(And yes, there will be more about nålbinding in a future post...) In the meantime, shall we have a book review? Sixth & Spring has just published Finishing School, A Master Class For Knitters, by Deborah Newton. Yes, I was given this book for free, so clearly you can't trust a word I say. But whilst I turn down most of the books I'm offered for review (it's tough, being a yarny blogger), I jumped at this one because it plays to one of my biggest weaknesses. Finishing is not my Continue Reading
Yarn Shop Day
Writing funny blog posts is tricky when things go well. It's easier when your day turns belly-up and you leave your dignity somewhere up a tree in the supermarket car park, but there's nothing hilarious about things working out as intended. That's why I'm finding it hard to write this post about Saturday's Yarn Shop Day event. I can just about work a World War Two air raid shelter and a Victorian actress's underwear into the story without stretching the truth, but beyond that, I got Continue Reading
To The Mill, Again.
Twice a year, the Stylecraft Blogstars meet at Stylecraft's beautiful old mill in West Yorkshire for a weekend of yarn, chatter, food, wine, friendship, scenery, and news. Yeah, the experience really is exactly as gruelling as it sounds. Our scheduled meetup in February was postponed due to snow. (PLEASE STOP LAUGHING, Canadian/Scandinavian readers - our eccentric little country is ill-equipped to cope with frozen water.) Instead, we met in March. I took my camera so that you could come Continue Reading
Winter. With Yarn.
Hello, dear knitters and crocheters, and runners, and my mum, and people who inexplicably landed here whilst searching for a blog about oxyacetylene welding. Come and sit with me beside the fire, because it's way too cold out there. Walking to school to collect the twinnage this afternoon, it looked as though somebody had combed the sky. I hope you've brought your yarn. (No, please don't start oxyacetylene welding in my sitting room. The blog you're looking for is that way. --> Continue Reading
May I Show You My Blocking Mats?
Gosh, you are a lovely lot. Would you like an update on Mary's blanket? If you search deep amongst the comments on the last post, you'll notice a long and heart-warming response by one Mary Megarry. Executive summary: I THINK SHE LIKES THE BLANKET! Phew. I just hope it brings her a little comfort as she goes through the long process of recuperation. Anyway, onwards - at terrifyingly high speed - towards Christmas. Terrifying at least for those of us who aren't good at getting prepared Continue Reading
Onwards. (Secretly.)
Never work with children or animals, so they say. Wise words, but I really think that space should be made in that list for gold metallic laceweight yarn, too. The nation's sanity deserves it. In case you're wondering, I'm talking about the book-blanket that I'm designing and making for my marvellous friend Mary. And my goodness, you lot are kind: thank you from the bottom of my heart for your comments on my last post, especially for your good wishes to Mary. She's doing well by the way, Continue Reading
Rowan: 40 Years. A Book Review.
We haven't had a book review for a while, have we? Let's rectify that:- Knitting and crochet often get a bad rap. Both crafts are regarded by some as the fast route to frumpy, style-less, doom*. And yeah, there are some... interesting patterns out there. But hey, it's not as though all the ready-made clothes that you can buy are super-stylish, either. Fortunately there are plenty of designers who do understand how to breathe elegance into their work, and a fair few of those people have Continue Reading
What They Don’t Tell You About Blogging
Today is the five-year blogiversary of The Twisted Yarn. I can hardly believe it! If this were a child, they'd be out of nappies and into school. (Heaven help this blog once it's legally old enough to drink.) As always on 23rd October, I'm wheeling out a picture of the cake with which the Stoic Spouse surprised me on my first blogiversary because, well because it was just perfect and wonderful and delicious and, other than the cake via which he proposed marriage way back in 2007, this was Continue Reading
Stylecraft Blogtour 2018
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
Crocheting With Seaweed
Friends are great, aren't they? You can laugh with them, you can knit/crochet with them, you can share life's ups and downs, and you can provide each other with alibis when needed. (Just for the record, my friend Alice was definitely here at my house knitting at 3.30am on Saturday night. She would be aghast at the merest suggestion that she was anywhere near the yarn heist that went down that night.) The other good thing about friends is that you can shamelessly mine their lives for material to Continue Reading