We all make mistakes, right? Errors such as thinking, "I can finish knitting this jumper before my friend's birthday." Or deciding that of course you'll remember what size hook you were using to crochet that half-done afghan. The Stoic Spouse has a foolproof method for avoiding knitting and crochet mistakes... which is to never once in his life attempt either knitting or crochet. He has thus maintained a laudable 0% failure rate in all things yarny, unlike the rest of us fallible mortals. Continue Reading
Oh hello, 2022: you gonna behave, yeah?
I'm going to risk beginning with the words 'Happy new year', on the off-chance that I finish drafting this post before it's time to crack open the Easter eggs, AND on the off-chance that this new year does in fact turn out to be in any way happy. After the horrors of 2021 and 2020 (and 2016, for those of us Brits who treasure our European neighbours), I hope that your 2022 will be at the very least Not Overtly Dreadful. Right now, a merely non-abysmal year would feel like a great big win. Here's 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
Ramblings
Oh yikes, has it been that long since I posted? Apologies. Let's pretend that my absence was due to Very Worthy And Important Stuff, rather than the truth, which is that I was struggling with post-cancer-treatment side-effects that made my right arm medium-useless for a while. Fortunately, I was still able to walk and run in pretty places around here. This is Thrupp Lake on a crisp November morning:- Since I wasn't able to knit very much, I didn't feel as though I had a great deal to share Continue Reading
The Half-Filled Kettle Dilemma
One of the odder consequences of having breast cancer is finding yourself standing in the middle the street wondering how much horse poo would half-fill a kettle. When you're diagnosed, they send you a chunky booklet about what to expect, and absolutely nowhere does it mention either kettles or horse poo - a disappointing oversight. But I'll come back to all this silly cancer stuff later in this post. For now, let's discuss the vastly more serious matter of yarnery, specifically knitting. Continue Reading
Comfort Knitting
There's nothing like being halfway through a simple project to make me want to knit something complicated, and there's nothing like swearing my way through designing a complicated skirt to make me want to create something really simple. Here's the skirt in two different colourways. It's for the book, so I can't show you any more detail just now. I've been picking at the details of this stranded skirt design for so many weeks that I'm starting to see the world around me in terms of how best Continue Reading
Colours Behaving Badly
Colours are like children. You learn, for example, never to leave young Cedric alone with little Jessica, because they won't play nicely unless maybe you've also got sweet Timmy there to provide a soothing influence on both of them. But things can turn unpredictable in a heartbeat. Dear Hieronymus and Maud are usually a delightful combination, but add Bob into the mix and - WHAM! - all three start swinging from the chandeliers and behaving monstrously. As it is with children, so it is Continue Reading
Progress, Of Sorts
Many thanks, you ridiculously lovely lot, for every single one of your kind words about my book deal. And if I've been quiet since the announcement, it's because I've been busy designing and writing. I'm breaking the habit of a lifetime by working hard from the outset, instead of leaving the task until 10pm on the night before it's due. Trust me when I say that this is deeply unfamiliar behavioural territory. I'm running quite a bit, too (twenty miles per week), which is helping to keep my Continue Reading
Booked
There's something that I've been desperately excited to tell you about, and now - at long last - I can. Next year, Dover Press are publishing a very colourful new book about stranded knitting. And the author is, erm, me. You could possibly make a case that I'm biased on the matter, but I think it's going to be a cool book. With a respectful nod to traditional approaches such as Fair Isle, it'll strip stranded work back to its core principles and encourage people to take their colourwork Continue Reading
Winging It
First of all, THANK YOU for your enthusiastic participation in the It's A Stitch-Up giveaway. We had 631 entries across the various platforms in less than 48 hours! Winners* have been notified, and prizes are on their way. Huge thanks to Suzie at It's A Stitch-Up for offering such generous prizes. And whilst all that was going on, I finished knitting a thing. It came out reasonably non-dreadfully, given that I made it up as I went along with pretty much zero planning. (I don't do Continue Reading