I'm not trying to put you off my coming-soon pattern... but I'm probably about to put you off my coming-soon pattern. I've been busy making one of each colourway of the crochet version of the Four Seasons cowl, after working the four colourways of the knitted version, and creating the original as a 50th birthday present for a lifelong friend. That's quite a lot of spotty stripey cowls. I'm kind of over it, truth be told. Yikes, I shouldn't be grumbling about a product that I'm about to Continue Reading
Holey Socks!
The Twisted Seniors (my parents) asked the other day when I was planning to publish another blog post. I was visiting them with 50% of the twinnage. Actually it was more like 49.8% of the twinnage because one child is shorter than the other, despite the fact that they're genetically identical. That proportion may have crept up to 49.9% by the time we left, due to copious snacks supplied by Mother Twisted to the eager child in question. It boggles my brain that MY MOTHER has become a voluntary Continue Reading
A Distraction
Well thank you, good people of the internet, for your kind response to the Four Seasons Cowl. There seem to have been some techie glitches with the blog that may have prevented access at times, so I did what any right-minded IT-whizz* would do, and swore with creative abandon, drank too much wine, then hit the internet quite hard with a hammer.** It appears to have worked. So hopefully you can read this post. If you can't, let me know. Oh... um... wait... [Sound of mental cogs grinding very, Continue Reading
The Easiest-Knitted Of Christmas Decorations
I'm not very good at Christmas. You'd think that the fact it always occurs on the same date would lend it a certain predictability, but no. It takes me by surprise, every single year. I'm not very good at looking ahead to dates - or even times - in general. It's a source of irritation to the Stoic Spouse that I'm incapable of thinking about dinner until, er, dinnertime. Booking a holiday ahead of the actual date we're planning to go? Forget it. Beginning work on something until the deadline is Continue Reading
Magic Eye
Would you like to see a finished object? Those of you who've been reading here since March 2014 (yes I do recognize you long-termers in the comments) will have seen it already. But as I said in this post seven long years ago, I finished the crochet, but failed to weave in the ends. And I continued not weaving in the ends for a really, really, long time. Slippery cotton takes some restraining, so getting this done was never an appealing prospect. Way back then, my boys were the Toddler Continue Reading
Crochetin’ The Covid
Right, people, lets get straight down to business. I have a new pattern out, in what risks becoming an extensive range of Covid-related knitted/crocheted accessories, thanks to those of you who will insist on suggesting additional products. Please nobody request a laceweight Covidy blanket, because I'm weak-willed in the face of such challenges. The new pattern is available via Ravelry, HERE. But read on, to see how you can get a small discount. We've already had the knitted Covid Cowl. Continue Reading
Dynasty
Throughout history, powerful figures have established dynasties, enabling their influence in a pre-Instagram world to continue beyond their own mortal years. The Nehru-Gandhis in India, the Ming dynasty in China, plus my personal faves, the Plantagenets.* But more ambitious and proud than any of these is the dynasty in our own back garden, right here at Twisted Towers. Many of you will remember Robyn-the-robin, the four-inch-high adorable tyrant who stole hearts and mealworms around here Continue Reading
You Can Do This. Yes, You.
Morning all. Right, before we go any further, a quick announcement. I've just made all of my patterns free (using the code ANTIVIRAL at the checkout) because it doesn't feel right to take money whilst people are losing their livelihoods. You can find the patterns here. Most of my designs were free anyway, but for now, they all are. Anyway, to the subject of today's post. I don't usually discuss psychology stuff on here, because I like to keep this blog very separate from the day job, but I Continue Reading
Hunting Parsnips
It's that oddball week between Christmas and New Year's Eve when nobody is sure what day or time it is, how many mince pies constitute an adequate breakfast, when the bins might next be collected, and whether or not the cat has been fed. We don't even have a cat (sadly), so this problem really shouldn't tax us as much as it does. I was back at work yesterday. Driving to the hospital on near-empty roads, I battled anxious thoughts about whether it really was definitely, definitely Friday, Continue Reading
New Crochet Pattern! Marrakech Lantern Bunting
Here at Twisted Towers, we like to help you prepare for all sorts of predicaments. Possibly, this urge is the result of my upbringing by the Twisted Seniors, who insisted that I master two life skills before my childhood could be considered complete. (They're forward-thinking people, my parents.) Specifically, my mother taught me to remove my bra whilst still wearing my top, and my father taught me to gargle the William Tell Overture. Yeah, there was also half-hearted reference to other Continue Reading