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
Yarn Shop Day
Saturday was Yarn Shop Day here in the UK. Knitters and hookers everywhere showed their love for yarn shops, whilst in return, the yarn shops showed their love for knitters and hookers. What's not to like? A crack team of Stylecraft Blogstars was despatched to various events around the country. In my case, I landed at Masons in Abingdon (Oxfordshire), which happens to be my favourite yarn shop. Eek, what's this outside?! Well it was a good thing that the sign said 'about 2pm' for the Continue Reading
A Quick Poll
Why, thank you for your generous comments about The Hiking Moose (crochet) Cowl, you lovely lot. Having published the knitted version as well as the crochet version, I was wondering more than usual how many of you are knitters, how many are hookers, and how many are bicraftual. Would you do me the honour of answering this quick one-question poll, please? Just click one of the following circles and then hit the 'vote' button... Thank you. Meanwhile, tomorrow (Saturday) is Yarn Shop Day, at Continue Reading
Free Crochet Pattern: The Hiking Moose Cowl
OK, people. You asked - well, some of you asked - for the crochet version of The Hiking Reindeer cowl pattern. So I hooked, and I made wonky trees, and I engaged in complicated de-wonking calculations, and now I can at last present to you... The Hiking Moose, a free pattern for the colourfully-inclined hooker. You wouldn't expect to bump into a moose within three thousand miles of where this picture-in-yarn was taken, so Mr Moose here has been on a really long hike. The final pattern that I'm Continue Reading
Don’t Try This At Home, Folks. (Also, We Have A Giveaway Winner.)
(The Hiking Moose pattern is nearly done. Maybe next post...) This knitting/crochet thing... it's supposed to be fun, right? Yes? I just thought I'd check, because, y'know, well because of this:- More on that abomination in a moment, but first of all we have a giveaway winner to announce. Remember this beauty? Thank you to the 225 of you who entered before the deadline, and I'm only sorry that there can't be 225 prizes, because this is rather a splendid book. As usual, I numbered all the Continue Reading
Moose
If you're reading this before noon on the 22nd April, there's still time to enter the most marvellous SereKNITy giveaway! It's open worldwide. :-) And in other news, I've finished making the crochet version of The Hiking Reindeer cowl. (Here's the pattern for the knit version.) But it's definitely a moose. The Hiking Moose. Look! As for why a moose would be hiking over the rolling hills of southern England at dusk, I have no clue: it must have been a really long hike from Canada. I'm just 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
Making Stuff
Yes, yes, the crochet version of the Hiking Reindeer Cowl is well on its way. I've done lots more since taking this photo yesterday:- Meanwhile, there's a standoff going on between me and the Stoic Spouse, concerning the garden. With an enthusiasm-to-wisdom ratio of approximately 500:1, I've been planning the redevelopment of our small plot. It's very, very, slowly on its way to being full of bulbs, and fruit trees, and sneaky interspersed vegetables, and ferns, and - I dearly hope - a pond. Continue Reading