely unable to cope with the harsh realities of the world. You and I would have to Continue Reading
And The Winners Are… Also, Will You Look At This Patchwork!
Wowzers, that went quickly. A whole week has galloped past, and the Stylecraft voucher giveaway has closed. A huge thank you to everyone who entered, and to the generous folk at Stylecraft for providing the prizes. So shall we find out whether you've won? Oh, and may I just thank you for your kind comments (and name suggestions) for the sunset cowl. I've finished the knitting, and I'll be posting the finished thing with a free pattern - and a name! - within the next week or so. :-) But let's Continue Reading